Welcome to the October edition of the Tournament Director Blog, where we keep you informed about what’s happening behind the scenes, present interesting NAF and tournament-related content, provide a preview of upcoming events, and, most importantly, share reports of recent tournaments.
In this month’s edition, we cover Eurobowl, Carthago Bowl and UKTC. Also, we are continuing our section featuring thoughts and suggestions from the Ethics Board.
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 Most Travelled Coach Sir_Twist_089
1.2 Nationals 2025
1.3 #datalove
1.4 Improvements to Submission and Correction of Tournament Data
1.5 Res[s]u/er[r]ection
1.6 Blood Bowl Tournament Manager - Ethics Board Spotlight: Photos and Videos at Tournaments
- Report: Eurobowl (by Sann0638)
- Report: Carthago Bowl (by Pablo28)
- Report: UKTC (by BB_Jock)
- Outlook
1. NAF Chatter
1.1. Most Travelled Coach Sir_Twist_089
Fellow coach Sir_Twist_089 has just visited his 25th country for a Blood Bowl tournament, setting a new milestone in the NAF community. No other coach has reached this number yet and earned the illustrious badge. I spoke with him to hear about the journey so far, his favorite destinations, and what keeps him moving from one tournament to the next.
Q: How does it feel to have visited your 25th country for a Blood Bowl tournament? Did you ever imagine you’d reach this milestone?
To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about this until the last World Cup in Alicante. That was the first time I really realized how many countries I had already played this wonderful game in. After that, I planned the next 12 months so that I could play the Eurobowl in Athens as my 25th country. I like to travel and that’s so easy to combine with Bloodbowl, unlike other tabletop games – a team fits in every backpack.
Q: What first inspired you to travel internationally for Blood Bowl, and how did your journey begin?
Looking back, it was my first World Cup in 2015 in Lucca. I simply enjoyed the incredible atmosphere and the wonderful people around the Blood Bowl hobby. After that, it became natural for me to attend international tournaments.
Q: What are some of the most memorable moments from your travels—both on and off the Blood Bowl pitch?
I was always welcomed so warmly and helpfully in every country. There were many interesting events, such as rolling the dice for a cocktail at the Palinka Bowl or the encounter with a masked man in a bar during the Eurobowl in Cardiff. A highlight was the invitation to a braai in South Africa, thank you very much, Jonathan!
Q: Has your approach to the game evolved as you’ve experienced Blood Bowl cultures in different countries?
Absolutely, every region has its own view of the game, which is reflected in the tournament announcements. Personally, I like these differences and the surprises that come with them, like “oh, that works in this rule set too”. This is also a motivation for my Blood Bowl trips and it always inspires me to create a rule set for my own annual tournament.
Q: Is there a country or location that’s still on your bucket list for a Blood Bowl tournament?
Of course – Uzbekistan and the moon… More realistic are tournaments in Finland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, which I am looking forward to, and maybe there will also be a chance to play Blood Bowl in South America, Australia and New Zealand.
If you wonder how you are doing yopurself in comparison, here is the current ranking of the most travelled coaches.
| NAF # | Coach | Country | Number | Visited Countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAF # | Coach | Country | Number | Visited Countries |
1.2 Nationals 2025
The list of 2025 Nationals, prestigious events akin to established Major tournaments with a notable impact on rankings, is now shaping up. With Finland newly joining the list of eligible countries, there are now even more opportunities across Europe. Belgium is inching ever closer, with a recent explosion of community size. The country has surpassed 100 active members but still requires a tournament with over 50 participants to qualify for a National event.
You can view the current Nationals overview on the newly updated NAF site.
In exciting news, Eurobowl 2025 is confirmed for Hungary, set to take place on the weekend of October 4th. For full details, check the official event page once it has been updated and the details regarding location and ruleset have been published.
