Blood Bowl 2 only features a smidge of the many teams available as of LRB6 (the official board game rules), but there's still many differences and many ways to approach each team so far.

-HUMANS-
This is probably the simplest team to learn on, assuming that you're the type of person who enjoys actually playing something akin to real football. You have a specialised player for almost every basic task, from those with ball handling, passing and catching skills, a few blockers and your trademark Big Guy.
As you'd expect, they excel at absolutely nothing but being exactly as middle ground as possible. You'll be out-passed by elves, out-bashed by chaos, and out tini-ed by everything else. However, because they're so versatile, if nothing else they can teach you the basics that you can apply to any other team in the game.

-ORCS-
The second most basic team, DA ORCSES. Imagine the human team, but with less ball handling ability, but far, far bashier. This is the Orcs. They have almost no skills off the bat, save for one ball handler and four blockers, and middle of the line stats, however, their ability to take four blockers and four Black Orcs makes them very simple and very effective. Great for learning the game if you prefer your Blood Bowl to be even Bloodier.
They also have the ability to do something unique, thus far, among the available teams. They can throw their Goblins over the opposing team's line entirely. This opens up a whole other way to play the team, but still built around a solid foundation of smashing those 'umie's noggins in.

-CHAOS-
A more specialised team, with arguably one of the best Big Guys and one of the scariest to fight in leagues. If you enjoy genuinely murdering, dismembering and altogether horrifying your opponents, this is it. Chaos have easy access to mutations, and thus have access to many other skills that other teams don't. They also have some of the best offense in the game, due to their beastmen and Warriors.
This is the team where if you get the ball, you don't care. Your objective is to smash your way through rather than ♥♥♥♥♥foot around to get that touchdown. Somewhat hard to play, but extremely effective, especially in the long game of league mode.

-HIGH ELVES-
These are the guys everyone learns to hate. The High Elves are the arguable kings of the passing game. With the highest agility among any race, every single player is an adept ball handler, passer, catcher and runner. However, this comes at the cost of strength. You can still do some bashing, but being adept at strategy and knowing how and when to take dodge risks is key with this team.
Certainly not for beginners, but with a bit of practice and some foresight, the High Elves can be absolutely amazing players, easily able to land 2 turn touchdowns against most any team.

-SKAVEN-
The Skaven, like Chaos, also have access to mutations, but with the caveat of being on the opposite side of the scale. While Chaos likes to bash, Skaven tend to run circles around every other team, especially in part to their terrifying Gutter Runners, the fastest guys in the game. You simply have to remember to take risks where it's needed and protect your specialists.
After a bit of practice and character advancement, the Skaven can do real damage, but ultimately, their most terrifying aspect is of Gutter Runners simply scurrying faster than anyone can hope to catch. Horrifying to face at times, and absolutely satisfying to play.

-DARK ELVES-
So, you enjoy the idea of being very fast, very agile, but like being pompous in a different way than blonde prettyboys in dragon gear, but also have a penchant for causing horrible pain and disfigurement? Dark Elves it is. A more advanced team, the Dark Elves have less of a passing game than the High Elves or Wood Elves, but trade this for a much more adept running game, as well as two very scary specialists in the form of the Witch Elves and the Assassin.
Both of these guys run different ways, and ultimately, with a core of Blitzers, you may not need them, but they are certainly something fun to add to your team. If you want to still pull off a good play but want to see opponents crowdsurf or simply have a dagger put through their brainpan, all while looking like you're ready for the next goth concert, these are your guys.

-DWARVES-
The hardiest, toughest little monsters in the entire game. With every single player having a high armour and Thick Skull, regardless of if you're fighting Chaos, Lizardmen or any other scary team, your guys will survive to scroll down every transgression in the book of grudges. Dwarves aren't fast, and aren't great at ball handling, but they are a team of eleven mountains, able to shut down passing games, and with a cage that is all but unbreakable.
And if you're thinking a team of tiny bearded men isn't truely your thing, remember that they have two of the most amusing specialists in the game. The Troll Slayers, who can solo a Minotaur or even Morg N' Thorg himself, and.....a Dwarf riding what is essentially a steamroller covered in spikes. Yes, the Dwarves bring a steamroller onto the pitch. You can imagine what might happen.

-WOOD ELVES-
The curse of the tournament scene, and the undoer of good moods, the Wood Elves take skill, but reward in spades with possibly the most adept passing team on the pitch. While they have a few damage dealers, these guys are more terrifying than any, in knowing that even one passing through your opponent's line means that a pass and quick dash to the endzone isn't long.
As the same with the other elf teams, you need to keep yourself out of bashing range for the most part, but due to their once again stellar elf agility and access to so many ball handling skills, these are another team that can cater to those of you who'd rather have a honorable victory won through tactics as opposed to simple murder.

