Welcome to the January edition of the Tournament Director Blog, your source for all things NAF tournament-related. This now marks two years of nonstop blogging! We continue to keep you informed about the latest happenings behind the scenes, share relevant content, offer a glimpse into upcoming events, and, of course, provide reports on recent exciting tournaments.
In this month’s edition, we’ll be covering changes to approval documents and processes, introduce a new site feature and, most importantly, cover four recent tournaments: the Welsh and Polish Nationals, Cathim Bowl in France, and Royal Rumble in Italy.
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 Regulations for 2025
1.2 Changes to Tournament Series Entries
1.3 Translation Button
1.4 Changes to Approval Team
1.5 Tournament Directorship 2.0 - Report: Welsh National Championship (by Spleggy)
- Report: Fantasy Bowl Winter Cup (by Jew)
- Report: Cathim Bowl (by Magikmoon)
- Report: Royal Rumble (by Vyper)
- Outlook
1. NAF Chatter
1.1. Regulations for 2025
At the beginning of each year we present updated versions of NAF approval documents, based on community feedback and changes in the game environment. This year comes a major update to these rules and guidelines. We are introducing the NAF Regulations for Tournaments 2025, a comprehensive document that streamlines and modernizes the guidance for Tournament Organizers (TOs), referees, and participants. This new format consolidates previous publications – the Rules for NAF Tournaments and the NAF Tournament Approval Document – into a single, unified resource, making it easier to find the information you need to run a successful event.
This update isn’t just about making things simpler; it also introduces greater clarity, consistency, and flexibility. The document is structured to be more intuitive, covering everything from the approval process to tournament day operations, referee responsibilities, and post-event reporting. TOs now have clearer suggestions and guidelines on custom rulesets, squad tournaments, online play, and the use of software for pairing and scoring, ensuring a consistent and fair tournament experience for coaches worldwide.
With regard to approval guidelines, one key change this year is increased flexibility around Star Players. Based on feedback and tournament data, TOs can now apply skill or budget taxes to certain Star Players or restrict their availability to specific races. For example, organizers may levy a TV tax on Bomber Dribblesnot or disallow Skitter Stab-Stab for Chaos Dwarves, provided these changes are clearly stated in the tournament rules. We believe this adjustment strikes a balance between allowing TOs some control while maintaining fairness across events.
We’ve also refined the approval guidelines for Invitational Tournaments to ensure they remain in line with NAF’s broader goals of accessibility and fairness. In addition, new sections cover topics like media and privacy considerations, referee expectations, and contingency planning for large tournaments. The aim is to provide TOs with everything they need in one place, whether they’re hosting a small local gathering or an international championship.
The NAF Regulations for Tournaments 2025 are available as a webpage for easy navigation, as well as a downloadable PDF for offline reference. We encourage all TOs to review the updated guidelines and integrate them into their planning process. As previously, we are also planning to add versions in other languages. Until then, please make use of our newly introduced Translation button.
1.2 Changes to Tournament Series Entries
Tournament Series are designed to motivate coaches to take part in multiple tournaments within a specific region. Participants earn points for each event they attend, and the coach with the highest total at the end of the series is declared the champion. The NAF supports these competitions by awarding prizes to the top three finishers, as well as the best-performing Stunty coach (if the organizers still like to give out this kind of award).
Having been a part of the Blood Bowl community for nearly as long as tournaments themselves, Tournament Series play a key role in fostering regional connections, strengthening competition, and building camaraderie among coaches. The NAF recognizes two types of tournament series: structured and open. Approval and support for all tournament series are managed by the Tournament Series Coordinator, currently Topas.
For full details, including a breakdown of tournament series types and scoring guidelines, refer to the NAF Tournament Series Guidelines. You can also find a list of active series worldwide on this page.
Until now, Tournament Series were entered through the NAF forum. Going forward, there is a new and simpler way: Tournament Series can now be submitted directly via a dedicated site, similar to tournaments. Once submitted, the Tournament Series Coordinator, Topas, will review and approve entries.
Importantly, this new method now also allows to enter award winners, as we are used to for tournament records. For the near future, plans are in place to integrate Tournament Series results into Coach Pages and to link Tournament Series directly to tournaments, making it easier to track performances across a series and visualize participating events.
1.3 Translation Button
The Buttonmania sees no end! Last year, we introduced the Donation button on the website.
Now, another button has made its way into the sidebar.
It is now possible to translate any page into multiple languages using cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms. While the results are generally quite decent, be warned: translation of e.g. skills can lead to some rather creative interpretations. Nevertheless, I hope that this new feature will help improve accessibility, comprehension, and engagement for our many members who are not native English speakers.
The available languages have been chosen based on our largest member nations. If you’d like to see additional languages added to the selection, please let me know!
