Jim: I hear there are changes afoot for the big game's rulebook, Bob!
Bob: Doesn't Changes Afoot play for the Halfling Heralds?
Jim: Sounds a bit corrupt if he's the one updating the rules too...
A new edition means new rules to get stuck into – and with a new season of Blood Bowl right around the corner, we caught up with Lead Games Developer, Jay, to find out what sort of changes fans of Blood Bowl can expect when the new season drops.
Jay: Developing a new edition of any game provides a whole host of challenges and opportunities to get stuck into. The Blood Bowl rules team spent countless hours analysing the previous edition, breaking it down, looking for what could be improved and reading through all the feedback from you, the avid Blood Bowl fanbase, to ensure that this new season would be in line with what fans wanted.
The most important thing to point out is that this new edition of Blood Bowl is still the game we all know and love. Those who have worked on, and playtested, the new edition are first and foremost die-hard Blood Bowl fans who all want to see every aspect of the game thrive. A lot of love and passion has been poured into this edition, taking on as much community feedback as we can, to deliver what we believe to be the best edition of Blood Bowl to date.
With that said, let’s have a look at some of the key changes you will find in the new edition.
Clearer Wording and Terminology
Though it may not be as immediately obvious as some of the other changes on this list, a huge amount of effort has been put into rewording the various rules to be clearer and use consistent terminology. The aim has been to make the new edition easier to navigate and follow for new and veteran coaches alike. A good example of this is when a player becomes Distracted – which is the catch-all term for when a player loses their Tackle Zone. So, when a player fails their roll for Bone Head, Really Stupid, becomes subjected to Hypnotic Gaze, and so on, they are now said to be Distracted rather than having to explain it every time, which also makes it far easier to have other rules interact with it.
Secure the Ball Action
Already revealed in a previous article, there is a new action called Secure the Ball. This was designed to make it far easier for players to pick up the ball when there is no pressure on them, which should be an easy thing to do!*
Now, a player can declare this action, make a Move Action to the ball and attempt to pick it up on a 2+ regardless of their Agility. Once they have picked it up, their activation immediately ends. Now, there are some caveats to this. A player cannot declare this action if there is a Standing opposition player who is not Distracted** within 2 squares of the ball – there is too much pressure with players being that close. Additionally, a player that is a Big Guy, or one with the Unsteady Trait*** also cannot declare this action at all.
Blood Bowl Tokens
A new addition to the game, the handy Blood Bowl tokens can be used to denote all manner of things on the pitch. These include Treemen being Rooted and players becoming Prone, Stunned or Distracted, among a number of other conditions. These fit around the base of your models so that they can be clearly seen and so that both coaches can understand what is affecting each player at a glance – rather than having to work in some form of code where models that were affected by Bone Head were all facing left! There is even a key of recommended colours that you can paint your tokens to help coaches recognise them from afar.
This is most apparent with the Prone/Stunned Tokens. In previous editions of the game, we used to lie models down to denote if they were Prone or Stunned. However, this came with its own set of issues. Some rather large models – particularly any model that is a Big Guy – would take up multiple squares when laid down. Additionally, models are, generally speaking, far more dynamic nowadays than they were back when Blood Bowl was first released, and can roll around on the pitch and end up in differing squares. Most importantly, many coaches spend hours lovingly painting and converting their teams, and constantly lying them down risks them chipping or breaking and ruining all that hard work.
Now, coaches can use these tokens to denote who is Prone and Stunned****, and protect their models from harm. Plus, your models always look better stood up rather than when you can only see the bottom of their bases!
The Passing Game
One of the biggest aspects of feedback for the previous edition was that passing had become far too restrictive and borderline pointless for many teams to even attempt. It was also overly complex and confusing for many coaches. We’ve taken that on board and removed Wildly Inaccurate Passes and Deflections. This not only makes Passing and Intercepting easier, but it also makes them far simpler to understand. No longer do you need to do a load of additional maths to work out what kind of pass you’ve made, it’s now either Accurate, Inaccurate, or a Fumble – and Intercepting is now just either an Intercept or not. Simple!
Additionally, many players have had their Passing Ability improved, meaning it’s not just Throwers that can throw the ball – though they are definitely still the best at it!
New Skills & Traits
The new edition introduces a number of new Skills and Traits providing new abilities for your players – like Steady Footing mentioned in the release article. Punt allows players to kick the ball forward without causing a Turnover, Taunt allows the player to force an opponent to follow up when they are Blocked, and Bullseye allows a Big Guy to not have to Scatter a thrown player so long as they make a Superb Throw.
Additionally, many Skills and Traits have seen improvements. Monstrous Mouth now allows a player to perform the Chomp Special Action, Arm Bar will now award SPP for any Casualties caused by it; and Shadowing now triggers on a straight 4+.
Finally, there is also a new category of Skills – Devious Skills. Some players, like Goblins, will have access to these as Primary Skills, others may have them as Secondary Skills, whilst players who traditionally adhere to the rules of Blood Bowl may not have access at all. There are a number of new Skills in this category, and a number of others have moved here as well, such as Dirty Player, Pile Driver, Shadowing, Sneaky Git and more.
Team Roster Changes
Perhaps the biggest change in this new edition is that all of the rosters have been looked at, tweaked and changed to provide a new and exciting challenge for coaches. The first thing to note is that the number of positionals on a roster will now match what is in the team box, meaning you should never have to buy a second box just to get more Blitzers/Runners etc.
There are a couple of exceptions to this. Positionals that were entirely separate from the contents of the team box, such as Goblin Secret Weapons, Dark Elf Assassins, Bull Centaurs and most Big Guys, will remain untouched as they don’t require you to buy a second team box and have a load of redundant models. Additionally, the Ogre team will still allow 0-6 Ogres (0-5 normal, 0-1 Runt Punter), as otherwise the team simply wouldn’t function – plus you can still get additional Ogres separately.
Whilst this will mean that a number of rosters will lose a number of their better players, what we have done is rebalance a number of positionals with improved stats or Skills across the board to account for this. Here are some examples to showcase this:
A Skaven team can now take two Gutter Runners, but their Blitzers have now gained MA 8 and Strip Ball.
Dark Elves can now take two Blitzers, but their Runners gained Punt and their Assassins gained Hit and Run (which now works with Stab!).
Shambling Undead can now take two Ghouls, but these gained Regeneration, and their Zombies gained Eye Gouge.
These are by no means the only roster changes. Every team has been reassessed, with many teams gaining improvements, new or different Skills, or new special rules which will change how they play on the pitch.
The main aim of these changes is to provide coaches with a new gaming experience. Many coaches have seen Blood Bowl as a ‘solved’ game where the best build for each roster is already determined. The new edition will shake all of that up and provide experienced coaches with a brand new challenge to get their teeth sunk into!
Thanks, Jay! It sure sounds like a huge amount of care and effort has been put into the new edition! Blood Bowl Third Season Edition will be available to pre-order soon, so make sure to keep your eyes on warhammer-community.com for more information.
* Though as any veteran coach will tell you, it can seem almost impossible at times!
** A prime example of using new terminology for easier rules!
*** The likes of Saurus and Zombies (among others) have this.
**** Though if both players agree, they can still lie models down instead.