-LIZARDMEN-
The Lizardmen have, almost without question, the strongest starting lineup that can be fielded, with SEVEN players pushing Strength 4, meaning that your opponent's usual one or maybe 4 guys, will be on even ground, while the other three simply waltz around the field bashing skulls in. On the other hand, they also have some of the weakest and most fragile ball handlers, in the Skinks. They're terrifyingly fast and fairly good at keeping out of trouble, but against a simple human lineman, they just don't cut it for blocking.
A fairly advanced team, the Lizardmen can be absolutely mortifying to play against, but only if the coach has good control over their skinks and saurus. Saurus have no blocking ability off the bat, and horrible agility, meaning in the long run they will be very hard to level up, and likewise the skinks will possibly just.....die, mid-season, taking their advancements with them. Not for the faint of heart.

-BRETTONIANS-
The Bretts, well, they're brand new. This section will be updated at a later date once we all have a vague grasp of them.



-BUILDING YOUR TEAM-
Now, when you go to make a team in the editor, the game will offer to do this for you. I think this is missing the point a bit, as teams can be played in different ways depending on what you want to do. That's why I strongly suggest building your own. However, this is something that I won't even bother going into terrible detail, as an amazing resource has been compiled for all of us.
http://bbtactics.com/strategy/rosters/

Every team available, save Brettonians, is shown here in many different formats with positives and minuses laid out. I strongly suggest taking a few moments to read over your selected team and see what advice you can take away.

Now that you've made your team, you're probably wondering how on earth to play it.

The simplest route would be to look up the LRB6 and read, read, but a simpler method would be to learn the absolute basics.

-THE STATLINE-
As you'll see, every single player will have a statline, showing how good they are at various things. Let's take a quick look at an Orc Blitzer for example.

ORC BLITZER - MA6 - S3 - AG3 - AV9

To start, MA is your movement allowance. This is how far your player can move, either left-right, up-down or diagonally. Players can move one square per MA point they have, regardless of if it's a diagonal or a lateral move, and can make zig-zags and weird strafey patterns all they want, as long as they don't exceed that MA. If your player is knocked down, you can choose to stand them up, however, this costs 3MA. Meaning, if our Blitzer tried to stand up, he would then only be able to move three squares instead of his usual six.

Strength, is how strong the player is. The average player on any team is usually S3. The more strength you have, the stronger you are, and thus the more dice you get to throw against your opponent. The simplest way to put it, is that if you are S3 and so is your opponent, you get to roll 1 block dice against them. If you're at least 1 point higher, you get to roll two dice, maximizing your chances of hurting them. To go even further, if you have more than twice the S of your opponent, you get to roll a whopping three dice! It does work in the opposite direction though, if you try to go after someone stronger than you, you roll two dice and your oppoent picks the result. Risky business, that is.

AG is your agility, how nimble or quick the player is on his feet. This affects everything else. From picking up the ball, to passing, to catching, to dodging. Higher it is, the more likely it is that you're an elf. There is a table to consult here, which we can put in simple terms.

Player's AG: 1 2 3 4 5 6+
D6 roll Required: 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ 1+

When doing various things, such as picking up the ball, you must make an agility roll. To do so, you consult your player's AG score. Picking up the ball is a simple task, assuming nobody is around you, so you get a +1 to your roll. This means that if our Blitzer tried to pick up the ball, he'd succeed on a 3+. He's AG3 meaning it'd be a 4+, but because picking up the ball gives him +1, it's a 3+ to succeed. The same +1 is applied to dodging and to making a quick pass. The game will show you the probability of success depending on what your action is, but a simple rule of thumb is to remember how many opponents are near your player, this will affect things, usually horribly.

AV is your armour value, or how high your opponent has to roll in able to actually hurt you, as opposed to simply putting you laid out on the astrogranite. When an opponent knocks you down, they roll against your AV to see if they can break it. The roll is always 2D6, and they must roll a combined value above to break it. Say someone knocks down our Blitzer, with his AV9, that means that they'd have to roll a 10 or higher to break it, making him very, very sturdy.



-BLOCKING-
The simplest manouver in the game, a block. Every player can make one block per turn, and rolls block dice as explained below. As explained above, blocking is affected by your strength, and how many people are assisting you in the block.



