Welcome to the May edition of the Tournament Director Blog, where we keep you informed about what’s happening behind the scenes, showcase interesting tournament-related content, provide a preview of upcoming events, and, most importantly, share reports on a few recent tournaments. In this month’s edition, we’ll be covering the Rocky Mountain Rampage, the Aemonia Soaring Brawl, the NAFC, and the Fumbbl Tilean Team Cup.
As always, if you want to contribute any content to this blog (e.g. a report of a recent tournament you visited or ran), reach out! Contact info are available on our NAF staff site.
Content
- NAF Chatter
1.1 NAF Committee Minutes
1.2 May FAQ and Errata
1.3 New Scottish National Tournament
1.4 Probability Calculator
1.5 Race Performance - Report: Rocky Mountain Rampage (by Grither)
- Report: Aemonia Soring Brawl (by RedDragon)
- Report: NAFC (by Leipziger)
- Report: Fumbbl Tilean Team Cup
- Outlook
1. NAF Chatter
1.1. NAF Committee Minutes
As is customary for committees, the NAF committee recently held their first meeting with the current composition. We discussed a wide range of topics, including this year’s gift, the 24+2 patches, tournament series badges, updates on the website and OBBLM, as well as a general financial update. You can find the detailed minutes, courtesy of Megamind, here on the site (don’t blame him for the weird date format in the file name; it’s genetic).
One significant challenge we are currently facing is the large volume of gifts that need to be shipped. The NAF membership continues to grow steadily, which is a positive development. However, this also puts a significant strain on our dedicated volunteers who handle all the shipping, including Sebco, Hachablanca, Lycos, Twyllenimor, Valdric, and grant85. With thousands of gifts awaiting shipment, we are exploring the possibility of engaging professional services to assist us, starting with Europe. If you have any recommendations for fulfillment services or letter shops that you believe would be a good fit, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
1.2 May FAQ and Errata
It was a close call, but Games Workshop won the race between them publishing the semiannually Designer’s Commentary, me finishing the May blog, and the month of June arriving. The largest changes in the newest edition are arguably the modifications to the Sneaky Git skill, and the weakening of the Bombardier skill. While critics may perceive this as an ongoing effort to counter Goblin world domination, many will breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the oppressive era of Bomber Dribblesnot is finally drawing to a close. An unexpected change to the Chainsaw skill that – if read as written – would mean that every chainsaw action that breaks armor results in a turnover, is awaiting clarification.
As in the past, all of the rule corrections and changes published by Games Workshop are taking effect immediately and need to be respected at any NAF approved tournaments from now on. We do not want situations where coaches don’t know which rules apply. Exceptions are only made for newly published rosters (e.g. the most recent Amazon or Norse), where we allow hosts to choose which of the two they use, until the end-of-year NAF review.
1.3 New Scottish National Tournament
Regular blog readers will know that the NAF recently introduced Nationals – tournaments that aim to provide nations with a large community but no Major with a prestigious event. At the moment, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden fulfill the required criteria: 100 or more active NAF members (defined as renewed memberships), at least one tournament of over 50 coaches, and no Major yet.
Now, another community has reached the threshold: with Scotland having 133 active members and this year’s Mulligan Open hosting 66 coaches, the inventors of the Macaroni Pie are now eligible to host a National as well. Which will be the Mulligan’s Open on 2nd and 3rd of March 2024.
Another close contender to receive their very own National is Denmark, with currently 109 active members. This year’s Danish Open might hit the 50 participants, making them eligible as well!
1.4 Probability Calculator
Generations of Blood Bowl players have used Elyoukey’s Samba Action Calculator to complain about their opponent’s seemingly improbable touchdown, and how, by all statistical means, it should never have happened. For the ones of you that want to implement additional BB2020 specific rolls (and don’t mind the generous use of the color pink), the solution is Blood Bowl Dave’s Action Calculator.
1.5 Race Performances
Sann0638′ NAF report is the number one source for tournament data lovers. Sven Drakenspear of asksvendrakenspear has been analyzing the 2023 outcome so far and is taking a closer look in his recent blog post, with very interesting results. Not only are Skaven less successful than popular, the last remaining Wood Elf coach is actually doing pretty well! Little surprising, Goblins remain the most successful race. At least the ones hired on an Underworld team, their less-mutated Goblin brethren are struggling at the bottom of the rankings!