As we’ve seen in previous years, it’s common for many tournaments to adopt the current Eurobowl. These balanced rules are great for practice tournaments; however, it’s worth noting that Eurobowl and World Cup rulesets have a distinct squad-oriented emphasis, which may need adjustments for individual events. Also, I consider the variety of tournament formats one of the strengths of the NAF scene — let’s keep this diversity thriving and not all play the same ruleset at every single tournament!
1.3 #datalove
Evaluating, exploring, and interpreting the ever-growing match and tournament data that our insatiable database collects is part of the thrill. This data provides valuable insights into how specific rulesets affect various races, their balance, and success rates. Should you adopt a ruleset from one of the major tournaments for your event, you can contribute to this ongoing analysis and help the community to track and understand its broader impact on gameplay. Simply add a tag like #Euro25 or #WC27 in the “Information” box of the tournament page. This small step lets the data analysts know which ruleset was used and keeps our analytics as rich and informative as possible.
Join the NAF Discord data mine for any data related discussions.
1.4 Improvements to Submission and Correction of Tournament Data
If you’ve recently uploaded tournament data or revisited existing entries, you might have noticed some updates to the tournament data upload process. These changes aim to reduce common mistakes and improve the overall experience – especially for newer organizers, who may have found the choice between manual upload and file upload a bit confusing. The new system makes it significantly harder to submit match data without essential information, like race data, or to accidentally mark games as “Multiple Races” (as every game should accurately display the race played, even if a coach played multiple races throughout the tournament). These updates should help keep our records cleaner and more accurate from the outset.
Beyond these error-prevention measures, I’ve focused on making the system more user-friendly. It now includes more of that cutting-edge hyperlink technology to help moving back and forth in the upload process, making it easier to navigate and correct data without hassle.
Perhaps the most significant improvement addresses our most common mistake: incorrectly entered race information. Now, both Tournament Organizers and NAF representatives can fix these errors directly. No need to wait for admin assistance. Just locate the error and correct it yourself.
With these improvements, I hope data entry feels more seamless and that errors become fewer and farther between, making the process smoother for everyone.
1.5 Res[s]u/er[r]ection
This is an intravention. Intervintion. Intervention? Most of our tournaments are played with rosters reset after each match, so no deaths or injuries carry over — resurrection-style. But as I review tournament submissions, I’ve noticed that spelling this word correctly actually causes more trouble than expected. It’s not about implementing the rules. No, it’s about writing it correctly!
After looking at tournament entries of the last 20 years, I’ve identified 400 attempts to spell this word. The good news: over half got it right! We recorded 221 entries for “Resurrection” and 57 for the French variant “Résurrection.” Interestingly, the Spanish version, “Resurrección,” has only been used three times.
The most popular misspelling is definitely “Ressurection,” appearing 42 times, closely followed by “Resurection,” which shows up 34 times. If we include the eight French entries for “Résurection,” this spelling actually outperforms “Ressurection”!
From there, things get wilder. Seven entries played it safe by using “Ressurrection,” hoping at least one double letter was correct. Other creative takes included “Resuraction,” “Resuriction,” “Resyrrection,” and “Resserection.” No variant was left untried.
Six tournament organizers, however, found a clever escape and simply called it “Regeneration”!
1.6 Blood Bowl Team Manager
There are several software solutions available to manage and report Blood Bowl tournaments, each with its strengths and unique features. You can find a list of these on the our tournament software page. Among them, you will find a very recent addition, the web-based Blood Bowl Team Manager (BBTM). Developed by seanh1986 for the 2024 Amorical Cup, I had the chance to experience BBTM first-hand and was very impressed with its performance.
BBTM offers a streamlined web interface that keeps everything centralized and accessible, making it easy for participants to view tournament details, matchups, submit match results, and follow rankings in real-time. Organizers benefit from a range of powerful features, from creating and managing tournaments to customizing landing pages, setting bonus points, adjusting tiebreakers, and deciding what’s displayed in rankings. This flexibility is further enhanced with options for custom filters and content, giving TOs control over the tournament’s presentation.
