Blood Bowl – For the love of the game

Blood Bowl was my first love in tabletop wargames, and by that has a nearly untouchable stand in my collection. It was one of the easiest to write the evaluation about, and I set up a "new" season / franchise back last year when I completed my collection from the third edition (1994 to 2000).

I stay with the nostalgia and will keep it with the third edition teams, miniatures and rules. In addition with having Blood Bowl gifted to me on Christmas 1996, during that time, for a few seasons, I watched the World League of American Football, later NFL Europe, with my dad on a regular basis.

We drove up to Düsseldorf to see Rhein Fire. And you can imagine, that all that very American entertainment, prior and during the game, along with having Blood Bowl at home, being able to be creative on a small scale, with your own team and so on, really got me hooked. The matches at the Rheinstadion were a very special experience, as we had VIP / Press tickets for two or three years.

And I like these fact books, with the introduction of the teams, as it is very, very similar to how Games Workshop covered the teams in their rulebook back in the day. How many people would fit into the stadium, hall of fame players and so on. So, with having my collection on the third edition complete, it was clear for me, this something where my inner lore-master could go absolutely bonkers and write up a lot of narrative and background on the teams and everything around them.

As in Blood Bowl's own timeline, in 2489 the NAF (Nuffle Amorical Football) collapses, the tabletop players are encouraged to set up their own leagues, set in that Old World universe, with own franchises, teams and so on. And that is something I would like to pick up and will do the coverage on this project, for the league itself and especially the teams in a story driven way.

It is 2493 in the Old World and we're here today in Altdorf, having Rarcel Meif, former Blood Bowl player himself and nowadays Cabalvision Blood Bowl commentator and columnists for the BLITZ! magazine, and he will interview Dwight D. Durr'den, the Third, about his plans for a new franchise and possibly becoming the next league commissioner.

Rarcel Meif: Thank you very much Mr. Durr'den for your time. You are a great enthusiast for the ol' pig skin. Let us know, what are your plans to pick the game up again?

Dwight D. Durr'den, the Third: No, Rarcel, thank you for your interest. Blood Bowl is a people's sport. It keeps them happy - even in difficult times. That means, we have an obligation to those people, be it humans, elves, dwarves or those pesky goblins, to start up the leagues again. And I have already reached out and spoken to some of the team owners, nobility and local authorities. They liked what I had to say - I can be very persuasive.

RM: Oh, that sounds very interesting Mr. Durr'den. Are they already some names, that you can talk about? Who's backing your idea of this new league, or even leagues?

DDD3rd: Blood Bowl is a very competitive sport, so a few things still have to be dealt with. We have strong interest from some areas, where two or even more teams want to join. I back the idea of the new league with my own money. As some of you know, I am heir of a trading company, based in Marienburg and warehouses in harbours all over the known world, so gold crowns and connections for more investors like Reik Metall from Nuln, Morrslieb Tobacco and multiple beverage companies like Nesquiq! or Carsteiner Brewing Company.

RM: That is some money you raised there, Mr. Durr'den. Any information on the schedule or format of the league?

DDD3rd: We set up a division, with starting slots for 6 teams, and secured the renowned stadium here in Altdorf for the final game, the Citadel. A construction company for fortresses and other defensive buildings called, Crafted by Halflings And Ogre Strong - BUNKERs, or short C.H.A.O.S.BUNKER, will be the main sponsor and give the league its name - Chaosbunker Bloodbowl League (CBL). In two or three years, we aim for the league to cover two divisions, with large play-offs and even a cup side-event across both divisions. To make it more interesting for the audience and restrict the amount of bribery and corruption - aside from the regulated bribery and corruption - donations welcome, send me messenger or carrier eagle afterwards - we limit the participation to one team per race.

RM: Ah! CHAOSBUNKER, I have heard of them, they built some of the strongholds for the Border Princes and from what I heard, they even managed to sign some of the dwarven engineers from Karak Hirn. How do you intend to choose, which team from each tribe, race or nation will participate?

