At GW’s Warhammer Fest this weekend, Andy Hoare and James Hewitt were in attendance. Andy is Head of the Specialist Games Division, and James is heading up the development of Blood Bowl. Â Many people have posted the results of their conversations on social media, and JT-Y has given lots of the detail here. Hopefully this is the best summary of various sources, and will be updated as more information is released. Â We won’t reproduce pictures, but have linked to them at the bottom.
- BB will be released at the latest Q1 2017, though more likely to be 2016.
- The box set will contain orc and human teams (12 player, starter teams) and the core rules, 2 double sided dugouts and one double sided pitch giving both orc and human themes, 2 sets of dice one blue and one green (3x Block, 2x D6, 1x D8 and 1x D16, the designs are which are still being finalised), 4 Star player cards (Griff, Zug, Varag & Morg), team tokens to use for turn, reroll, score etc, throw, scatter and throw in templates and the first part of an eventually complete set of Special Play cards.
- There will also be a set of transfers with numbers etc.
- The core rules will be the CRP. There will be no changes. This has been confirmed a great many times.
- League rules will be part of a Death Zone supplement book, released on the same day as the box set. The DZ supplement will contain full rosters for 7 teams, some of which will be released in plastic and some in resin: Nurgle, Dwarf, Skaven, and Elf Union (Pro Elf). Â It will also contain rules and complete backgrounds for 20 Star Players, a couple of whom are new additions.
- League rules are the same as the CRP, so once again the game remains the game we know and love. However, additional content has been added. Some of this was written by Jervis a few years ago, some is new. The intention is to add more narrative and more fun to leagues, adding new ways to play. This will very much be the theme going forward; to add to league play with variations and options whilst sticking with the core game we know and love.
- There are more supplements planned and more content to come. Supplements will bring in more rosters we recognise from the CRP complete with new models, along with new and old star players, all in resin, until all 21 teams are available, and more.
- Special Play cards will be released in due course, along with Star Player cards, again to give a complete deck.
- The rate at which new supplements is released depends upon sales and being able to fit them into the release schedule alongside AoS and 40k releases.
- There is no reason to expect new teams to follow Cyanide’s past releases. The team have their own plans influenced by their love of the game and the setting.
- Plastic teams will be added to with resin releases to fill out positionals, Big Guys, etc..
- Star Players will be released in Resin.
- Some plastic teams will receive resin conversion kits which will enable players to build famous teams should they wish. These teams may be supported by additional rules in later league supplements.
- The pitch will have 34mm squares, rather than the current 29mm, but the square count will be the same. The total length will be about 13cm longer than currently (26 x 5mm). The box will contain a larger range ruler to match the larger squares, made in hard plastic rather than the classic flexible one. The board in the box will be hard cardboard, double sided with 2 different pitches, and folding into 6.
- Bases for the new figures are 32mm, which is a style choice. There is nothing preventing the use of 25mm bases or any size you choose. Size of miniatures is also a style choice.
- The miniatures are slightly larger than in previous editions, but we must remember that the previous edition was released in 1994. To give an idea of scale, the humans are about 30mm to the eye level, the same scale as current 40k Guardsmen. Orcs are the same size as current orcs for other ranges, and Black orcs are big, bad ST4 models.
- The miniatures’ bases will have holes in that the ball can be attached to. There are a lot of balls in the starter set, and balls have their own optional rules based on who they belong to (biting orc squig ball?).
- The setting remains the same. What does that mean? Well, Blood Bowl has always been set in an alternative Warhammer World where football has replaced war. It’s a grim, darkly humorous pastiche of the Warhammer setting and that isn’t changing. More importantly it is being expanded upon by a team of people who have known and loved the Warhammer World for many years. As an example Eldril Sidewinder has had his original background restored, he is a Sea Elf Wardancer turned to football, and his Hypnotic Gaze is a racial ability to mesmerize others that Wood and Sea Elf Wardancers possessed in WFB 3rd edition.
There will be new pitches, possibly even in neoprene (mouse mat material). The plan is to release racial pitches to tie in with all the teams. Also, there is a hidden Easter Egg present on all pitches which in due course might give a hint to potential new DungeonBowl league rules still in the planning stages.- The Specialist Brands Studio plans to support the community through supporting gaming and events, be they in stores or elsewhere. Plans are being laid to offer sideline staff as exclusive miniatures at events or for a set period of time, something Forge World already does with its Event Exclusive miniatures.
- No information yet on price points, although the starter set has been kept deliberately light to ensure the price point is much lower than some other recent releases.
Pics on Bell of Lost Souls: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2016/05/warhammer-fest-2016-blood-bowl-sighting.html
Pics and discussion on Recalcitrant Daze: http://recalcitrantdaze.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/warhammer-fest-2016-part-one-blood-bowl.html?m=1
Blood Bowl Community on Facebook, lots of pics and discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/154786034573932/
So will the doom sayers stop? Probable not.
I’m looking forward to it, it will be the first time I give money to GW for a looooong time.
Does this also mean we can start playing BB in store again?
Yes, you will be able to play in store, but before anyone asks, no you will not be able to use non GW models in your local store. This isn’t new, this has always been the rule.
