Player Profile : