Jim: Today's Star Players include a perfectly normal-sized Spite and a towering Treeman…
Bob: They say that from tiny acorns do mighty oaks grow, Jim, but where do Treemen come from?
Jim: Well Bob, when a small woodland spirit and a massive tree both hate a woodcutter very much…
There’s no shortage of weird and wonderful players in the world of Blood Bowl, and gridirons across the world have been trampled by hulking treemen standing firm on the centre line, often hurling halflings in the general direction of the touchline.
We can only assume that the green grass of an NAF regulation pitch makes these lumbering lumber-louts feel like they have a certain affinity to the game, which means that Star Players like Maple Highgrove are a common sight. This fact also goes some way to explaining the appearance of Swiftvine Glimmershard.
A mischievous spite who’s prickly as rosebush, Glimmershard’s debut with the Dar-Ellerath Beechtrees infamously ended in a pitch littered with corpses as players and fans alike learned to their horror that she will not stand for being called cute, small or adorable – let alone being referred to as a fairy...
Her temper tantrums have become the stuff of legend in the Blood Bowl world, each Furious Outburst seeing her flit towards the last player to have slighted her, giving them a nasty stab, and floating off. Sometimes even towards the ball, if the mood so takes her.
Quite why she turns up to matches seemingly without so much as a vague interest in a touchdown is a mystery to all but the most wisened of Blood Bowl philosophers.* Nevertheless, for 110,000 Gold Pieces, teams in the Halfling Thimble Cup and Elven Kingdoms League can recruit her to increase an extremely long tally of casualties...
Unlike this fiery-tempered fai– er, sweet-natured-spite, Maple Highgrove is a decidedly calmer and more convivial feller… for the most part. As an inquisitive young sapling, he set out to explore the world, and one day stumbled upon the Wood Elves of the Greenglade Rooters practicing for an upcoming match. Enchanted by their display of violence and sportsmanship, he asked if they could teach him how to play.
The rest is history and Maple has blossomed into quite the Star Player. His Vicious Vines allow him to make a Block action against distant players, something that many have declared as “extremely unfair” seconds before being savagely mangled.
Teams playing in the Halfling Thimble Cup, the Elven Kingdoms League and the Old World Classic can all hire this viciously verdant Star Player for just 210,000 Gold Pieces, and a bag of quality fertilizer.
Both miniatures are made from Forge World resin and will be available to pre-order very soon in a double pack. Rules and background information for both players can be found in the box and in the Blood Bowl: Spike Presents – 2024 Almanac.
* Their learned opinion: “It is simply very funny”.
