It’s time to play the Old World’s nastiest, bashiest, bloodiest game once again with the arrival of Blood Bowl: Third Season edition! We’re going to take a look not just inside the box, but also check out the changes big and small to the rules and rosters.
First off, you get a lot of bang for your buck. This edition is – astonishingly – significantly cheaper than the previous (RRP £88 rather than £105) and you’re still getting a lot of content there. No star players, but two full teams, pitch, dugouts, rulebook, quick-reference guides, rulers, templates, dice and, for the first time, hard plastic tokens. This reflects one of the first major changes: you no longer lie models down on the pitch (paintwork notwithstanding, models have become significantly more dynamic and just plain BIGGER). The cynical might say that this an attempt to tackle (ha) 3rd party token sellers but I think it’s more an acknowledgement of what a lot of players simply want and, indeed, need. Also, ball carrying is now a token also: no more trying to slot balls into bases (or filling holes, for that matter). On the subject of star players, incidentally, another change is that they can now be included as standard in a roster: not that there was anything ever stopping you from doing so per se, but now it’s there in ink (or indeed, blood) for the sticklers.
If you’re new to the game, everything is well-organised and pretty intuitive. Essentially, you line up two teams from the many, many options available (but obviously starting with those in the box) and over two 8-turn halves try to score touchdowns and/or murder the opposition into submission. Some teams emphasise one strategy over the other, others are more balanced. The rule-of-thumb in BB is never roll dice until you have to, because a failed roll causes a Turnover (switches to your opponent’s turn); a central part of the game’s strategy is deciding when, and whether, to take that risk. Skills and abilities can mitigate that risk, but there is ALWAYS risk… and always the chance to pull off something exceptional: it is a ridiculous game that encourages and rewards the outrageous, which is all part of its enduring charm.
The printed components are of the same high quality physically as we’d expect from GW. Both the quick-reference guide and the rulebook itself have much more intuitive layouts now; not that the majority of the rulebook wasn’t, but the skill tables are now all simply a single alphabetic table. This is massive help, particularly for the more casual player, as well as integrating the new Devious skills seamlessly (I’ll come back to those changes shortly), although I am aware some players would have preferred them to be listed by Type still. The art is familiar with some fresh pieces – I particularly like the full-page adverts, including the one for CABALVISION which genuinely made me chuckle – although there’s an excessive fondness in the text for exclamation marks! Everywhere!!
The two new plastic teams are simply fab, with varied, dynamic sculpts across them all. The Bretonnians have proper Medieval Anglo-French Knightly aesthetic which keeps them distinct from, say, Imperial Nobility (with their more Germanic, Landsknecht vibe) whilst the Tomb Kings have the full-on quasi-Egyptian feel you’d hope for; it’s great to see undead getting so much love, variety and choice across the BB range (particularly with my kids, who inexplicably love playing undead in, well, everything). The playstyles are suitably different: the Bretonnians are primarily about the running game, the Tomb Kings more about ponderously smashing everything and everyone in their path; nice to see they get Big Guys straight out of the box. Speaking of teams and boxes generally, one major shift in this Season is that all teams have only the positional players that come in the box (no more getting scalped on eBay); whilst there has been some backlash against this online, which I can understand up to a point for teams that have traditionally relied on (say) extra blitzers, ultimately this makes the game more accessible to all and that’s no bad thing.
