His WH community article previewing him was up ages ago; long enough that you'd be forgiven for forgetting his existence. Max Spleenripper was (I think) introduced in the 2016 edition for Chaos teams. Have to say I prefer the 2016 artwork for him to what we've got in miniature form but he's fun at least.
The new boxes set will contain ... a set of dungeon tiles that appear to be classic Warhammer Quest tiles re-scaled to new BB bases, plus two team dugouts.
Whoa.
I don't think those Warhammer Quest tiles have been resized at all. The original WHQ squares were quite large--bigger than 25mm squares, so that you didn't get too much crowding of models when hordes of monsters inevitably filled the room. I just checked mine, and a 32mm round base fits snugly into a classic WHQ square, just like the pics of the new Dungeonbowl tiles. Current Blood Bowl minis are on 32mm, aren't they?
Which means GW is, apparently, officially re-releasing the classic WHQ tileset for the first time since... the Fanatic mail-order days? Albeit with modernised art. Hopefully not too much Blood-Bowl-specific artwork, so that they can be used for generic dungeons as well.
I sense the distant antennae of a thousand DIY Quest players swivelling in Dungeonbowl's general direction.
It's a shame the new set lacks the thick black borders, which the plastic doors used to attach to without overlapping the actual squares, but that's a minor nuisance. I wonder if the thickness of the new tiles will fit into the old doors?
(I don't know what the original Dungeonbowl used for its tiles, but when 3rd ed BB was re-released in the late 90s, White Dwarf included a Dungeonbowl article that relied on the classic WHQ tiles, plus cardboard counters for the chests and teleporters.)
EDIT: I can only see two of the large Objective Rooms in the preview photo, but the six rooms seem to be there.
I have hoped for Dungeonbowl to make a return since the first revised edition boxset was announced - so I am absolutely stoked. I do hope there are tokens for stautes, columns, and the like - always enjoyed trying to bounce a ball tactically off such obstructions.
And, as you say, I could see those tiles being used to add a little more variety to Hammerfall as well. ^_^
Nothing like Blood Bowl except in the basic mechanics of moving, passing, blocking etc.: the “pitch” is an underground maze full of teleportals and exploding treasure chests, and the first to score wins, with no turn limit.
Play typically breaks down into two phases; the search and the score. These are emergent from the rules and have no official distinction however. Since neither team starts with the ball and possession is the only way to win, both teams generally start by spreading out and securing the treasure chests. Once the ball is found (this too is a strategic choice; do you Russian roulette your own players or wait for the other team to narrow the odds but risk them getting the ball early?), you generally get something that looks more like a normal pitch drive except there are narrow corridors and teleportals complicating both offence and defence.
In other words it is exactly the kind of game a bunch of wizards high on magic and boredom would make, basically.
Nothing like Blood Bowl except in the basic mechanics of moving, passing, blocking etc.: the “pitch” is an underground maze full of teleportals and exploding treasure chests, and the first to score wins, with no turn limit.
Play typically breaks down into two phases; the search and the score. These are emergent from the rules and have no official distinction however. Since neither team starts with the ball and possession is the only way to win, both teams generally start by spreading out and securing the treasure chests. Once the ball is found (this too is a strategic choice; do you Russian roulette your own players or wait for the other team to narrow the odds but risk them getting the ball early?), you generally get something that looks more like a normal pitch drive except there are narrow corridors and teleportals complicating both offence and defence.
In other words it is exactly the kind of game a bunch of wizards high on magic and boredom would make, basically.
IIRC Jervis Johnson said that the rules for original Dungeonbowl (for 2nd ed Blood Bowl) were written in about a week, due to management insisting at late notice that a game should be included with the Elf and Dwarf teams. To the designers' own surprise, it turned out to be very playable and a big hit.*
Looks like Wiz-War with a football to me. And I love me some Wiz-War.
*I think the 2nd ed version had bigger rooms than the White Dwarf version for 3rd ed BB, which used the Warhammer Quest tiles (same as this new edition). I'm not sure how well it plays on the more cramped WHQ tileset.
Oh wait. Duh. Now I see why those dungeon tiles lack the black border of the old WHQ tiles. It's probably so you can push them together to make larger dungeon rooms.
I is smart. S M R T!
That should help solve the problem of too-small, cramped rooms, then.
So the Khorne team and extras are up today. Looks great.
Anyone notice in the preview of Spike! 13 a segment:
Chat With the Rat: everyone's favour-best rat Hackspit Quillchewer takes the time to talk to the owner of the Khornate Cripplers, Overlord Kolgan Bloodrage, about their storied rivalry with the Slaaneshi Sidewinders.
Could this be a sign of Slaanesh getting a themed team too one day?
Anyone notice in the preview of Spike! 13 a segment:
Chat With the Rat: everyone's favour-best rat Hackspit Quillchewer takes the time to talk to the owner of the Khornate Cripplers, Overlord Kolgan Bloodrage, about their storied rivalry with the Slaaneshi Sidewinders.
Could this be a sign of Slaanesh getting a themed team too one day?
I would indeed find that interesting, but hard to find how that would honestly be any different from the normal Chaos Chosen roster. Unlike the berserk Khorne linemen, or the plague zombies of Nurgle... really hard to find what would differentiate a Slaanesh team, other than just having normal humans as linemen.
Really don't feel like there are skills that would separate a Slaanesh human versus a normal human, maybe Fend? Since Slaanesh is about perfection and excess, and Fend could represent a Slaanesh devotee's perfect ability to receive a block maybe.
At that point I would just use Chaos Chosen still, because that may as well be the Imperial Nobility team with a few Strength 4 players.
Anyone notice in the preview of Spike! 13 a segment:
Chat With the Rat: everyone's favour-best rat Hackspit Quillchewer takes the time to talk to the owner of the Khornate Cripplers, Overlord Kolgan Bloodrage, about their storied rivalry with the Slaaneshi Sidewinders.
Could this be a sign of Slaanesh getting a themed team too one day?
They spoilered Snotlings with a reference in a previous Spike, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing the same again.
I’m hoping this means all four gods get dedicated teams and, ideally, sideline staff like sorcerers and maybe an assistant coach that can see the future, or something. Will have to see what the new Spike! Magazine brings to the pitch for Khorne.
How to make a Slaanesh team stand out? Movement and agility skills.
That said, the next team ought to be one of the ToL. How they do the chorfs will be interesting too; I have a feeling that the plastic set might end up not containing any bull centaurs due to space constraints…
If they sold 2 resin bull centaurs, each a unique sculpt for 30-35 USD i'd probably buy it. I do think it'd be hard to fit them on the plastic sprue. If they removed the tokens/coin and some of the nonsense maybe they could....but I can't see that happening.
Thargrim wrote: If they sold 2 resin bull centaurs, each a unique sculpt for 30-35 USD i'd probably buy it. I do think it'd be hard to fit them on the plastic sprue. If they removed the tokens/coin and some of the nonsense maybe they could....but I can't see that happening.
And then there’s going to be an alternative, for those who like Greebo‘s style.
I'm a bit "meh" on it. The combination of pose, wide open mouth, skull helmet and a bit too much detail on the back kinda makes you lose the shape of the actual underlying Kroxigor. I think one or two of those features might have been okay, but not all at once.
I had been really looking forward to the Kroxigor, as I want one before I start painting my new Lizardmen team. After seeing the original preview I had hoped it'd look better in 3D than it did in a 2D image, but now even seeing the 3D version I've gone a bit cold on it.
Modelling tip for the Khorne team; the Bloodseeker chest plates and helms are swappable so you can get four unique minis even if you still end up with two of each pose. It doesn’t actually tell you this in the instructions though.
The other minis come with alternate heads in the kit which are mentioned in the instructions though.
Having decided to bite the bullet and go in to buy the Blood Bowl core game and the Lizardmen team I'm rather dreamed of, seems like I've conveniently found myself with a College of Heavens team too
I find it interesting that to be able to use the full team rosters of the 2 teams in the boxset, you are 3 sprues short iirc a Goblin, Khorne and Chaos chosen, adding on an extra cost of £78 to buy the extra team boxes needed
Yeah, quite strange to not see Dwarfs in Metal. That all said, it looks like some fun teams can be made. Really looking forward to Dungeonbowl personally.
I do wonder if Blood Bowl counts as a proper setting?
But yeah, I don’t get how they chose the dungeon teams. It doesnt look as if game balance was a major factor. And dwarfs not being metal does not look very fluffy either.
At least Amethyst wizards have double access to zombies and ghouls.
