Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

About that list of teams and star players...

So it seems that any star players listed who don't currently have an official model eg. Gretchen Wachter "The Blood Bowl Widow", they will now be getting one?
That's nice.

I realise there will obviously be new star players coming like that zoat and a couple others I've not heard of before. Just thought I'd check, saves me converting my own.

Griff had a better proportionated body and helmet in his artwork.

lost_lilliputian wrote:
About that list of teams and star players...

So it seems that any star players listed who don't currently have an official model eg. Gretchen Wachter "The Blood Bowl Widow", they will now be getting one?
That's nice.

I realise there will obviously be new star players coming like that zoat and a couple others I've not heard of before. Just thought I'd check, saves me converting my own.

Yeah, it was interesting seeing who made it and who didn’t. I for one reckon Ripper Bolgrot should have been there but I just want to know if they give him PA2+ like his fluff says he should have. That said, I’m amazed that Gloriel Summerbloom doesn’t have PA1+ given her background…

Other interesting things:
Scatter, bounce, and deviate are three different ways for the ball to not go where you want it, and get used as keywords all over the place. Kickoffs scatter, dropped balls bounce - these are the same as 3rd/4th/2016 - deviating is D6 squares in a random direction and that’s what happens when you throw a wildly inaccurate pass.

Corner throws are a thing; use the top-left quadrant of the scatter template and a D3 to determine direction.

The Team Special Rules are a weird combination of basically keywords (the different cups/leagues) and actual rules - low cost linemen does exactly what we thought it did, for example - some of which are also used as keywords for various inducements.

Star players play for team keywords now so for example Karla Von Kill plays in the Old World Classic, the Halfling Thimble Cup, and the Lustrian Superleague. Which means she can play on Dwarf and Lizardman teams now.

Speaking of Karla, she has a special version of Dauntless that gives her double the opponent’s S value…

 Mr_Rose wrote:
Speaking of Karla, she has a special version of Dauntless that gives her double the opponent’s S value…

Once per game, but still a spiffy addon to get a safer 2die block off when you really need it.

lost_lilliputian wrote:
About that list of teams and star players...

So it seems that any star players listed who don't currently have an official model eg. Gretchen Wachter "The Blood Bowl Widow", they will now be getting one?
That's nice.

I realise there will obviously be new star players coming like that zoat and a couple others I've not heard of before. Just thought I'd check, saves me converting my own.

I wouldn't expect GW to make all star players, no. It would be much easier for them to cut down the amount. I got rules for 108 star players for BB2016, some new, some old, some modified, some who haven't been re-released yet and some who probably didn't survive the transition to BB2016. I see people saying "Justice 4 Puggy" for example.

The "new and shiny" releases are an effective distraction to all the content we lose. Some is most certainly lost, other is unknown. Maybe we get a temporary "teams of legend" pdf covering the missing teams (like Vampires, Amazons etc), maybe we won't. Maybe they will be delayed until a future Spike some time in the future, maybe they are gone forever. GW never bothered with old and loved gangs for Necromunda, like Spyrers and Redemptionists. Instead, they focus on completely new stuff. In Blood Bowl, they focus on new stuff instead of completeness. What we got now seem to adhere to the "no rules without minis" rule. We get rules for all teams released/revealed, nothing else.

Is it cynical to release a Spike 6 months before a new edition? Everything in it is useless. Why bother making all these rules, hall of fame teams and bonus content when it is 'garbage' in 6 months?

Team's rules are included in their boxes or just straight up revealed in Warcom article. You never need to buy the Spike! magazine for it.

Well, it might easily be another 3-4 months till Blood Bowl hits.

GW revealed it to get on top of the leaks, but specialist games, including previous Blood Bowl editions, have traditionally been November/Christmas-type of games.

Without leaks, there possibly wouldn't have been a Warcom article about any of this before November.

Chopstick wrote:
Team's rules are included in their boxes or just straight up revealed in Warcom article. You never need to buy the Spike! magazine for it.