DDD3rd: That is them, exactly. About the teams, there are different approaches, depending on the teams' background. Some decided to go for an all-star approach, putting their best players in one team, others are currently running qualifiers and will send the winners into the league. Currently the owners of three Chaos Teams are on their way to an oracle, after worshipping their gods, to see who of them will be blessed by the dark gods and send into CBL.

RM: That is a great transition to switch to the studio and have Hank introduce these three teams! Thank you, Mr. Durr'den for your time and we hope to see you again soon!

I think after the starter box, the Chaos Allstars were the next team that I bought (after some star players for the humans and orcs), and in the early 2000's, I got a larger lot from a stock cleaning, a couple of teams, a lot of booster and almost all of the star players for a really, really good price. That set me up with about half of the available teams back then and I completed these since 2017, beginning with the Halflings via made-to-order, and closing it with the Wood Elves in October of 2020, only leaving me with some positionals to get, who I got over the last two years.

The new league will be starting with a repaint of my Chaos team. I have the box of the Chaos Allstars, the mutated players, Borak and a big guy - a full roster.

I started painting them a long time ago, and it shouldn't take that much to complete them with the base colours on there already. But I used Dragoncolour primer on these, a product that I received in 2008 for a review, and that didn't stick that properly to the miniatures and here and there the whole paint job was rubbing off, even without using these in games or even being handled. We start with the basics, as I didn't use custom bases, I went with one of the oldest tricks in the book, skewing the tab with a pair of plyers and have the miniature stick by tension in the base. Because of that I could pull them off with a bit of elbow grease, without destroying the bases and reusing them.

I put them in a jar, with some stripping agent, I have a few different fluids for that job, depending on material and so on, but as this is a light coat and pure metal, I went with brush cleaner and left it there overnight. Do this in a well-ventilated area, as the fumes can go to your head. I have a flat container with a bit of soap water and take the miniatures with a pair of tweezers out of the jar, put them in the pan and scrub them down with an old tooth brush, medium hard. I recommend to use rubber gloves, as having your hands in liquids for so long, especially with the contact to (diluted) thinner, brush cleaner etc. will mess with the top layer of your skin.

As you can see, with medium effort, a proper base for the repaint. I will need to give them another go with a file, as there are mould lines and some casting drippings that I missed the first time (as you can see on the Chaos Warriors foot and left hand of the minotaur). 10 Beastmen, 4 Chaos Warriors, Borak the Despoiler (Star player) and minotaur / Grashnak Blackhoof (either Big Guy or Star player) is pretty maxed out, from starting roster to a proper team of all-stars.

Just the question, what to go for? Devote the team to one of the Chaos Gods, along with matching colours. Recreate one of the legacy teams or create my own? And I would like to tie you in in the decision.

• Option a) Chaos Allstars. It is a great name, but I wouldn't want to go with the old idea, more of a revamp of the 3rd edition. But a proper WHFB 4th/5th edition paint job, like the old Chaos Knights, a vivid red and black, with gold trim.
• Option b) Mordheim Marauders. Alliterations underline that 90s sport team vibe. Mordheim as a broken city, makes perfect sense for a Chaos team to be that close and centred within the Old World. And a combination of brown and the really bright green would catch the colours of the Mordheim, provide a good contrast and certainly not cross with any other team colours, beside Skaven maybe.
• Option c) Praag Raiders. Combination of the city name and the mascots makes sense, yet, as Engra was an undivided champion, as far as I know, is only shown in dark grey or black with gold. No vivid colours, so I'd probably go with something like a very dark purple and gold for contrast.

A) B)   C)

What's your favourite? After that choice is done, next steps are a Logo and some background information (similar to the stats on Rhein Fire above), but roughly this information;

Name:
Colours:
Home Stadium: (zz.zzz capacity, surface: )
Management / Owner:
Head Coach:
Health (Apothecarius):
Cheerleaders:
Motto / Chant:

Team
Honours:
Hall of Fame:

And as I said, I want to set do-able goals. A team, just the team, no coaches, cheerleaders and so on, is set as project for a quarter. The first step will make it possible for me to play with others, with more teams added to the pool, giving us more variation for meet-ups.