I do wonder if Blood Bowl counts as a proper setting?
But yeah, I don’t get how they chose the dungeon teams. It doesnt look as if game balance was a major factor. And dwarfs not being metal does not look very fluffy either.
At least Amethyst wizards have double access to zombies and ghouls.
In old Dungeon Bowl, Dwarfs were the primary race for Light and Bright teams. There was a lot less variety then:
Light: Dwarfs, Halflings and Werewolves
Gold: Orcs, Snotlings and Ogres
Jade: Goblins, Orcs and Trolls
Celestial: Elves, Elves and Elf Blitzers
Grey: Humans, Snotlings and Ogres
Amethyst: Skaven, Goblins and Minotaurs
Bright: Dwarfs, Humans and Dwarfs
Amber: Dark Elves, Orcs and Skaven
Rainbow (it was a thing!): Elves, Halflings and Humans
Dark: Skeletons, Mummies and Trolls
A lot less logical back then, and with some bizarre mixtures. Considering the box only contained elves and dwarfs, not really a lot of variety to start with.
Thought the somewhat eclectic combinations might be the result of at least trying to fit in the teams an equal number of times, but that doesn't appear to be the case either (many teams are only in 1, while Khorne and Humans feature thrice).
While I actually agree with the sentiment, there is some in universe irony I can't help but notice with that statement and traditional fantasy dwarf culture. There may as well be a Thread of Grudges started up in the WHFB subforum.
I have to say, I'm really impressed that they managed to put out the big guy and booster along with the Khorne team. And the booster actually includes the right models to fill out the team! No more of this human booster nonsense.
Okay, I guess I'm not so much impressed by this release as I am grumpy about previous releases, but I'm trying to put a good spin on it, lol.
Now we could really use boosters for Dark Elves, Elven Union, Lizardmen, Nurgle, Shambling Undead, Wood Elves... I would really prefer not to buy an extra box of each for only, like, 2 players.
Naturally, it doesn't look like Dungeon Bowl is coming with any of those teams.
Dungeon Bowl is up for preorder next week!
Along with the revised Goblin pitch, cards, and dice.
Oh and a bunch of unimportant non-Bowl related items I guess.
At first I thought it was going to be one of those reasonably priced less conspicuously named mass market versions of GW games you find at Barnes and Noble.
That's put a dampener on the Xmas wish list faster than a gobbo on a pogostick chasing a squig.
Hmm actually now gobbos ride squigs for Xmas don't they. Oh well, I think Dungeon Bowl still looks pretty good but for me it's time to reassess. Actually normal Blood Bowl and Sevens probably have more replay aspect to it. Best wishes for it anyway.
I fear anything with a pile of cardboard in it is going to be a lot more expensive now. Every extra £1 in costs (which given raw materials price increase, shipping increases and delays in china from shutdowns from covid and power shortages may be an underestimate) is going to be an extra £10 in retail price (even normal boardgame companies generally run on a 6 or 7x costs plan, and being premium gw is going to go for more)
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: I fear anything with a pile of cardboard in it is going to be a lot more expensive now. Every extra £1 in costs (which given raw materials price increase, shipping increases and delays in china from shutdowns from covid and power shortages may be an underestimate) is going to be an extra £10 in retail price (even normal boardgame companies generally run on a 6 or 7x costs plan, and being premium gw is going to go for more)
All well and good if you can get people to pay for it. Maybe GW can, eventually, but lesser companies are going to eat their own attempts to raise prices all of a sudden. I have a feeling this box set will be sitting on store shelves for awhile at that price if anybody is feeling wishy washy about it, and needs time to think it over.
So $30 more than the regular Blood Bowl set, which has...
2 full teams
2 star players
2 big guys
2 referees
A bunch of cardboard
A few accessories
This, however, has...
4 half teams
A similar amount of cardboard (the board doesn't look any bigger than a regular BB pitch to me?)
A few accessories
Am I missing something?
These are the main differences me and a mate can see between the two games when we spoke about it the other week
DB:
264 playable squares (96-126 playable squares short)
26 players (4 players short and all pre-existing, NO big guys)
6x Chests, 6x Portals, and 1x Spiked Ball (Portals and chest seem to be the only added benefit)
104 page HB rule book (32 pages short)
BB:
360 playable squares without counting the end zone or 390 counting it,
30 players (28 new sculpts, INC 2 big guys)
Extra balls, team coins, and counters,
136 page HB rule book
Edited for spelling and adding the new and old sculpts comments.
I kinda wish they'd given him a mouth. Like, he obviously has a gaping hole that's meant to be a mouth. But typically, we'd get a lower lip, if not teeth, visible. But here, it's just all beard around a hole. It makes the model look slightly off imo
Hi
Reading Dungeon Bowl, I looked at an introduction video of the rules and at first it looked cool but after I thought throw how a match actually could play out, it did not sound so fun at all.
One likely scenario, as I image it, would be that after one teem find the ball, the second team would clog up the corridor leading to their end-zone and I can not see how the fist team could ever get past that in reasonable amount of turns. Fore example, how to get past two prone players with two players behind, in particular if any of them have stand firm?
I have never played the game, so I can not say for sure, please correct me if I am wrong.
Nora wrote: Hi
Reading Dungeon Bowl, I looked at an introduction video of the rules and at first it looked cool but after I thought throw how a match actually could play out, it did not sound so fun at all.
One likely scenario, as I image it, would be that after one teem find the ball, the second team would clog up the corridor leading to their end-zone and I can not see how the fist team could ever get past that in reasonable amount of turns. Fore example, how to get past two prone players with two players behind, in particular if any of them have stand firm?
I have never played the game, so I can not say for sure, please correct me if I am wrong.
Not an expert on Dungeon Bowl, but I have read that one of the problems with the game in the past is that people really don't know how to make a dungeon that works for the game. You want maximum access and maneuverability in the dungeon, endzones should have two, preferably three entrances. You can also opt to play without doorways, so any tiles that are touching are open to each other, like a big open floor plan house. Which actually sounds a little more realistic for a dungeon that's been tunneled out of the rock. Keeping four players in reserve to defend the endzone isn't a very good strategy for winning the game, so that alone can help prevent that, but a nice, very open layout will do even more.
I also heard Ben from the Bonehead Podcast talk about a variant that uses three balls hidden in the chests instead of just one, and goes for a maximum of 16 turns. And you can play that until the first score, like in standard Dungeon Bowl, or until all three balls have been scored or the turn limit is up. That kind of variant will make the game more exciting and also make it less defensive, as you can't focus on just one ball carrier with three balls in play simultaneously.
Even without House ruling, two prone players with two others behind is not easy to set up since there’s no way for a player to just go prone on a whim that I’m aware of, plus you can always foul one of them into the KO/injury box. Which is easier in the given formation because there won’t be any friendly support.
I also heard Ben from the Bonehead Podcast talk about a variant that uses three balls hidden in the chests instead of just one, and goes for a maximum of 16 turns. And you can play that until the first score, like in standard Dungeon Bowl, or until all three balls have been scored or the turn limit is up. That kind of variant will make the game more exciting and also make it less defensive, as you can't focus on just one ball carrier with three balls in play simultaneously.
I'm really glad that they seem to finally be getting more responsive to the idea of letting us know the material/purchasing venue.
This wonderfully characterful resin Rat Ogre miniature is coming soon, so sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear of its official release date. In the meantime, grab yourself a Skavenblight Scramblers set in preparation for the arrival of your awesome new Big Guy.
That is a solid Rat Ogre. Nothing too fancy, and that's probably a good thing. Great addition, and could see myself getting it to convert for Mordheim.
Coenus Scaldingus wrote: That is a solid Rat Ogre. Nothing too fancy, and that's probably a good thing. Great addition, and could see myself getting it to convert for Mordheim.
Agreed. A nice sculpt and will fit right in with any Skaven (Blood Bowl or Mordheim).
That Rat Ogre is nice, if it wasn’t for the fact it’s produced by a company with poor QA that charges a ridiculous price for postage which they then send untracked and poorly packed, it’d buy it.
Joyboozer wrote: That Rat Ogre is nice, if it wasn’t for the fact it’s produced by a company with poor QA that charges a ridiculous price for postage which they then send untracked and poorly packed, it’d buy it.
Kanluwen wrote: I'm really glad that they seem to finally be getting more responsive to the idea of letting us know the material/purchasing venue.
So, he'll be Forge World.