All team boxes have BB2020 rules and not BB2016 rules? Warcom article reveals Vampire, Amazon, Chorf etc? No, we're getting rules for teams sold in plastic, not rules for teams in the game.

Baxx wrote:

Chopstick wrote:
Team's rules are included in their boxes or just straight up revealed in Warcom article. You never need to buy the Spike! magazine for it.

All team boxes have BB2020 rules and not BB2016 rules? Warcom article reveals Vampire, Amazon, Chorf etc? No, we're getting rules for teams sold in plastic, not rules for teams in the game.

And they will be there when they're out, it's not the end of the world for blood bowl. and so far there're no indication that any team are getting axed, or even Spyrer from Necromunda are "abandoned" They're just slow/lazy, or it's a direct order to withheld making /revealing the rule from GW.

The biggest problem right now is that the price of the new edition starter will be so high that might as well better to stick to the old one or just play the video game for the new edition than supporting the tabletop one

The BB2016 rulebook did not have the rules for legacy teams either, to expect the BB2020 rulebook to do so is unrealistic. I expect a "get you by" pdf for them, then fleshed out versions in future Spikes. just like BB2016 progression really.

Technically, I guess GW can make FAQ /erratas for past Spike! magazine, so that they keep being relevant in the new edition. But I don't know how GW will handle once the new box will be released.

Otherwise, the magazines will still be fun to read for the fluff - rules aren't everything they offered, after all.

My personnal feeling is that we will have new special cards along with the game accessories, as it usually happens with a new edition. Yes, that means more money for GW, but well...that's pretty much the reason of a new edition. And future Spike! magazines will certainly be released next as well.

...Or maybe there will be another BB Almanach this end of the year with the compilation (and update) of some previous rules so that they keep being relevant to the new edition...

Chopstick wrote:

And they will be there when they're out, it's not the end of the world for blood bowl. and so far there're no indication that any team are getting axed, or even Spyrer from Necromunda are "abandoned" They're just slow/lazy, or it's a direct order to withheld making /revealing the rule from GW.

The biggest problem right now is that the price of the new edition starter will be so high that might as well better to stick to the old one or just play the video game for the new edition than supporting the tabletop one

Necromunda is having 18 books, but no sign of the missing gangs. Instead, gangs like Escher and Goliath are being re-released with new version for the 4th or 5th time. Just like Underworlds is on version 2 (for BB2016) and now getting a 3rd version for BB2020.

The price is to no concern to me at all. I'm much more worried about time and rules. I'm not interested in waiting to play a team just because GW decides to ignore it for an unknown amount of years. I'm gonna play the new edition, at least for testing, but not interested in filling up the shelf with books with short expiration dates.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

MaxT wrote:
The BB2016 rulebook did not have the rules for legacy teams either, to expect the BB2020 rulebook to do so is unrealistic. I expect a "get you by" pdf for them, then fleshed out versions in future Spikes. just like BB2016 progression really.

Every team (including Slann) was fully compatible with BB2016. No existing teams are compatible with BB2020. The BB2016 rulebook wasn't a proper rulebook, it was only a beginner's guide covering the contents of the box (and hardly that).

The telling part is that all the Teams/Star Players in the book are those who have models already or had new kits ala the new Necromantic (all except for 4 Star Players; I'd expect those 4 to get models in the not too distant future).

Even staples like Jordall and Puggy aren't in, nor are new ones like Bob who they know are incredibly popularn concepts. This screams to me that they're just tidying up what they already have available (or soon will) and then releasing rules for models as and when they're available. Perhaps they'll do another Teams of Legend as a stopgap?

They know Chaos Dwarfs get asked for all the time. They like money. Maybe not all teams will make the final cut but I'll be very surprised if we don't see the more established (High Elves!!) or popular (Chaos Dwarfs, Norse etc.) down the line along with some new ones.