Designed to accommodate different tournament styles, BBTM is suited for squad-based formats as well as individual competitions, making it a versatile option for both small and large events. And it’s growing fast: since its launch, BBTM has already powered over 50 tournaments and supported up to 200 players, with more organizers discovering its benefits at every event.
BBTM is actively maintained, and seanh1986 welcomes feedback and feature requests, continually evolving the app to meet the needs of the community. While free to use, BBTM can be supported through Buy Me a Coffee donations, a great way to contribute if you find the tool valuable. For those interested in learning more, you can connect with seanh1986 on the NAF Discord.
While I am still a big fan of using Score! for smaller and individual tournaments, this intuitive, robust tool is a great alternative for larger and especially squad events!
2. Ethics Board Spotlight: Photos and Videos at Tournaments
This is the second installment of a recurring section where the Board of Ethics addresses frequently asked topics and, in coordination with the NAF Committee, offers suggestions to coaches and organizers on various matters.
We all like looking at pictures of tournaments – the food, the atmosphere, the winners, the nicely painted teams, the whole experience. But while we are excited to get our phones out to cover everything, we should also consider privacy issues. Some coaches might not want to be in pictures (whether published or not) and we should be respectful of that.
The tournament organizer has a few options here:
- Gather all the coaches at the start of a tournament. The TO can announce “I intend to take photos throughout the event, feel free to let me know if you are not comfortable with this after we are done with announcements.” Do not force coaches who feel uncomfortable being photographed to publicly say so. Give those coaches the opportunity to talk to you in private.
- When you announce a tournament, add a description that photos will be taken in the tournament rules. Coaches can let the TO know if they have issues with this when signing up.
If a non-TO coach wants to take pictures at an event, that coach should speak to the TO first. There could potentially be legal issues with taking photos in the venue or some countries could have varying rules regarding the photographing of minors, for example. Once the OK is given by the TO, all picture taking should be done respectfully of all involved.
There are a few rules for that:
- When we focus on playing, most of us don’t really care about how we might appear on camera. Make sure no photos are taken of coaches in uncomfortable positions or situations, such as exposed butt cracks, bellies hanging out, faces of pure despair etc.
- If close-ups of coaches are taken where their faces are clearly visible, those coaches should be shown the pictures and asked for publication permission.
- If photos are to be published on social media, first ask any involved coaches if they are okay with being tagged. The same goes for clear names and tagging in regards to tournament results.
The NAF is not at all suggesting that all photo or video activities should be stopped right away unless contracts with everybody involved are signed. We just want to raise awareness of the very different viewpoints people have regarding their images being posted online. Please be respectful of that and of different customs in the various countries in which we play this wonderful game.
3. Report: Eurobowl (by Sann0638)
Thanks to Stimme for asking me to write a few words about the Euros (Eurobowl and Europen) from a non-playing point of view. I was part of the admin team for the Euros in Malta, which was recently described as the “best tournament ever”, so was happy to offer my services to the Greece team if they wanted to run the admin side in the same way, and they did, so I was there!
I flew in to lovely Athens on the Friday and headed to venue, decked out with national flags and ready to go. Yannis, Aris and the team had got everything sorted, as Volkajo and I gave everything the once over and looked forward to the kick off of the parallel tournaments. I rounded the evening off with a lap of Athens, via the Prison of Socrates and the Acropolis, ending in a bar with Teams Laconia and Cyprus.
An early start the next morning as the team captains registered their teams and collected goodies. The draws had been done a week in advance, so everyone was able to find their tables and opponents, and get going! Eurobowl rounds were half an hour ahead of Europen to make lunches and admin easier, but because the draws were all up there were quite a few Europen matches starting early, meaning they had plenty of time to get the games done and results in.
For those who weren’t there, we went old school in terms of results submission, as each squad fixture was printed out at the beginning of each round and given to captains to fill in the results. These were then keyed into Exscore, which is my Excel spreadsheet for processing results. We had one laptop for Eurobowl, which I looked after, and one for Europen keyed in by Dimitra from the Greek admin team.
