Blitz Bowl Season 2 News Incoming!

Games Workshop recently updated its Blitz Bowl page with Season 2 information.  What have we newly learned?  Plenty:

• Confirmed team cards not only include the Humans, Dwarfs, and Wood Elves, but now the Undead as well,
• A paper pad with a team roster and "Coach Traits" is included (could this indicate campaign rules?),
• Additional block dice are included (might a coach be able to roll more than two block dice?), and
• Two new pitches, in different configurations are included.

Along with previous news of "Ball" cards, there is more and more indication that Blitz Bowl Season 2 is much more than a simple rehash of the original Blitz Bowl with one team swapped out.

The website also states that Blitz Bowl will be sold in Barnes & Noble stores.  The game is not available for preorder, but should be very soon.

Even better, it's been announced that the review copies of Blitz Bowl have just now been mailed out (along with the Rise of the Orks and Crypt Hunters games).  This means that we should be receiving full spoilers for Blitz Bowl Season 2 in just a few days....

Blitz Bowl Season 2 Will Contain Wood Elf Team Cards

Back in February, Games Workshop announced "Blitz Bowl Season 2" at the New York Toy Fair. 

But only recently user "Stance_Aquadown" in The Crush! Blitz Bowl Podcast's Discord channel astutely discovered that a previously released photo confirms that Wood Elf Team cards will be included in the box.  This provides even more hope that Nurgle, Lizardmen, or other unreleased teams may show up when Season 2 releases. 

If past timing is any indication, Blitz Bowl Season 2 could be up for pre-order in only a few weeks.  The first Blitz Bowl was previewed at the New York Toy Fair on March 1, 2018 and was first available for purchase at Gen Con 2018 (in August of that year).  It became available for pre-order (from Barnes and Noble stores) in early August.  It later was released for purchase in early September 2018.

Blitz Bowl - Chaos Dwarfs

I recently started painting up small batches of three miniatures for use in a mini-Blitz Bowl variant I've been using to teach the Blitz Bowl mechanics to new players.  These three Chaos Dwarfs are actually the Black Rock Dwarves from Impact! Miniatures, sculpted by Ramsay McPherson. I painted them with a basic color scheme. Then I dipped them and used a metallic Sharpie to highlight the silver parts.

The Chaos Dwarfs faced the Dark Elves in a 3 on 3 match and were promptly defeated by their agile and cruel opponents.  For their draft rules, I gave the Chaos Dwarf linemen Move 4, Throw 5+, Armour 3+, along with a "Thick Skull" special rule, similar to the "Indomitable" revision in the Santa Cruz Blitz Bowl League (SCBBL) Official ​Unofficial​ Rules Document: "This player cannot be Knocked Down. If they would be, make an armor check for them.  If it is passed, they remain standing, but fumble the ball (if they are carrying it). If it fails, they are Injured as normal.".

Blitz Bowl: Game State Puzzle (Humans and Goblins)

"The Crush" podcast has a "game-state-puzzles" channel on their Discord channel.  I recently added a game state puzzle featuring Humans and Goblins:

All players on the board are shown. You are the Humans and it's the start of your turn, challenge cards are as shown. Maximize the expected value of points this turn. Let's go with regular 3 point touchdowns. 

Extra Credit #1: If you could replace one of the cards with "Break Some Bones!", 1) would you, and if yes, 2a) which one would you replace, and 2b) how does that impact your solution (expected value of points this turn)?

A number of great responses were provided, but the best and most comprehensive was given by LanguiDude (Dan), who took a very scholarly approach writing out a complete examination of the puzzle.  Here is his fun and well-thought-out analysis:

Game State Challenge #1: Extra Credit
Or: On Swapping In Break Some Bones, A Treatise

It is assumed that if you are reading this essay, you are familiar with Mezmaron's Game State Challenge #1, on the Discord channel for the Blitz Bowl podcast: The Crush! The question posed was "would you swap in Break Some Bones (BSB) for one of the cards given? If so, which card, and how does that impact your expected points?" For a definitive answer, I will first address the scenario without a swap, then I will assess each card, one after the other. I will make one dangerous assumption for this essay: everything goes according to plan. (Ignore that sound, it is merely Nuffle’s laughter…)

Let’s begin by discussing the basic scenario, without swapping in Break Some Bones! As [@SC Matt] and I both agree, the best way this turn could play out is by Marking with the open Lineman to score Tie Them Up! (+2 points, and Inspiration.) Then Sidestep with the Catcher to gain Go Deep! (+2 points.) Finally, attempt a Throw with the Thrower to be received by the Catcher. Using a combination of luck and Raw Talent (and potentially Inspiration, if things go kind of wrong) this should result in scoring Show Us a Completion (+1 point and an additional +2 for a Clean Sweep), and a touchdown (+3 points.) Given this sequence of events, I will have scored a whopping 10 points! As long as my score was equal to or greater than my opponents, this will give me a Sudden Death victory. But even if I'm behind, I'll have closed the gap significantly...

