Rules Compilations

[Ben_S]

It looks as if GW are planning to serialise the new Necromunda rules, e.g. Gang War 2 covering Orlocks and hired guns, suggesting there may be as many as five supplements before the six Houses are all covered.

With this in mind, I thought people might be interested to hear the recent Blood Bowl announcement:

"The inaugural Blood Bowl Almanac is the perfect companion for every Blood Bowl player, combining rules from Death Zone Season One! and Death Zone Season Two!, plus much more besides. Within, you’ll find rules for everything from running your own leagues to arranging sponsorships for your players and using squigs as balls."

I don't know the price of this yet, but DZ 1 is £15 and DZ 2 is £18. I assume the Almanac includes ALL the rules from those two, though that's not explicitly stated, and also more. If this is part of the new GW sales model, it suggests that it may be better to ignore supplements as they come out and wait for the later compilation - though, of course, this may involve a considerable wait.

 

[Basileus]

Nice to see a thread for Blood Bowl or rather that Almanac especially: does that Almanac completely replace owning Death Zone seasons one and two? That's kinda the big question.

I really hope this expansion will come out in different languages. Otherwise I'd be p*** as f***. If it'll be released in German e. g. I could finally complete my Blood Bowl supplement collection as I have ignored buying Season Two for it being English only – so far. That's the other big question.

Also interesting to see if such tomes might become a regular thing for N17, yes, compiling individual Gang War purchases.

But for Blood Bowl and for now: waiting to see if the Almanac and the new cards will be available in multiple languages... Dunno if I should be optimistic or pessimistic about that.

Things we might expect in the Blood Bowl Almanac:

• Death Zone Season One! content
• Death Zone Season Two! content
• Goblin and Halfling referees
• Special balls
• Grombrindal and the Black Gobbo
• Winter weather table
• Underground weather table

What else? Maybe Grak and Crumbleberry or even "texts" from exclusive cards? Grombrindal cards were just printed on a page in WD if I recall correctly. Blitzmania etc.?

Ongoing doc for Blood Bowl Content in White Dwarf Magazine by Raven Zachary: http://bit.ly/bloodbowlwd

 

[Ben_S]

Nice to see a thread for Blood Bowl

Up until the time that I posted that, we'd never had a forum for BB here. (I see that now we do!) I wasn't really posting this as BB news, but rather on the basis that it may be a sign of things to come for Necromunda, since they seem to have followed the same release model.

You're right it's currently unclear whether this will replace DZ1 and DZ2. I'm assuming it will likely reprint all content from each; that's not explicitly stated, but I don't see any point to reprinting some but not all.

 

[cardyfreak]

So they'll release an almanac, then release some more 'season' updates, than another almanac, etc? Or are the rules for all planned teams released now? High elves are already covered aren't they? I don't have my copies to hand so I don't know which teams have rules but no models off the top of my head.

 

[Ben_S]

I don't recall what's in DZ1, since I know most of the team rules anyway, but I think it had several (all?) flavours of elf and perhaps some others that are yet to see models (Nurgle, irrc), even though we got Goblins. Aside from the general slowness of releases, the order seems pretty screwy.

Apart from the teams of legend PDF, I think we're yet to see new rules for Lizardmen, any type of Undead, or Chaos, all of which strike me as fairly major omissions. Not to mention teams like Amazons, Norse, Chaos Dwarfs, etc that it's perhaps dubious whether GW will support them at all.

 

[Basileus]

Lizardmen are on the cover of the upcoming Almanac, maybe that's an indicator. Although the cover's "just" part of a series of artwork made for the video game series originally. I. e. before the release of the 4th tabletop game edition. And then there's that Nurgle team, of course. Floating in the pipeline of "Coming soon" since like... aeons

 

[Ben_S]

I just saw a FB post saying the Almanac was £30, so slightly cheaper than the two DZ supplements bought individually.

(Personally, I already have 1 but not 2. Not convinced the Almanac is worth it.)

 

[spafe]

yeah I'm in the same boat @Ben_S , I have the first DZ... never got around to buying the second... not sure if its honestly worth it... the release was too slow, and my group is waiting for nurgle, chaos and undead to come out (nurgle might be already), but its been soo slow... we've moved on, and if I'm honest it was completly GW fault... they lost their own sales as we had money for it... then spent it on various other games because they wernt on the ball enough.

