Welcome to the April edition of the Tournament Director Blog, your go-to source for all things related to NAF tournaments. Here, we provide not only the latest updates from the tournament scene, but also key information, previews of upcoming events, and of course, recaps of recent tournaments.
For this month’s edition, we cover the squad tournaments Bash Roulette and Coupe des Voraces, the Andorran Tamarro Bowl and the UK tournament series SWTS.
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 is available on our NAF staff site.
Content
- NAF Chatter
1.1 Gnominal Changes
1.2 Inclusion of Non-NAF Match Results
1.3 How ELO Ranking Changes Are Calculated
1.4 Downloadable Eurobowl Roster Builders
1.5 Update of Variant Rulesets
1.6 Reveal of the 2024 NAF Gift - Report: Tournament Series SWTS (by nazgob)
- Report: Bash Roulette (by Tobyeatworld)
- Report: Coupe des Voraces (by Volkajo)
- Report: II Tamarro Bowl (by Soliteck)
- Outlook
1. NAF Chatter
1.1. Gnominal Changes
The latest addition to the Blood Bowl universe has finally arrived, and the new race of Gnomes can now be played at NAF tournaments. As a reminder, per our official policy any rules clarification (as e.g. published in the Designer’s Commentary) needs to be applied immediately. Until our annual NAF review, however, TOs may choose if they want to apply changes to existing rosters, or allow any new rosters. Which version is available should be clearly stated in the rules pack.
We also advise to be somewhat conservative when it comes to budgeting and skill access, and not necessarily put them in the lowest tier with the other stunty teams. They might be wolves in goose skins after all.
Gnome matter what, this new race is now a part of the NAF database, and we are very interested to see how they will perform in the future. Importantly, the races.txt in our hosted Score version has also been updated, and the resulting NAF upload file should be compatible with our systems.
For tournament organizers allowing Gnomes before release of the next FAQ, remember that they are supposed to pay the full 300K price for a master chef. Do not get outfoxed by some sly coaches!
1.2 Inclusion of Non-NAF Match Results
Our organization has always aimed to maximize the number of registered members at any NAF tournament. To this end, we allow tournament organizers (TOs) to host tournaments for NAF members only. Many TOs include the initial registration to the NAF (5 quid/bucks/eurons when on site) in the tournament fee, which we strongly encourage. Still, for varied reasons (such as privacy, allergies to three-letter words, suspicion towards global organizations), some tournaments participants are not NAF members.
Until now, matches of actual members against these lovingly called Nonnaffies, remained unrecorded, forgotten, fully exposed to the brutal forces of time. The glorious loss against that dude at Spinach Bowl II who only joined the year after? Gone. But this ends now. Applying latest web technologies and with support of multiple AIs, we have created a dummy coach “Non-NAF” with the fitting ID number 9 (German speakers will understand). This dummy can now be included when recording tournament results.
You just treat this account like a regular coach and choose this dummy to account for any non-NAF matches. Importantly, any games against Nonnaffies will count towards the win ratio of the respective coach. But it will not lead to any changes in ranking (as we have no means to know if the Nonnaffy was an 8-year old kid or a former Major winner who is trying to hide this hobby from their debt collectors).
A tournament can also have multiple instances of Nonnaffies – and they can even play against each other and these games can be recorded as well, if you feel like keeping track on this. If there are several Nonnaffies with different races in one tournament, you would have to select “Multiple Races” in the coach overview (or in the XML upload file), and then specify the respective races in the individual game reports.
Again, we see this new approach mainly as a service to our members and an opportunity to record more games. But it might also encourage more TOs to submit their tournaments for sanctioning. And it will also allow us to get a better impression of how many Nonnaffies are out there. And if they are kicking our members’ butts!
1.3 How ELO Ranking Changes Are Calculated
There are many misconceptions out there how our ELO rankings are calculated, and often people are surprised why rating changes are as low or high as they are. A popular, but not very correct rule of thumb that is often quoted is that Majors and Nationals give you twice as many points as regular tournaments.
Let’s clear up these misinformation and let me guide you to enlightenment. First we need to introduce a few variables:
- S (Scoring Points) is 1, 0.5 and 0 for wins, ties and losses, respectively.
- Nc is the number of coaches at the tournament. Nc is capped at 30 for regular tournaments and fixed to 60 for Major tournaments.
- K (as in komplicated) = 2 · sqrt(Nc)
- CRopp is your opponent’s rating with the played race; set to 150 if it is the first match with this race.
- CRyou is your rating with the played race; set to 150 if it is the first match with this race.
- Pw (Win Probability) = 1 / (1 + 10^((CRopp-CRyou)/150))
The new coach rating CRnew is now calculated as CRnew = CRold + K · (S – Pw)
As you can see, the change in rating depends on two variables, the number of coaches participating in the tournament, and the win probability. For Majors, these changes are typically about twice as large as a regular 16 tournament, and 50% larger than a large regular tournament with 30 or more coaches. The win probability is exactly 0.5 when both coaches have the same rating, but will change upon rating differences.
If you want to play around yourself and see what happens when you beat somebody’s CR 300 Skaven team with your rookie Gnomes at the World Cup, have a look at this handy Excel file, or the derived Google Sheets version.
1.4 Downloadable Eurobowl Roster Builders
The EuroBowl and EurOpen tournaments in Greece, highlights of this year’s tournament line up are getting closer day by day and are now less than five months away. A lot of teams are still in the process of optimizing their rosters and race choices, while the current ruleset has been adapted by many regular and squad tournament organizers.
There is still some time until the official roster deadline of June 30th, but you might be interested to know that the two roster builders for team submissions have been published now. These pieces of Excel art have the ruleset intricacies and all available races and stars completely implemented and will guide you with friendly red warnings through team generation. Please refer to the official Eurobowl page for the latest versions. You can find the current versions also here on the NAF site as EuroBowl and EurOpen Excel files (unfortunately, the extensive MS Excel art makes it incompatible with Google Sheets).
1.5 Update of Variant Rulesets
If you have missed the recent news: with support from mainly Melafaxis and Megamind, who did the main work and then kept nagging to for once review the latest changes, pretty please and all, we are now finally able to present updated versions of some of the less frequently used Blood Bowl variant rule sets, such as Death Bowl/Death Bowl 7s, Beach Bowl, Street Bowl, and Draft.
Aim was to mainly preserve the character of the variants and the specific rules, while adapting language and specifics to the current BB2020 rules. All updated documents can be found on our Variants page.
1.6 Reveal of the 2024 NAF Gift
The great reveal of this year’s NAF goodies is upon us! As tradition demands, it is once again going to happen on NAFC weekend. Tons of dice and precious Chinese metals have been shipped around the world to make this happen. A special thanks to Membership Director Twyllenimor for coordinating these efforts, as well as to our main volunteer distributors Lycos, Grant85, Valdric, Matte8, Rabid_Bogscum, Sebco and Hachablanca.
Expect the website to be updated this weekend, when the new gifts will be also available for online renewals.
While we are all excited about the new gimmicks, a kind reminder to all of you to – when possible – renew in person at a local tournament with a NAF representative. That saves you money, and the NAF and their staff shipping costs and a lot of efforts.
2. Report: Tournament Series SWTS (by nazgob)
The UK has a lot of tournament series in what is really quite a small geographical area; it’s all because we are lucky to have such a surplus of tournaments. Hemmed in by tournament series that cover Wales, the South East of England and another that takes up the South coast, the South West had been left very much to its own devices.
Over the last decade, NAF tournaments haven’t had much of a foothold beyond Bristol, the area is home to several well established and sizeable leagues in Exeter, Bath, Bristol, Taunton and Yeovil, to say nothing of Swindon and Cheltenham! Keen Blood Bowlers are to be found all over the place, with new leagues popping up as far afield as Paignton.
In each of these places (and more), we’ve got organisers and commissioners putting on tournaments.
The South West Tournament Series (SWTS) was built to coordinate those efforts, and to help grow the tournament scene in the area. Our Open series has 12 confirmed one day events for 2024, stretching from Exeter and Paignton in the west, to Christchurch and Swindon in the east, pushing as far north as Cheltenham.
The rules are simple – at the end of the year, your series score is an aggregate of your three best results from affiliated events. It’s a simple rule that means someone who attends three tournaments has as much chance of winning as someone who attends all twelve; we’re all about rewarding and supporting new tournament players.