Before discussing the cards I'd actually swap, let's discuss how I would score BSB. This doesn't change from one scenario to the next, so it will provide a convenient shorthand for when I say "score BSB." In every case, I will block with the Lineman Assisted by the Catcher. This will give me two blocking dice to roll, and as every roll results in a Knock Down (with the exception of the dreaded Double Skull!) I have a 35/36 chance of knocking down the Goblin. Finally, because Goblins have armor 6+, the odds of not scoring BSB is 1/216, or ~.4%. [Permit me, dear reader, to point out that I got a solid C in statistics.]

In addressing the cards individually I will discuss them in the order I would least like to swap them. First: Go Deep! Because Go Deep! has Raw Talent on the back (and I really like Raw Talent to increase my odds at a successful completion/touchdown combo), this is the card I'd be least likely to swap. Nevertheless, this is what the turn would look like given this swap. [Remember our assumption: everything goes according to plan.] First move, I'd mark with the open Lineman to score Tie Them Up (+2 points, and Inspiration). Then I'd score BSB (as outlined in the above paragraph) for +3 points. Finally, I'd attempt the pass/touchdown combo, scoring Show Us A Completion (+1 point, and +2 for Clean Sweep), and a touchdown using Catcher’s Instincts (+3 points) for a total of 11 points.

Next, Tie Them Up! Originally, I had thought I would least like to swap this card. Even if I didn't use the bonus play - Inspiration - this turn to score a touchdown, it would certainly come in handy in the future. After considering how important Go Deep! is to the round, however, it is clear that this card is not as important as Go Deep! in regards to the turn in discussion. With Tie Them Up gone, I no longer need to spend my first action marking with my lineman. So my first action will be to score BSB (+3 points). Then I would Run the Catcher next to the endzone, which would get me Go Deep! (+2 points and Raw Talent). Finally, I would attempt the pass, to score Show Us A Completion (+1 points, and Clean Sweep +2 points), then get the touchdown with Catcher's Instincts (+3 points). Total points scored: 11. This is a fine place to be in, and as I have a shot at Blocking Play, it's not the worst card to trade.

Finally, let's discuss Show Us A Completion! This would be my preferred card to Trade for BSB. Namely because it yields the greatest increase in points. (2 points net, to be precise.) While it’s a little tricky to pull off the Clean Sweep in this configuration, I will attempt to show that it’s no trickier than the basic scenario. The first move is still Tie Them Up. The two remaining cards are Go Deep, and BSB. If I Go Deep with my catcher right now, I'm left attempting BSB without assistance. This isn't the worst move ever, but it's definitely risky. So the second move is to score BSB. To wrap it up, I score the final card, Go Deep, and get the clean sweep. All that’s left is the touchdown. Given our initial assumption, “everything going to plan” in this case means I have Inspiration from Tie Them Up, and Raw Talent from Go Deep., and can still score a touchdown with my fourth action, passing the ball to the Catcher, and using Catcher's Instinct to finish the play. Whichever way I play it out, if all goes according to plan, I will have scored an admirable 12 points.

All of these swaps have potential for an increase in points. However, the first two, as I mentioned above, are significantly worse than Show Us A Completion. Tie Them Up and Go Deep both are "automatic" point-earners, in that they don't rely on you rolling anything. So I would not choose to swap either of those for BSB. Which leaves SUAC. As SUAC is arguably a more difficult card to guarantee than BSB, I would definitely trade this card, if I had to trade a card. That being said, the fact that I can only get a Clean Sweep and a touchdown by getting Inspiration (and it’s only a 50% chance, at that) I would much rather keep the initial scenario as presented.

