Dungeon Dwellers Blood Bowl Team : Do You Dare Delve Where Darkness Dwells?

The Dungeon Dwellers Chaos Pact Blood Bowl team is finished and ready to fly off to Europe.

A client of mine is planning to attend the Dungeon Bowl Blood Bowl tournament in Dusseldorf Germany next year.  I went this year, and had a great time.  The only potential snag for it though is that since it is held in a Games Workshop location, only GW minis are allowed. Setting aside all the feelings that tends to bring up, the biggest problem was he didn't have a team with GW minis!  Yes, GW has let their interest in Blood Bowl wane to the point that it's more likely people will have teams made of other miniatures than of GW.  So he needed a legal team.

But not just any team.  The last Blood Bowl minis GW produced was near around 15 years ago?  So a lot of people have the GW teams, or at least have seen them, and often, for the last 20 years. He wanted something unique. We tossed some ideas around, and then it struck me that since this was the Dungeon Bowl, what about a team that is defending the dungeon?  It is their home.  This lead to some ideas that finally settled into a 'dark, sinister dungeon dwellers with a bit of disturbing tech': the Dark Eldar line being ideal and the Chaos Pact roster, with a variety of monsters being the ideal vector to bring them to life.

So on to the team!

The big draw of a Chaos Pact team is its three big guys!

Ogre                                    Minotaur                                           Troll

The Dark Eldar Talos kit came with a lot of extras to donate to his buddies.

Next is the three small fellows, the Renegades:

Goblin                                      Skaven                              Dark Elf

They are just linemen on their respected teams, but out of that element and working together they are special.

The Skaven's armor seemed to go very well with the aesthetic of the Dark Eldar.

Then there are the Chaos Marauders:

Something 'Hellraiser' about the style of these guys.  

Since Marauders can have mutations, I gave them a lot: 2 Claws, Big hand, 2 Tentacles...

& more..

more mutations: Extra Arms, 2 Extra Heads, and 2 without mutations.

And a couple Star Players for the team: 

Ugroth (Chainsaw) & Dribblesnot (Bomber)

The weapons have a different look to fit the theme: a chain-whip sword for a chainsaw, and a goblin throwing a big bouncing trap jaw for a bomb. 

The Staff: 

Apothecary                                            Coach                                    Cheerleader

Re-roll tokens: Bronze for leader, iron for regular

And the team together: 

(click for larger)

I hope they have fun at the Dungeon Bowl next year. 

Maybe they'll have the luck of 'Home Field Advantage'!

Tokens for Dungeon Dwellers Blood Bowl Team

The last three updates were part of a 'Guess the Project' style that I do now and then.
Pryn was the first to pinpoint the exact project type: a Chaos Pact Blood Bowl Team.

You can check out the last three updates to see the Troll, Ogre & Minotaur, or 'Talostaur' as I've been calling him.  I am a big fan of the Chaos Pact team in Blood Bowl.  Not only is it a fun team to play.. who doesn't like three big guys? but it has a lot of interesting potential with all the mutation access.  Maybe best of all though is how open to theme the roster is.  I have a lot of different ideas for Chaos Pact teams of different types.  My own is a Narnia theme team, but I have another idea that I may make at some point.

In the meantime, this team's theme is 'dark sinister dungeon dwellers'. That being the case I figured a set of dungeon trap doors would make a good set of tokens.

I made these with that in mind:

I can imagine secret trap doors opening and a thin pale hand reaching out to trip an opposing player, or nudge the ball closer to a dwellers team mate to explain the 're-roll' concept.

More on the team soon, they are almost finished.

In the meantime, here are the three amigos from the last few updates together:

I liked the idea of tying the disparate monsters together by their armor, but with different main colors.
All the skin is paler than normal for their species though, to show how they live their life in the dungeon away from any sunlight.

Weather in Blood Bowl : Proposal for changing effects based on the team

In Blood Bowl, when the game starts you roll to see what kind of weather there is for the day.
Not many miniatures games take this into account and it is something I always liked in Blood Bowl.

In fact, the weather could change during the game.
Unlike some sports in our world, the game is never called no matter how bad the weather gets.