There are, as with any new edition, various new and revised rules and skills. I don’t claim to be an expert, and there’s plenty of more detailed breakdowns out there on t’internet, but here’s my casual thoughts and observations. Probably the most fundamental change is that now anyone can simply Secure the Ball on a 2+ if there is no opposing player within 2 squares, regardless of their Agility. I would say this is as fundamental a change as the separation of Passing and Agility in Second Edition, and further places the emphasis on the fact that, at least in theory, Blood Bowl is about getting the ball and scoring. Even as a coach who tends to play the bludgeoning game, I can really appreciate this: sometimes, even when you’re busy attempting murder, you still want to score; also, and very unusually, failing this roll DOESN’T cause a turnover, just ending that player’s activation. Yes, the Unsteady skill prevents this (as usual, most of my beloved Norsca are too drunk to do it reliably), with most ST4 and Big Guys now having it, but nevertheless, it’s a huge and very welcome change. And in terms of actually using the ball, Wildly Inaccurate passes are simply gone from the game, which is a massive relief and time-saver. The Kick-off table has also been rephrased for clarity, and you can no longer start the game with players sent off – phew! For league play, there are also a few changes. Aggro teams now get more Star Play Points for causing casualties (so, you can still play the murder game, hurrah), and delightfully, if a player misses a game they gain Hatred for the race that caused it on a 4+. Super fluffy, it allows a reroll of a player down result.
One of the other big changes that really jumps out is Break Tackle, with the stronger characters getting more of a bonus to the Agility check. This has the potential to throw the game wide open, and is a really positive change. A lot of skills inevitably have moved into the new Devious category, whilst one of my personal favourites, Swoop, has become more reliable – bring me my Doom Diver! I’ve mentioned the new Hatred skill, but another big new skill is Eye Gouge, preventing Pushed players from assists; the fact that we get a token for this suggests GW really thinks it’ll be impactful. We also see the return of Kicking properly with the new Punt special action, allowing a d6 square kick from their square in a thrown-in d6 direction without causing a turnover (and the Kick skill allows either to be rerolled). As someone who loved a dirty elf kicking game back in the day, I’m stoked for this.
The final section of the rulebook includes the rosters for (almost) all of the teams available – High Elves are inexplicably just a free download from the Warhammer site – along with details of all the Star Players, most of whom made the cut from Second Season. The Bretonnians as mentioned are about the running game, but reward taking risks: their Knights have Dauntless, adding a d6 to Strength against a stronger target which, playing with Valkyries, I know to be really good; the 2 Grail Knights with MA 7 and 10+ AV are really fast and dangerous, too, whilst Linesmen with Wrestle is good and tough. Tomb Kings are much as they were, though I’m particularly keen on the Throwers having Sure Hands and Pass, so not even needing to think about that 2+ Secure.
Amazons continue to be just crazy good, whilst OWA (Old World Alliance) seem strong in league as they can access so much. Dwarf builds with Death Roller at least seem viable again – but only because the team as a whole has taken a bit of a knock (no Agility skills? Boooo). Goblins look even more fun with the changes around Swoop, though not sure how I feel about bombs only going off if they hit the ground; I also think Trolls are pretty much must haves, now, for all that they’re unreliable, for the sheer wallop they pack. As for other greenskins, Orcs take a bit of hit by losing 2 Blitzers AND 2 Big ’Uns – tbh, I think they’ve got the short end of the stick this season – whilst Snotlings might almost be viable now Pump Wagons have lost Secret Weapon. There are complaints that Skaven, down to 2 Gutter Runners, are taking a hit, but Blitzers get buffed to Move 8, which is nasty. Dark Elves get Punt on the runners, so a proper kicker to all intents and purposes, and Hit-and-Run on those sneaky Stabby Assassins; given one of my regular opponents plays the Delves, not looking forward to that at all. Shambling Undead are of course now down to 2 Ghouls (but who wasn’t sick of getting fleeced for extras?), but they rightly gain Regeneration and Zombies gain the new Eye Gouge skill, so they have a place again (so many lists were just running, or rather Shambling, skellies). Finally, my beloved Norsca are going to love Secure the Ball with Berserkers (who are always the surprise TD kings) but just personally losing the ability to be Favoured of anything other than Khorne irks me – we’ll be keeping the drunken horny faith in Slaanesh, thank you very much, complete with our tiny pink short-shorts.
Whether you’re a returning player, a veteran or a newcomer, BB3 is a remarkable product and worth every penny. Play ball!