I should add here that all stores are different and you should ask the staff in your local when you can use the tables or when they have events running.
More over, the SB studio will be working with retail to get a proper beginners programme in place for kids who want to learn to play (Sunday Beginners has been a big thing for the core games for a lot of years), and will be coming up with ways to support leagues run within Games Workshop stores.
So if the rules have not changed and it’s definitely going to be the CRP, then why did they ask you to take down the CRP so people “didn’t get used to the old rules”?
Because there will be cosmetic changes, and also all the rosters will not be released at once for the new edition.
Thanks for the write up!
I am looking forward to seeing the new league rules!
Good write up. from my personal point of view…
The rules stay the same = good. League rules for tweaks for cpomb and other highly contentious rules can be talked about via Deathzone probably…
More miniatures to choose from = good. As was always the case, official GW events mean official GW miniatures only, which is more than understandable… GW aren’t a charity after all. Would be nice to extend ‘official’ teams to Slann and Underworld, and frankly even a new race or two, who knows. One for the future perhaps.
Physical pitch size change = Well, must admit I found miniatures from other manufacturers too big for small spaces. Worst that will happen is a new range finder template is needed. Never mind eh. Some tournament hosts may need to think more carefully about side on ‘fumbbl-style’ games as opposed to end to end. However I did spot the recent NAF championship were on big tables that everyone was stretching across end-to-end already. On the face of what could have been changed, I will take this any day of the week.
All in all… it could have been far far worse!
Not keen on the increased pitch size, would have liked to seen dug outs incorporated into the pitch, can’t see a big issue as yet. But the devil is in the detail and I’ll carry on worrying until it is released.
Anyone who was able to actually see or measure the squares. Are they 32mm or 34mm. There was some word the bases are 32 but the squares are 34. Any confirmation on the actual size.
Bases are 32mm, squares are 34mm.
Is there any idea of a cost?
As prices have advanced dramatically in the 20 years since I last visited a GW store.
This game was affordable and easily accessible to anyone including” non gamers” and so were the teams.
I hope it is still the same format in this respect.
Only speculation on cost at the moment, nothing official.
Has it actually been confirmed that BB is set in an alternate Warhammer world, as opposed to an alternate Age of Sigmar world? I love BB but hate AoS. I think it would diminish the game if I have to call my team Aelves, or have medieval space marines hanging around, or if the league fluff has mention of travel between dimensions etc.
I am so excited by this. The chance to introduce my boys to BB is something I’ve dreamt about.
I have no issues or concerns, not one. Why? ‘Cause BLOODBOWL returns. I’m even gonna visit a GW Store upon release, and will be smiling when I hand over my cash.
BLOODBOWL IS BACK BABY. Woohoooooooooo!!!!!!
I hope they expand on league details. There are some really good ideas out there, including purchasing a stadium when a team gets big enough, and General Manager style things, such as actual contracts with players, retirements, etc. Also don’t forget multiple missed game injuries (like 3 for a fractured skull or something), ability to create star player’s using a skill/value system (the value one in the current rules isn’t really true to form, as you can see with an analysis of cost/value vs. a human lineman). Sadly I don’t play the tabletop game anymore because my friends all live in other states, but we do actively play the Cyanide version (which is better than nothing). I just want more official options that have been rule tested for the leagues.
So, they’re putting out an Elf Union team? Does that mean that there will no longer be separate Dark Elf, High Elf, and Wood Elf teams?
Still to be confirmed.
After seeing some of the content of the death box, all elves are still there. The Elf Union team are the pro elves.
Price is confirmed to be $100 USD and is due out the 25 of November.
Also the new Skaven team box (12 models) comes out the same day
will halflings still be a team you can play with from the off?
Looks like a pdf of rosters is being released on Day 1.
Does GW allow conversions of other GW Figures or only Blood Bowl specific minis?
Conversions are fine or GW models.
Instead of releasing specific teams why not to a core teams box so you get 12 bodies for example and build the models how you want, blitzers, line men etc? In stead of building fixed teams. Surely it would be cheaper.
As well is there any news on larger army models e.g. minotaur for the chaos army? And then Dj chaos warriors and beast men like the old rules?
The sprues have specific figures on them, eg an orc sprue has a black orc, a blitzer, a thrower and a few lineorcs. No word on the big guys, but blisters are likely.
I just received my copy this minute but haven’t had time to go through the rules yet. But there are indeed minor changes (eg. gutter runners have daggers, there are special play cards etc). I got the game, Death Zone and the skaven team for just over 100 euros in a Black Friday deal.
Everything looks good though I imagined that the Death Zone book would have more pages. The range ruler is made from hard plastic and will probably break for a lot of people. But other than that everything looks fine. I’ll report back once I’ve been through the rules.
Lots more on the New Box News page.
Will NAF allow people to use their old miniatures in events?
Yes!
I hope the Human team has been upped a little in terms of their Tier level. Tried to play a human team a few times, but they are just not really worthwhile competatively. I hope the teams are re-balanced just enough so that the different Tiers of teams aren’t so noticable. I’m not hoping to se Strength 3 halflings or anything of the sort, but perhaps some things are counterbalanced by overall team bonuses/penalties, at least to some extent.
Nope, no major changes, just 60k human catchers as a boost.