The weather chart is likely to result in a nice day, with no effect on the game, but there is a chance for other types of weather with various effects.

The weather table is rolled on with 2d6 (two 6 sided dice, added together):

2: Sweltering Heat: at the end of the drive roll a d6 for each player, on a 1 they can't play the next drive, they're just too exhausted.

3: Very Sunny: Bright sunlight causes all passes to have a -1 to the roll

4-10: Perfect Blood Bowl Weather

11: Pouring Rain: Wet weather causes -1 to catch, intercept or pick up the ball.

12: Blizzard: Snowing very hard: Go For It fails on a 1 or 2 (not just a 1 as normal) and only quick & short passes of the ball can be attempted.

It is a nice table.  I like the weather system.
But I can't help thinking that it could be 'fluffier' with some changes.

I was thinking that some of the teams could be affected by the weather in different ways, to reflect the nature of the team.  Nothing too extreme. I don't want to unbalance the game, but tweak just enough to give some added flavor to the teams and be a bit more realistic for their background.

KHEMRI

The Khemri team are mummies and skeletons of Ancient Egypt. They are very old, and are at home in the dry heat of the desert.  So why should they care about 'Sweltering Heat'? If anything, they should love it. 

So for a Khemri team, Sweltering Heat and Very Sunny would have no adverse effect at all. 

However, moisture would be a problem for them with all their wrappings, so if there is either Pouring Rain or Blizzard they would suffer the effects of both for either weather condition. 

This might be a slight advantage since Sweltering Heat can be a very bad thing, but the Khemri team is a serious underdog, so I don't think it'd be unbalancing. 

NORSE

The Norse team are the Vikings of the Blood Bowl world: they hail from the frozen north. 

They are quite accustomed to the snow, so a Blizzard is regrettable but not a tragedy as it is for some. 

The Norse would not suffer the Go For It penalty from a Blizzard: they are used to trudging through snow, though the Blizzard would still reduce their passing to quick and short passes as normal.  They are not used to severe heat however, and it winds them quickly: During Sweltering Heat they suffer the same Go For It penalty that normally comes from Blizzards. 

SLANN

The Slann, those leaping amphibians, surely would not be troubled by a little rain? 

Slann would suffer no effects from playing in Pouring Rain.  They are perfectly adapted to rain and water, handling a ball in such an environment is not a problem. Snow is another matter.  The extreme cold of snow slows their reflexes: a Blizzard applies both the penalties of a Blizzard as well as the normal effects of Pouring Rain. 

VAMPIRES

The Vampire team has two distinctly different player types: Vampires & their human thralls a.k.a. juiceboxes.

Vampires should have trouble in the sun.  And no, not because they sparkle. 

In Very Sunny weather the Vampires (not the Thralls) suffer not only the effects of Very Sunny but also Pouring Rain: the bright light is very distracting.  Vampires are especially light and agile on their feet however, some even say they can nearly fly, so in Blizzards, much like the Norse, they do not suffer any penalty for Go For Its, but passing is limited as normal. 

The Thralls treat all weather effects as normal.  

I have to tried keep advantages and disadvantages roughly equaled while maintaining their racial characteristics.

Granted, there would be some differences in game play since one of these teams could have different effects than their opponent, giving them a slight advantage or disadvantage compared to their opponent, but then, it is for the sake of fun & fluff, and teams already have different strengths and weaknesses and are not, and are not supposed to be, perfectly balanced with each other.  So I think that is fine to have some small additional differences. 

What do you think? 

Can you think of any other teams that should have changes to their weather effects? 

I think this could be an interesting concept in other miniatures games as well. 

And now, something to enjoy.

It says censored, but it's perfectly safe for work. 

If you find it offensive you only have your own dirty mind to blame ;) 

Enjoy!

The Abydon Despoilers : Khemri Blood Bowl Team

The latest team to join The Hall of Fame, where all the past Blood Bowl teams reside..

The Abydon Despoilers.

This isn't my team, unfortunately. It is a commissioned project.
I am quite happy with the result and it has me looking forward to painting my own Khemri team.
There is just something very pleasing to me about the theme, colors and style of the Egyptian Undead.

