Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Vinland Valkyries : Making a Combo-Team for Blood Bowl

A casual visitor to this blog couldn't help but notice that I make a lot of Blood Bowl teams.
For one, I love the game, but even more compelling for me is I find it a perfect project for so many aspects of the creative hobby I enjoy: conversions, sourcing miniatures, creating a theme and completing a closed-ended project(not that I don't enjoy the huge army projects that never end either). 

Several years ago I decided Blood Bowl teams should ideally have a set of themed tokens and some staff: best to have a cheerleader, maybe a coach as well. Lately I've been liking the idea of a team having a dedicated Star Player or two, ready to join the team. But when possible an idea I really find fun is a 'combo-team': 2 teams in one, with the addition/substitution of a few miniatures.  

I made a combo team for my Norse Dwarves: they are both a Norse team and a Dwarf team. 

Here is one of the first combo teams I planned, a bit over a year ago, and just had time to get around to painting them this week: 

The Vinland Valkyries. 

The Valkyries are both a Norse team and an Amazon team, using the Norse Valkyrie minis from Impact as a basis for the team. 

The Amazon team and Norse teams used to be even more similar in the rules than they are today, but even now they share a lot of similarities such as their Armor 7 and having up to two Throwers & two Catchers/Runners.  There are some differences however: Amazons can have 4 Blitzers to the Norse's 2, but the Norse can have 2 Werewolves & a Yhetee which the Amazons can not have. 

This means I could have an Amazon team, and with just the addition of 3 miniatures it could be a Norse team as well.  Nice. 

The numbers I painted using a font to mimic the style of Norse Runes. 

So, let's take a look at the players: 


Throwers





Catchers / Runners



Blitzers



Line



Werewolves: Lady & Lassie


 

Yehtee

She could also count as Bertha Big Fist, the Ogre Star Player for the Amazons!

(This is the metal miniature, not the Bones plastic)


Cheerleader & Tokens

Cheerleader: Who would a team of all women pick to cheer for them?  Why a Man of course! 

Shake it Sven! 

Tokens: Runestones to track: Score, Turn & Re-Roll



The team comprised to play as Amazons:
(click for larger)

The team comprised to play as Norse:
(click for larger)

The entire group collected:
(click for larger)

You can visit them in the Hall of Fame where they join the other teams. 

Now, usually I make a team either for myself, or for a client as a commission. I had intended this team for myself originally, but then I made the Norse Dwarves early this year, and not long after picked up some minis I couldn't resist to make a dedicated Amazon team.  That means this combo team covers two teams I'll already have, so, if I can get a good price for them, as tempting as it is to keep them, between traveling this year and increased cost of the legal battle with immigration, I could use the money and some gamer could use the team and play them a lot more than I likely will, so they will be going up for sale.  

18 Miniatures and 3 Tokens.

The team is all metal miniatures, except for the tokens and the cheerleader.  
The cost of the miniatures alone is about $95, so while they won't be my most expensive team they aren't able to go for too cheaply either. But it is two teams in one!
A person could get a lot of use out them because of that.

If you'd be interested in buying the team, you can find the details of that on the studio site here.
Just contact me if you're interested. 

On the other hand, I won't be too sad to keep them ;)  
Oh, but I can't keep everything right? As tempting as it may be. 

13 comments:

Unknown said...

That's a great looking Team!

Love the Cheerleader!
:-)

Durutti said...

Superb team, I'm jealous !!!

Unknown said...

Great looking team Ferret as yours always are. If there was any way I could afford it, I'd buy it. To own a team painted by you would be an honour.

I sincerely hope they find a good home and play well for their new owner.

Odie said...

Great looking team. I especially like the Yehtee stand-in.

It all reminds me that I really should learn to paint better human flesh at some point.

Rodger said...

They are very impressive!!!

Kasper said...

They look great (as always)! And, yes, I wish I had the finances to procure them.
Could I ask you to detail how you go about protecting your painted minis - i.e. which varnish do you use and how do you apply it?

All the best,
Kasper

DeanM said...

Amazing brushwork! The flesh tones and fur are excellently done. Dean

Mr Pan said...

Again a great team !
You can also play human with them.

What is the manufacturer of werewolves ?

Michael Awdry said...

Oh I say, that is a cheeky little team! ;)

Laughing Ferret said...

Thanks all, much appreciated :)

Anne: wish you could too then, but yes, hope they find a good home & will be played often.

Kasper: I use a spray matte varnish. I have found that Krylon, low odor clear finish protects as well as Dull Coat, but is about half the cost and has even less shine, so win-win. I give them about 4 light coats, plenty of drying time between each one. minis that see heavy use, like BB teams I'll give touch up varnishings after some time, just to keep them protected since handling them and laying down on the pitch will wear through the varnish after some time. When minis have sharp contact points, like spikes I'll often use brush on varnish on these areas.

Mr.Pan: the wolves are from a company in the US called Bronze Age Miniatures. http://www.bronzeagemin.com/
they are my favorite werewolves: great poses.

Michael: haha, that is cheeky yourself ;)

fireymonkeyboy said...

That's clever, I like it.

FMB

Anonymous said...

That's awesome!

Monty said...

Smoking hot! I love this set. Someone is going to buy this and where-ever they go, they'll have the best looking BB team on the pitch.

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