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Hey guys, first of all sorry for the lack of updates on my other blog lately. I'm in the middle of exams and fighting a war with my college to get them to get their act together (I'm student welfare officer).

Anyway, as I have not had the time during this period to work on my armies proper, I needed an easier project. The notion was to paint and game with a small skirmish force. Originally this was going to be an attempt to kick start my old Mordheim campaign I ran a couple of years ago. Then something wonderful happened - I rediscovered Bloodbowl!

Coming back to the game after so longis tricky, and what I am planning makes it even more so. I'm starting not one or two but three teams! On top of this there will b a project to model a custom pitch, set up a league and hopefully actually win a few games. The reason for picking three teams is that I want to try lots of different styles and enjoy the modelling challenge. Obviously my first team will be Chaos Dwarfs, the others will comprise an orc team and to contrast both of these a quick running team of dark elves. Anyway, here we go.

The team compositions go as follows:

Chaos Dwarfs                Orcs               Dark Elves
1. Chaos Dwarf Blocker   1. Thrower   1. Blitzer
2. Chaos Dwarf Blocker   2. Thrower   2. Blitzer
3. Chaos Dwarf Blocker   3. Blitzer      3. Blitzer
4. Chaos Dwarf Blocker   4. Blitzer      4. Blitzer
5. Bull Centaur              5. Blitzer      5. Assasin
6. Bull Centaur              6. Blitzer      6. Assasin
7. Minotour                  7. Black Orc  7. Runner
8. Hobgoblin                 8. Black Orc  8. Runner
9. Hobgoblin                 9. Black Orc  9. Witch Elf
10. Hobgoblin              10. Black Orc 10. Lineman
11. Hobgoblin              11. Lineman   11. Lineman
12. Hobgoblin              12. Lineman   1 fan factor
13. Hobgoblin              2 re-rolls
1 Re-roll

As you can see I've gone for as many specialists early on as I can. This is because a) I want to try as many tactics as possible b) the number of skills these guys have should help forgive my early mistakes and c) Its fun to model specialists.

So far as modeling goes I've already converted the six hobbos for my chaos dwarf team, four of which are painted. The parts for the orcs and dark elves are on order. The Chaos Dwarfs themselves are all going to be original sculpts, and work is progressing on them. Pictures are on their way, I need to steal my camera back from a friend.

Until next time, Nuffle bless your dice

Unless you are playing a Halfling Team with a master chef, having more re-rolls is an absolute must in BB.

trouble with CDs is that re-rolls are so expensive and I need subs as I don't have the unds for an apocathary. I may cut the minotour out of the team and add another re-roll and a blocker. As far as the dark elf team goes I know I've taken a gamble picking 11 players and so many specialists early, but a) I need the team to skill up quickly and b) I want to field a dark elf team not just expensive elves, so for now the linemen are out

UPDATE:
Okay, after taking advice, I've changed the team compositions a little to reflect what I've been told. First up, the minotour is gone and is replaced by another chaos dwarf blocker and a second re-roll. With the dark elves I've taken Geckilian's advice and droped the witch elf, replacing her and the point of fan factor I took with a linesman and a re-roll.

Here are the new teams:

Chaos Dwarfs                             Dark Elves
1. Chaos Dwarf Blocker      1. Blitzer
2. Chaos Dwarf Blocker      2. Blitzer
3. Chaos Dwarf Blocker      3. Blitzer
4. Chaos Dwarf Blocker      4. Blitzer
5. Chaos Dwarf Blocker      5. Assasin
6. Bull Centaur                 6. Assasin
7. Bull Centaur                 7. Runner
8. Hobgoblin                    8. Runner
9. Hobgoblin                    9. Lineman
10. Hobgoblin                  10. Lineman
11. Hobgoblin                  11. Lineman
12. Hobgoblin                  1 re-roll
13. Hobgoblin              
2 Re-rolls, 1 fan factor

I've also managed to round up some guys to play some friendly games, with a view to a league. I shall hopefully be letting you know how the teams progress - and posting a few match reports - in the not too distant future. I've now recieved the half the parts I want for my orc team, I'm waiting on a space ork sprue and the bitz for my dark elf linesmen. Not sure what I'm going to do for the assasins and bull centaurs yet...

Looks good. re-rolls are criticals so never underestimate their importance.

Be careful with the DE Team, they are a tricky team to play.