Our first ever event was BUBBA Bowl in Bristol, run by Loki. Coaches played four games over the course of the day, and it’s fair to say that more than one opponent found the fanged Vampires frustrating as they took first and second place. The second tournament was the School of Hard Blox run by Duffins and won by Ginjasy, although the headline was that we had multiple Goblin teams with winning records.
In April, we had Glowworm’s Glow Bowl in Swindon where Stewbacca (the commissioner of the South East Tournament Series) scored a win with his Black Orcs, and then Ginjasy’s Cake or Death in Yeovil, which saw 24 coaches devouring batches of homemade cakes while battling it out on the pitch. DeeTee emerged victorious with his Humans.
We’re now a third of the way through our calendar, with over 100 different coaches having already attended our tournaments. Of those, three coaches have already made it to three events and a special mention should be made about Hexbaron, who maintains the only 100% attendance record, having won the first event, attended the second and third, and then run the fourth!
Our current series leader is Itchen, while Yellow-Ox is heading the Stunty pack, but everything is still to play for.
In the coming months, we have a few tournaments in Devon, with the inaugural Blitz on the Beach in Paignton before moving up to Chippenham for Forge Breakers May Hem. Then it’s back down to Taunton for the Excalibur Summer Sword and then the Exeter for Troll Bowl. With lots more events to come, just head over to our website https://swts.nazgob.co.uk/ to sign up!
3. Report: Bash Roulette (by Tobyeatworld)
The second edition of Bash Roulette was a very successful one! Forty-eight coaches (18 more than last year!) were competing for the win and enjoying their time with other Blood Bowl enthusiasts near Bielefeld/Paderborn. What is so special about this tournament? It is played in squads of three coaches and lasts over two days. After each game, coaches rotate their Blood Bowl teams within their squad – that means you are playing six games in total with three different Blood Bowl teams. Incredible and unique!
This year, we had a limitation that squads must have a combined tier of at least 6. Roster creation was as per Eurobowl rules. The higher your squad’s combined tier, the higher your chance to gain extra re-rolls if your opponents have a lower combined tier. These re-rolls could be used by any coach in your squad. The vast majority of teams that were played were ‘bash’ teams, fitting perfectly with our tournament name. Only a few ‘agility’ teams were played, but chapeau to one squad playing Goblins. The most chosen teams were Orcs, Tomb Kings, Necromantics, and Khorne.
Our location is mainly used as a community hall for Catholics, and I think some coaches took their chance to pray for better dice rolls (results unknown). At registration, all coaches received a set of new tournament dice, a drinking cup with the tournament logo, a customized notepad for the score, and a ballpen.
Coaches came from all over Germany to join us. Munich, Tübingen, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Hannover… just to name a few. Some coaches traveled five hours and more just to spend time with us, which makes us very proud. We wanted all coaches to have a good time and stay hydrated, that’s why we decided to give away coffee, water, tea, pancakes, bananas, and apples for free. Two meals on Saturday and one meal on Sunday were included in the tournament fee. We offered beer and soft drinks at a reasonable price.
On Saturday evening, we held a raffle to give as many prizes as possible to as many coaches as possible. Many thanks to our sponsors for filling up our raffle with awesome prizes! After the raffle, coaches could stay in the venue and play board games, card games, or simply socialize with each other.
During the tournament, coaches at the last table were having the most fun, I believe; well, it was definitely the loudest table of all. Most squads were playing on the same level, which made it very interesting to watch and very thrilling for the final results. At the end, the squads were really close to each other in the ranking. But it became clear very early that the winner squad from last year was on fire and the one to beat to get a trophy. With only one single player loss, Arioso, Stimme, and Junior84 defended their title with style and scored the most touchdowns of all. The winner squad for most casualties was decided by 9 inflicted casualties against Wood Elves in the last game (yes, please take your time for cheering). For the best single player trophy, it came down to a showdown in the last game. Tschirgant and Stimme, both leading the single player ranking before the last game, were drawn against each other at table 1. A late score by Tschirgant resulted in a draw, securing him the award. Congratulations to all of you!
We are pleased with the positive feedback we received from the coaches, because we put many hours and much effort into planning and organization, and seeing that everything went smoothly is a very good feeling. Next year, we will run the tournament again and hope that it will be as great as this year.
We play Blood Bowl with passion.