Don't need them to say that to know. These things are always Forge World and always resin. Personally, the material and price is the least interesting part. My "problem" is I already got the previous FW Rat Ogre (~4 years ago) and converted one from Fantasy/AoS too. This is the best one so far, but way too late for a team that was released in 2016/2017.
Joyboozer wrote: That Rat Ogre is nice, if it wasn’t for the fact it’s produced by a company with poor QA that charges a ridiculous price for postage which they then send untracked and poorly packed, it’d buy it.
I'm surprised he's resin actually. The ogre, troll, and treeman are all in plastic, now we gotta go back to resin for big guys?
And for the difference in price and availability, the Reaper rat ogre, likely sitting in a blister back over on the wall at your FLGS, seems like a really good option still. You don't really even have to do anything to him except put him on a 40mm base.
frankelee wrote: I'm surprised he's resin actually. The ogre, troll, and treeman are all in plastic, now we gotta go back to resin for big guys?
And for the difference in price and availability, the Reaper rat ogre, likely sitting in a blister back over on the wall at your FLGS, seems like a really good option still. You don't really even have to do anything to him except put him on a 40mm base.
This one?
I admit, I really do like the new resin Rat Ogre but FW means I'll likely never get one...
So this new Rat Ogre replaces the current not-nearly-as-good one?
frankelee wrote: I'm surprised he's resin actually. The ogre, troll, and treeman are all in plastic, now we gotta go back to resin for big guys?
I think it might be due to how many teams can use them. Ogres, Trolls and even Treemen can be in different teams. Rat Ogres are Skaven and... well they're not Lizardmen or Elven Union, are they?
The new Rat Ogre is a callback to the 3rd ed Star Player Rat Ogre - Headsplitter - shoulder trim, mail hooded head with drooling tongue, chain wrapped fist and stitching. Only thing absent is the club tail.
This is a good thing. And iirc 3rd ed Blood Bowl was the time when you literally had to buy multiples of the same star player on some teams to get what you can get as standard today!
frankelee wrote: I'm surprised he's resin actually. The ogre, troll, and treeman are all in plastic, now we gotta go back to resin for big guys?
And for the difference in price and availability, the Reaper rat ogre, likely sitting in a blister back over on the wall at your FLGS, seems like a really good option still. You don't really even have to do anything to him except put him on a 40mm base.
This one?
I admit, I really do like the new resin Rat Ogre but FW means I'll likely never get one...
Yes, that's the one. I don't know if Nolzur's or the Pathfinder line have many good substitutes, but the Bones line is really great for Blood Bowl. They have that rat ogre, trolls, a treeman, probably some ogres though you may to cut the weapons off of them. You can buy five bug guys from Reaper for the price of one GW plastic big guy. Or you can drop $500 and order big guys and useful star players from Forge World if you wanna live large. At least there's options. As nice as that new rat ogre is, I don't ever want to order from Forge World myself.
frankelee wrote: I'm surprised he's resin actually. The ogre, troll, and treeman are all in plastic, now we gotta go back to resin for big guys?
And for the difference in price and availability, the Reaper rat ogre, likely sitting in a blister back over on the wall at your FLGS, seems like a really good option still. You don't really even have to do anything to him except put him on a 40mm base.
Not surprised at all. On the contrary, I'm surprised ogre, troll and treeman are GW plastic, but they generally used by way more teams than the rat ogre. Well except treeman. If you like the reaper rat ogre, nothing stops you from getting one. I know if I had to choose, it would be the FW resin rat ogre without a doubt.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Secret Weapon and Killer Kontraptions have been around a decent while, and includes Bommer and Loon. But I’ve not seen these two before today.
Technically the sets contain the generic Fanatic and Bomma from the team roster, not the Star Player versions (both within the Secret Weapons set) - I wouldn't say you couldn't use them as the Star Players, but I don't think that's the intended use.
Yeah, that’s Norse yhetee, if that’s already in production a team must be too; it’s not very likely that they would make a model for a unique Big Guy without one. Either way, some Norse love might actually shut up some of the “waah, ToL are abandoned” types I’ve seen about the place.
Makes me wonder why they didn't show off the team a few days back at that livestream. Would've saved the whole thing from being a disappointment if you ask me. Maybe now that this has leaked though we will get an article this coming week....if GW is feeling generous.
Thargrim wrote: Makes me wonder why they didn't show off the team a few days back at that livestream. Would've saved the whole thing from being a disappointment if you ask me. Maybe now that this has leaked though we will get an article this coming week....if GW is feeling generous.
Probably thought they had enough to discuss for Las Vegas and were holding onto Norse for the next big event. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if they have Norse teams sat in the warehouse now or arriving in the next few weeks. Will be interesting to see if they drop the news sooner given that it's leaked or whether they hold off for their original date. I suspect the latter - you don't want a marketing period that's so long that the hype dies down months before the products release, I doubt they could stretch Norse news to last more than 3/4 articles.
Pretty cool either way. Keep an eye on Warhammer Community this week then; there will likely be an “emergency preview” article like they did for the Praetor.
Still, plastic Norsemen done to the standard of the other Chaos teams can only be a good thing. There's never enough generic Marauders to go around, especially if they can fit a Norsewoman in there too.
Of course it would be the one ToL I have zero interest in (and is most similar to the recent Khorne release). Ah well, here;s hoping the next next release will offer something a little different.
I am so excited about Norse leaving Teams of Legend and getting proper minis and rules. Been sitting on a box of Greebo Norse for a while now, and if they don't mess with the team positionals too much I am ready to build them and get playing.
If anyone was on the fence about Dungeon Bowl due to cost, Element Games currently has it in the clearance section for £61.75, so a decent chunk off the RRP of £95.
Somniare wrote: If anyone was on the fence about Dungeon Bowl due to cost, Element Games currently has it in the clearance section for £61.75, so a decent chunk off the RRP of £95.
Not sure if any Aussies noticed yet but this weekends Blood Bowl releases in Australia have gone up slightly from previous prices.
The Wood Elves pitch is now $84 (other pitches are $78), Wood Elves card pack is now $49 (other card packs are $43), the dice though are the same as existing dice at $34.
Only mentioned this as it's now March and the new price structure comes into effect. Although GW said Aus, NZ, Japan and China would not get a price hike on existing kits etc, there were a few customers who could foresee any 'new' releases probably would go up. Even if they were re-releases or repackaged etc.
Anyway it's not a huge amount to go up but I think pretty much confirms any new Blood Bowl 'teams' will go up for sure. Like the Norse coming this year. Interesting. I wonder how much they'll go up, 20-25% like other countries or just a few dollars like the pitches and cards.
It happened last week with the Eldar release. They were all suddenly higher than previous equivalents (Maugan Ra being $77 rather than $70 like previous special characters).
So what GW said about our prices not going up was technically true - anything that was out is staying the same - but all future releases are getting the same 5%-25% bump that the rest of the world are getting.
Interesting Star Player. It's a nice figure for sure. Definitely matches the rest of the teams vibe.
Just can't help thinking the Norse team have become beer swilling idiots lol. All the kegs, tankards, random or possible random rules. Really curious now how the team positionals shape up rules wise.
Remember when the Khorne team was released there were FW star players, pitches, dice everything really all at the same time? So when this Norse preview says 'Thorsson Stoutmead will be available to pre-order from Forge World soon' would it be right thinking everything gets released the same time too?
Maybe the team will be out sooner rather than later.
If this team sells as popularly as expected I wonder if in 6mths time or so there's a change in its tier level. That is if it's still going to be tier 1 on release.
Btw for AUS I heard the Norse team might be priced around $84 - $87au. Bit of a jump from the existing kits at $63 but then it does have 14 players and those beer pigs are really cute.
All BB teams got the sharp end of the recent price increases. I would expect the base plastic kit to be the same price as everyone else’s but the FW extras are anyone’s guess at this point.
As for the release all being on one day like the Khorne team? I hope so. Remember that the Yhetee is also out there and looks fantastic.
Just can't help thinking the Norse team have become beer swilling idiots lol. All the kegs, tankards, random or possible random rules. Really curious now how the team positionals shape up rules wise.
Current GW BB seems to be leaning heavily into the humourous side of BB rather than the 'sporting' or Warhammer side - look at the Necromantic team or another example. At least there's third party options if you don't like the look of them and fortunately I think the remaining teams don't really lend themselves to humour - Amazons, High Elves, Vamps, Chaos Dwarves and Tomb Kings.
They look alright, but not worth the price asking, the punch dagger thingy look ugly and the female player look kinda....boring. But I can see people bought these for the meme : Techno Viking, Kratos, the boar....