-TACKLE ZONES-
One of the most important parts of the game. Every single player, from a raging Minotaur to a tiny blue Skink all have tackle zones surrounding them. This is outlined in the game as 8 squares surrounding each player. To assist in a block, a player has to be adjacent to whoever is being hit, but if they're in someone else's tackle zones, then they can't assist at all, as they're too busy worrying about that dwarf about to smack them in the back of the head.
Tackle zones also play a part in everything to do with agility. Picking up the ball in a tackle zone? That's a -1 to your roll per zone. Moving out of a tackle zone? You have to make a basic agility roll to get out, and a -1 per zone you're dodging into. Passing the ball while in a tackle zone? Yep, that's a -1 per zone. This allows you to keep your opponents from being able to pass through you without having a solid line of players from one side of the pitch to the other.
Keep tackle zones in mind whenever you're doing anything at all, because that one guy assisting a block or forcing an opponent to dodge can make or break the game.



-THE BLOCK DICE-
So with all the talk of blocking and dice, you're probably wondering what they are.
The block dice are the core component of the game, you'll see them all the time when playing. They're essentially the same as any six-sided die, but with different faces causing different results.

SKULL
The dreaded skull. The worst roll possible, causing your own player to fall on his butt before he can hit his opponent. You go down in the square your player was standing and your opponent can roll to injure you.
BOTH DOWN
The second worst result, Both Down looking like a skull with a bash on it. This is a situation where both you and your opponent go down simultaneously and roll to hurt eachother. However, if either player has the skill Block, they can ignore this result. This means that if one does and one does not, only the player without it will go down. This is why Blitzers, regardless of the team, are invaluable, as only rolling a Skull will cause your player to fail a block.
PUSH
There are two of these on the die, both meaning you get to push your opponent one square away, and then choose to follow into the spot they left behind. The opponent stays on their feet, but so do you. The push can be done in one of three directions, either stright forwards or diagonally forwards to the left or right. The same principle applies to the next two dice faces....
DEFENDER STUMBLES
This face is a big bash with an ! in the middle of it. Here, your oppnent is laid out on the turf and you roll for injury against them. A great result, but if the player has dodge, they will simply be pushed. As I said before, the same directions apply whether they're being knocked down or simply dodging backwards.
DEFENDER DOWN
Your new favorite face, meaning regardless of anything, your opponent is being pushed back and down onto the ground, and you roll for injury. No skills or anything can prevent the player from being knocked down here.

Let's start from the absolute top of the match.

Before the match starts, the computer rolls for weather. Most of the time it'll be pretty and sunny out, but rarely, a blizzard, rain, or sweltering heat can occur. Blizzards cause you to take a -1 to all ball handling rolls, rain causes you to slip on a Go for It roll on a 2 instead of just a 1, and sweltering heat can cause players to simply collapse after a drive.

Once weather is determined, a coin is tossed. Depending on who wins, the winner chooses whether they want to kick, or recieve.
The reciever, is the offense, they're being given the ball and have to run it into their opponent's end-zone. They also, get to have the first turn, and set up second.
The kicker, will be the defense and kicks the ball to their opponent. They'll move second and set up their team first.

Now that we know who's kicking and recieving, the kicking team sets up. There are a variety of pre-planned formations, but the simple basics are:
>Three players have to be on the "Line of Scrimmage", the line on the middle of the pitch
>Only two players can be in each "Wide Zone", the two thinner zones on either edge of the pitch
You can choose your own setup, or you can choose from one of the inbuilt ones. I strongly reccomend using the inbuilt formations at the start, so you can begin to understand tackle zone importance.

So, we're set up, the next step is the kick. The kicking team chooses where the ball will be kicked towards, and then it's time for the random joy of this game to start. The ball will bounce in a random direction D6 squares. Once it lands, it also bounces a single square more in a random direction. This is why it's important to watch the layout diagram when placing the ball, otherwise it could go off the field or into your own half, causing a touchback. This means the opponent will be able to just hand the ball to a player of their choice, rather than having to go run to pick it up.

Now that the ball is in the air, it's time for the Kick-Off table. This is a big 2D6 table that can result in many wacky and fun, and sometimes horrible results. I won't detail them here, but suffice to say they can range from a disgruntled fan hurling a rock filled can of Bloodweiser at a player's head, to the cheerleaders managing you an extra reroll, to the entire pitch being invaded by ravenous fans, leaving half of both teams knocked out on the ground.

Once all this is resolved, it's finally time to start. The recieving team, or offense, starts first, and goes with their turn either until they suffer a Turnover, or they do not wish to make any more actions and hit the "End Turn" button. It then switches to the defense, and the same applies to them. This is called a "Drive" and goes on either until it's half-time at turn 8, or until one of the teams scores a touchdown. As expected, there are two halves per match, and once they're both resolved, the game ends.
Every time a Drive ends either due to it being the half, or a touchdown being scored, the teams start from the setup again, the ball will be kicked and a new kickoff table result will be applied.

To keep this sweet and simple, let's go from the top.