1.4 Changes to Approval Team
With the start of the new year, there have been some changes to the team responsible for reviewing and approving tournament submissions. Driesfield, a long-time approver for the UK, France, and the Benelux states, is taking a well-deserved break. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for his dedicated service.
Stepping in to take over his responsibilities are Lunchmoney and Magikmoon. Additionally, Jelmer is joining the team to manage the growing number of tournaments in Northern Europe.
The following members are approving tournament submissions:
- Claymore (New Zealand)
- Gaixo (Americas)
- Hachablanca (Spain, Portugal)
- Jelmer (Netherlands, Northern Europe)
- Lunchmoney (UK, Ireland)
- Magikmoon (France, Belgium, Luxembourg)
- Matte8 (Italy, Malta)
- Rabid_Bogscum (Australia)
- Stimme (Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa)
- Twyllenimor (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
You will always find the most up-to-date list on the NAF staff site.
1.5 Tournament Directorship 2.0
Well, looks like I’m in for another term! Thank you for your continued trust, as I will now have the privilege of serving as Tournament Dictator (TD) for another two years. As Nuffle destined me to, I promise to be a TD for everyone (that is, my previous voters) and to focus on the truly important tasks. This includes a general amnesty for all those previously convicted of cheating, and the annexation of the DreadBall and Guild Ball communities to expand and secure our fantasy sports game interests.
Effective immediately, the Dungeon Bowl will be renamed “Freedom Bowl.” The Weaponization of Goblin teams will cease. A new department, DODGE, will rigorously cut down on excessive skill use by Elf teams. Bloaters will be removed from Nurgle teams, and the Warrior culture will be reinstated. In line with this, we will abolish soft and weak woke concepts like “Touchdowns.” (Has anyone ever said that word out loud?) In fact, games will now be decided primarily by Team Budget, with Casualties as the tiebreaker. Finally, the low-life criminal Dribl is permanently banned. It is now only Drull, baby. Drull.
2. Report: Welsh National Championship (by Spleggy)
The Welsh National Championship Blood Bowl tournament took place at Firestorm Games in Cardiff on January 18th and 19th, 2025. The event attracted coaches from the UK and beyond. I travelled down from Yorkshire with fellow WYBBL coaches Slimjono and Scouseboy.
We, along with many other travelling coaches, stayed at the Premier Inn ZIP hotel, which offers small, no-frills rooms at a hostel price point. After arrival, we went out for some food. I don’t want to turn this into a food blog, but I would like to recommend the Empire Restaurant if you are partial to a curry. However, prepare for disappointment if you take a fancy to “The Exotica,” which Scouseboy attempted to order for the second year running, only to be denied once again! On the first occasion, he was told that the chef hadn’t yet been trained to prepare this delicacy, and this year we were simply told they no longer offered it because it took too long to make. His quest for a chicken curry served in a whole pineapple (ew!) continues!
For the rest of the evening, there was a chance to relax in the hotel bar. I say relax—we actually had a practice game because clearly, six matches over the weekend weren’t going to be enough.
Which brings us to the Blood Bowl.
Rosters were built to a generous 1.2 million, with all teams receiving a free Mascot, also known as the “sheepy re-roll.” Star players were allowed but only for stunty teams, as were some of the more unusual inducements. Build-wise, Slimjono had asked Scouseboy and me for Dark Elf advice, and I pointed him towards Mankiz’s winning roster from the last two years. I can be quite persuasive when I want to, it seems, even to myself, so all three of us were running that build or a close approximation! Therefore, none of us took up the chance to use some of the more unusual inducements permitted in the ruleset, but some did. Feel free to check out DrHellboy_’s excellent roster breakdown.
The tournament was well run despite the hiccup of a redraw on the first match (let’s face it, who among us has TO’d and not had to do a redraw?) and the late showing of my round-one opponent due to car trouble. I believe the two things were related. I was facing Snotlings, but of course, this meant stars, in this instance, Glart and Skitter, so I had to be careful of their rapid scoring potential and eventually won 1-0.
I then faced the first of three back-to-back Dark Elf opponents! I suppose this was Nuffle’s way of teaching me a lesson for encouraging others to bring Dark Elves. In the first of the three, my opponent’s build was very similar to mine and did not feature the Assassins, which would prove to be very effective against my team in games 3 and 4.
By game 5, I was back to the mid-tables, facing off against star-enhanced Ogres, who got off to a bad start when Rumbelow Sheepskin rolled skulls for his blitz, leaving me some easy elf dodges to relieve Griff Oberwald of the ball. After a lot of back and forth, I eventually scored on their drive, allowing me the option to score early in my half. This was followed by a consolation TD for my opponent via a Throw Teammate play, weather and tackle zones notwithstanding.