Chopstick wrote: They look alright, but not worth the price asking, the punch dagger thingy look ugly and the female player look kinda....boring. But I can see people bought these for the meme : Techno Viking, Kratos, the boar....
I think the biggest selling points are the boar and using some of the team as space wolves/chaos warriors
Personally I really dig them; best looking Norse team on the market.
I'd probably not assemble them with many of the tankard options and the boars are obviously a bit silly (which is fine for BB) but otherwise I feel like they've actually stuck to a fairly classic aesthetic for them.
Theophony wrote: I thought the boars were just meant to be the re-roll markers for the team, I guess I need to look more at the actual team stats.
The new rules haven't been released yet but in the article yesterday and on livestream, the boars have been referred to as players (costing 20K Gold). They're going to give some sort of on the field buff to nearby Knocked Down players standing up apparently.
Theophony wrote: I thought the boars were just meant to be the re-roll markers for the team, I guess I need to look more at the actual team stats.
The new rules haven't been released yet but in the article yesterday and on livestream, the boars have been referred to as players (costing 20K Gold). They're going to give some sort of on the field buff to nearby Knocked Down players standing up apparently.
Even if they are absolutely useless for their 20k cost, having one as the 11th player on a starting roster to sit behind the lines and act as a supporting player in a tackle... absolute value.
Theophony wrote: I thought the boars were just meant to be the re-roll markers for the team, I guess I need to look more at the actual team stats.
The new rules haven't been released yet but in the article yesterday and on livestream, the boars have been referred to as players (costing 20K Gold). They're going to give some sort of on the field buff to nearby Knocked Down players standing up apparently.
Even if they are absolutely useless for their 20k cost, having one as the 11th player on a starting roster to sit behind the lines and act as a supporting player in a tackle... absolute value.
Just having something even marginally useful to spend 20K on is going to be pretty valuable in some tournament rosters especially. We'll see what they're stats are like.
That's quite a nice sculpt! With that bandanna reminded me briefly of Hulk Hogan for some reason lol.
So this is the more competitive Norse star player and even gives orders to beer boars too.
Not sure if we already had confirmation of Norse being in the next Spike magazine but there's that as well and more Blood Bowl coming in the next few weeks, hmm good stuff!
Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
Get drunk, sit down with the rulebook, and you will figure it out.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
I am 100% with you (or perhaps was), and let me tell you that Dungeon Bowl is the way in.
Now I'm in deep, even plotting out WFRP campaigns set under the spell of Nuffle where almost everyone know thinks that Sports is the only conceivable way to solve a conflict between two groups.
"What ho, plucky adventurer! Please help us - the winter has come early and the harvest has been short, we have enough for ourselves - but the Scar Eye goblins have recruited a ringer, an ogre who claims to be an ex pro blitzer - and if they come for our grain we have no chance with just our local Sonntag league teams. Can you help us?"
Looting tombs for ancient enchanted gear that would see you surely to rise to the big leagues, but having to face the tomb guardians in a now throwback game that had different rules in a few significant areas, exposing cultists of the twin chaos gods of Greed and Corruption (or Corruption and Greed) Phiffa and Ueffer who seek to usurp Nuffle's place in the new world, risking a return to a world of unthinkable bloodshed and poor sportsmanship...
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried. Mr Brain just refuses to, aha, play ball.
Can I ask where you’re getting stuck? No judgment, just genuine curiosity.
I just can’t get my head round it at all. Never scored, let alone won a match.
Not unheard of for many starting Blood Bowl. I think some go into the game thinking it will be an action-packed type of game somewhat like a sports video game. The reality is that Blood Bowl is actually a strategy game of risk mitigation, where the fewer dice you roll the better, and models are moved/positioned more like chess pieces often so that your opponent is forced to make more dice rolls (and risk failing those dice rolls).
The key concept is the Turnover rule (introduced in the 3rd edition of the game in the early 90's, and the game has not changed that much since then). Any failed dice roll action results in your turn ending (though there are "team rerolls" that you may purchase for your team and some player skills that allow a reroll). As an example, if you decide the first move of your turn is to move a player to pick up the ball, and you fail the ball pickup dice roll (depending on your player's agility score, but often a 3+ on a D6), your turn ends. That's it. The other 10 models on your team do not get to move or perform an action; they stay where they were at the end of your last turn. There are only 8 turns in each half so causing a turnover can leave your team in a very bad situation. Once you learn this concept, you start to realize that you should perform non-risky moves first (ex. simply moving a player who is not in another player's tackle zone does not require a dice roll) and more risky moves later in your turn (ex. dodging out of a tackle zone, rushing to pick up the ball, and passing the ball to another model would be a higher-risk play for the active model requiring multiple dice rolls).
If you still have any interest in the game I suggest giving it another chance. In my opinion it is still GW's best game and lends itself very well to solo, league, and competitive/tournament play. Low model count means less time and money purchasing and painting your team, and more time playing a really fun game.
It really is a great game when played between two friends. I recently bought the BB2 full edition for cheap on PC (I'm not a big gamer these days, maybe play a game every year or two) and had a lot of fun for a couple of weeks, but it eventually got very stale after playing it every day for a couple of weeks. Every game tended to play out in the same way when you play it optimally, as you're described. Having said that, I only played vs the computer. Still, one of my favourite games from back in the day.
JWBS wrote: It really is a great game when played between two friends. I recently bought the BB2 full edition for cheap on PC (I'm not a big gamer these days, maybe play a game every year or two) and had a lot of fun for a couple of weeks, but it eventually got very stale after playing it every day for a couple of weeks. Every game tended to play out in the same way when you play it optimally, as you're described. Having said that, I only played vs the computer. Still, one of my favourite games from back in the day.
I too used to play against the computer AI a lot after moving residences, before eventually finding some local players. The difference is night and day regarding AI vs. human players. Games are significantly different, for the better, when playing against live human players, and I have a hard time going back to playing the PC game against the AI these days (I'd rather play the tabletop game myself, playing both sides). I'd suggest picking up the "Second Season" current GW box set as it is a fantastic starter set that includes the official rulebook (only one book really needed in Blood Bowl), two complete teams with star players and referee models, pitch, dugouts, range ruler, and dice. Everything you need to play Blood Bowl in one box. This is one "starter" box set that GW got right.
Yeah, for a start, AI players aren’t capable of deciding that their objective this game is to get in at least one foul per turn and damn the scoreline. For example.
BB2 isn't even worth playing against the AI if you ask me, whenever I boot that up I just get a random matchup in the champion ladder or open ladder. The game has been out a while so the matchmaking times are questionable depending on the time of day.
Funny enough i've found BB to be one of the simpler and easier to understand of GWs games, whereas I look at 40k as being nigh impenetrable, unstable and too difficult to keep up with.
Thargrim wrote: BB2 isn't even worth playing against the AI if you ask me, whenever I boot that up I just get a random matchup in the champion ladder or open ladder. The game has been out a while so the matchmaking times are questionable depending on the time of day.
Funny enough i've found BB to be one of the simpler and easier to understand of GWs games, whereas I look at 40k as being nigh impenetrable, unstable and too difficult to keep up with.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...
Blood Bowl doesn't regularly take three hours to play (it absolutely can, especially for brand new players but it's not the norm). Usually about half that time in my experience for an average game.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...
So are the rules for blitz bowl significantly different? I always assumed they were kind of similar.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...
Blood Bowl doesn't regularly take three hours to play (it absolutely can, especially for brand new players but it's not the norm). Usually about half that time in my experience for an average game.
A game on computer would generally be an hour for me.
I haven't timed playing the table top version, and frankly I've barely played any of the table top version, but it tends to go a bit slower because the video game shows you how far you can move and unit stats and how many dice you'll get if you make a blitz and so on... all that means you can make decisions much faster because you can quickly see the outcome and weigh the options.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Man I wish Blood Bowl appealed to me as a game. The models they’re putting out, whilst infrequent, are incredibly characterful, and not exactly bound by GW’s usual design ethos.
I’ve nowt against it or anything. I’ve just never got my head around how to actually play the game.
I know you're in the UK, but if you get a way to get a copy of Blitz Bowl, its a pretty compelling experience. I cant stand Blood Bowl myself. Ive tried for years to get into it, and spending 3 hours to play a football game isnt my idea of enthralling. Blitz Bowl however only take a half hour to play. Its obviously a much lighter experience, but it's the weight I am looking for in such a game I otherwise had no intention of ever collecting. And here I am collecting half a box of each team...
