Hi there,
My name’s Spiky and I’d like to share a few words about our Bloodbowl action in Swindon, UK. We’re lucky enough to have 2 established leagues in the town, which are attended by several regulars from the UK tournament circuit. I’ve been able to play in both leagues last season, so can share a bit of information about their differences, current status and history. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin…
The Cakebowl league started their first season in early 2011, with 5 teams playing 4 games in a round-robin format. Since then we’ve progressed to 14 coaches in the current season (season 5) of which I’ll mention more later on. The name of the league was inherited from the tournament of the same name run by Gary (Hudson), which featured some home baked cakes as prizes (see cakebowl.co.uk). The League commissioner is Mike (sann0638) although he doesn’t seem to spend much time running it these days – I think his attention seems to be diverted to other things!
The club is a bit odd to be honest, with no regular gaming night or venues, so coaches use the forum to arrange their games when suitable and mainly play at each other’s houses.
We’re using the excellent OLBBM software to manage the league, if you’re not using this in your league I recommend you give it a look as it really helps improve the visibility of how teams and opponents are shaping up over the season, plus it reduces the workload on the commissioner (as noted already). We also recently discovered the ‘team news’ section so coaches have been making good use of this to advertise their team’s ups and downs.
The other local league is run by members of SWAT (Swindon Wargames and Tacticians) and is hosted within the awesome venue of Mongoose Publishing. They have some amazing gaming tables permanently set up in their offices with lovely scenery suitable for Judge Dredd, 40K and other war games. The club gaming night there is on a Tuesday each week.
Lastly, we have some digital league activity in the area too! Ryan who is the SWAT league commissioner plays regularly in the Orca-Cola cup on the Cyanide platform, while the Cakebowl has an even more virtual league currently in its 2nd season over at FUMBBL.
So then, on to the current Cakebowl league standings, which can be seen on the below link: http://xenolith.me.uk/cakebowl/index.php?section=objhandler&type=2&obj=2
The agility teams are currently monopolizing the top 3 spots of the league, The Whispering Wasps, a Wood Elf team coached by Tony (FTJUK) has been leading the pack so far. A virtual version of the team won the 1st season of the Cakebowl FUMBBL league, and with 2 monstrous Wardancers (one ST4 and one AG6) the team are looking virtually unstoppable. Shortarse’s Slann, the Poison Arrows cannot be discounted though, both teams are now on 5 wins and a tie with about half the season still to go, so it’s very close! My own Pro Elves, the Switchblayde Serpents are consolidating 3rd place after losing to the Wood Elves in the last game.
The SWAT League have also recently adopted the OBBLM platform, they have 13 coaches split into 2 divisions with playoffs for the top teams:
It’s still early days in this league, however the hot tip for greatness would have to be the Norse team season 1 winners Lords of Winter coached by Ryan. They are currently heading up the Frenzy Freestyle Cup division as I write, however standing firmly in their way are the ‘Orcshire Boyz, an Orc team who managed to table the Norse during their encounter last season. They are currently leading the Ikilla Invitational division. These teams seem to be pointed at each other like massive ballistas and it should make for a very exciting road to a potentially explosive finale if they both meet there!
And finally, in the digital league news, the Cakebowl season 2 FUMBBL league is happening here:
http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=group&op=view&group=8250&p=tournaments
There are 7 coaches playing and blocknroll’s Norse team Jaffa Cake Delights is in the lead with 3 wins of 3.
So, at the risk of sounding like a travel reporter, I’m pleased to say that whatever you’re looking for, Swindon has everything to meet your Bloodbowling needs! If you’re ever in the area, feel free to pop by on our forums and say hello! You can also check the progress of the teams via the OBBLM Links supplied too. Thanks a lot for reading
We are going NAF Blood Bowl this year for Cardiff Carnage. A change of systems and a change of pace, BB has remained special, so with that in mind and some help from Newport Warriors. Andy MacDonald is helping us out…Anyway it’s 7th & 8th Sept. Mike
Excellent write up Spiky! Swindon is where it’s at! 😀