Incredibly for me, this month my blog is both short and early. Don’t worry, I’m not ill, and I’m sure I won’t make a habit of it!
The news remains dominated by the biggest of fish. We are 5 weeks away from the fourth NAF World Cup. You can now view and critique all 1440 something rosters (click info / registered squads here), marvel at every coach getting their skills picked on time (I’ll be honest, my bet was 66 %) and ready yourself for the official press conference on 12 September, 16:30 CET where the first round draw will be revealed. Press conference! I still find it incredible that we’re at that level of razmatazz for a Blood Bowl event.
In August, we found out that Lizardmen are the next BB2016 release. Cool (blooded). No word yet on when we’ll be able to get our hands on Spikey, Skinky business, but I’m sure we’re all looking forward to what is to come for a popular race. NAF wise, the (very pretty) results of our variant review are but a couple of days away from release, and in the background, the Annual Review rumbles on. November 1 2019 is the due date for that delivery, so there is still time for your contribution.
This month (including this coming bridging weekend), you guys have participated in 58 tournaments (including 6 Sevens, and a Streetbowl) across the usual mind-boggling geographic span. There was also action on the internet, where the World Cup Warm-up finally ended on FUMBBL. Congratulations to Alfea, who took home the bacon. Are they now the favourites for Dornbirn? Next month, we’ll be headlining with the Chaos Cup (make sure you get your ticket ASAP if you haven’t already sorted your Chicago shenanigans next weekend!), but for now, please enjoy the below report from New Zealand. I am expecting one more tournament write-up to come, and when it does, I’ll edit it in.
Reports
The 17th annual incarnation of New Zealand’s longest running Blood bowl tournament occurred on the 10th and the 11th of August, welcoming 20 coaches and providing the last opportunity for 2 of Team Kiwi to play in a tournie before the World Cup in Dornbin.
The prize winners were:
Winner: AdamHartnett
Runner Up: Blackcaps
Third Place: Glorfindel
Top Rookie: Glorfindel (
Stunty Cup: Wozzaa
Best Painted: Shteve0
Almost Last: Ross
Best Sports: Hedgehogg & Quentin
Hardest Team: GingerNinja
Top scorer: AdamHartnett (LifeLongRookie via Highlander)
World Cup Focus
As the hype train pulls into its last nostalgia station en route to our final destination (erm – or something), we remember Lucca ’15, only four short years ago. But first, did you catch these images of the Dornbirn skill rings in the week? As a Lizard-wrangler myself (and also a lover of the Block skill), I enjoyed them. Can’t wait to get my hands on these…
2015 is when things got properly real and the World Cup became a fully formed monster. 912 coaches in one room playing Blood Bowl still feels insane now, and I know the number will be bigger in a little over a month. Andrea and the Lucca team pulled off something truly remarkable; I think I could see the curvature of the earth in that gaming hall! Lucca was the first time that the majority of the field got into the habit of producing custom shirts, dice and whatnot and the room was incredibly colourful throughout the long weekend as the squads proudly showed off their team colours. It also felt like the first World Cup where the ‘runners and riders’ at the top end of the tournament were ‘expected’ and big match-ups were salivated over long before they inevitably took place. It felt like approximately 5-7 tip-top French teams could go all the way and capture glory, but in the end, the Italian Masters of Tilea overcame the Waterbowl in game nine on table one to take home the spoils (well – they didn’t have far to take them, seems fair enough!).
There are many more images and videos from Lucca than the previous two events, so please enjoy a couple of the videos behind these links. Looking at those again really has me salivating. How big was that hall? How good was the awards ceremony?! Five weeks. I cannot wait. Can Tilea repeat..?
Results:
Winning team: Masters of Tilea (Ita.). Spartako (Wood Elf), Dirold (Dark Elf), Beppe (Undead), Roller (Lizardman), Farina (Dwarf), Kaltenland (Skaven).
Best Individual: Maudib (Ger. Wood Elf)
Runners-up: Latino Lovers (Den.) – 3 times for Topper!
Third: Pilous (Fra.)
TD Notes
So far this month, we’ve approved 41 tournaments including 3 Sevens and 1 Streetbowl. I’m sure there will be a few more before the close of August, but that’s the approximate total! It’s worth mentioning the Full Beard Cup 2019, which we were able to sanction late in the month. We’ve been chatting to GW about NAF sanctioning Blood Bowl at Warhammer World for a little while, and it’s nice to be able to bring this back for the UK community. Hopefully there will be more and the next one will be more fully advertised as NAF sanctioned in plenty of time.
We have added Polish RTO / RC Jaskier to our staff team. It appears that Jaskier is doing plenty of work for the community over there and there was a need for more representation, so we’re only too happy to have him aboard. Welcome and enjoy!
Work wise, while the Annual Review is bubbling along, although the majority of the additional stuff this month has been the final steps toward delivery of the variants documents you will be able to access very, very soon (we really are close!). We will deliver these docs about a month behind when I had hoped to, which I guess isn’t too bad at all, considering the army of volunteers we’ve had take part in the process in some form or another. Right from the variant experts that have helped us refine the rulesets into the best we can produce through to the .pdf team (montanhas18, Raveen and Templar) and Garion, who drew us some awesome pictures, this is one of those NAF projects that shows off the best the community has to offer. If nothing else, people have been extremely patient with me as I’ve requested niggly little changes, played with commas and generally been a pedant. Thanks, team, and I hope you all enjoy the docs when they arrive. We’ll no doubt review the variants again in a couple of years, so all views and experiences are welcome before then. More on all of this when the docs arrive – keep an eye out for the news post coming very soon.
Why didn’t I think of that?
I’m off to Newcastle to play this weekend (hooray!) so perhaps that has coloured my memory of what I’ve approved this month. Anyway, Block on the Tyne II has this ruleset (click the link on the page) where you the coach take to the field and join the action. I suppose this is a riff on the ‘captaincy’ theme that I’ve talked about before in this space. Anyway, here, the ‘coach’ can be built using a variety of tools. Would you spend all of your allowance on the big guns, or would you load up on something more cost effective? Anyway, an interesting wrinkle, and if this shoutout doesn’t generate me a pint this weekend, there is no justice.
Holiday Plans
January 2020! A whole new decade. How best to start it off? Five tournaments to choose from in the database, including a couple of extremely big hitters…
Return to the House on Blackbark Ridge 4 Jan. voorhees_carnivean leads the Dungeonbowl madness in Florida. Dare you enter the house on Blackbark Ridge?
UK Team Challenge VI 11/12 Jan. Increasingly an unmissable UK showdown, this. Reminds me, I’m yet to buy my 2020 ticket! Cripes.
REVA 12 31 Jan./1 Feb. Perhaps the biggest individual tournament of all (NAFC numbers pending) is back for round 12. Be there!
Next Time
We’ll be reviewing the Chaos Cup among other fun you’ve all been having, and the final countdown will almost be over. Check those passports now, because when I remind you next month, it may already be too late!