TBH the dark elves were a bit of a vice (appropriately) as I had an idea for converting them. That idea has now been changed since I saw the new dark elf range, as I figure a blood bowl team is an excellent excuse to get a few f the new models. My original idea was to use dark eldar with dark elf heads. I'm now going to use that for my free elf team (modelling purposes only) with a mix of different elf and eldar heads

I have never played Blood Bowl - but in the last few weeks I have found myself - downloading LRB v 5.0, surffing on various BB sites and bidding on 2ed models, a playing pitch and dice at eBay ... (didn't win though).

All 'thanks' to you - and that awesome show off work from Geckilian and Willmark

Is there a cure for this? As I really don't need another project (- but I don't think I can control it).

I will follow this thread closely.

I started writing this: "You've underestimated the value of fan factor!  A high fan factor will easily pay for itself over a few games.  Drop a CD blocker for it"

Then I had a look at talkbloodbowl, and it seems that the new rules (that I've nevr played under) a low FF is a better investement so you can stick it in players, even a zero FF.

UPDATE

Okay, after an enforced period away from my projects I've got some more work done. The Chaos Dwarf team is progressing nicely. The hobbos are done, and pic will be up soon. The sculpts are coming on nicely. One is almost finnished, and simply needs hands adding and a little work on one arm. Two others now have the main body completed just need their arms and heads adding. The last two are still armatures. WIP shots as well as a "how I made 'em" feature will be included in my next post. The orcs too are well on the way, with one thrower, two blitzers and three black orc blockers almost ready to go. I just need a new chaos black to touch up some areas and then they're gonna be thrown out on the pitch.

Finally, I've come up with names for my teams. I decided to name each one after a super 14 franchise. For those who don't know, this is a rugby tournament contested each year between teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Thus we now meet the Darklands Bulls, Har Ganeth Stormers and Orc team Da Chiefs all setting out to make an impression on the Carroburg Cup. I'm playing a practice match with my friend's orc team against his humans next week, so I'll let you know how I got on

<<Seconded. All this BB hype is making me want to go trawlin in the attic for my metal orc team and Rulebook. Anybody know if they're still usable or is there a different rule set now?

UPDATE: 3rd SEPTEMBER 2008
Request granted Kera!

Okay, first up come Da Chiefs. The Super14 team have black as their main colour with yellow as a secondary colour andred flashes, so I borrowed this colour scheme (ish) for my orcs. This also makes them stand out from my Fantasy army and my space orks. I've got some nice scary black orc blockers to hold the line of scrimmage and crack a few opposition heads. There's another one of these guys to follow pretty soon. I've always liked Black Orcs, they strike me as the props of the bloodbowl world, and who doesn't like those cuddly front row cavemen?


There are some other orcs to come as well. These are slightly more WIP but are painted to gaming standard. So from left to right (first picture) Here come a blitzer, lineorc and a thrower. The lineorc obviously needs basing and the thrower is going to have a pigskin added to his hand once I've ordered another pack. These guys give a pretty good idea of where I'm taking the team modeling-wise


Next up are the Darklands Bulls. I thought the Bulls' blue kit would make my hobbos look too much like night goblins, so I've stuck with the scheme from my WFB army. The chaos dwarfs will have a different scheme to the main army, which you will see in a future update. There are six hobbos in the team - four in the starting XI plus two reserves. If I need speed one or both of these may be swapped with a blocker. anyway here they all are


Finally, here's a special preview. My chaos dwarf blockers have progressed well, and are nearly done. However, they will be featuring in my next post, entitled "How to scratch sculpt Chaos Dwarf Blockers, by AGPO." As this will be rather a large post I don't want to spoil it for you all (it'll probablly be all there is in my next update ) so for now heres a shot of some models at four different stages. Hopefully this'll whet your appitites:

Awesome, AGPO - they look very, very nice. And for what I can see great sculpts and paintjobs too. Would have loved bigger pictures though

This, really makes me want to have a go for BB.

Thy're not night gobbos Kera, they're hobgoblins! There's no nightgobbos in bloodbowl which is why I nicked the minis for my chaos dwarf team

UPDATE 29TH OCTOBER 2008

Only a little update, but a perfectly formed one. There has been a slight change of plan. Instead of posting my sculpting article in my blog, I've decided to submit it for the next issue of Word of Hashut. However, seeing as you've all been so patient I've decided to preview a few photos of one of the finished models here. There'll be more to come after WoHIII goes out. Anyway, here's one of my blockers with a hobbo in the last shot for comparison:






Well its been a long time coming but myself and my fellow players finally got enough models to start some warm up games. Next week I'm going to be playing a couple of sevens games against an orc team and a team of humans. The beauty of sevens is that you can play it in next to no time at all, so we can get our games in before the rugby or a night out

Looks goo but the photos are a bit dark, can you get some more light on the front of them?