So are the rules for blitz bowl significantly different? I always assumed they were kind of similar.
Blitz bowl isn't really a thing in Australia.
Blitz Bowl is completely different, mechanically. The theme, setting, and miniatures are the same but the game itself is built around completing semi-random objectives drawn from a card deck using limited actions that can be spread across the team or applied to one player. Players only have three stats to interact with the environment and each other, and the pitch is quite small and contains obstacles. It certainly looks interesting from the videos I’ve seen but it is very different to core BB or Sevens, or even Dungeon Bowl.
Ive never managed to get a game inder 2.5 hours after trying to play sporadically once every few years since '97. But they may as well be completely noob games. Regardless, wether it gets better in duration or not, its a slog to learn and it taking more than 2 hours to resolve isnt doing it any favors. Im not so inclined to fall for sunk cost fallacy that could make a prospect of some sunny future where i might like it, a feasible option for my sanity to pursue.
I think mr rose described blitz bowl pretty well. Think of a gladiatorial arena where youre trying to please the crowd showboating and then occassionally scoring some touchdowns to get a few more points. Oh, and halflings are better than they have any right to be in blitz bowl.
Most blood bowl players turn their nose up at blitz bowl, which is fine by me since they already have blood bowl to play to fulfill their expectations. For tjose of us who wete failed by the promise of blood bowl, we have blitz bowl. And judging by how your experience to blood bowl was similar to mine, blitz bowl might be the salve that soothes the need to play with these wonderfully sculpted dollies.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: I just can’t get my head round it at all. Never scored, let alone won a match.
I've not played BB2 (hard to tell at a glance if it was streamlined or bloated, with the new rules and stats).
BB1 the general guide for a new player guide was to work through a sequence of actions each turn unless you were trying something specific and fancy, in order of which actions are either least likely to end your turn or most likely to stop the opponent from running off with the ball.
-un-stun / stand up players
-move unengaged players who arn't going to be doing anything else to create tackle zones and add to blocks
-safe-ish plays (2-3 dice blocks and crowd surfing) and important plays (pick up the ball) - the order of which is usually down to how risky it is to not be holding the ball if a 'safe' play fails
-and then the riskier plays, or nothing at all. The odds are broadly in favour of the player who takes the action, but knocking your own guy down is the most common cause of a hole in your lines.
Wiz Warrior wrote: Ive never managed to get a game inder 2.5 hours after trying to play sporadically once every few years since '97
Do you play with the four minute turn limit?
I've always found Blood Bowl games stretch on if a player is allowed to procrastinate, checking all possible routes and tackle zones for that one miraculous game-changing sequence. But against the clock people take more risks and make more mistakes, which in turn shortens the game even more due to turn-overs.
I’m still not convinced I need to give it another whirl.
Again this is not an indictment of the game! It’s all on me, and I make no particular apology for that, and I certainly do not demand anyone justify their enjoyment/outright love for it.
I’m gonna stick with Necromunda. That’s totally my jam.
Norsca Team is up for pre-order on Saturday alongside a new edition of Spike!, the usual themed dice and pitch, also this fella I don’t think we’ve seen before, who is coming from Forgeworld.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Norsca Team is up for pre-order on Saturday alongside a new edition of Spike!, the usual themed dice and pitch, also this fella I don’t think we’ve seen before, who is coming from Forgeworld.
Spoiler:
I kinda wish they would give up on the crazy poses with Blood Bowl.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Norsca Team is up for pre-order on Saturday alongside a new edition of Spike!, the usual themed dice and pitch, also this fella I don’t think we’ve seen before, who is coming from Forgeworld.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Norsca Team is up for pre-order on Saturday alongside a new edition of Spike!, the usual themed dice and pitch, also this fella I don’t think we’ve seen before, who is coming from Forgeworld.
Spoiler:
I kinda wish they would give up on the crazy poses with Blood Bowl.
I'm on the opposite end, blood bowl is absolutely the place for crazy poses. I think they should dial back on the crazy poses outside of blood bowl.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Norsca Team is up for pre-order on Saturday alongside a new edition of Spike!, the usual themed dice and pitch, also this fella I don’t think we’ve seen before, who is coming from Forgeworld.
Spoiler:
I kinda wish they would give up on the crazy poses with Blood Bowl.
Nope, they won´t. It´s the "funny" trash edition. Take a look at the Necromantic team and you know all about it.
A.T. wrote: BB1 the general guide for a new player guide was to work through a sequence of actions each turn unless you were trying something specific and fancy, in order of which actions are either least likely to end your turn or most likely to stop the opponent from running off with the ball.
-un-stun / stand up players
-move unengaged players who arn't going to be doing anything else to create tackle zones and add to blocks
-safe-ish plays (2-3 dice blocks and crowd surfing) and important plays (pick up the ball) - the order of which is usually down to how risky it is to not be holding the ball if a 'safe' play fails
-and then the riskier plays, or nothing at all. The odds are broadly in favour of the player who takes the action, but knocking your own guy down is the most common cause of a hole in your lines.
I'm sure there is more to it at higher skill levels than I can reach, but that is exactly how I've always played the odd BB game down the years and why I don't find it exciting enough to play regularly. I always found the campaigns and choosing upgrades quite procedural too. It feels like the kind of game that works if you want to paint beautiful minis and/or really love the social aspect of playing down at the club.
Segersgia wrote: I do wonder if it’s possible to have yhetees in an Ogre Team. Probably not, but it is a nice thought
Nope -
The Yhetee is a Big Guy for Norse teams alone, while the three Star Players can also be fielded by Dwarf, Halfling, Human, Imperial Nobility, Old World Alliance, and Ogre teams.
Segersgia wrote: I do wonder if it’s possible to have yhetees in an Ogre Team. Probably not, but it is a nice thought
Nope -
The Yhetee is a Big Guy for Norse teams alone, while the three Star Players can also be fielded by Dwarf, Halfling, Human, Imperial Nobility, Old World Alliance, and Ogre teams.
Well, you can have the Star Player yhetee in an ogre team, so there's that.
I kinda wish they would give up on the crazy poses with Blood Bowl.
And, I wholeheartedly disagree. Blood Bowl is the last IP by GW that embraces fun. Blood Bowl is a gladiatorial sport where "pro-wrestling" showboating and soap opera drama are not only expected, but can see careers ended early if you aren't part of the mass media hype train in this alternate Old World.
The entire world and game is a parody and caricature of professional sports and the tabloid drama, with a coat of GW Fantasy paint, and that is the charm of this absolutely mad and unbalanced ruleset.
I kinda wish they would give up on the crazy poses with Blood Bowl.
And, I wholeheartedly disagree. Blood Bowl is the last IP by GW that embraces fun. Blood Bowl is a gladiatorial sport where "pro-wrestling" showboating and soap opera drama are not only expected, but can see careers ended early if you aren't part of the mass media hype train in this alternate Old World.
The entire world and game is a parody and caricature of professional sports and the tabloid drama, with a coat of GW Fantasy paint, and that is the charm of this absolutely mad and unbalanced ruleset.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Norsca Team is up for pre-order on Saturday alongside a new edition of Spike!, the usual themed dice and pitch, also this fella I don’t think we’ve seen before, who is coming from Forgeworld.
Spoiler:
I kinda wish they would give up on the crazy poses with Blood Bowl.
Nope, they won´t. It´s the "funny" trash edition. Take a look at the Necromantic team and you know all about it.
Funny is fine, they just keep making poses that don't look good on static models. The necromantic team is fine, I like them, the thing I don't like is stuff like the Troll where it's hard to find an angle that the pose actually looks good, or the Kroxigor that looks like a mouth attached to blob of random detail, or the Skinks that look like they're dancing instead of running, or the werewolf that also looks like he's dancing, or the Rat Ogre that looks like he's falling over (seems to have been replaced now). Skrorg Snowpelt's pose would probably look fine if it was a dynamic animation in the video game, but as a static pose it looks awkward IMO.
I'm actually a bit disappointed in Skorg -- he's a Forgeworld model, yet they didn't do an undercut of his hand--it just kind of warps into his hair. If you're going to go resin, at least take advantage of the medium :(
I wonder which Teams Norse will end up in for Dungeonbowl. I've got a vague feeling that they were in some odd teams even when Jade (Life) was all Greenskins.
Tastyfish wrote: I wonder which Teams Norse will end up in for Dungeonbowl. I've got a vague feeling that they were in some odd teams even when Jade (Life) was all Greenskins.
