Father's Days Blood Bowl

Father's Day in Australia is in September, and both Comrade James and I have traditional grudge matches with our offspring on this important weekend of family machismo!

In Sydney this year, Reilly and I got some DungeonBowl on with DeathMatch twists!

Loved the MVP Wandering Werewolf - somehow the teleporter in that room just sucked everyone in!

Somehow, I managed to leap a Gutter Runner around the Guardian Ogres and squeek over the line (get it?! - Dad jokes are legal for Father's Day)  to claim the first ever Father's Day win by this Dad,.

Meanwhile, in another State, James threw down with some Blood Bowl Team Manager with 2 of his progeny

Putrid Players!

Today was father's day and I had pre-empted it a little by ordering the new Blood Bowl Team Manger Expansion "Foul Play" for myself.  So after the day's fun the Lad and I sat down to try out the new teams- he took Nurgle while I thought I would try my luck with the Goblins.  Lots of fun ensued, as always with this game, and I liked both the disease mechanic of the Nurgle and the new stadium features.

Right Stuff having no mercy on his Dad - as usual!

I would say though that there seems to be a lot in motion with all the new rules from the two expansions.  Not an insurmountable amount, but a lot.  I'm sure if you play regularly it wouldn't be an issue but its a lot now for a pickup game if you use them all.

All of which is my excuse for loosing the game 39-33 ! :-)

PS Yes this was our first game played since moving to the US - two months without hobby time was a very long time indeed!

Putrid Player's Guild

Comrade James found some more details from FFG on the upcoming expansion Team Manager expansion: Foul Play
http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4875

Well, Jim, we’ve certainly had a lot to see so far from the new teams of the Putrid Players’ Guild.

You’re absolutely right, Bob. Between the Nurglings’ disease, Chaos Dwarf riots, and Goblin cheating, this upcoming season might be our most interesting yet.

The fans certainly agree, and opposing teams are racing to adapt to some of the PPG’s more… unconventional tactics!

Foul Play introduces the Putrid Players’ Guild to the Team Managers’ Union and to your games of Blood Bowl: Team Manager. The PPG’s new teams distinct play styles and unorthodox techniques are sure to make a splash, and the best talent scouts are already investigating what these new teams can offer. In today’s preview, we’ll bring you an update on the newest teams to take their positions on the pitch.

Nurgle’s Rotters

As the team devoted to the Chaos god of disease, Nurgle’s Rotters rank as the most odorous players in Blood Bowl – no mean achievement! In fact, few players can use noxious disease as a weapon the way Nurgle’s Rotters can. ThePestigor, and other key players in Nurgle’s Rotters, have the Spread Disease ability, which allows you to place a disease token at midfield. When another player is committed or moved to a matchup with a disease token in midfield, that player immediately receives the disease token, lowering his Star Power by one.

In addition to spreading disease, Nurgle’s Rotters make excellent use of the downed skills first introduced in the Sudden Death expansion, especially regeneration. Whenever a player is downed, he immediately resolves any downed skills he may possess, including cheating, passing, or even regeneration. When a manager attempts to regenerate his downed player, he rolls two tackle dice. If a die shows the “Tackler Down” result, you may immediate stand your downed player, bringing his full Star Power back to the matchup.

Whether you stop your opponent’s passes with the Beast of Nurgle or use a star player like Pusbubble to spread disease, Nurgle’s Rotters have plenty to offer.

The Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats

Masters of destruction and revenge, the Chaos Dwarfs love to walk the ball to victory over a field littered with the bodies of their former opponents. With players like the Bull Centaur and Hthark the Unstoppable in the Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats’ roster, it’s not hard to see how they’ve gotten a reputation for fighting to the last breath and beyond. Chaos Dwarf players feature a massive amount of cheating and tackling skills, helping them crush any opponent that stands in their way. If an unfortunate player downs a Chaos Dwarf, however, he’s certain to get more than he bargained for in return. Nearly every Chaos Dwarf player has at least one downed skill to get revenge on your opponents.

The Chaos Dwarfs also showcase the new skill introduced in the Foul Play expansion: fouling. One place you can find this skill is as a downed skill for the Hobgoblin Thrower. If you choose to use a player’s fouling ability, you choose an opponent who has a player at the matchup. Then, you take one card from that manager’s hand and secretly look at it, before choosing to discard it, or replace it in your opponent’s hand. By using the fouling skill, you not only gain knowledge of your opponent’s players, but if it’s one of your opponent’s best players, you can discard it. If it’s a lowly Lineman, however, you can replace it in his hand, keeping him from drawing better cards!

The Lowdown Rats

For sheer insanity on the field, there’s no team that can match the Lowdown Rats. With typical goblin ingenuity, they’ve contrived entirely new ways to break the rules, whether by using pogo sticks, chainsaws, or bombs. You can use aLooney to take down your opponent’s best players with his trusty chainsaw, his Dauntless ability, and his array of offensive skills. On the other hand, maybe you prefer the wide-spread damage of the Bombardier. By pitching bombs around the field whenever he successfully tackles another player, the Bombardier can cut a swath of destruction through your opponent’s team.