Khemri is one of the most challenging teams in Blood Bowl.  They probably rank there with Vampires and the Stunty teams for playability.  No players with better than Agility 2 is a big sign that this is a hard team to play: even the ball carriers are only agility 2, which on most teams means you'd not even consider giving them the ball.  The team does have access to four mummies... hard to turn your nose up at four strength 5 players, but they start with no useful skills and suffer from 'decay' which means they get 2 injuries for every one they receive: ouch.

I'm in the camp that believe the Khemri deserve a revision.  Probably not the four Mighty Blow Mummies they had before, but maybe giving the Throw-ra's Agility 3, and Agility Access skills on standard rolls might be in order too.  Blitz-ra's should go down in cost to 80k, there is just no reason they should cost the same as wights when their agility is so poor in comparison.  And remove the Decay skill from Mummies and I think the team would still be challenging, but a more fair construction.

In the meantime, let's take a look at the team!
The whole team is from the Egyptain Undead line from Willy Miniatures, except for the tokens which is a shield from GW Khemri and scratch built scarab beads.

The Mummies

Other than theme, this is probably the most compelling reason to play Khemri: four strength 5 players!

These are very large miniatures.  They're serious hulks.

The Blitz-Ras and Throw-Ras: the workhorses of the team.

Skeletons: the fodder of the team.

Willy Minis really outdid themselves: i love these sculpts.

A set of Tokens: I believe every team should have their own themed tokens.

A team can't complain about having some Star Players to draw on either!

Hack Enslash: A chainsaw is a cheap and devastating inducement. 

Ramtut III: A strength 6 break-tackling, mighty blow Mummy!  Bringing the hurt.

Setekh: Strength 4 block, break tackle, strip-ball: very handy defensive player.

Ramtut is an especially large Mummy... he's nearly the size of an Ogre or Troll, and in fact is bigger than my 2nd edition Orc team's Troll! 

Now that is a frightening looking line up!

You can see how Ramtut towers over the already very large Mummy miniatures. 

To give him the impression of greater age I gave him a darker skin tone and wrappings more moldering and dark. To lighten it back up a bit and make him stand out more I also added polished ivory to his turquoise ornamentation. 

And now the whole team together (click for larger): 

The Abydon Despoilers

I tried, but I can't resist...

Enjoy!

Goblin Skeleton with Chainsaw painted: Another Star Player for Ingolstadt Immortals

The converted Goblin Skeleton Chainsaw Star Player to be 'Hack Enslash' is now painted.

So the Ingolstadt Immortals have two dedicated star players. That should see them safely to any tournament or league play, if I get lucky enough to have league play opportunity again.

Here he is:

For this fellow I felt I had to go a bit bloody.

Click for larger:

Compared to a basic line Skeleton.

I also took a new team photo, to add in Hack. 

Click for larger or visit them in the Hall of Fame

I'm quite pleased with the team.  Maybe I'll take them to West Coast Quake in January.

Skeleton with a Chainsaw. Need I Say More?

I know, Zombies are the hotness, but I've always preferred Skeletons.  Skeletons just have more style.
It's probably because I saw Jason & The Argonauts as a kid in the theater, and Harryhausen's Skeletons were amazing. Zombies are fun.. I did watch the season premiere of Walking Dead just now, but my vote still goes to Skeletons.

And what's cooler than a Skeleton?  A Skeleton with a chainsaw!

Luckily, there is a Blood Bowl Star Player that is a Skeleton with a Chainsaw!
Hack Enslash.

He's probably not the best Chainsaw Star Player... not by a long shot, though he does have side step which is interesting. But any Chainsaw wielder is worth fielding.

So when I remembered that I did have another resin goblin skeleton from the Titan Forge set, I decided my Ingolstadt Immortals should have another Star Player!

This Goblin Skeleton has a more elaborate helmet, with a bat crest, which I didn't favor compared to the bare skull skeletons, so I originally skipped using him, figuring I didn't need more than 6 linemenish players.

Plus, his arm was heavily integrated with a thick shield and I didn't want to do the work ;)  But deciding on the Chainsaw Star Skellie meant that a fancy helmet was appropriate, and I'd just have to deal with the extra arm carving.

