Blood Bowl is #1

Under his armor he painted his chest.

For those of you who remember in my previous post I mentioned that I was starting to run a Blood Bowl League for quite a few friends. In preparation for our upcoming league, where Skarvald and I will no doubt have a storied rivalry with each other and another particular gentleman, I played a game against my friend Peter. Neither he, nor I have played the game in over a year, and that afternoon reminded me about everything I love about Blood Bowl. To use a cliche it was a real roller-coaster ride, there were ups and downs, and all sorts of excitement.

Receiving the Kickoff!

From the moment we began the tension and fun started building and exploded at various places during the game with loud cheers and exclamations from both the two of us and people watching nearby. The mystery of this ancient and arcane board game combined with our laughter and shouting quickly gathered a crowd despite there being three other games being played in the store at the time. We even managed to suck in some boys who happened to be passing by the store; people who probably wouldn't have cared for the the normal Games Workshop games, but a sports themed slug-fest was right up their ally. It speaks to the simple, relatable nature of the game (and perhaps that just having a blast is infectious) but people in the store were also getting excited, cheering and laughing right along with us, even though they didn't know the rules.

The game of Blood Bowl ended up being a tie, but it was decided in the very last turn. My High Elves managed to slow the advance of the Lizardmen just long enough for it to be a draw, but it could have gone in Peter's favor, as the ball was very close to my goal line when he failed to pick it up. That is just how Blood Bowl works, it isn't so much about trying to play better than your opponent, it is all about just failing less. Which might not sound like much of a difference, but it is an important and often hilarious one.

The dreaded "Double Skull."

We have a good mix of teams lined up for our league, with only 1 duplicate, which is awesome since the fantasy line up of races is quite diverse.  As I said earlier, I will be playing my High Elves, which I spent some time with after the game getting them in top shape for next game. Skarvald, will be playing the dwarves, which I think (considering his love of Space Wolves) means both beards and drinking call to him on some base level. And naked midgets, let us not forget the naked midgets.

Urf Jewelbreaker is aptly named. (unfortunately not actually Skarvald's model)

Flying V?

I ended up putting a fresh coat of paint on my High Elf team, and it feels good to have them all more or less finished. The painting process I used for them is quite simple, employing washes on the skin and armor and only 1 shadow layer and 1 highlight on the cloth. I normally spend ludicrous amounts of time on each model I paint, so just getting a few models completely done with a simpler scheme was quite freeing. My entire team is converted from plastic High Elf spearmen, Archers, and whatever other bits I could scrounge up from my wealing and dealing.

The end result is a team that I feel looks better then their ancient metal counterparts, and plastic doesn't chip, so hopefully they will hold onto their color better than them too.

I encourage anyone with some spare time and the inclination to try out a game of Blood Bowl with a friend. The rules are free on the Games Workshop website, so give it a read. Its pure, distilled fun has stood the test of time for a reason!