UPDATE 6/6/09

Well its been a while... anyway since I last posted stuff has hapened on the bloodbowl front.

We've got nine players together to form a league. The idea is to run three month seasons along the lines of the 'real' blood bowl season, and have two competitions; a cup and a league. Cup games will follow a specific pattern with a group stage followed by elimination. League games are unlimited but you have to play everyone at least once. I'll post the full structure we'll be following in a later post, but first up I have WIP pics of my fully assembled orc team.

The blitzers got the most heavily armoured bitz I could use from the space ork and orc warriors sprues. I weanted one with a bare head simply because it fitted the dashing image of blitzers and i reckon he wants to be recognised by the fans (orc heads are tougher than steel anyway)


I've added a second plastic blocker to go with the others. These guys are my favourite orc players and I think the new blorc models have done them justice.


The throwers have had spikes added to their shoulders to make them look 'a bit more Blood Bowl.' I'm interested to see how they do  but they give me some flexibility, especially once I train up some catchers.


Last but not least are my two grunts.. ahem I mean linemen. These guys are often underestimated but they've got pretty good base stats. I'll probablly add some goblins to the team as well as another lineman. Trolls suck IMHO.

As we agreed to use two seperate teams for the cup and the league, Da Force (my orcs) will play in the World's Edge Superleague while the Darklands Bulls will take part in the Carroburg Cup. It's this way round purely because I haven't finished the cahos dwarfs yet and the first round of cup games isn't for a few weeks. Anyway, here's a better picture of the blocker:


I've played my first game with the orcs (match report to come) and I'll keep you updated with league progress as and when games are played (I'm co-commisioner)

Thanks Kera, its good to be back. Anyway I have a nice long holiday stretching in front of me now... more miniatures I think!

UPDATE 27/7/09

A lot has happened in my coaching careersince we last spoke. I played my first game, my friends and I have arranged a regular tournament and of course I've completed some more models.

As I'm guessing most of you are impatient and will skip straight to the shiny pictures, I'll get the models out of the way first.

First up are a couple of models I made just for fun. The first of these is a human coach, and the second is a skaven lineman:






Next up, I must announce a little change of plan. You see I've changed my mind slightly and whilst making a mock up for my dark elf team (shown here)...

I started experimenting with some high elf bitz I had lying around. Before you knew couldsay 'treachery' the Har Ganeth Stormers had been shelved and the Caledor Dragons had been born:



The first picture shows my thrower and the first of the linemen, whilst the second shows two catchers. Three of the models have started to be basecoated (the armour will be a very polished golden colour eventually) and the team will be taking to the pitch in the not-too distant future.

But now to matters on the pitch. My friend Jake and I recently took to the pitch for the first time to help lauch the first season of the newly formed Worlds Edge Superleague (more on this later.) Jake was using his human team Wolfenburg AFC whilst I led my newly completed orc team Da Chiefs. Both of us being new to the game there were a fair few tactical errors, but far more twists and turns and I think its fair to say we're both now hooked on Blood Bowl.

As I mentioned in the introduction, myself and eight friends have decided to form a new league. In fact that's not strictly true as we've decided to form two competitions - the World's Edge League plus the Carroburg Cup competition. There were two resons for this. Firstly, none of us could decide which team to play as and many of us had more than one team in our collection. Secondly (and far more importantly) there was a disparency between the number of games each coach could commit to play. Thus we came up with a plan:

The league itself would be played in three month seasons, each coach had to play each other coach at least once in the course of the season, but other than that they culd play as many games as they could fit in. At the end of the season the two coaches with the best win ratios would contest the final. The cup would haveset fixtures, with three groups of three, with the three group winners and bst runner up proceeding to the semis and then the final. There would also be a third place play off, plus a 'plate' final between the other two runners up and a round robin 'bowl' competition between the three that finished bottom. That way everyone got one or two games on Cup Final day. League and cup games couldbe played on a single night, with two coaches playing with both their teams. I'll give you regular news on the league standings in my updates.

Until next time,
AGPO

P.S. Feedback is much appreciated

Thanks Kera,

the league is progressing nicely now, although cup games are having to be scheduled during weekends back from uni. I'm thinking of bringing my teams up here as I currently live in Lenton - about a 20min walk from GW HQ. I can't bring up my entire collection (besides which I have no time to game or paint) but to get my teams photographed in the Warhammer World Stadium would be pretty awesome.