So here is the conversion:

YuuhN-na-na-na-na...

So if the team needs a star and can't afford Count Luthorc VonDrakenborc they'll know where to turn.

The Ingolstadt Immortals : My Latest Blood Bowl Team: Undead/Necromantic Orcs!

Victorc Frankenstein was a dok of notable potential.  His father, a famous dok of the badlands, and wealthy beyond reason, for he withdrew many more teef than other doks, could see that young Victorc could become a dok of even greater skill and fame than himself.  So of course he decided to kill his son.

Victorc was no fool.  He escaped in the night with a large bag of toolz and a hefty bag of teef and set out to the city of Ingolstadt to enroll in the University.  The University dean was a Vampire of exceptional power and skill: a master of unlife. The University had students from many powerful families, mostly from Naggaroth and the less reputable families of the Empire. They had never had an Orc enroll before, as Orcs don't read.

But Victorc was not about to let something like that get in his way.  When the advanced anatomy class met the next night, the class found Victorc already there, along with a dark elf noble,who had voiced strong criticism of Victorc being granted admission.  The elf voiced no such concerns now however, as his mouth was missing, being sewn over with his own skin and a skaven's arm sewn beneath one of his own, apparently all working fine.  Victorc was admitted to the University.

In his second year Victorc tried out for the University Blood Bowl team.  He was an accomplished thrower and enjoyed having control over the plays, directing the flow of the team.  He worked long into the night perfecting the skills of necromancy and after graduation recruited orcs and goblins from the local marauding tribes to form a Blood Bowl team, The Ingolstadt Invaders, for the regional league.

Unfortunately, Victorc found that orcs & goblins, generally speaking, are frustratingly stupid and stubborn.  Worse still, they expected to get paid, whether they won or not!  Mid-season he held a celebratory feast for the team, where he poisoned them all. In the week that followed he used his medical knowledge and sorcery to rebuild his team, more befitting his grand design.

He changed the team name to The Ingolstadt Immortals, tore up the now unneeded player contracts and set about to make his fortune.

.........................

Victorc Frankenstein gloats before a match

The Ingolstadt Immortals (+1 orc tooth for knowing why that city) may look a bit like an Orc team, but they are a combo team that can be either Undead or Necromantic.  Those teams share a lot of players, but have some differences.  Undead have 2 mummies where Necro has 2 flesh golems.  Undead can have 4 ghouls, Necro only 2.  Undead linechumps can be zombies or skeletons, Necro are only zombies, and Necromantic can have 2 werewolves and Undead can not have any. 

Let's see the team:

The coach, Victorc Frankenstein.  I will use this as my turn marker. 

Cheerleader (lost an arm from vigorous cheering) will be used for score marker, and graves as re-rolls.

The Wights: skeletal orcs.

Mummies / Flesh Golems.  

I won't mind using these as mummies: easily big enough for Strength 5, even bigger than Willy Mummies!

Ghouls: Ghostly Goblins.

Werewolves: Why should it always be humans turning into wolves? Why not Orcs?

Zombies: Reanimated Goblins. 

The nice thing about zombie goblins: stronger than mortal goblins! The bad thing: all that decaying flesh prevents them from their spry dodging. But, they don't need to be fed or paid! 

Skeletons: Zombie Goblins past their prime can have their remaining flesh boiled away.

They're a little easier to damage this way, but they pick up more speed without the dead weight.

A friend of Victorc, the Orc Vampire, Count Luthorc Von Drakenborc sometimes plays for the team.

It's always nice to have a likely star player to make a team feel more 'complete'.

The team: click for larger

The Ingolstadt Immortals

The team will now join The Hall of Fame (tab at the top of the blog) and get me 2 teams closer to my goal of having all 24 teams! 

Undead are considered one of the better teams in Blood Bowl, and Necromantic have a lot of flexibility of play style, so I'm sure I'll enjoy them.  I wasn't that excited about the theme of Undead until I thought of the undead orc concept.. orcs are always fun theme. 

Thanks for looking!

Enjoy!