In between Malta and Greece there was the small matter of the Alicante World Cup, where they used online submission of results for 2300 people. This is probably the future of big tournaments, but it depends on a stable well-tested platform that the admins of the tournament are comfortable using. Using paper submission definitely removed one element that could have gone wrong in running the tournament, and prioritising the smooth running of the tournament over something that felt slicker seemed like the right thing to do for this one. I will watch with interest how the availability on tournament software develops for Hungary, Poland, the 2027 World Cup and beyond!
The gap between games 1 and 2 is usually the most stressful for TOs as results are entered live for the first time and the next round is produced, so it was a big relief when we started round 2 on time for both tournaments. There was a big gap for lunch between 2 and 3 and then overnight between 3 and 4, so it was easy until Sunday. I was particularly pleased that a new printer cartridge turned up in time for the 3rd round, so the results slips were legible…
The long lunch was an interesting one, as lunch was very efficiently delivered in “packed lunch” form, and the results turnout was speedy, so it seemed like the long lunch was overkill, but much better that than the alternative of delays and queuing, in my opinion. There was also the bonus of the fantasy convention taking place in the rest of the building, which I thought was a fantastic addition with the option of watching sword fighting and gaming demos, so combined with the option of chatting to 600 Blood Bowlers from across the world, it didn’t seem like the long breaks would be time wasted.
Saturday night for me was a meal out with my Scottish chums (amazing kebab!) then bumping into Team England and meeting up with the Hakflem Globetrotters for drinks, and almost leaving my laptop in a bar… it was a fun evening! I had done the draw for the next day, and was really looking forward to the buzz of a Team USA v France round 4, a clash of two very impressive teams. This buzz was replicated throughout the Sunday for me, as the possible iterations of the final standings became clearer.
The dust settled, and the PowerPoint was filled in. Every round had started on time, no redraws, no problems. We celebrated with a glass or two of an unidentifiable liquid, then headed to the bars of Athens for the last time, stopping to make one last vlog, which were one of the nice touches for the weekend, thanks Timo!
So, what to take from the weekend? The tournament was a huge success, and the organisers join the pantheon of volunteers who have delivered successful Euros over the last two decades as the tournament has grown. Blood Bowl happened, the podium was filled, and hopefully most people had a good time. Any experience from the organising team would ideally be fed into a handbook for Hungary and beyond, so that future tournament can meet the high bar of those that have come before. Thank you to the Greek team for their hospitality towards me and everyone else who attended, and I hope you have enjoyed your recovery and the pleasure of a job well done.
Final results of both Eurobowl and Europen are available on the Eurobowl website.
4. Report: Carthago Bowl (by Pablo28)
Oh! Susanna, oh don’t you cry for me,
‘Cause I’ve come from Alabama, with my banjo on my knee.
Yee-haw!
Just like a saloon in the old Wild West, where fun and beer are never missing, the Carthago Bowl XI (The Last Dance of the Dandy) took place on September 14th in the city of Cartagena, Spain. Sixty-four Blood Bowl coaches gathered to drink beer and duel, dice against dice. Bang! Double skull! Pow!
Sergio Leone famously filmed “The Dollars Trilogy” in the Almería region, which is relatively close to Cartagena and might be a more fitting theme for tournaments like Mojonbowl or Desert Bowl, which are also held in that area. But… our dice logo is a skull in a cowboy hat, and even the oldest among us can’t quite say why.
Cartagena is a well-connected coastal city where the sun is our ally, food and drink are plentiful and affordable, and a variety of accommodations are available. In one afternoon, you can visit its Roman Theater (built between 5 and 1 BCE), the naval museum, or the Punic Wall, for example. If ancient ruins aren’t your thing, the tournament organizers would gladly lead us the night before to the best spots for dining and nightlife.