Maybe the Community College of Ice alongside Kislev players?
This just in, person who hates Blood Bowl.... hates Blood Bowl! News at 10.
Strg Alt wrote: We have now boars and goats. When will we see ducks and geese? How about chicken? BB has become a farce.
Blood Bowl has always been a bit of a joke, we have had mad goblin bombers, trolls that eat teammates, ogres who forget what they are doing... halflings, balls that eat people, crowds that kill players at random sometimes, trained circus bears, a "proper and professional" way to bride referees, and wizards firing spells.
Really not sure what you mean by this being the trash edition, and calling the game a farce. If anything GW now finally has the technology and sculpting capabilities to create miniatures that are just as wacky as the stories the designers and writers have put into every rulebook and piece of literature about the game.
Normally I assume all star players will be FW resin automatically but... that last paragraph of the preview "Rumbelow and Longshanks will be rampaging into stores soon".
Now when they say 'into stores' is that a little typo because the FW store is online? Or could this figure actually be plastic and available in GW stores?
I'm keeping my glimmer of excitement in check and realistic until confirmed otherwise.
Normally I assume all star players will be FW resin automatically but... that last paragraph of the preview "Rumbelow and Longshanks will be rampaging into stores soon".
Now when they say 'into stores' is that a little typo because the FW store is online? Or could this figure actually be plastic and available in GW stores?
I'm keeping my glimmer of excitement in check and realistic until confirmed otherwise.
lost_lilliputian wrote: ^Oh ok, thanks for letting me know. Now I can stop thinking about getting it lol
Sadly have to agree. If its fw, then it basically doesnt exist. If i see 9ne in the wild, its a unicorn, and thus, just a figment of my over active imagination.
The leak a short while ago was spot on then. I don't mind the changes; keeps the bulk of the roster the same with a few tweaks and the Valkyries amalgamating the previous Thrower/Catcher role whilst also having Strip Ball makes them pretty impressive and plays more into the running game that the Norse should be going for.
The Norse have Ivar Eriksson as a star player, who has lead the Norsca Rampagers to raid various trophy cabinets in the Old World.
Am I over-thinking things that this might be a shout-out to Erik and Ivar, who currently wrestle as the Viking Raiders in WWE?
It..might? There's certainly WWE fans in the studio (or at least the community team) and they had some of the roster visiting when over in the UK last year (Shayna's various 40k related ring gears always make me pop).
I think it's far more likely that they just threw a dart at a wall chart of some very, very generic viking names and that's what we ended up with.
Besides, they're still Rowe and Hanson and called the War Raiders to me dammit!
I'm genuinely surprised a Patreon sculptor hasn't just taken to sculpting Blood Bowl star players and missing teams given the whole Forge World situation (GW uses Forge World). Punga Miniatures insists on doing almost entirely niche nautical themed Blood Bowl teams with no Star Player extras and they have 600 patrons currently. Somebody who made stuff people really want would get 1,000. And at $10 each, it's a living.
frankelee wrote: I'm genuinely surprised a Patreon sculptor hasn't just taken to sculpting Blood Bowl star players and missing teams given the whole Forge World situation (GW uses Forge World).
...what do you mean by "the whole Forge World situation"?
You are aware that FW is a division of the wider GW corporate entity, right?
frankelee wrote: I'm genuinely surprised a Patreon sculptor hasn't just taken to sculpting Blood Bowl star players and missing teams given the whole Forge World situation (GW uses Forge World).
...what do you mean by "the whole Forge World situation"?
You are aware that FW is a division of the wider GW corporate entity, right?
Yes, you've misunderstood. As I allude to in my post, the whole Forge World situation is that GW uses Forge World. Read the above page of posts to understand my context.
frankelee wrote: I'm genuinely surprised a Patreon sculptor hasn't just taken to sculpting Blood Bowl star players and missing teams given the whole Forge World situation (GW uses Forge World). Punga Miniatures insists on doing almost entirely niche nautical themed Blood Bowl teams with no Star Player extras and they have 600 patrons currently. Somebody who made stuff people really want would get 1,000. And at $10 each, it's a living.
Lots of companies make missing Star Players under altered names. Certainly, every 'fantasy football' team Kickstarter has come will the full suite of 'names changed to protect the innocent' SPs.
....yeah, there are dozens of Italian and Spanish companies that the living of dozens of employees making third party "fantasy football" and "fantasy football star player" sculpts with the names changed around.
Entire websites dedicated to organizing the hundreds of full team options from around the world too.
frankelee wrote: I'm genuinely surprised a Patreon sculptor hasn't just taken to sculpting Blood Bowl star players and missing teams given the whole Forge World situation (GW uses Forge World). Punga Miniatures insists on doing almost entirely niche nautical themed Blood Bowl teams with no Star Player extras and they have 600 patrons currently. Somebody who made stuff people really want would get 1,000. And at $10 each, it's a living.
Lots of companies make missing Star Players under altered names. Certainly, every 'fantasy football' team Kickstarter has come will the full suite of 'names changed to protect the innocent' SPs.
NH Gunsmith wrote:....yeah, there are dozens of Italian and Spanish companies that the living of dozens of employees making third party "fantasy football" and "fantasy football star player" sculpts with the names changed around.
Entire websites dedicated to organizing the hundreds of full team options from around the world too.
Sure, there's 3rd party suppliers and some Kickstarters and such. I guess my comment was aimed a little more at people really into the game and therefore knowledgeable about the details of supply as opposed to the broader generalities.
frankelee wrote: I'm genuinely surprised a Patreon sculptor hasn't just taken to sculpting Blood Bowl star players and missing teams given the whole Forge World situation (GW uses Forge World). Punga Miniatures insists on doing almost entirely niche nautical themed Blood Bowl teams with no Star Player extras and they have 600 patrons currently. Somebody who made stuff people really want would get 1,000. And at $10 each, it's a living.
There are honestly plenty of those in existence and the STLs are everywhere. There's a Morg sculpt, for example, from Brutefun that's become pretty damn popular as an alternative to the FW one (with good reason). 30 seconds on somewhere like Etsy and you can browse that sort of thing to your heart's content.
Not a fan of these amazon, some wrapping or legs armor would have been better, they can still run barefeet. I like the video game version of the amazon more, but they're probably too generic for GW.
Man, those Amazons are disappointing. The last couple GW attempts at a more toned female physique produced a number of Michelin women, and those aren't any better.
Which is weird, because both Jackson and Hesperax turned out quite well.
His Master's Voice wrote: Man, those Amazons are disappointing. The last couple GW attempts at a more toned female physique produced a number of Michelin women, and those aren't any better.
Which is weird, because both Jackson and Hesperax turned out quite well.
Lilith Hesperax, the angry wide scowl-hobbit with a torso that's an actual square?
My only issue with the Amazons, and it may be a fleeting one, is I can’t readily tell their positionals apart. Probably something that can be learned of course, it’s just not as immediately apparent as other human teams.
"Teams field Piranha Warrior Blitzers, Python Warrior Throwers, Jaguar Warrior Blockers, and Eagle Warrior Linewomen."
The Python Warrior Throwers seem fairly straightforward, thanks to their snek friends.
For the other three, the difference seems to be on their hands - no claws, curved short claws, straight longer claws.
I'd say long claws for the Blitzers, cat claws for the Blockers, and no claws for the Linewomen, but that's just my read on them.
Looks like each sprue of six will have 1 Thrower, one Longclaw, 3 cat claw & 2 no claws, which would be an interesting mix if I've got the claw-to-position links right. I should probably check the current Amazon roster, really.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: My only issue with the Amazons, and it may be a fleeting one, is I can’t readily tell their positionals apart. Probably something that can be learned of course, it’s just not as immediately apparent as other human teams.
My guess would be
Snakes on them= Passsssssssers Couldn't resist, but one of the 2 shown has the ball
Short claws= linewomen (qty)
Catchers= no claws
Blitzer= long claws
I'm kinda worried about the changing of positionals. We've already got Norse and Bretonnians for "bash" human teams, with Amazons and Kislev/Slann on the "agile" side.
Will the Blockers (I'm guessing they'll have something like Wrestle) really work with the rest of the team?
The Livestream had the names next to the specific models.
Python Warrior Throwers --> players with the snakes and the ball. Most throwers in Blood Bowl are modeled with the ball in their hand.
Eagle Warrior Linewomen --> players with short claws and the feathered helmets/wrists. Linewomen are usually the most numerous in a Blood Bowl team and this team has six of them.