You know what’s actually kinda neat? The new teams are mostly backwards-compatible. You could totally play most of them in the 2016 rules just by dropping the PA stat. Yeah, stuff like Brawler needs to be edited in but I don’t see any reason the blorcs, nobles and snotlings couldn’t play against 2016 teams if you want to stick with those rules because your favourite team is there already.


That said, we still know absolutely nothing about the actual release other than that it is happening. No dates, no details of the packs or accessories, no confirmation if the new rule book will be available separately even. As such it is far, far too early to declare the sky is falling.

 Mr_Rose wrote:
You know what’s actually kinda neat? The new teams are mostly backwards-compatible. You could totally play most of them in the 2016 rules just by dropping the PA stat. Yeah, stuff like Brawler needs to be edited in but I don’t see any reason the blorcs, nobles and snotlings couldn’t play against 2016 teams if you want to stick with those rules because your favourite team is there already.


That said, we still know absolutely nothing about the actual release other than that it is happening. No dates, no details of the packs or accessories, no confirmation if the new rule book will be available separately even. As such it is far, far too early to declare the sky is falling.

A fan rewriting of the rules to make new teams backwards-compatible would be

Very nice indeed!

Happy to see the rare Star Players survived, like Grak & Crumbleberry and White Dwarf & Black Gobbo. But White Dwaraf & Black Gobbo lost their duality and unique way to show up. Instead, they are paid for like any other star players :(

Just saw that Amazon has a new edition of Matt Forbeck's Blood Bowl Omnibus on pre-order for early December delivery. Not that there was much doubt, but it seems like the guesses about the new game being released in Nov/Dec are likely correct.

BigDaddio wrote:
Just saw that Amazon has a new edition of Matt Forbeck's Blood Bowl Omnibus on pre-order for early December delivery. Not that there was much doubt, but it seems like the guesses about the new game being released in Nov/Dec are likely correct.

I heard those books were fairly decent, I may pick that up.

Disappointed to see the shuffling of star players. White Dwarf now plays for Lizardmen? Any Skaven Star Player also play for Snotlings and Goblins? Instead of including rules for star players they already have made in BB2016 (or older ones before that), they skipped all that doesn't have a miniature. So I expect some teams like Lizardmen who doesn't have any physical Star Players at the moment, got a random selection of others instead? That must be the dumbest foundation to build rules!?!

Baxx wrote:
Disappointed to see the shuffling of star players. White Dwarf now plays for Lizardmen? Any Skaven Star Player also play for Snotlings and Goblins? Instead of including rules for star players they already have made in BB2016 (or older ones before that), they skipped all that doesn't have a miniature. So I expect some teams like Lizardmen who doesn't have any physical Star Players at the moment, got a random selection of others instead? That must be the dumbest foundation to build rules!?!

Hah! Thankfully many third party companies seem to produce alternate star player minis. Shouldn't be too hard to buy or convert a "bearded lizard" to use the White Dwarf on a Lizardmen team. Same with using a small orc to make Skaven minis for Snots or Gobs.

Not ideal, and the league keyword system does seem a bit strange... but in all honesty I would rather they end up with 30-40 workable Star Players with minis, than 100+ without minis that barely see play since they are so team restricted.

Didn't think of that, you are right it opens up new possibilities for conversions!

Yeah, this is not the best solution. It isn't a good situation in current BB2016 with 100+ Star Players either. Some new, some copied from previous edition, some modified and some in limbo (not yet re-released or have silently been axed). I would prefer to have maybe 50-60 star players, with some unique to individual teams (like Skaven only plays for Skaven/Underworld, Orc only play for Orc etc).

The result we see in BB2020 is an early-access release of an unfinished game. Star Players are organized based on what they care to make minis of. GW cared to make a lot of minis for the now numerous human teams, but didn't bother making any for Lizardmen and some other teams. As a result, several Human Star Players now play for Lizardmen.

looking at the orc miniatures, do you think that on any head, the jaw or the mouth guard is optional?