Life in the Wild West is tough, and just a month before the tournament, the original venue closed down, forcing us to gallop out in search of a new location. In a twist of fate, we found a new venue just in time – a playground with the same name as our tournament, Carthago. With the help of organizers from other regional tournaments, like Mazabowl and the Asiatico Cup (run by our friends at LEVANTE BLOCKERS), we transformed the space with borrowed boards and tables. This new setting made the tournament more family-friendly, as coaches could scalp their opponents with Pows while their kids jumped on trampolines nearby.
In this one-day tournament, four rounds (or duels) were played. Our coaches battled individually, with plenty of prizes, surprises, and drinks to go around. The coaches’ behavior was exemplary, and the Sheriff barely had to make an appearance to keep order. Agacor emerged as the best gunslinger with his Dark Elves. Robbing a bank or searching for gold nuggets can’t compare to the excitement of Carthago Bowl. Pow! Pow! Pow!
5. Report: UKTC (by BB_Jock)
Scotland Squad marches on York for a top weekend at UKTC
The Blood Bowl Tartan Army marched on York for their annual trip south to the UK Team Challenge with just under forty coaches gathering to see if they could sack the castle walls or whether they’d have to retreat on Monday with their tails between their legs. Regardless, the ninth edition of UKTC was guaranteed to deliver one outcome – a cracking good weekend!
Leagues from all over Scotland where representing from as far north as Aberdeen with the Granite City Seagulls, Seagulls 2: Electric Boogaloo and Two Guys One Dice Cup podcast to the big central belt league Murder King BB League sporting the teams named Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and Jokers – named perhaps, or perhaps not, on their expected outcomes over the weekend. There were plenty of Scots peppered in amongst other teams including Sann Clann, CLAW and Awesome Party People to name a few.
What was in no doubt was the Scots who were there in numbers were guaranteed to have a good time, but whether we’d come away with honours we’d have to see. Scottish Blood Bowl is often considered the smaller cousin to the behemoth of their English Bloodbowl neighbours. However size is not everything as it was the Two Guys One Dice Cup in UKTC XIII who came closest to the title as runner-ups only being pipped to the post by the winners Lutece Noobz sporting the current French Eurobowl Captain, Zahiko. Could Scottish Bloodbowl go one better?
“Before the tournament began, if I were a betting coach on a Scottish team, my money would have been on Murder Aces to go deepest in the competition—which, coincidentally, was the team I was on!”
The Aces were ably captained by Purdindas, Scotland’s Eurobowl Captain on Necro, with Gerdleah back on Humans having beat OlivierDulac at the previous year’s UKTC, Sporran, former NAFC winner on his favoured Orcs and BB_Jock sporting Slann, a more obscure pick from the elves that he normally rolls with at big tournaments.
Round One – Murder Kings (SCO)
Round One was drawn in advance on Friday night and having travelled to meet coaches from far and wide the Aces were drawn to the league’s second squad – The Kings! Nothing like a little bit of internal rivalry to get the tournament off to an interesting start!
At one point on the Friday night in York, after leaving Brew York, Gerdleah managed to steer Purdindas away from the late night shenanigans that the Kings were intent on… it was to pay dividends as the Aces turned up relatively fresh whilst their opponents, the Kings, were visibly wearing the effects of their late night revelry!! The first round went according to form guide with the Aces putting the Kings to the sword and leaving them to pick up the pieces from their well-earned hangovers.
Result: Murder Aces Win 3.5 vs 0.5 points
Round Two: Wrekin Wraiders (ENG)
With the warm-up of the Kings dispatched, the Aces were to march into round two to face the Wrekin Wraiders with Speedingbullet, a current member of the Team England selection committee – a coach who clearly knew his onions. I was paired up against Dragonborn with his Lizards.
I fancied the match up with my strip ball and wrestle linos threatening to sack the skink ball carrier at will. Winning the toss I put the lizards in to receive and they were entrenched deep in their half struggling to make much forward progress in the face of heavy contact and pressure. This eventually led to a couple of sack turnovers as we tussled for supremacy. My frogs did their job to secure the turn eight score against the drive as hoped for. A relatively quick score to secure the win, gave Dragonborn a chance to get a score in for a 2-1 win for my Slann.