Other goblins stay ahead of rivals by just being faster than anyone else. A Star Player like Scrappa Sorehead has well-developed sprinting abilities, even after being downed. If one of your opponent’s players is unlucky enough to miss a tackle on Scrappa Sorehead, you may use this player’s superior mobility to move him to safety at one of your other matchups. Whether you rely on crazy plans, frantic cheating, or chainsaws and pogo sticks, the Lowdown Rats have the tools to bring in fans and get you to the top of the Team Managers’ Union.

The Blood Bowl Awaits

The three new teams of the Putrid Players’ Guild offer unique skills and powers to any manager who can control them. There’s more to discover in Foul Play than new teams, though. In our next preview, we’ll look at some of the new mechanics introduced in this expansion, including penalties, stadiums, and a corrupt ref.

Foul Play!

After playing a little BB Team Manager card game earlier this week with Comrade James, we were excited to see that a new expanion has been announced by FFG!  The following is from their website here

You know, Bob, with the addition of the Putrid Players’ Guild, I think this season is going to be very interesting!

I think you’re right, Jim. We’re definitely going to see a lot of new tactics on the pitch.

If by tactics you mean absolutely filthy, illegal and sometimes disgusting moves, I couldn’t agree more!
Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Foul Play, an upcoming expansion for Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game!
Prepare for a dramatic increase in cheating, fouling, and lowdown maneuvers with the newest Blood Bowl: Team Manager expansion. In this expansion, the Putrid Players’ Guild joins the Blood Bowl tournament season as a new subdivision of the Team Managers’ Union. With three new teams and no inhibitions about how they win, the PPG is certain to make quite a splash.

But that’s not the only change you’ll find in the newest season of Blood Bowl. For the first time ever, you’ll be able to roll the week’s highlights with the stadiums where they belong! Stadiums grant extra rewards to managers that win there, but some stadiums have rather peculiar rules as well. Another first in the Foul Play expansion is a referee, who moves freely from matchup to matchup. But never fear, team managers, this ref is comfortably corrupt, and he’s more than willing to help you cheat your way to victory. Even a corrupt ref won’t keep you safe from everything, though. New penalty cards bring stiff reprimands for cheating players, but in the chaos of the tournament season, who doesn’t cheat?
New Teams in the Running
The introduction of the Putrid Players’ Guild introduces three new teams into the competition for the coveted title of Blood Bowl champions, and you’ll need to get to know them, since you’ll certainly be seeing a lot of them!

Nurgle’s Rotters: The Nurgle players are a vile bunch, constantly spreading disease and oozing their way to victory. They can even turn opponents into more Nurgle players! With disease tokens that lower other players’ Star Power, the team can only be compared to an unstoppable plague.

The Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats: The Chaos Dwarfs are masters of destruction and revenge. Not even being downed can stop these players from fouling their opponents. With thick skulls and packs of intimidating centaurs, this team is all about victory, even in the face of death. They always fight to the last breath, and sometimes even beyond.

The Lowdown Rats: Blood Bowl is known for its fair share of sleazy players, but these goblins take the cake, bringing chainsaws, bombs, and pogo sticks to any given game. The Lowdown Rats never even consider fighting fair. They play to win by any means, but failing that, total mayhem will suffice.
Penalty on the Play
In an effort to provide some sterner punishment for cheating players in the Blood Bowl, penalties are being introduced for the first time in the Foul Play expansion. These penalties can be received in several ways, such as by drawing one of the new cheating tokens with the penalty icon, or by losing the new Goblin Tribal Leeg tournament. Whenever you receive a penalty, you must draw a Penalty card and resolve the effects, which are nearly always unfortunate. Whether you lose fans or have a player ejected from the season due to a Penalty card, you’ll need to find some way to deal with penalties.

You may find a corrupt ref can help you dodge penalties in this expansion. The corrupt ref moves back and forth between matchups, helping players cheat and punishing managers who refuse to work with him by handing out penalties. When you commit a player to a matchup with the corrupt ref, that player immediately receives a face-up cheating token, allowing you to know exactly what the consequences of your cheating may be. After your player has been committed, the corrupt ref moves a number of spaces equal to the Star Power of your committed player, taking his double-dealing ways to other matchups.

Another update to the Blood Bowl tournament season is the introduction of stadiums. While it may seem shocking that Blood Bowl games are played in anything as structured as a stadium, managers won’t be surprised to see the range of treacherous environments used as stadiums. Your team might clash with others in the punishing Nehekara Death Dome, the Ogham Stonefield, or within the walls of Castle Waldenhof. Stadiums remains constant throughout the season, and they offer additional payouts for teams. Be warned, however, that some stadiums enforce truly strange rules. Certain skills may be banned in a given stadium, or there may be a limit on the number of players a manager may commit to a matchup there. There might even be minimum or maximum Star Power requirements! You can always break the rules, but each offense will result in taking a penalty, and you’ll need to weigh your options carefully.
Foul! Foul!
The Blood Bowl competitive season will take on a whole new shape with the release of the upcoming Foul Playexpansion. Pick your players, head to the pitch, and get ready for a rousing game of Blood Bowl: Team Manager! Look for the Foul Play expansion at your local retailer in the third quarter of 2014.