I hope to propose additional game-state puzzles soon.  I believe they really demonstrate that Blitz Bowl, although simple to learn, offers much more strategy, analysis, and complexity than first meets the eye. This "easy to learn and difficult to master" aspect is one thing I love about the game of Blitz Bowl.

Blitz Bowl - Challenge Card (and Endgame Challenge Card) Cheat Sheet Updates

In Episode 8 of the "The Crush", Matt and Jody examined the Endgame Challenge Deck and their associated Bonus Plays.  I have now updated the Challenge Card cheat sheet to include Endgame Challenges and their classifications.  In addition, the cheat sheet now lists the points associated with scoring each card.

The image is optimized for 5x7 printouts and can easily and cheaply be printed out on photo paper (from Costco Photos, etc.) for a simple hardcopy reference.

Blood Bowl: Repainted and Re-based 3rd Edition Dwarf Grudgebearers from Ebay (with Zara the Slayer Added)

I recently touched-up and re-based some 3rd edition Blood Bowl Dwarfs that I bought off of Ebay.  I also re-painted the Troll Slayer's beard (to the traditional orange color), and gave him some blue tattoos.

I supplemented the team with a Zara the Slayer model.  The Zara the Slayer is a "Fantasy Football Female" sculpted by Pierre Francois Jacquet, from Impact! Miniatures Middle Kingdoms team range.  For just $2.80, the price was right - especially compared with other available Zara miniatures.  I painted her up simply and quickly in blue and white.

The entire Dwarf Grudgebearers team were then dipped, re-based, and flocked.  It was an easy way of getting a painted team on the table for a pretty low cost.  The original painter did a great job on these and I think they really shine for the limited additional time and effort I spent on them to add some finishing touches.

These models have a recent, storied Ebay history.  I bought them from a buyer in Terre Haute, Indiana for $40 (plus $5 shipping) on March 30th.  You can see the original color of the Dwarf Slayer's beard (green) - a bold and creative choice!  They also were painted up to have Minnesota Viking color scheme, (complete with some with horns painted on their helmets).  I repainted the helmets white for a more traditional Blood Bowl look.

While browsing the completed Ebay auctions, I noticed that the very same team that I had bought was previously sold on Ebay a few weeks prior to my purchase.  The original seller was from Selden, New York (in Long Island).  The auction winner paid just $20 (plus $9.60 for shipping), which was an amazing steal for these models and also included an unpainted Deathroller.  He obviously took the Deathroller from the lot and flipped the remaining models.  Not only did he get a free Deathroller, but also made a slight profit on the remaining team!  Well played, Ebay master!

One negative from the experience is that I've now been obsessively searching Ebay for similar steals on well-painted Blood Bowl miniatures.  So far, I've come across nothing close.  Although I will likely use the models mostly for playing games of Blitz Bowl, I'd like to have a complete Blood Bowl team that includes a Deathroller.  They are expensive on Ebay and so I'm totally jealous that the original buyer got such a great deal on one!

Blitz Bowl - Challenge Card and Bonus Play Cheat Sheets

One part of Blitz Bowl that I love is the dynamic and strategic nature of the Challenge Cards and the Bonus Play that each one provides.  These two cheat sheets (the same, but each with a different color scheme) are based on the classifications from the excellent "The Crush" podcast, hosted by Matt and Jody from the Santa Cruz Blitz Bowl League.

In Episode 5 of The Crush, Matt and Jody examine the Challenge Deck.  They review each Challenge Card and talk about strategies and tactics.  Then, in Episode 6, they examine and review the the Bonus Plays.

These images are optimized for 5x7 printouts and they can easily and cheaply be printed out on photo paper (from Costco Photos, etc.) for a simple hardcopy reference.

Games Workshop Announces "Blitz Bowl Season 2"

At the New York Toy Fair today, Games Workshop announced Blitz Bowl Season 2, (along with a number of other games).

According to Games Workshop, Blitz Bowl Season 2 "gives you even more content for the fast-paced game of fantasy football, compacting the thrills and spills of a game of Blood Bowl into a nifty little package."

On close examination of the picture, it is hard to make out the main changes to the game, other than the color of the plastic, a few new cards, and the fact that the Human Catcher now has Speed 7!  It appears that Humans and Dwarfs will be the two included teams in the box.

Based on prior releases that were first shown at the New York Toy Fair, we can expect Blitz Bowl Season 2 (and the other games previewed) to be released this fall.  The first Blitz Bowl was previewed at the New York Toy Fair on March 1, 2018.  It was first available for purchase at Gen Con 2018 (in August of that year).  It later was available for purchase (from Barnes and Noble stores) in early September 2018.