Jaguar Warrior Blockers --> players with the long claws and the long hair. If you can spot it, their helmets do have a cat-like nose.
Pirahna Warrior Blitzers --> players with no claws and the horned helmets.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: My only issue with the Amazons, and it may be a fleeting one, is I can’t readily tell their positionals apart. Probably something that can be learned of course, it’s just not as immediately apparent as other human teams.
Little claws are eagle warriors (line) big claws are piranha (blitz) no claws no snake are panther (block) and no claws with snake are python (throw).
infinite_array wrote: I'm kinda worried about the changing of positionals. We've already got Norse and Bretonnians for "bash" human teams, with Amazons and Kislev/Slann on the "agile" side.
Will the Blockers (I'm guessing they'll have something like Wrestle) really work with the rest of the team?
To be honest Amazons are (or were if the new roster changes it) pretty much a 'bash' team as well in a lot of respects; it's arguably their most effective style. 'Bretonnians' aren't quite so bashy now that they've become Imperial Nobility in the official rules and even Kislev/Slaan aren't necessarily that agile, Leap just made them able to pull off ridiculous plays if they get lucky with their rolls. Who knows what equivalent (if any) they'll get in any official incarnation.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: My only issue with the Amazons, and it may be a fleeting one, is I can’t readily tell their positionals apart. Probably something that can be learned of course, it’s just not as immediately apparent as other human teams.
Little claws are eagle warriors (line) big claws are piranha (blitz) no claws no snake are panther (block) and no claws with snake are python (throw).
There is a difference between being able to tell the difference in team picture and positionals being obvious during the gameplay. The players (apart from snake lady) look so much alike that I would expect there to be plenty of "I didn't realise she had Guard/Block/Wrestle" moments.
I guess the upside is not being particularly fast paced (you can take your time considering your move, and still complete your turn fairly swiftly), stopping to ask “which one is that again?” isnt going to add much to that.
I suspect it will just be a bit of Getting Used To.
There's a really nice variety of skin tones in the paint job for that team, it would be a good subject for a Warhammer+ Masterclass video GW, hint hint.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: I guess the upside is not being particularly fast paced (you can take your time considering your move, and still complete your turn fairly swiftly), stopping to ask “which one is that again?” isnt going to add much to that.
I suspect it will just be a bit of Getting Used To.
Unless you normally play with a turn timer. I dunno how common that is though.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: I guess the upside is not being particularly fast paced (you can take your time considering your move, and still complete your turn fairly swiftly), stopping to ask “which one is that again?” isnt going to add much to that.
I suspect it will just be a bit of Getting Used To.
Unless you normally play with a turn timer. I dunno how common that is though.
Most tournaments have a set time for the round as a whole and timed turns can (fairly commonly) become a thing if the players/judges don't think the full turns are going to be completed without them (or if requested generally). They're not standard practice otherwise in the tabletop version though in my experience.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: I guess the upside is not being particularly fast paced (you can take your time considering your move, and still complete your turn fairly swiftly), stopping to ask “which one is that again?” isnt going to add much to that.
I suspect it will just be a bit of Getting Used To.
Unless you normally play with a turn timer. I dunno how common that is though.
Still depends on how long you’re given for a turn.
5 minutes? Not enough I’d wager. 15 minutes? Probably doable, but would need you on the ball (Pune!) After all you’ve only a few models, and it’s a game played in your head a turn or three in advance, so you should have some idea of where you need your guys to end up this turn, so they can get the touchdown next turn. Add in turnovers happening at any point, especially if your dice are in a strop, and it’s just not the same time pressure as say, 40K or AoS. So asking “can you remind what’s what?” is less likely to slow things down.
But as others said, a simple colour coding of bases will speed things up nicely.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: After all you’ve only a few models, and it’s a game played in your head a turn or three in advance
Oh, how I wish that was the case in reality, I am still shocked at the amount of people who will start their turn with a good 30 seconds to a minute deciding what to do, even on a kick off.
After my first public tournament I thought I was the weirdo for imagining what I would do right now if their turn ended immediately, and then updating that plan every move they made.
Obviously tricky math options and gut feels mean that there is always time to fall into analysis paralysis but the amount of coaches I have played against who don't even consider planning until it is their turn is the take away I am trying to point out.
After 5 years of co-running a tournament we had to implement 4 minute rounds with timers because some people (far from all of them) were just taking too long agonizing over choices.
People bitched and moaned for the first year and then got over it and we are still going 6-7 years later.
I don't we ever came across people actively trying to burn the opponent's turn with delays on if to use Stand Firm or not, or rolling dramatically slow for armour breaks etc.
A 15 minute turn in BB is rather long for even a semi experienced player. That 4 minutes is probably 'ok' as a benchmark though it really does depend on the context of the turn in general, what teams are involved, when in the game it is etc. If you're playing as, say, Khorne and typically throwing a lot of blocks per turn (which necessitates more dice rolling than other actions, especially when that's increased exponentially by something like Frenzy) then you're probably going to be taking a fair bit longer than, say, Wood Elves who'll often just do the one or two crucial things they need to get sorted on their turn and then dodge away with anyone who's left. Throw Team mate or attempted chain-pushes to get a 1-turn touch down can take a fair bit of mental working out prior to and during a turn to be worth attempting. Again, too many variables to give anything like a sweet spot. Some (very good) players I've been against are just naturally more calculating and ponder for a while. Others can be equally as capable but just take one look at the current layout of the game and shift their models about in seconds.
It is definitely a courtesy to make difference in positionals as clear as possible though and some of the GW sculpts aren't entirely constructive in that regard. They at least have a sense of familiarity though if players are conscious of the current range. The issue can just as easily arise with the sheer diversity of models people will use for Blood Bowl (and quite rightly so, far be it from me to argue against creativity) but it's not always easy or even fun during a 4th tournament game of the day when you're already a bit worn out having to consciously try and remember that your opponent's hippo in a leotard miniature is, in fact, a Khorne Bloodseeker whilst the rhinos in leotards are the Khornegors. I've lost a game because what I thought was a skaven linesman was in fact a gutter runner (and was indeed in range to score) because my opponent was using the plastic plague monk models from Fantasy to represent his entire team and there wasn't any tangible difference in the models. Which is entirely on me; I should have made sure to double check at that point but I just personally think it polite to make it as easy as possible for opponents to distinguish between positions with as many visual prompts as possible (much as I hate the idea of colour coding bases for positions; it ruins the aesthetic coherence of the painted models IMO and actively clashes with how most players denote skills).
With those Amazons, there are some differences between positions but personally I would have wanted a bit more; jaguar pelt headdresses or some dino-bone helmets on the blitzers or something?
I haven't really played much of the table top version of BB, but in the online version I'd always play with a turn timer, perhaps it's less common the TT version.
AllSeeingSkink wrote: I haven't really played much of the table top version of BB, but in the online version I'd always play with a turn timer, perhaps it's less common the TT version.
If you're playing the Cyanide games then they have a turn timer by default (though they can be altered). FUMBBL and the like are similar. Based on my experience it's much less common in tabletop leagues but (as mentioned above) does come in to tournaments for various reasons, albeit it's generally more the exception than the rule.
I DO like her. The teams of sexy female warriors / lizzardmen now have a grumpy hag. Perfection!
She is in theme and absolutely weird looking. As all BB star player minis should be. ( She could also stand in as a amazon trainer)
Mr_Rose wrote: Also, free, ranged hypno gaze (even once per game) is an amazing ability and kinda makes all the restrictions on the snake’s yoink look silly.
It's arguably too good to be honest. Just drop that thing on a ball carrier when their team is chasing the game and it's basically stopping any chance of scoring completely as they lose a complete turn. Hypno-gaze just means they lose Tackle Zones (i.e. you use it to break into a cage); this means that player is completely out of the game on a 2+ for the whole turn. Personally I'd have said just making it exactly like Hypno-Gaze but not needing to be adjacent was strong enough. Some of the Star Player abilities are getting a bit obnoxious and there's a reason a lot of fairly major tournaments are starting to outright ban Stars.
infinite_array wrote: I'm kinda worried about the changing of positionals. We've already got Norse and Bretonnians for "bash" human teams, with Amazons and Kislev/Slann on the "agile" side.
Will the Blockers (I'm guessing they'll have something like Wrestle) really work with the rest of the team?