 

[Ben_S]

Pro elves are out very shortly. Other than them, and an Orc positional booster from FW, I don't think there have been any sightings of as-yet unreleased models so no idea which team is next or how long it will be.

As for DZ2, my impression is that most of the rules in it (such as for stadiums) weren't that well received, though I don't know whether anyone in my BB league has a copy. Probably one or two do, but we've not used any rules from it.

 

[Tiny]

New yeah I'm in the same boat @Ben_S , I have the first DZ... never got around to buying the second... not sure if its honestly worth it... the release was too slow, and my group is waiting for nurgle, chaos and undead to come out (nurgle might be already), but its been soo slow... we've moved on, and if I'm honest it was completly GW fault... they lost their own sales as we had money for it... then spent it on various other games because they wernt on the ball enough.

Exactly the same as our group. Bought the boxed set and DZ1. Played 2 games of Orks vs Humans. Waited for other teams to be released.... and waited.... and waited.... and played other games instead. Now nobody is interested. I finally filled out my Human team last week but only because it was in front of me and I had cash to spend. Haven't played a single game since those first two games last year.

 

[Tiny]

Aside from the general slowness of releases, the order seems pretty screwy.

Apparently because the initial release sold so well, teams that were to be made in resin by Forgeworld were instead moved to styrene plastic. This is why a lot of the DZ1 teams have yet to be released. Still, doesn't help us players who are waiting to play the game at all and only served to vastly undermine ongoing sales.

 

[Ben_S]

Haven't played a single game since those first two games last year.

Totally different from my experience. Not counting games against the girlfriend, my record is pretty consistent:
2015 - 13 games
2016 - 12 games
2017 - 10 so far (though half of these have been in our current '7s' league, which I'm leading)

Even if you ignore the re-release, it's no reason to stop playing!

 

[Tiny]

True, but we never started playing... 2 games with the new boxed set and a league 20 years ago don't really count.

My group won't touch old or 3rd party minis if there's a threat of new GW shinies on the horizon so the whole release has left us disinterested. In the meantime, I play the PC version whenever I get the urge.

 

[Ben_S]

This is interesting data, since a lot of people say (with regard both to BB and Necromunda) that the new release can't possibly be bad for the game since, at worst, you have new models to use with the old rules.

I'm not sure I find that entirely convincing, since there's the danger of splitting groups between different rule sets. But you've shown another danger - people waiting for new GW releases.

Mind you, the root of the problem there seems to be not already having teams. Our league features a mix of old GW teams, third party ones, and conversions/proxies, as well as some of the new teams where available. We've been playing like this for years, so new GW teams are simply one more option, not the only one.

 

[Tiny]

a lot of people say (with regard both to BB and Necromunda) that the new release can't possibly be bad for the game

Yeah, those people are just plain wrong. The lack of enough new stuff to run a league / campaign really puts some groups into a state of limbo where they want the new minis so won't buy old ones to play for the time being, but the new ones take 2 years to be released, so give up on the game. Our group sold off all their Blood Bowl minis 15+ years ago and don't really want to buy the same ones back again if new ones are on the horizon.

IMO the slow release schedule will kill off interest for new (re-released) games before they even get going. Bloodbowl was lucky in that the rules and teams haven't changed at all so all of the old teams are valid. Groups with old minis just carried on playing the same game. I would argue that the new version has actually done very little to increase the community.

Thankfully with Necromunda, I have managed to convince my group to play NCE with what ever they have so 40k Genestealer Cult and Ad-mech armies are being press-ganged into gangs. Sadly nobody has any current armies of Blood Bowl players.

 

[Basileus]

High elves are already covered aren't they? I don't have my copies to hand so I don't know which teams have rules but no models off the top of my head.