Blitz Bowl - Female Humans

Lastly, these are some female humans I use in Blitz Bowl games. They are actually the Valkyries from Impact! Miniatures, again sculpted by Phil Bowen. I painted them with my standard color scheme of blue and red, which tends to provide a good result.  Like the last two Blitz Bowl teams, they were also dipped.

One thing I've done for Blitz Bowl miniatures is paint a white line for any Linesman - this makes it easy to identify them apart from the other players, especially when using alternative miniatures such as these....

Blitz Bowl - Female Dark Elves

I painted up some female Dark Elves for use in Blitz Bowl games as well. They are the Black Widows from Impact! Miniatures, sculpted by Phil Bowen. I painted them up fairly simply, and enjoyed painting them in a color combination of green and pink. They were then dipped, giving them a grimy appearance.  I used a metallic Sharpie for the few pieces of metal.

Blitz Bowl - Female Dwarfs

About a year ago I painted up some female Dwarfs for use in Blitz Bowl games. They are from the Sister Sledgehammerers set from Warlord Games, sculpted by Wojtek.  I think they turned out well and were fun to paint up.

Blood Bowl Player - Warhammer Quest

Although we haven't played the new Warhammer Quest in a while, a few months ago I finished up an Ex-Blood Bowl Player for that game.  For the miniature, I used an old Blood Bowl human player (that I now use as a proxy for games of Blitz Bowl).

I based the rules mostly around the old Ex-Blood Bowl Player for the original Warhammer Quest, created by Jason Hill, whose rules were originally published in Citadel Journal #16 back in 1996.

Blitz Bowl - Another Four Player Crossroads Match

Over the holidays I was able to introduce Blitz Bowl to more members of my family - my daughters and my nephew.  We played another four player crossroads game, but as it was a learning game, we played a variant where each team only had three linesman.  It was the female Humans, the female Dark Elves, the Stitchpunks (using Halfing rules), and the Goblins.

In the end, it was a great way of teaching the rules of the game.  The Humans won with a breakaway play which scored a touchdown and ended the match....

Blitz Bowl - Proxy Team (for Halfings)

I recently painted up a proxy team for Blitz Bowl and will use the Halfing Player Cards for the team's rules.  I wanted to create a team for Blitz Bowl that I could use with the miniatures from a few smaller teams I created for a 3-4 model variant of Blitz Bowl that I call Sudden Death.  It is still in development.

I figured the Halfing "Hefty" works well for a washed-up, Bloodbowl Veteran whose time on the field should have ended a decade ago, (but just wants one more shot at returning to the big league, post-retirement).

The Stitchpunk miniatures are from the Puppet All-Stars Team by Meiko Miniatures, and the Imps are from Impact Miniatures.  I felt that they were an adequate match for using with the Halfing rules.

Halfing Player Cards from Blitz Bowl Halfing Expansion

In addition to the Undead team, Games Workshop has also released an expansion bringing the hungry and plucky Halfling team to the game to Blitz Bowl (now exclusively available at Barnes & Noble).

These two previously unreleased Blitz Bowl teams provide hope that Nurgle, Lizardmen, or other unreleased teams may show up within the next few years....

The Halfing team comes with six Halfing players: one Hefty, three Hopefuls, and two Runners:

 

 

Undead Player Cards from Blitz Bowl Undead Expansion

Just in time for Halloween, Games Workshop has officially released an expansion bringing in the slow but durable Undead team to Blitz Bowl (now exclusively available at Barnes & Noble).  Undead were the team I originally played in Blood Bowl back in the 1990s, but I never expected for there to be a Blitz Bowl expansion released for them; I'm excited to get them painted up and try them out....

The Undead team comes with seven Undead players: one Ghoul, one Mummy, two Skeletons, one Wight Blitzer, and two Zombies:

Painting Blood Bowl Imps Using Only Washes

One technique I haven't used much when painting is painting miniatures using only washes.  I tried the technique on some Imps from Impact Miniatures that I plan on using in a custom variant of Blitz Bowl.

I first primed the Imps white.  I then shaded their skin with a yellow wash, then washed the skin with a green wash once that was dry.  The red and purple areas were first washed, then hit with a coat of Vallejo paint when the wash colors weren't saturated enough for my tastes.  I finally hit the silver parts with a metallic Sharpie marker.  So... it ended up that I did not only painting them with washes, but with a mixture of techniques instead.