To be honest Amazons are (or were if the new roster changes it) pretty much a 'bash' team as well in a lot of respects; it's arguably their most effective style. 'Bretonnians' aren't quite so bashy now that they've become Imperial Nobility in the official rules and even Kislev/Slaan aren't necessarily that agile, Leap just made them able to pull off ridiculous plays if they get lucky with their rolls. Who knows what equivalent (if any) they'll get in any official incarnation.
They sent us some mixed signals. They have a quote about Amazons being as fast as elves- which would require at least some major MA buffs to be true.
But they also replaced the Catchers with Blockers, which seems to indicate that they're leaning in to the Amazon's more bashy play style.
(Slann in the current rules are very agile because they were given Pogo Stick rather than Leap- basically they get to continue using the old Leap with Very Long Legs rules. They just aren't as good at passing because they never had a thrower position).
infinite_array wrote: I'm kinda worried about the changing of positionals. We've already got Norse and Bretonnians for "bash" human teams, with Amazons and Kislev/Slann on the "agile" side.
Will the Blockers (I'm guessing they'll have something like Wrestle) really work with the rest of the team?
To be honest Amazons are (or were if the new roster changes it) pretty much a 'bash' team as well in a lot of respects; it's arguably their most effective style. 'Bretonnians' aren't quite so bashy now that they've become Imperial Nobility in the official rules and even Kislev/Slaan aren't necessarily that agile, Leap just made them able to pull off ridiculous plays if they get lucky with their rolls. Who knows what equivalent (if any) they'll get in any official incarnation.
They sent us some mixed signals. They have a quote about Amazons being as fast as elves- which would require at least some major MA buffs to be true.
But they also replaced the Catchers with Blockers, which seems to indicate that they're leaning in to the Amazon's more bashy play style.
(Slann in the current rules are very agile because they were given Pogo Stick rather than Leap- basically they get to continue using the old Leap with Very Long Legs rules. They just aren't as good at passing because they never had a thrower position).
I sort of doubt they'll get an MA buff (hope not) but we'll see what they end up looking like.
Slaan are fairly agile I suppose in that ruleset. Personally I think 4x 2+ Agility Catchers with Pogo is a bit much, even if they are ST2 but then I was never a huge fan of the team concept anyway. If GW ever touch it then presumably it won't be Slaan.
Article with some stats for the Amazon team. They look nice and reinforce my initial desire to get them as a team.
That's quite a departure from their previous rules. Some interesting stuff in there; Skill access might be a key factor in how effective those Blockers/Blitzers are going to be. At the very least it makes Tournament builds for Amazons a bit less predictable (re. boring).
Happily surprised that GW actually included the team profile including the text of the newly introduced Hit and Run rule in the assembly instructions for the Amazon kit.
I bust their chops when they drive into the ditch but I wanted to give them some applause for this move.
So did anyone actually see this dungeon bowl expansion coming? Like, at all? Better be bloody cheap for two teams one sheet of card and a paperback rule book… article here.
Ooh, that's a pleasant surprise - I do very much much enjoy Dungeon Bowl! ^_^ Don't need any of the teams, so they'll be sold off, but new tiles and rules will be most welcome.
zamerion wrote: If someone watch the guerrilla miniatures almanac review, there are two new goblin star players miniatures.
I expect there will be new minis for all of the new star players at some point but it’s good to see some of them are already sculpted.
Edit:
So who on the list is new anyway? Or new to this season, at least.
Puggy Baconbreath – gets a personal re-roll 1/game, same restrictions as a Pro re-roll but it’s automatic
Cindy Piewhistle – can throw two bombs once per game but you have to declare this before making the rolls
Dribl ‘n’ Drull – each get +1 to foul and stab related injury rolls on players they’re both marking
Bilerot Vomitflesh – can vomit 1/game in addition to regular blocks
Ripper Bolgrot – personal re-roll like Puggy but also not stupid or hungry
Nobbla Blackwart – can chainsaw a prone player 1/game, counting as a regular action so no foul rolls
Scrappa Sorehead – 1/game 2+ intercept regardless of modifiers
Withergrasp Doubledrool – counts as having Dodge vs. first block each half
Probably indicates that Cyanide are finally confident of hitting a release date. What state it actually ships in will be interesting.
Also note the cheaper price but GAAS style seasons approach to introducing new teams, not sure what to make of that really. Guess it'll depend on how predatory their season passes are.
Probably indicates that Cyanide are finally confident of hitting a release date. What state it actually ships in will be interesting.
Also note the cheaper price but GAAS style seasons approach to introducing new teams, not sure what to make of that really. Guess it'll depend on how predatory their season passes are.
I pre-ordered the first day I could.
I honestly don't think the season passes are predatory at all for BB3. They are free to every player, and the team for that season os free if you complete it. The only advantage to the paid is earlier access to the team, and some cosmetics.
They made sure to clarify that the season passes are only going to offer additional cosmetics and dice skins.
About as non-predatory as it gets for a seasonal pass model.
Games these days cost several orders of magnitude more money to develop, but the cost to the public has gone down significantly (same number + inflation). Popularity is all well and good but I give game devs some room to make up that margin.
NinthMusketeer wrote: Games these days cost several orders of magnitude more money to develop, but the cost to the public has gone down significantly (same number + inflation). Popularity is all well and good but I give game devs some room to make up that margin.
This is a misleading argument, often put out in bad faith by major games publishers to justify increasing their profits. The video game market is far larger these days than when games prices solidified in the 90s, a successful game will generally sell far more units at the same level of success, as it would back then. Furthermore entry to market is much lower, with Steam's 30% cut (reducing for successful games) still better than the old days of having to produce physical goods, deal with stock management, ship them, give a store a cut and give a major publisher a cut.
I'm not particularly accusing Cyanide/Nacon of anything here, I'll wait to see what their actions are before judging them. However the argument that microtransactions are necessary to fund modern games is nonsense, especially outside of the AAA space.
Londinium wrote: Furthermore entry to market is much lower, with Steam's 30% cut (reducing for successful games) still better than the old days of having to produce physical goods, deal with stock management, ship them, give a store a cut and give a major publisher a cut.
Um, you are aware that publishers are absolutely still a thing? Who do you think funds games, money starved studios?
Also, what steam is doing is absolute parasitism for nothing (these clowns refuse to invest even peanuts of the billions they steal into infrastructure out of greed, resulting in store and item servers constantly clogging and crashing - just watch how the whole gak will become unusable except past midnight once holiday sales will start) and while you do have a point with store cut (though it went to actual, real city location helping local economy, not to double sandwich tax laundry scam in Luxembourg steam pulls) the production of CDs cost cents, and stock/shipping was done by major store networks and wholesalers. Even then, the retail cut wasn't much higher than 30% and covered actual costs (that, again, benefited real economy). Gabe charges ridiculous sums for terrible service to both sides of the deal and does nothing to improve it, spending all his energy thinking how to part gullible teens from their money (people whine about EA and lootboxes but it was valve that really got the practice running with their 'first dose is free' games, then you have monetized user profiles, profile lootboxes, hell, they even tried to monetize free game mods!)
Londinium wrote: Furthermore entry to market is much lower, with Steam's 30% cut (reducing for successful games) still better than the old days of having to produce physical goods, deal with stock management, ship them, give a store a cut and give a major publisher a cut.
Um, you are aware that publishers are absolutely still a thing? Who do you think funds games, money starved studios?
Plenty of indie devs self fund their games, Early Access is a thing, non traditional funders, then you have the new breed of AA/indie publishers like Devolver which offer much better deals than the old major publishers of the 90s/00s, where there were about 15-20 major companies offering crap terms and you had to go to one of them to reach the market. The point wasn't that publishers no longer exist but that the route to releasing a game is far more varied and less exploitative of developers and developer/publisher combined companies, then it was 20 years ago.
Anyone remember those "ooze" toys from the 80's and 90's? Ninja Turtles had "mutagen". The Ghostbuster toys had "Ectoplasm".
Horrible stuff.
It would appear that one of the designers at GW still has nightmares about it, because that's about the only explanation I can give for this new BB mini:
I get that it's meant to be ghostly flames, but that's not what it looks like...
NH Gunsmith wrote: Probably my least favorite Blood Bowl mini to come out in recent years... yikes.
I wonder how it'll look with a good paint job.
Maybe paint the swirly gak as smoke instead of green glowy stuff, or if it is green glowy stuff the model probably needs to be painted in a night time scheme with OSL. Or maybe go for a ghostly scheme a la LOTR army of the dead.
GW's in house painting style looks horrible on certain models, this is one of those certain models. It doesn't look ethereal, it looks like it's trying to escape from a puddle of snot.