-GOING FOR IT-
Now, while every character has a set MA, you can ignore this to a certain degree, by "Going for it". You can always move up to two additional squares per turn with any player, but there is a risk involved. Whenever you attempt this, you must roll a D6. On a roll of a 1, the player falls down and your opponent rolls against your armour to see if you get hurt from tripping that badly.
While this is absolutely necessary sometimes, the key to the game is minimizing risk, so only go for it if you need an extra push or you need to pull off a stellar play. But, it's always going to be an 83% chance, unless it's raining, so it really isn't the worst risk to take.


-REROLLS-
When you build your team, one of the biggest things to consider is rerolls. These allow you to reroll any dice once per turn. Be it a block die that came up skulls, a failed dodge, or the go for it roll to get to the endzone, you can reroll it once. These are used up and stay gone until the half is finished, or after 8 turns. Certain teams need more than others, but brave coaches can run on as few as 1 reroll if they're truely mad enough.
Keep these for when you need them.


-BLITZING-
Once per turn, one of your players can perform a blitz. Simply put, this means either blocking and then moving, or moving and then blocking. this is an imperative skill to learn and even better to know when to use it, as you only get one per turn. You can also block from being prone on the pitch in this way, going from on your back to blocking, as long as you can pay the MA.
Blitzing also takes up 1 square of movement from your MA, so keep that in mind. You can go for it to make a blitz like you would normally, but as before, you can't exceed more than 2 go for its per turn.


-PASSING-
Like blitzing, passing can only be done once per turn, and will cause a different dice modification depending on the distance you're throwing. You can look at the table below.














-INJURIES-
So, you've blocked your opponent, and broken their armour, now what? Well, we roll 2D6 again and hope.
Anything from 2-7 means the player is stunned, and must spend one turn shaken on the field before they can stand up. A fine result since it keeps a player down for long than a simple down result. an 8-9 result means the player is KO'd and taken off the field for the remainder of the drive. You get to roll before you set up your team to see if any of your KO'd players manage to get back up and into the game.
10-12, however, is a different story. This is a casualty, resulting in some for of injury. There's another much larger table that I can't really include here, but results can cause anything from simply being out for the rest of the match, to a broken leg, straight up to complete and total death of the player, permanently.

-FOULING-
Like a blitz, you can foul once per turn. This is simply kicking someone while he's down, and is a damn fun time. You simply roll to break the player's armour and then if broken, roll again to injure. The same as the result of a block. Depending on how many players you have assisting you can get bonuses to breaking the player's armour. The problem is, as slimy as Gobbo refs are, they do call players out once in a while, and if you roll a double, that player making the foul is ejected for the remainder of the game. so anything from 1-1 or 6-6, that player is out, regardless of if the armour was even broken.


-TURNOVERS-
The dreaded turnover, an event that causes your turn to end immediately. A variety of actions can cause this, such as:
>Failing to pick up the ball
>Having a player be knocked down during a block, from either a skull or both down result
>Fumbling a pass
>Tripping while going for it
>Failing a dodge
>Failing a catch
The objective is to avoid this at any point possible, either through risk mitigation or rerolls. Just make the safest moves first, then the ones you're likely to succeed and save the risky stuff like passing, dodging and other things for last.


-SKILLS-
Almost every team comes with players that have skills, and every player has the ability to gain them over time in a league. The most common ones, I'll talk about here.
Block: This is the most common by far, shared with almost every team. As talked about before, this allows your player to stay standing if you rolled a Both Down result while blocking.
Dodge: Another great one, this allows your player to reroll their dodge if they fail it, and gives them a +1 to making that roll.
Sure Hands: Perfect for your ball handler, this allows you to reroll the dice if you fail to pick up the ball off the pitch.
Pass: Just like Sure Hands, this allows a reroll if you fumble or make an innacurate pass.

So, you know the basics of the game, along with some good advanced ideas of the harder mechanics. This game, much like the older PC Blood Bowl games, simplifies alot of the dice down into simple %. Just remember, there's a reason for everything that happens, however unfair it is.
Ultimately, this is a game of risk mitigation and ballsy insanity. While you need to be careful about every move you make, you also sometimes just need to go mad and risk dodging through those two tackle zones for your last chance at a touchdown.
Keep yourself aware of the risks at all times. Stand players up first, move guys not in tackle zones, and do everything else that doesn't require a single dice roll. Take your 2 dice blocks first, your single die blocks with players that have the Block skill, and so on down the line. But make sure you try to save your rerolls. However tempting it may be to not suffer a turnover, you might need it for later, so be careful, and may Nuffle have mercy on your soul.

For everyone interested in reading further into detail, and learning the history and fluff of how one lone orc, a completely mad Dwarf and billions of gold coins managed to create this horribly fun game, I point you here: http://www.bloodbowlgamers.com/downloads/LRB6.pdf