Across the boards progress was positive with Gerleadh picking up the draw on board one whilst the rest of us scooped up wins for another convincing round performance – Wrekin Wraiders, suitably wrecked and the Aces sitting comfortably on two wins from two.
Result: Murder Aces Win 3.5 vs 0.5 points
Round Three: Les Azes(!) (FR)
On the second top boards, the last round of the day one and we drew none other than the winning squad from the Alicante World Cup V – this was not going to be a walk in the park Kazansky! But hey this is why UKTC is loved, going well in this tournament gives you the opportunity to face top class coaches who come from all over Europe to compete in this well-regarded tournament.
Board one had Sporran and his Orcs paired off against Silkoun on Zons – a tough match up if he couldn’t knock them down, on board two my Slann had paired Galladur on humans, could go either way. On board three Purdindas had Biereforever sporting some Norse – with his wolves’ claws largely blunted! Gerdleah on four was on the wrong end of the human vs orc racial match up coached by Oklahoma.
Whatever the outcome neither side was going to be given a gimmie off the back of this. As One!! The Scots heaved only to be met by equal force of the French scrum with boards three and four both ending in closely fought 1-1 draws. With Gerd’s humans hanging tough on the wrong-end of the racial match up, perhaps there was a small path through to the round victory…
My Slann stopped Galladur’s drive, with the second half ahead all that was called for was a solid eight turn drive to lock up a 1-0 lead before the right of reply with the one-turn… The drive delivered, score! The one-turn, unsuccessful, delivers an invaluable win and the Aces edge ahead in the round with only Sporran on board one to go…
The score set at 1-1 with ball in the Orcs hand, but under heavy pressure from the Zons, this was ideally placed for Sporran to turtle and to deliver the draw, in turn the round win, to beat the World Champs and head into the end of day one on an impeccable three wins, zero coach losses…
However Nuffle does like to ensure that a head of hubris is not built up… Quad Skulls!! Sporran’s chances of locking up the draw collapsed on the 1 in 1296 outcome and just like that Silkoun (TO for the French team tournament, Rugbowl) overwhelmed the Orcs position and scampered away for a second TD and the unlikely win – gutted!
Result: Draw 2 vs 2 points
The World Champs had come within a whisker of defeat at the hands of the bravehearts, but their gallic charm had been blessed from none other than Nuffle himself. Still, the Aces at the end of round three could be pleased with two wins, one team draw and only one solitary coach loss all day.
Saturday night was off to Fancy Hanks in town for a hearty meal with the Scots set to feast on hot dogs, beer and an evening of good spirited banter, albeit with some slightly reduced alcohol consumption from the previous big night out!
Round Four: Tactics and Theatrics (ENG)
With the round four draw published the night before we knew we had a big draw in the morning with Tactics and Theatrics – who also happen to be a team I played on at this year’s Tilean Team Cup in Genoa. So I knew the guys well. We were guaranteed a hard match, but a lot of fun to boot.
As the away team I was on board one with three wins drawing Haychdee with Zons, which meant facing the likelihood of a ST4 ball carrier. Sporran’s Orcs had a tough match against Bashto sporting some Vamps, which could go either way, Gerdleah’s Humans had drawn Bloodtithe with Khorne, where the hope is his guard and speed is enough to overcome and our skipper, Purdindas, had drawn Team England starlet Breakmonker, on Humans – who’d put Ant to the sword when they faced off against each other at Home Nations the previous month. All to play for as the opening dice were rolled…
In my match I put Haychdee into drive and he played well – turn 6 having nibbled at the ball carrier with the wrestle linos it was time to go all in with my stripball on the big girl who was blodged. 2D uphill, looking for a push pow to yank the ball from her grasp… double pow! Lady Luck had decided to smile upon me, briefly, as the ball carrier came crashing to the ground. The scatter could have been worse, 4+ pick up for my dodge catcher with RR, decent chance to escape and stop the drive. Sadly the pick up failed and having weathered the storm Haychdee scored on his drive to take the lead 1-0. Elsewhere the boards were tight, and the tie was in the balance.
