Television is rather a frightening business. But I get all the relaxation I want from my collection of model soldiers.
Peter Cushing

Saturday, 1 November 2014

Mid Life Crisis (refusing to put away childish things)

My fortieth birthday is fast approaching and I've decided to deal with it by embracing childish things. As I mentioned elsewhere, I've been invited to dust off my old WFB boots; I'm also currently digging out some old miniatures from games of yesteryear for the joy of painting.

But there's only one game that I no longer have that I regret; I'm not sad that I got shot of all my Flintloque stuff; I'm not particularly upset about the various periods and games that have fallen by the wayside - all except one.

Bloodbowl 3rd Edition was magnificent. I spent most of my first year at University playing it. I owned 2nd Edition - the one with the polystyrene board - and went halves with a fellow student on the 3rd. I've moved house many times, since then. So many things went walkabouts. And somewhere, along the way, Bloodbowl went.

And I want it back; to play with my mates, to play with my kids when they're old enough. So the question becomes - and this is where I turn to you, my online hobby chums - do I pay the price it commands on Ebay or do I build it myself?

The board would be simple - lasercut mdf. The various counters and stuff can be sculpted or lasercut quite easily. The measuring stick and throw in templates I can lasercut from perspex or print onto thick acetate. The dugouts I could make quite easily. What can I not cobble up? It looks like:


  • Dice - there's a couple of special dice which I can't remember the markings of
  • Measurements for the board - if that hasn't changed from 2nd I can use the poly one as a basis
  • Length of measurements - I can't remember how long the different passes were
  • Rulebook and quick reference sheets


So. What do I do? Let me know in the comments.

Also, if any of you can provide the missing information to help me out that would certainly help make my mind up. Any links to pdfs or information about dice or measurements would certainly make DIY less bothersome.

14 comments:

  1. I have a copy of the game, should I be able to provide measurements etc. for you.
    Alternatively, I've since sold off all my teams (so no longer can play it) and have been oohing and arring for a while on whether to sell. So, if it would be simpler for you to purchase a copy (it should be 100% complete [except for the teams] due to my OCD, but I'll check) then I'd be willing to sell it.

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    1. I'd certainly be interested in buying a copy to get hold of the rules and bits and pieces. Do you want to email me? reanimatedimageryATgmailDOTCom is probably the best one.

      Knowing me, I'm still going to end up making a pitch.

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    2. The rules book that I have is the same as the PDF Michael Awdry has linked to below, if that's any help.
      I'll send you an email to confirm I've your details, and then you can remove the above reply should you wish.

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    3. That's interesting - I wonder if that means you got Fourth Edition (also known as the Rules That Dare Not Speak It's Name).

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    4. Possibly I am mistaken and it is 4th Ed. I have.

      I've definitely had two boxes of the 3rd Ed. in my time (both sold off) and then bought the version I have now and just ran it with my own modified rules for solo games. I never read this rules book but played from memory of the 3rd Ed. book, so I really don't now know what I have :)

      Tomorrow will tell ...

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  2. Check out the blood bowl forum. Can't remember its real name, but they sell the dice.
    There are a couple of companies that sell better pitches for reasonable prices online, plus companies that sell much better teams.
    With a bit of research you could get an amazing set of toys to play with.

    Hope that helps at least a little bit.

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Mike. There's some lovely minis so I'm not worried about that - Heresy and Hasslefree would probably be my main ports of call for that. In terms of the pitch, if I do decide to go DIY I'm quite looking forward to making one myself.

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    2. But definitely thanks for the heads up on the dice!

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  3. Now it just so happens that I have been recently introduced to this myself, Mike Reynolds (the Dark Templar) has a lot to answer for! Like you I was horrified at the price the set was going for online, but there are a host of proxies available. Have a look at these: http://www.tritex-games.co.uk/blood-bowl-miniatures-309/accessories-for-blood-bowl-300/

    http://www.comixininos.com/blood-bowl-accesories.html (I've ordered from these guys and was surprised at how quickly my miniatures arrived!)

    http://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/fantasy-football-gaming-mat-grass-theme (very tempted by these!)

    Coincidently I have a couple of Blood Bowl miniatures on the table for this month, if all goes well and a long term plane for a dugout and scoreboard!

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    1. That should, of course, have read plan not plane!

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    2. Oh, I dunno, the idea of an extra dimensional Lovecraftian team of horrors from another plane is quite entertaining.

      What rules set are you using?

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    3. Now there's an idea for a team! We were using the Games Workshop tournament rules:
      http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/58520/manuals/Blood_Bowl_Competition_Rules.pdf?t=1407400777

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    4. Those look to be from the official GW PDF "Living Rules Book", that I have a copy of. Basically they're the same as the print copy of the rules I have from the box set I bought, and feature the rules and teams from the Deadzone supplement.

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  4. The pitch squares are 29mm x 29mm. Most people don't use the ruler anymore and count out the squares. The ranges can be found quite easily online. Anything you could need to know is on www.talkfantasyfootball.com

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