UPDATE!: 27th FEBRUARY 2010

The first season actually had to be extended, as with uni and work commitments, it proved impossible for all the coaches to get together for all our games within the three month period. However, both the league and cup have now concluded with finals day being a cracking gathering with lots of merriment over the christmas period (yes I know this is a late update!). I'll give you the cup update first.

Carroburg Cup - Season I
The group stages were hard fought, with two groups being incredibly hard fought. My Chaos Dwarfs, the Darklands Bulls, were part of a group with a human team, the Carroburg Crusaders, and an Orc team, Da Bandits. This group was pretty close, but I eventually came out ahead with two wins, one draw and a loss, my one defeat coming to the crusaders.

Group two came right down to the wire, With every team winning two games, and the final game ending in a draw. The Nuln Arsenal (a human team) won the group on touchdown difference with second placed team the Gorkers going through as best runner up. My friend Paul borrowed my half finished high elf team for the cup and was unlucky to finish bottom of the tightest group.

Group one saw the Charace Lions (Elf) race ahead winning all their pool games. Chaos team the Skulltakers came second by not conceeding quite as many touchdowns to the elves, whilst the Altdorf Eagles came bottom and were done for the season.

All this meant I'd be taking on another human team in my semi, with me facing the Arsenal whilst the Lions and the Gorkers took each other on. Sad to say I lost my semi-final 1-2. It was a tight game, and whilst my defence was pretty tight, I lacked the ability to score against a very well coached side. Their coach had skilled his players up well, and a strong group performance.

The second semi though, was a real humdinger. After streaking ahead to 3-0, the Lions were dragged back to 3-3 by a very aggresive Gorker's side. The game went into extra time, with a very violent game meaning the Lions and Gorkers were down to six and seven players respectively. A brilliant double team tackle from the Lions blitzer and two linemen released their catcher to run the ball in and score.

So it would be an Arsenal-Lions final, but the post game from the semis was still to have a big impact. The Arsenal's large squad was pretty much intact, but the Lions really suffered, losing two players permanently with their star thrower out for the game.

The final itself was a tad of an anti-climax. The Lions' small squad was punished by the Arsenal who took two players out in the first drive. This meant the Lions, with no subs were outnumbered heavily for the entire game and fell to a heavy 4-1 defeat.

Meanwhile the Lions did me a big favour going into the third place playoff, with the Gorkers missing a couple of very experienced players. In the end my defensive skills showed through and I didn't conceed, my bull centaurs running in a touchdown a piece. Meanwhile the Crusaders beat the Skulltakers 1-0 in an attritional Plate final, wilst the Dragons made up for their last place group finish by thrashing the Banditz 4-0 in the Bowl final.

World's Edge Superleague - Season Review
Well 53 games were played, and at the end of the season it was impressed on me exactly how much a season can be decided by the little things. In my penultimate game against Dwarf team Altdorf Dawi, one of my hobgoblins fumbled on his 'go for it' roll needing the extra point of movement to score on the final drive. Had I got it the game would have been drawn and I'd have finished top of the table. As it was I finished third again, and the final was contested by first place Kurgan Raiders and second placed Pine Crags Warhawks, a Norse and Wood Elf team respectively. It was a close game with both sides having a lot of firepower, but ultimately it was the Warhawks who took the League title by winning 3-2. Unlike the cup final both teams were at almost full strength for this one, and the two most experienced players in the league gave s a worthy final. Catcher Leith Twelvetrees of the Warhawks got Player of the Final, whilst my orc Blitzer Urg Legripper got Player of the Season.

Final League table

Champions: Pine Crag Warhawks (Wood Elf)
Runners Up: Kurgan Raiders (Norse)
Third: Da Chiefs (Orc)
Fourth: Under Empire Cheetahs (Skaven)
Fifth: Stade Quinelles (Human)
Sixth: Altdorf Dawi "The Exiles" (Dwarf)
Seventh: Wolfenburg AFC (Human)
Eighth: Sea Dragons BB (Dark Elf)
Ninth: World's Edge Sabretusks (Ogre)

My Season in Review
Well ultimately for my first season I can be pretty pleased to have earned two third place finishes. Ultimately Mark and Dan, our two champions, deserved their victories. It should be noted that not only did Mark's Nuln Arsenal team win the cup, but his Norse team the Raiders finished top of the regular season table as well. I'll be sticking with both my present teams for the coming season, although a few players have decided to start from scratch with new sides. The new season is already a few games in but being at uni I haven't had the oppertunity to play any games yet. I am however in the final stages of finishing off the game report I promised ages ago. As with my other projects its been abandoned to studying for the moment.