Okay, since all of us have Death Zone supplements but are too lazy to look up the teams there – ME INCLUDED ... Let's have a look now! All of the following teams are officially covered rules-wise:

Death Zone Season One:

1. Dark Elves
2. Dwarfs
3. Elven Union
4. High Elves
5. Humans
6. Nurgle
7. Orcs
8. Skaven
9. Wood Elves

Death Zone Season Two:

1. Chaos Renegades
2. Goblins
   
3. Underworld Denizens

Teams of Legend (free PDF) not yet outdated by an official supplement:

1. Amazons
2. Chaos Chosen
3. Chaos Dwarfs
   
4. Halflings
5. Khemri Tomb Kings
6. Lizardmen
7. Necromantic Horros
8. Norse
9. Ogres
   
10. Shambling Undead
11. Vampires

Just for the sake of completion, Teams from My Dugout App:

1. Human Nobility
2. Savage Orcs

Those My Dugout app teams are highly experimental, unbalanced and totally unofficial despite coming directly from GW. They'll probably never see the light of day in terms of miniatures or even balancing etc.

Color key:

• Green = Teams that have all players available as new miniatures
• Yellow = Teams that have all players available as new miniatures in the way that they are made up of other team's miniatures
• Orange = Teams that are made of other team's miniatures, but still lack some players, i. e. Chaos Warriors, Dark Elves
• Red = Teams that don't have any players available as new miniatures; it's also uncertain if all TOL will be available miniature-wise someday

Correct me if I'm wrong as I actually don't own Season Two Team staff and Star Players not included.

 

[Ben_S]

With the Pro Elves about to come out, I think it will be easy enough to cover the other three types of Elf. Maybe they'll release FW positional boosters or conversion packs. In any case, I consider those more or less done.

Apparently there was a video or something today where they mentioned needing to do Nurgle, seemingly because it was one team from DZ1 not yet covered. I wouldn't have made them a priority, given how easy they are to convert. They'd be even easier if there was an Undead team available with Zombies, so I hope we see that some time soon.

I'm guessing Nurgle to be the next wholly 'new' team (possibly after some other elf variants, as above) and then to see DZ3, hopefully with at least one Undead team, Chaos, and Lizardmen. Perhaps Halflings will make an appearance if they decide to release a Treeman.

 

[Basileus]

[...], I consider those more or less done.

Personally, I hope not.

 

[Basileus]

Info about the Almanac, straight from the GW website, https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NZ/The-Blood-Bowl-Almanac-2017-ENG

Compiling together the 2 Death Zone Seasons available so far, with some fantastic content from White Dwarf articles content added on, this is an essential book for every Blood Bowl coach. Contained in the 140-page hardback:

- Official League rules! This is a guide to running a Blood Bowl league, taking you through drafting and maintaining teams, dealing with casualties, earning and spending Star Player points, playoffs and continuing into new seasons. Includes a blank roster/match record sheet;

- Optional League rules! With these, you can handicap the amount of gold that top-flight teams earn, keep Star Players around longer, earn sponsorship deals (as long as you don’t mind being a dirty shill), bring in infamous referees, cheerleader and coaching staff, use different balls (some of which are a bit… explodey), and set up exhibition matches;

- 12 Star Players! Barik Farblast, Glart Smashrip, Kreek Rustgouger, Horkon Heartripper, The Swift Twins, Bo Gallanté, Willow Rosebark, Karla Von Kill, Helmut Wulf, Ripper Bolgrot, Scrappa Sorehead, and Madcap Miggz are all in here, ready to play for your team (for a price);

- Hall of Fame! The Bright Crusaders, Orcland Raiders, Warpfire Wanderers, The Greenboyz, The Grudge Bearers, The Celestial Comets, The Chaos All-Stars, and The Underworld Creepers are featured in this illustrious, glorious Hall, along with their history and team rosters;

- More Stuff! Alternate rules for using Special Play cards, a compendium of player skills, an OFFICIAL reference for the teams available to play, a summary of all the Star Players and a selection of weather tables, all in one handy place;

- An FAQ! This provides clarity on a number of rules based on feedback from the Blood Bowl community.

So... owning Death Zone 1 and 2 doesn't seem to be necessary anymore:

Compiling together the 2 Death Zone Seasons available so far, ...

I wonder if the Almanac will come out in multiple languages. We'll see in a couple of hours.

(The other new releases don't seem to be relevant for this thread.)

 

[Basileus]

Ta-daa: it's also available in German, i. e. in multiple languages!

https://www.games-workshop.com/de-DE/The-Blood-Bowl-Almanac-2017-GER

Okay, who wants my German copy of "Death Zone Season One"?