2. Report: Rocky Mountain Rampage (by Grither)
As experienced players in the Rocky Mountains of Utah have painfully experienced every spring, Big Foot rises from his winter slumber with an insatiable desire to wreak havoc on the blood bowl pitch! Big Foot interferes with every kickoff event, from ambushing a player on the sideline, causing an avalanche, and throwing a FITT (Flying Injury-causing Tree Trunk), to storming onto the pitch himself and hitting anyone he comes in contact with! However, players and coaches alike have learned to deal with and appreciated the randomness Big Foot brings to the game.
The Rocky Mountain Rampage (RMR) is the premiere event of the Mountain West area and draws coaches from many surrounding states. This year, 40 coaches participated in the 4-match tournament on Saturday, April 22nd and everyone received a custom dice cup to go along with their RMR dice. Another 12 coaches joined the chaos in the Rocky Mountain Lightning Deathbowl tourney on Friday evening, which is a points-based, 4-coach per pitch event in 75-minute rounds. It’s a super fun time and a big congrats to Terl Shockley for taking home the top prize!
Saturday’s Rampage features a scoring system with points given for TD and CAS bonuses, but also for pitch clears and 1-turn scores (once per game for each), as well as in-game spot prizes such as first foul ejection, first casualty on a failed dodge, etc. to give everyone something to shoot for, regardless of record. This year, 10-yr old Freddie won a spot prize in each of his first three matches! Freddie also received a painted Dwarf team for winning the Big Foot’s Buddy (best sportsman award).
All kinds of chaos ensued during the event, and going into the last round only Rakkar and his trusty Orcs and ZootSuitJeff and his Zons were undefeated with a 3-0 record and they faced off in the final round with Championship bragging rights at stake! However, as Nuffle would have it, the talented coaches played to a 1-1 draw putting several coaches in the running. Only two points separated First from Third place, but in the end Rakkar came out on top with a 1 point edge over ZootSuitJeff, with DarthBraeder coming in third. BigMike took the SmallFoot award (stunty champ) with his Ogres and many other glittering prizes were earned and enjoyed.
If you’re anywhere near the Mountain West, the Rocky Mountain Rampage is a must-attend event and one of the more thematic and enjoyable events in Blood Bowl!
3. Report: Aemonia Soring Brawl (by RedDragon)
Slovenia is the newest addition to our list of countries with NAF representatives and just held their second NAF approved tournament overall. RedDragon, Slovenia’s new NC, reports what happened at the Aemonia Soring Brawl.
This April we – the Slovenian Blood Bowl community – hosted our first tournament of the year. The Aemonia Soring Brawl was great fun with many touchdowns scored and much blood spilled (mostly Halfling and Wood Elf blood, but I guess this should be expected). We used the rules for the upcoming World Cup and had 14 coaches participating, which was a great turnout for our small community. Apart from our local guys, we were very happy to host also a coach prom Croatia, 2 from Austria and even 2 from Spain!
The field was quite varied with three Dark Elf teams, Skaven and Chaos Dwarfs represented twice and Dwarfs, Slann, Humans, Amazons, Wood Elves, Halflings and Tomb Kings all with one team on the day.
After three hard-fought matches, The Warlocks Of Ghrond, a Dark Elf team coached by Pino / Shimigami, won 1st place. 2nd place went to the Sisters of Sotek, an Amazons team coached by Gottfried / Huanchi. 3rd place went to another Dark Elf team, Lagano Sportski, coached by Tevž / MaLius. And the Wooden Spoon went to the only stunty team, my very own Halfling team, the Fling Bay Buccaneers! As a Halfling coach, you can never have enough cooking
utensils. 🙂
4. Report: NAFC in Nottingham (by Leipziger)
The last weekend in April saw over 250 coaches descend on Nottingham for the 11th NAF Championship. This year Skaven seemed like the team of the moment. For the first time I can remember they were the most popular choice for the tournament, edging out Undead & Dark Elves (two perennial NAFC favourites). They were also taken by some of the bigger names in BB including Kfoged & Purplegoo.