In the final round, I faced FallingDownJoe’s Tomb Kings, whose one tackle player wasn’t really enough to deal with the dodge and blodge players I had on board. Then, in the second half, a cheeky uphill block and some elfy shenanigans left me in possession of the ball once more to score the 2-0.
Although I did have three Dark Elf mirror matches, I faced a good quality of opponents overall and finished just outside the top 20 with a 4-0-2 record. AndyDavo broke Mankiz’s hold on the tournament by taking the top spot, with Vulcano and Danny rounding out the podium.
It’s definitely worth checking this one out, as it had a good atmosphere and an excellent social aspect when you get the chance to hang out with friends and rivals. It is a Major, which means increased weight on your ranking (which could be good or bad depending on your perspective). I understand there is going to be a change of TO before the next Welsh Championships, so the ruleset will likely be different.
If you’re interested in going to Wales to play some Blood Bowl yourself, then please check out the Blood Bowl Wales website. Thank you for the borrowed photos, as I didn’t really take any myself!
3. Report: Fantasy Bowl Winter Cup (by Jew)
It was a dark and cold January morning when our little group of four—Tank, MrNiebling, Badpublicity, and I—boarded a plane, leaving Denmark behind to attend the Fantasy Bowl Winter Cup, the Polish National tournament. We landed on Friday with a whole day ahead of us to explore some of Warsaw’s beautiful sights. Instead, we quickly grabbed an Uber to our Airbnb, bought some bags of beer and a card game, and settled in for the evening. The day passed indoors until night fell, bringing the pre-event party at the venue. There, we started meeting our Polish Blood Bowl comrades for a festive evening in the company of cheerful, friendly, and hilarious people.
Saturday morning marked the start of the tournament, with four matches scheduled for the day and two more to follow on Sunday. Excitedly, we arrived armed with our tiny metal miniatures, ready to roll dice and lament the whims of Nuffle. We joined 106 other players in a well-organized venue complete with tables, chairs, game boards, and table numbers—all as it should be. Everything was translated into English, leaving no barriers to play. Using Tourplay, we found our opponents and dove straight into the action. The day flowed smoothly, with meals served as promised and additional food and drinks available for purchase. All four rounds were completed without a hitch. By the end of the day, players began settling into their positions. The try-hards sat firmly at the top of the rankings, vodka enthusiasts were scattered throughout, and those with more “creative” team builds occupied the lower standings.
There was no doubt that Sunday’s final two matches would pit players against opponents of similar skill levels. Poland’s player base had it all, from casual players to top-tier competitors. Their best players gave it their all, as it was their final chance to secure a spot on Poland’s national Eurobowl team for Hungary 2025. Sunday’s games ran just as smoothly as Saturday’s, and in the end, the tournament crowned its winner: congratulations to Misiozaurus, who triumphed with his dwarf team boasting 4 Guards, 3 Mighty Blows, and 1 Wrestle.
A huge shoutout to Teillman for organizing a flawlessly executed tournament, and to the Polish Blood Bowl community for creating such a welcoming atmosphere. Do I have any concerns about Poland hosting Eurobowl 2026? Absolutely not. In my eyes, both the country and its Blood Bowl community are more than capable of delivering an unforgettable tournament experience that we will all leave with smiles on our faces.
As for my next international tournament? I’ll be heading to Hammabowl on May 10–11. Can the Germans match the Poles? I’m confident they can, having been there twice before—it’s an amazing event, and I highly encourage others to join the fun. And the next big event in Denmark? Look no further than the Danish Open, a NAF National tournament on June 14–15. We hope to see as many new faces as possible every year! Finally, how did I fare in Poland? I finished 20th with my Chaos team. The worst part? My only loss was against Tank, making for a very long flight home…
4. Report: Cathim Bowl (by Magikmoon)
On January 25 and 26, the Cathim XI Bowl took place in France, in Normandy, in Caen, the city of a Hundred Spires, and of William the Conqueror. Cathim Bowl is an individual Blood Bowl 2020 tournament, with the particularity that you do not create your roster yourself.
Feerikon, the organizer – also known worldwide for his specialization in Halfling play – prepared all the rosters in advance: 60 rosters, 2 per race, all with 1 Star Player and an incomplete composition of the roster. When you register, you choose from 5 pre-written rosters, and 1 is assigned to you.
For my part, I found myself playing Necromantic with Frank’N’Stein, 2 Golems (1 Guard/Mighty Blow, 1 Block/Break Tackle), 2 Wraiths (1 Guard, 1 Tackle), 2 Ghouls (1 Wrestle, 1 Sure Hands/Sure Feet), 6 Zombies, and 2 rerolls. No Werewolves! Atypical, to say the least. But with 3 Stand Firm Golems and 2 Sidestep Wraiths, it was interesting.
