Blood Bowl (board game)
|
This article is about the board game. For other uses of Blood Bowl, see Blood Bowl (disambiguation). |
| |
_Logo.png){kind=logo}
Blood Bowl is a two-player board game, loosely based on American Football and Rugby, and set in an alternative version of the Warhammer Fantasy universe. The first edition of the game was designed by Jervis Johnson and published by Games Workshop in 1986. The game has been updated and revised with multiple editions since, with the most recent edition of the game released in November 2020.
Contents
Game Editions
First Edition (1986)
_Box_Cover_(Brown_Box).jpg)
The first edition of Blood Bowl was designed by Jervis Johnson and published by Games Workshop in 1986 as a boxed game containing everything required to play, a tradition that would continue for all subsequent editions. The game employed a modified version of the second edition rule set for Warhammer Fantasy Battles. The players of the two teams were represented by cardboard counters. Following the games release, 13 metal miniatures were produced though these represented players from different races rather than a complete team.
The game received a single boxed expansion the following year titled Blood Bowl: Death Zone which introduced additional teams and new rules.
Second Edition (1988)
_Box_Cover.jpg)
The game's second edition was designed by Jervis Johnson and Marc Gascoigne and published by Games Workshop in June 1988.[1] This edition introduced a new rule set specifically written for the game. The boxed game included 28mm plastic monopose miniatures to representing the two opposing teams, replacing the cardboard player counters of the previous edition. A polystyrene playing pitch was also included. A greatly expanded range of metal miniatures were released following this editions release.
The second edition received three expansions, including a boxed expansion titled Elves, Dwarfs & Dungeonbowl which introduced two new team and a new subterranean variant of the game, and two source source book expansions, Blood Bowl Star Players and Blood Bowl Companion, both of which provided expanded rules, new teams, players and characters, as well as rules for running campaigns.
Third Edition (1994)
_Box_Cover.jpg)
The third edition of the game was designed by Jervis Johnson and published by Games Workshop in 1994. This edition saw substantial change to the game's structure. Gameplay was streamlined and a number of key features were introduced such as block dice and the 16 turn structure.
This edition received a single boxed expansion titled Blood Bowl: Death Zone that introduced new rules for leagues, coaching staff, Special Play cards and special weapons, as well as 18 new Star Players and updated rules for the remaining 6 teams not included in the base game: Goblins, Chaos, Undead, Wood Elves, Halflings and Chaos Dwarfs.[3]
Fourth Edition & Living Rulebook (2000)
The fourth edition of Blood Bowl released in 2000 trough the Blood Bowl Magazine. It faced backlash from the community due to significant rule changes that were unpopular. By 2001 the rules were labelled as "experimental", and community feedback became part of the rules updating process. In 2001, the Third Edition box set was re-released, and the rules were periodically updated from 2001 to 2006 with the annual publication of a Living Rulebook (LRB).
2016 Edition (2016)
_Box_Cover.jpg)
In 2016 Games Workshop released a new edition of Blood Bowl marking a return to officially supporting the game. As with the previous incarnations of the game, the 2016 Edition was released as a boxed game, including everything required to start play. A range of new miniatures were released, with many Star Player miniatures produced by Forge World.
This edition received a number of a supplements, including Death Zone Season 1 and 2, The Inaugural Blood Bowl Almanac, Blood Bowl 2018 Almanac, Blood Bowl 2019 Almanac and the first eleven issues of the irregular Spike! Journal magazine.
Second Season Edition (2020)
_Box_Cover.jpg)
Blood Bowl (Second Season Edition) was released by Games Workshop in November 2020 and is the current edition of the game. This edition introduced a number of major revision to the rules.[4]
Since release, the Second Season Edition has received a number of supplements including two boxed supplements: Dungeon Bowl and Dungeon Bowl: Death Match, as well as five sourcebook supplements in addition to the irregular Spike! Journal: Blood Bowl: Death Zone, Blood Bowl Spike! Presents: 2021 Almanac!, Blood Bowl Spike! Presents: 2022 Almanac!, Blood Bowl Matched Play Guide, and Blood Bowl Spike! Presents: 2024 Almanac!.
Other Rulesets
Kerrunch (1991)
Kerrunch was a simplified version of Blood Bowl designed by Andy Jones and released by Games Workshop in 1991 as a boxed game. The game employed a modified version of the second Edition rules and was aimed at younger players.[2]
Kerrunch was one of four introductory boxed games released for Games Workshop's "Fantasy Games" range in 1991, the other three being Space Fleet, Mighty Warriors and Ultra Marines.[2]
Blood Bowl Sevens (2005)
Blood Bowl Sevens was a simplified, faster version of Blood Bowl, designed to be played within an hour, making it perfect for lunch breaks.[6]
It was created by staff at Games Workshop head office who struggled to fit in full-length Blood Bowl games due to time constraints. To address this, the creators reduced the number of players and the size of the pitch, taking inspiration from the "Hong Kong Sevens" rugby tournament.[6]
The rules were considered experimental and released as a PDF file in 2005.[6]
Miniatures
Related Publications
Blood Bowl Magazine
Blood Bowl Magazine was a series of supplementary magazines published by Fanatic Press between 2000 and 2004. The magazine ran for a total of 12 issues before being replaced in March 2004 by Fanatic Press' new Fanatic Magazine which combined a number of previously published individual magazines covering Games Workshop's Specialist Games into a single magazine.[5]
Blood Bowl: Killer Contract
Blood Bowl: Killer Contract was a five-part comic book series written by Matt Forbeck and published by Boom! Studios on a monthly basis between May and October 2008.
Blood Bowl: More Guts, More Glory
Blood Bowl: More Guts, More Glory was a four-part comic book series written by Nick Kyme and illustrated by Jack Jadson published by Titan Books on a monthly basis between June and October 2017.
Spike! Journal
Spike! Journal is an irregular magazine supplement for Blood Bowl that contains new rules, teams and Star Player profiles as well as background information. The first issue was published in 2018 during 2016 Edition. Spike! Journal has continued to be published on an irregular basis during Second Season Edition.
Video Game Adaptations
Blood Bowl has received a number of video adaptions.
See also
Sources
- 1: White Dwarf 103 (UK), inside cover.
- 2: Citadel Miniatures Catalogue 1991 (Section 1), pg. 151.
- 3: White Dwarf 174 (UK), Death Zone, pg. 7
- 4: Warhammer Community: Blood Bowl: Second Season Edition - Redesigning A Classic (Posted 03/03/2021) (saved archive page, dated 17 December 2024, last accessed 18 December 2024, original link: https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/eXuK29oF/blood-bowl-second-season-edition-redesigning-a-classic/)
- 5: White Dwarf 293 (UK), Introducing the new Fanatic Magazine, pg. 9
- 6: Specialist-Games.com : Blood Bowl 7's (saved archive page, dated 25 November 2005, last accessed 23 February 2025) Original link: http://www.specialist-games.com:80/bloodbowl/assets/BB7.pdf