These are first miniatures that I haven't used a dipping media on in a long time.  They turned out fairly bright, and for the very minimal time I spent painting them, I'm happy with the results....

Blitz Bowl - Five Player Dungeon Bowl

After successfully trying out a four player 'Crossroads' game for Blitz Bowl a few months back, we decided next to use some old Warhammer Quest tiles and some Frostgrave chests to play a five player Dungeon Bowl game.

Dungeon Bowl is a variant of Blood Bowl that uses chests which either explode or contain a ball.  There are also twelve teleporters that can be used to randomly teleport players around the dungeon (using a roll of a D12).  As you can imagine, Dungeon Bowl using Blitz Bowl rules is even more chaotic and random than a normal game of Blitz Bowl....

The first part of the game was each team searching for the ball hidden in one of the trapped chests scattered throughout the dungeon.  Unfortunately, we quickly realized that the game wasn't working well.  The high number of players we had selected and the small width of the corridors made movement difficult, even with the teleporters.

So Dungeon Bowl using Blitz Bowl rules was a bust, but I'm still glad we tried it out.  It makes me more excited for future regular games of Blitz Bowl, as well as curious to try out other multiplayer variants.  I'm considering making a custom three player mat in the near future.

Blitz Bowl - Four Player Crossroads

I completed a custom four player "Crossroads" pitch for Blitz Bowl games before the holidays.  It was made from some felt from JOANN Fabrics and Crafts and a black Sharpie pen, (I tried to use a white fabric marker, but it went dry much too easily and had to switch to the Sharpie early on).

Over the holidays we played a few four-player games on it and have had a great time each time we have played.

The rules are a little different - the first team to score ten points wins....  You get five points for a touchdown and one point for causing an injury.  We use two balls at all times and the only rule we changed (in addition to no cards) is that if a player starts your turn prone, you can attempt to injure that player by using a Block action; if you roll a result that forces an armor roll, there is a -2 penalty to the armor roll. It is a benefit to crunchy teams....

In the center, we placed a single statue of Nuffle, which also throws out the balls at the start of the game (and whenever a touchdown is scored).

Our first game was Skaven vs. Chaos vs. Orcs vs. Dwarfs. The Skaven scored on the second turn (due to their 9 Move), but in the end the Chaos pulled off two touchdowns with some smash and grabs.  Scoring is hard, but if you are opportunistic, can happen fast, just like in the standard game.  All teams scored at least one TD, except for the Orcs, (they were too busy smashing, and rolled terribly most of the game).

For our second game, we played Elves vs. Orcs vs. Chaos vs. Goblins.  This game was fast - just 30 minutes. The Goblins won this time, and again, all teams but one scored at least one touchdown.

We are looking forward to additional games, and perhaps using some Warhammer Quest tiles to play a version of Dungeon Bowl using the Blitz Bowl mechanics.

Games Workshop's Blitz Bowl - A Review

Over the last few weeks we have been been painting up models for Blitz Bowl, while also getting more than a few plays of it in.  We have all found Blitz Bowl to be a great two-player game - very different from Blood Bowl, but enjoyable in a very unique way.

It is fast to play, provides a ton of strategy and choices, and the game provides additional team cards (apart from the Humans and Orcs) that allow you to use additional teams.  This was a great choice by Games Workshop and makes the game extensible with additional models, providing much more variety in match-ups.

The Challenge Cards are what make the game shine; they provide randomness and enhance the flavor of the game by taking some of the focus off of just scoring touchdowns.

We have models for most of the teams now and it seems that they are all mostly balanced for our style of play.  If we had to pick a weaker team, it would appear to be the Elves.  Although good at passing, they have a really poor armor stat and are not as fast as the Skaven.  This could just be our own experience because we haven't seen a lot of passing in our games.  All of the other teams seem to have useful benefits that make them more or less competitive.

I've only fully painted up one full team so far (my female Dwarfs), but I'm hoping to paint up the Humans soon.  We are also hoping to get a few more games in, (including some four-player games using a custom pitch I created).

If you are interested, there is additional information about the game on the Warhammer Community website, including a Watch It Played video explaining the rules.

Blitz Bowl is available only from Barnes and Noble and is well worth its price of $44.95.