As the half progressed it looked like the Vamps were imploding, much to Sporran’s relief and Gerdleah had the win withing his grasp, which meant I could dial back and drive for the draw to secure the round win. Over on board four Purdindas having a solid tournament managed to peg Breakmonker to the draw enabling us to win the tie much more comfortably than would have been predicted. The Aces bounded into round five on 3-1-0 and were definitely in the hunt.
Result: Murder Aces win 3 vs 1 points
Round Five: Shiretown Stuffers (ENG)
On home soil the team carries the moniker Shiretown Stuffers, but more famously when they go on their travels this is the always well turned out Hakflem Globetrotters captained by Cornish – as stylish a coach as there is to imagine! These guys are a lot of fun both on and off the board, but they hadn’t climbed to the second table in round five on good looks alone – they could play.
I’d drawn the effervescent Everybodys_Dead_Dave on his favoured Elven Union, Sporran had Whitey’s Lizards, Gerdleah faced the tough prospect of Cornish sporting Dark Elfs and Purdindas would get to use his wolves to good effect against El_Spoonio solid on his Orcs.
‘Dave’ put me into receive, and I fully expected immediate and sustained pressure from the elves as I tried to stabilise from a deep kick. Fortunately for me armour breaks were plentiful and my Krox behaved as I progressed up to the halfway line. To truly break free I needed a series of successful leaps away and as Dave started counting successful leaps I could sense the increasing frustration emanating from across the table.
A well placed Krox tail, and the unfashionable diving tackle blitzer meant the elf cage dive was only ever on offer on a six-up, uphill blitz – unfavourable odds rightly declined. I managed to see out the eight turn score, but not before I inflicted a casualty on one of the side-step blodgers… apo requested, apo failed… along with a couple of other chips this tie was now tipped in my favour. So it would prove out in the second half forcing a quick score down mens to give me all the time in the world to finish off the 2-1 grind for the win.
Elsewhere down the table Sporran suffered a rare 3-0 loss at the hands of Whitey to balance the tie, whilst the ever dependable Gerdleah and his humans held Cornish on Dark Elfs to a tidy 0-0 and it was all down to our skipper. It looked like it was going to end in an honourable 1-1 draw, but a riot gave Purdindas a slither of hope to convert a Necro two-turn, which he duly did – round win! A slither of luck making up for the quad skulls against the French enabled us to convert this to a win by the smallest of margins. We’d be going into the final round on 4-1-0!
Result: Murder Aces win 2.5 vs 1.5 points
Round Six: Bologna Bowl (ITA)
It’s not every day you get to round six of a major team tournament, playing on board one against the Italian Eurobowl Captain in a tie where the winner is crowned the Champions of UKTC. If you’d offered that scenario to any team in the room at the start of the weekend they’d have grabbed your hand off for such a scenario.
Facing Liam with his Chaos Chosen he chose to receive and carry on a block Warrior mean it was going to have to be the stripball lino to be a hero. Sadly he was not, three shots at the uphill sack (70% with reroll) all failed and he scored comfortably on his drive 1-0. Over on the other tables we were behind and it was looking like the chance to win the tournament was hanging by the barest of threads.
My drive, my word, quad skulls, snakes everywhere! The dice had evaded me so much that by turn twelve Liam’s goat was four squares from the endzone ball in hand and I was down to zero rerolls. Surely it was 2-0 and all over?! Not so, two leaps, four GFIs and a ball sack with armour break meant there was a glimmer of hope. The following turn a Chaos Warrior barged in and picked up the ball and Liam decided to GFI on turn 13 to move him out of range of the strip ball – snakes! The first piece of luck all match…
However Houdini levels of escapology were still required to get the ball semi-safe towards the halfway line, never mind score for the equaliser and the draw. Nuffle decided that on turn 14 he was to end my suffering. All the dice were thrown and I was with the ball on a dodge catcher on the halfway line in a cage! Most of Liam’s team staring in disbelief back at my endzone prematurely doing the touchdown dance at what should have been 2-0 and only the Ogre left back as a safety who then promptly boneheaded!