After day 1 there were 13 teams (11 different races) sat on 3 wins and harbouring hopes of the title on Sunday. Vmcat, using Chaos, was leading the way. Sporran, our defending champ, was in a cluster of teams on 2/1/0 and hoping for a bunch of rd 4 draws so his orcs would have a shot at retaining the title. Although this didn’t come to pass, a 10th place finish is a fine effort.
As round 5 came to a close, there were just a few teams on 100% records. The two with the strongest strength of schedule were first time Major finalist Scs.Sam (Chaos Dwarves) and serial winner & previous NAFC runner up Purplegoo (Skaven). After a tense final, the rats took the win with 1:0, giving Phil his first NAFC title & the Skaven their first win since 2009 when Mubo won the precursor to this tournament.
Phil’s rat build was: 13 players including 4 gutter runners. Juggernaut Rat Ogre, Sidestep/Leader/Strip Ball/Wrestle Gutter Runners, Mighty Blow Blitzers, 2 Rerolls, Apothecary. Elsewhere BB_Jock edged out Purplechest (both using Dark Elves) to take the League Champion prize, and future superstar Minimorg & his Snotlings took home the award for Rising Star. A special shout out to René/Dung who came all the way from the Dominican Republic to make his NAFC debut and to play his first ever NAF tournament.
For full standings please check out the NAFC website: http://nafchampionship.co.uk/
5. Fumbbl Tilean Team Cup
In preparation for the traditional Italian tournament, neilwat and me hosted the online edition of the Tilean Team Cup on Fumbbl. While this wasn’t the first team tournament on Fumbbl, it marked the first time we transformed it into a true squad event, pitting coaches of one squad against coaches of another squad, rather than simply tallying up individual coaches’ points from matches against various opponents.
The turnout was impressive, with a total of 276 coaches participating in 69 squads. Over the course of six weeks, six matches were played. In a closely contested race, the international squad Chimera emerged as the final victors, securing first place. “I Lupi, la Piovra e il Leone” claimed the second spot, closely followed by the Red Leaf Mercenaries in third place.
Among the individual coaches, Siggi stood out with his Amazons, earning the title of best coach with a flawless record of six wins. Kurjo’s Orcs secured second place, while helborg’s Dark Elves came in third, both with five wins and a draw. SandmanMusashi’s Dark Elves scored the most touchdowns, totaling 15. Steynberg’s Amazons showcased the best defense, conceding only a single touchdown. Gian1978’s dwarfs tallied 25 casualties, while Tulkas_jrrt’s unfortunate Underworld team suffered the most with 31 casualties against.
Simultaneously, a regular Singles tournament took place in the North American time zone, where flyingdingle clinched first place with five wins and a draw playing Skaven. Lancelott secured second place with their Amazons, followed by SRJarrett’s Underworld Denizens. SRJarrett also claimed the most touchdowns, scoring an impressive 13, while wintergreen13 took home the Most Casualties award with their Chaos Renegades.
Although the implementation of this new “true” squad format required more effort compared to previous formats, it was extremely well-received and, thanks to Christer’s support, proved to be a resounding success, despite some initial challenges. We plan to continue utilizing this format for upcoming squad events based on its positive reception and outcomes.
6. Outlook
A total of 75 tournaments have been submitted for the month of June. The number of participants at the Danish Open will decide if Denmark gets it’s own National. On the same weekend, the famous Lutece Bowl is happening. One of the largest German tournaments, the German Team Bowl is taking place, whereas Oklahoma sees the 11th iteration of the Orclahoma Bowl/Spiky Cup combo. Oklahoma does not qualify for a National, but the number of participants will decide if Kilowoggy finally gets that tattoo. Find all the upcoming tournaments in the listing in our members area.
Coaches engaged in online play will be interested to hear that Season 1 of the Cyanide Blood Bowl 3 game is scheduled for June 22nd. It will feature the introduction of the Official Ladder and other critical functionalities, and the arrival of the Lizardman team.
If you’ve previously played online on Fumbbl but drifted away due to the client’s lack of scalability or because you had difficulties with the sideline view, you’ll be pleased to know that the team around Christer and Candlejack has made significant enhancements to the client. If you are looking for a way to scratch your BB itch with full support of the current ruleset, give it (another) try.