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.

"Painting" More 40K Chaos Space Marines (Black Legion) with Sharpie Pens

I recently "painted" additional models to add to my small contingent of Black Legion models that were speed painted using Sharpie pens and a limited number of acrylic paints.  This time I added a few Chaos Cultists and two Possessed models.

The Chaos Cultists were primed using a Desert Yellow Army Painter spray primer.  I then used a variety of Sharpie pens to add different earth shades to each model.  Metallic Sharpies were used to highlight the metal areas.

For the Possessed, I used metallic Sharpies to highlight many of the areas on each model after first priming them black, (with a zenithal overprime of dark grey).  The purple areas were then Sharpied over using a reddish pink pen.

I dipped all the models using Tudor Mixwax Polyshade.  I used regular acrylics to paint the bases and added some flocked foliage to complete the models.

I think the models turned out fine for the time spent, and they complement the Black Legion Space Marines well.  However, these models also showed me the limits of the Sharpie painting approach as I found the paint job to just barely achieve what I consider tabletop quality.  Still, sometimes getting painted models to the table is more important than a quality paint job.  I plan to use all the model for a One Page Rules Kill Team, and for that purpose, I believe they will serve me well on the battlefield!

Emerald City Comic Con Postponed to Summer 2020

Not surprisingly, Emerald City Comic Con has just announced that they will postpone ECCC 2020 and are looking at new dates during summer.  Below is the email that was just sent out:

Hey ECCC fans,

Each year the Emerald City Comic Con team works their hardest to do right by the thousands of fans that come together in Seattle. We want to create a space for you to gather, be yourselves and make memories with those who matter to you most. We have been closely monitoring the situation around the COVID-19 virus in Seattle, and, after many hours of conversation internally and consultation with local government officials and the tourism bureau, we have decided to move next week's Emerald City Comic Con to Summer 2020 with date and detail announcement forthcoming. We did everything that we could to run the event as planned, but ultimately, we are following the guidance of the local public health officials indicating that conventions should now be postponed.

>> To all of our fans who purchased tickets, you will receive a refund on your tickets, no further action is needed on your part. Due to the volume, we expect you will receive your refund in 30 days. We appreciate your patience and understanding. <<

Our hearts go out to the entire Seattle community, everyone impacted by the COVID-19 virus, and all of you, the nearly 100,000 amazing human beings who look forward to this event each year. Our team was incredibly excited to see you at Emerald City Comic Con next week, however, fans, artists, exhibitors and the rest of the community are what make Reedpop events so special and it is our duty to make sure that your safety comes first.

We know that this decision is going to greatly impact many of our individual creators, small businesses and service workers. To those whose careers depend on ECCC - we will do everything that we can over the coming days and weeks to highlight your work and we ask that our entire community support you as we realize your personal livelihoods may be impacted.

Reedpop remains determined and committed to running Emerald City Comic Con in 2020 and we are working closely with Visit Seattle and the Washington State Convention Center to secure alternate dates this summer. As we explore options for new dates, please know that our priority is to bring you an equally amazing event.

We appreciate all the messages that we have received over the course of the past week. The feedback was invaluable in helping us determine next steps.
Stay tuned to our website and social channels for additional information about when we will next see you in Seattle.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and Gaming Community Impacts

The impacts of the COVID-19 Coronavirus are many, and the gaming community is not immune from its effects.  A number of boardgame manufacturers have cited potential supply chain impacts based on  manufacturing disruptions due to the virus.  The best example is in Seattle, where the Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) is still scheduled to start on March 12th, despite significant concerns in King County over the local spread of the virus. 

Although ECCC is now offering refunds to all attendees, many wonder whether ReedPOP could be opening themselves up to legal action by not taking reasonable health precautions by cancelling the event.  This is especially true based on today's announcement from King County that local businesses "avoid bringing large groups of people together" and "consider postponing events and gatherings." Many are saying that ReedPOP would be better off to cancel the convention right now in order to give attendees time to cancel their travel plans.  With all the vendors that have dropped out (and more likely to cancel within the next few days), it could be a near worthless event to attend anyway.

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.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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....

Grimdark Future: Firefight - Ambush at the Farming Colony

We played another game of One Page Rules - Grimdark Future: Firefight over the holidays.  We are really enjoying these quick and cinematic games (that we place in the Warhammer 40K universe), and hope to play some more over the course of the year.

A small fire team of Ultramarines has been dispatched to investigate reported rebellious activity at a small colony on a remote farming world.  The colony's administrator has sent a contingent of snipers to ambush the team of Space Marines at the local landing port, foolishly thinking this may discourage future Imperial meddling.  The landing ship takes off, and soon after, the snipers open fire....

250 Points - Ultramarines (Battle Brothers):

• 5 x Battle Brothers: 3+ Quality, 2+ Defense, Assault Rifle (24”, A1), CCW (A1), Fearless.  One was upgraded with a Flamethrower (Flamer), and one with a Missle Launcher....

250 Points - Local Militia (Human Defense Force):

• 10 x Snipers: 6+ Quality, 6+ Defense, Sniper Rifle (36”, A1, AP(1), Sniper), CCW (A1), Scout, Stealth

It was quality vs. quantity, and quantity won this time.  Vastly outnumbered, the Space Marines intended to concentrate fire on the left flank, hopefully reducing the numbers of snipers in early rounds to even the odds before the other snipers could take part in the battle.

Unfortunately, due to the range of the sniper rifles, a massive barrage of early sniper shots took out some Space Marines.  There wasn't much hope for the Space Marines at that point, even after one of them made it into close combat with a small grouping of snipers.  The large number of objectives meant it was impossible to keep the snipers from overwhelming and securing the small landing pad.

The colony's administrator smiled when informed of the devastating defeat inflicted upon the Ultramarines.  As he clutched his triple-circle medallion, under his breath he whispered "I shall help spread his virulent gifts across the false Imperium, and watch its final rotting...".

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.

15mm Polish Paratroopers

I recently painted up some 15mm Polish Paratroopers for a custom game we will be playing, (based on both the One Page Rules and NetEpic rulesets).

The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade formed in Britain to help liberate Poland.  The unit was sent into action in support of the British 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, under the command of Major General Sosabowski, (played by Gene Hackman, in the exceptional 1977 war movie, A Bridge Too Far).

The miniatures are from Forged In Battle's excellent B-PARA-01 British Paratrooper Platoon pack.  I based the miniatures on pennies, and worked to paint them up relatively quickly, although the camouflage took more time then I liked.  I based them on the pennies, added sand, then primed them with Army Painter Desert Yellow, which was then left, as is, for the trousers.  I tried to follow the great guide from Crac des Chevaliers.  I cheated by using both a green and brown Sharpie to help with the camouflage, as well as a metallic Sharpie for the silver parts.  I dipped them using the reliable MinWax PolyShade: Royal Walnut Satin - my usual dipping media since 2008.

The Poles used the British battledress, but instead wore blue greyish berets (instead the striking scarlet red).  I originally used a bluish grey color, but went over it after dipping with a normal old grey, as the dip had darkened it too much.

I'm looking forward to painting up some 15mm Polish Armia Krajowa (Home Army) partisans, as well as some 15mm Croatians (Army of the Independent State of Croatia) in the near future....