As a welcome gift, the painted (!) champion of your roster was given to you. And painted with talent – not by me.
As goodies, you also received a mini, stickers, and 2 board game boxes: Boom Bokken and Gob’Z’Heroes (a miniature game).
The tournament took place over 2 days, with the option of sleeping in a room adjoining the tournament venue. Meals were provided, with a little tour of the flavors of France and Italy – namely Tartiflette, Quiche, and Lasagne. The atmosphere was good, the beer was cold, the entertainment was lively, and the timing was on point.
Personally, despite not having played Necromantic since 2011 – and playing them this time with 2 preferred ball carriers- I still managed to come out with a superb 3/2/0 record.
Throughout the tournament I faced:
- A Dwarf Blocker Linemen + Deathroller + Barik Farblast roster
- A Chaos Chosen + Scyla Anfingrimm roster
- A Norse Yhetee + Skrorg Snowpelt roster without Ulfwerners
- A Dark Elf roster with double Assassins (Dodge/Sidestep), double Witches (Wrestle/Sidestep), and Roxanna Darknail – NO Blitzers
- A Wood Elf roster with Linemen, 1 Catcher, a Treeman, and a Giant
This result earned me the title of the best Necromantic player of the weekend.
Not only did the organizer fill our arms with goodies, but all the best players of each race (30/60) were rewarded with a beer mug, a commemorative ring, and a voucher at Chicastprod.com (the most comprehensive 3D printing service in France).
On top of this, raffle prizes delighted even more players with miniatures and various costumes.
And, of course, the traditional prize-winners got their share of rewards, in addition to most of them already being crowned champions of their race.
Roll of Honor:
🏆 Most TDs: Tyra – Elf Union (Gloriel Summerbloom)
🏆 Most Casualties: Flaa – Goblins (The Black Gobbo)
🏆 Best Stunty: Helborg – Snotlings (Varag Ghoul-Chewer)
🥉 3rd place: Chicagork (chicastprod.com) – Chaos Pact (Bilerot Vomitflesh)
🥈 2nd place: La_Mycose (first tournament) – Ogres (Griff Oberwald)
🥇 Champion: Supernova – Skaven (Glart Smashrip)
An atypical podium, and one of great beauty.
If one day you are looking for a truly unique tournament with an organizing team that will take care of you, consider bringing several bags, you’ll need them to carry home all the gifts!
Special Thanks
🙏 To the organizers: Feerikon, Max, Laurent
🎨 For the painted minis: La_Mycose, Laurent, Max, Gilko, Nedgang, Antoine, Karl, Amozlir, Wulfryd, and Eric
🙌 To all those behind the scenes, without whom I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the weekend as much.
5. Report: Royal Rumble (by Vyper)
The Wheel of Chaos started spinning once again in Carpi, Italy, as the Royal Rumble 2025 returned for its eighteenth consecutive year. Sixty-one coaches competed for the coveted Chaos Cup, under the careful supervision of the Evolution Team and Liam, captain of the Italian national team at the upcoming Eurobowl.
Over the course of six rounds, the Wheel of Chaos determined a new mutation for each match, adding an unpredictable twist to every game. Each round, a randomly selected player on every team was granted a mutation – sometimes beneficial, sometimes disastrous. Among the highlights: a Deathroller with an extra arm, an Elf Witch with two heads, and a Golem sporting an extra arm.
After six hard-fought rounds, the Chaos Cup was lifted by Moro84, with Hiyoko (a fantastic rookie) taking runner-up, and Fackko securing third place.
Special Awards:
🏆 Stunty Cup – Roller
💥 Most Casualties – Nazzareno
🛡️ Best Defense – Phoenix11
⚡ Most Touchdowns – Badstorm
🎨 Best Painted Team – Yena
👶 Top Junior Coach – Bombardiere50
Another year, another Royal Rumble filled with mutations, mayhem, and unforgettable moments. Looking forward to the next one!
6. Outlook
February awaits us with 89 tournaments in as many as 26 different countries!
Sweden is once again hosting its Team National Championship, while we will also see the return of legendary tournaments such as the Dutch Open, the Bowl des Neiges in France, the Turncoat in Belgium, and Harpastum in Italy.
South American coaches have the choice between Chukuta Bowl in La Paz, Bolivia, and Carnabowl in Montevideo, Uruguay, while Stunty fans should consider traveling to the Greek 1st Stunty Bowl or Watto’s Big Stunty Bowl in South Australia.
As for me, I’ll be heading to Bielefeld in Germany to defend our squad title at the Bash Roulette.
Finally, another election is coming up, for League Director (currently Megamind), along with the announcement of the World Cup 2027 host.