Suffice to say I scrambled down the pitch on turn 15 and required a 1-D push on 16 for the score… nerves shredded after a hatful of bad dice I got the pow to lock up one of the most unlikely of draws having already declared to the team a guaranteed loss.
Engrossed in my game against Liam, who was an absolute gent throughout, it was time to find out how the team was doing. Purdindas and Sporran had both drawn 1-1 so it was down to the last board with Gerd facing Gallo’s Necro. Alas it wasn’t to be as Gallo eked the 2-1 to take the round win and the title of UKTC Winners – Congrats to Bologna Bowl on a perfect 6-0-0 weekend.
The Aces coming within a whisker of the title finished on 4-1-1 and fourth overall after a cracking weekend of fun from start to finish on and off the board with coaches from near and far.
Result: Murder Aces loss 1.5 v 2.5 points
Tournament Awards
So the Murder Aces came within a whisker of winning UKTC, but alas it was not to be. Instead we wish our most heartiest congratulations to the Bologna Bowl, captained by Liam, the Italian Eurobowl captain with an impressive team result of 6-0-0.
Shout out to Scottish coach Chilli winning most TDs scored over the weekend with an impressive 18 touchdowns!
Team Winners – Bologna Bowl
Liam (Cpt.)
Fackko
Dirold
Gallo
Team Runners up – Team Wales
20Phoenix (Cpt.)
Celt
Jayward
GColeman
Individual Winner – Firebreather
Best Painted Team – Louis_X
Stunty Cup – Yudlugar
Most Touchdowns – Chilli
Most Casualties – DrHellboy_
Thanks to Pipey
This was the ninth iteration of UKTC, having been built-up into the biggest event in the UK and all thanks to the leadership of Bren or Pipey, as he’s known, as the long-time Tournament Organiser. He announced this year in York that he’s set to pass on the baton to Haychdee as the new TO.
So it seems fitting here to say thank you to Bren for his service here and all that he’s done for the community in building this cracking event which has coaches come from all over Europe.
He also ‘retired’ from being a TO, having passed on the running of the other long-standing staple of the calendar, Monkey Bowl to Team England coach Breakmonker. However he’s not set to run off into the sunset just yet – Pipey has launched a brand new event The UK Masters.
The UK Masters is set to take place late November next year in York where half the field has been reserved for coaches who’ve represented their country at Eurobowl. The field should be epic, and it’s going to be one hot ticket, so if you’ve not signed up yet, get on it!
UKTC Moves to Leeds
Keeping up with the news for UKTC, with Haychdee becoming the new TO there’s further changes in the air with the UKTC set to have a new home at Leeds University and will take place on 30-31 August next year. Tickets are set to be released in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled.
This blog piece first appeared on Scottishbloodbowl.com
6. Outlook
November awaits us with an impressive 127 tournaments in 28 different countries! I’m pretty sure 28 is a record for a single month, and I won’t let my enthusiasm be dampened by mere facts.
One of the most sought-after trophies, the award for “most dotted tournament name”, goes once again to Finland – specifically to Pyhäinpäivän Mättö, which roughly translates to “All Saints’ Day Brawl.” It’s great to see the memory of the beloved ’90s band still held high in the North.
Chaos Cup is returning once again to Florida’s Kissimmee (misspelled nearly as often as “resurrection”). Ukraine continues its streak of tournaments with a Sevens event, while DragonBowl (selected as the 2025 French National) celebrates its 18th iteration in Western France. Meanwhile, Uruguay and Chile are competing for the attention of undecided South American coaches with the Gran Torneo Uruguayo in Montevideo and Qhapaq Ñam in La Serena, respectively.
As for me, I’ll be attending Block Forest Bowl in Southern Germany, Ogr Cubb in Prague, and Squad Attack in Berlin.