4. Report: Coupe des Voraces (by Volkajo)
Usually, I am well-prepared for my Blood Bowl tournaments, and I was very lucky that the one for which I did not really make specific plans was the Coupe des Varaces in Lyon, France, since the organizers had everything covered.
Not only did they block a significant number of hotel rooms close to the venue at a very reasonable price, but they also prepared fantastic food for three days in a row and even gave you the option to sleep at the venue for free.
The tournament was actually a team tournament with squads of four, following Europen rules. Unlike the Euro, where pairings are decided by board, this one used a draft, so the captains decided on the pairings. Both squads hide one team at the beginning. Squad A offers the first team, Squad B picks a team to play against them and offers the second team. The two remaining pairings are then automatically set. This adds a fun strategic element and might make you reconsider your team choice.
Our team consisted of four Germans, but I am worried that we might have had a French imposter among us. I still wonder who it might have been.
Whenever I am playing in France or against French coaches on Fumbbl, I am always impressed with the level of play. The tournament, sadly only consisted of five rounds, and all five of my opponents were far above average in their Blood Bowl skills, even if they were not experienced tournament coaches.
The overall results also confirmed the quality of the field in general. With Équipe de France winning the title with five wins, the next five squads all finished on seven points. The organization team, combined with the results from the Turncoat team starting and its integration into Tourma, made for a smoothly run tournament.
If you are looking for high-level Blood Bowl with great food, Coupe Des Varaces is a perfect tournament for you. With the venue being very close to the city center, it is definitely worth it to extend your stay in the gastronomic capital of the world by a day or two.
5. Report: II Tamarro Bowl (by Soliteck)
Breaking: Pacho Leads Wood Elf Team to Victory in Andorra’s Blood Bowl Tournament
Andorra’s Blood Bowl community witnessed an exhilarating tournament on March 30th as 24 coaches from across Spain and Andorra converged at the newly established gaming venue, Aquelarre. The event marked the II Tamarro Bowl Cup, promising intense competition and thrilling matchups.
Throughout the day, coaches showcased their strategic prowess and tactical ingenuity in pursuit of the coveted trophy. Aquelarre provided the perfect setting with its state-of-the-art facilities, creating an atmosphere charged with excitement and anticipation.
Among the competitors, Pacho distinguished himself with his Wood Elf team, captivating spectators with their swift and agile playstyle. With each match, Pacho demonstrated a masterful command of his team, outmaneuvering opponents with precision and finesse.
In a nail-biting final, Pacho’s Wood Elves faced off against a formidable opponent, showcasing their trademark speed and agility to secure a hard-fought victory. The win solidified Pacho’s reputation as a skilled tactician and earned him the title of Tamarro Bowl champion.
Looking ahead to the future, organizers are already planning next year’s tournament, aiming to accommodate even more coaches eager to test their mettle on the Blood Bowl pitch. With the success of this inaugural event setting the stage for future competitions, anticipation is high for another thrilling showcase of skill and strategy.
The Tamarro Bowl not only celebrates the passion for Blood Bowl in Andorra but also fosters camaraderie and sportsmanship among players from diverse backgrounds. As the tournament continues to grow in popularity, it cements its place as a highlight of the Blood Bowl calendar in the region.
PS: Tamarro is a mythical Andorran creature that looks like a Yeti.
6. Outlook
May is again very busy (although surprisingly few tournaments made use of the Mayhem word play), with a total of 94 tournaments in 19 different countries! This includes China, where we are curious to hear about the Summer Smashdown, held in the best pizza place Zhuhai has to offer (according to the three Google reviews). The NAF Championship in Nottingham on the same day will be another highlight, as well as the return of the Tilean Team Cup, held in Genova.
This month’s winner of the longest tournament title is The Disaster in Dallas Friday Night Fights – Games Workshop US OPEN 2024 – a Gutterbowl event held in Arlington (notably not in Dallas, presumably due to the disastrous situation there). It’s the prelude to the following, less nighty and fighty, regular B2020 event in the same location.
You will find me at the Hammabowl in Hamburg (for once a tournament I can bike to), and the twentieth iteration of the Dutch Madhobbit Massacre in Amersfoort.
Finally, we can all expect an end of month rush publication of our beloved semiannual Designer’s Commentary. Let’s see what we have played wrong all the time!