Blood Bowl Tokens

I love Blood Bowl.

I've been playing Blood Bowl since the 3rd edition box first came out.

Blood Bowl combines three aspects of gaming I am most drawn to:

* Strategy board game

* Role-play/advancement growth

* Aesthetics

It's also got a healthy infusion of goofy fun.

The last aspect, aesthetics, Blood Bowl is ideal for. A small squad of miniatures with a cohesive theme is a perfect vehicle for a creative project. One of the things I've enjoyed doing for teams- my own and commission teams- is making theme tokens. This can be as simple as 3 tokens to track the progress of Turn, Score & Rerolls. Why use those red & blue cardboard squares that came with the box? Sure they work, but you could have a cardboard square that says "orc blitzer" instead of a miniature and that would work too.. but the mini makes the team more enjoyable to play, and so do tokens.

Token Types:

PLASTIC KIT BITS

For this team i just wanted something simple and 'dwarfie' so took a few fantasy standard bits, plant them in the ground and all set!

These tombstones are a similar idea. GW puts lots of great bits in their box kits! these are worth their weight in gold... good thing they're lightweight plastic!

Another example of regiment standard bits for tokens. In all cases these are simple to make, easy to paint, and it is just a 'marker token': they're all the same, it's the track they're placed on that makes them 'turn' 'score' or 'reroll' and that's fine.. it's still miles better than cardboard squares.

In the case of this team, standard bits were used for Turn & Score, and 'ground shields' are used for Rerolls. Rather than 1 token to track down the reroll track they are used as single-use rerolls much like the cardboard counters are. Ground shields are one of my favorite types of counters for single-use rerolls, they are easy to come by and very thematic.

SCRATCH BUILT TOKENS

These are pumpkins for a Halloween-theme Necromantic team. Again it is a one-type fits all function, but these are sculpted from scratch with green stuff. Having some basic sculpting skills is helpful, but you don't need to be Werner Klocke to pull it off.

These were some of my favorite scratch built tokens. For a slann team: dragonflies on lillypads.

Another example of tokens illustrating your team's theme. The Halfling 'Picnic Pillagers" have a picnic lunch laid out for them.

For a Christmas Elf team, more scratch built tokens: a present addressed to show which token it is.

You guessed it: Skaven. Wood was made from plasticard strips, carved & scored to look like old wood. Orca-cola cans from plastic rods and the rat, slurm drink & half eaten hotdog sculpted from green stuff. Skaven fans are not known to be the cleanest fans around.

Conclusion: Tokens are fun! They add to the visual appeal of your team and make it really stand out more. They're also great fun to make, from the very simple to mini vignettes.