Having read closer on some of the teams, skills and traits (previously extraordinary skills), it is obvious a lot of stuff has changed! Some small changes, some big.

For example Accurate is limited to Quick and Short only. If a Troll eats a Goblin holding the ball (Always Hungry), the ball bounces from the troll (instead of the goblin). Players with Animosity cannot change target if Animosity triggers. Ball & Chain moving into the ball is no longer a turn-over. Claw is no longer modifiable.

All teams have changed in varying degree. The smallest type of changes includes losing access to Passing skills on a double.

Does it strike anyone else as a bit cynical or disingenuous for GW to promote the Snotling team on WarCom with soon to be out-of-date stats/special rules (if the leaked rulebook is to be believed)?

Who's going to buy a Spike Magazine that apparently has "just about to be replaced material?"

Don't get me wrong, I've already started updating my teams...

Anvilbrow wrote:
Does it strike anyone else as a bit cynical or disingenuous for GW to promote the Snotling team on WarCom with soon to be out-of-date stats/special rules (if the leaked rulebook is to be believed)?

Who's going to buy a Spike Magazine that apparently has "just about to be replaced material?"

Don't get me wrong, I've already started updating my teams...

It is classic GW, but to be fair the snotling team was probably supposed to release a long time ago...like shortly after they were announced. The coronavirus put a several months delay on a lot of things. Ideally the snotling stuff would have had a lifespan of 6 months at the very least. But they are at a point where the stuff was produced and instead of binning it they're just gonna release it anyways.

 Thargrim wrote:

Anvilbrow wrote:
Does it strike anyone else as a bit cynical or disingenuous for GW to promote the Snotling team on WarCom with soon to be out-of-date stats/special rules (if the leaked rulebook is to be believed)?

Who's going to buy a Spike Magazine that apparently has "just about to be replaced material?"

Don't get me wrong, I've already started updating my teams...

It is classic GW, but to be fair the snotling team was probably supposed to release a long time ago...like shortly after they were announced. The coronavirus put a several months delay on a lot of things. Ideally the snotling stuff would have had a lifespan of 6 months at the very least. But they are at a point where the stuff was produced and instead of binning it they're just gonna release it anyways.

As much as I would like to complain about GW, I will at least give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a pass on this one the whole Coronapocalypse has likely destroyed their release schedule.

Found out my Dark Elf team I bought stays exactly the same (starting roster wise) going into the new edition. Using it as an excuse to pick up a Lizardmen team as well, since no clue when my Amazons will be updated... that is the reason I am going with, and not just because I want another team...

Found it interesting the Chameleon Skink was turned into a pseudo-Thrower for the Lizards. Guess that is a step up from now, where the Chameleon Skink is just a slower and more expensive Skink that from what I read isn't used much.

Yeah, chameleon skinks are suddenly pretty dang good retrievers in second season edition. Starting throwers with both kick off return and pass block are really nice. In dire need of Pass though. Or maybe Sure Hands.

 NH Gunsmith wrote:

Found out my Dark Elf team I bought stays exactly the same (starting roster wise) going into the new edition. Using it as an excuse to pick up a Lizardmen team as well, since no clue when my Amazons will be updated... that is the reason I am going with, and not just because I want another team...

All teams have changed (in addition to having PA stat), however, for some teams like Dark Elf, the change is very minor. Some players losing access to Passing skill on a double. In your case, it's the Line. Other teams have more impactful changes, like Chaos can now choose between Mino, Ogre or Troll.

I'm gonna update all teams to be useable in the new edition, for example Amazon will gain PA 4+, Blitzer will have PA 5+ and Thrower PA 2+. Line losing access to Passing skills on a double.

The short-lived Snotling rules for BB2016 edition are released. I wonder why Pump Wagons got AV 9, then get reduced to AV 8 in the next BB2020 edition (AV 9+). As far as I remember, no other player in the entire game got armour reduction transitioning into the new edition.

I’m pretty sure that the snotling team will likely sell better than any other team.

The fun and conversion potential is just too high.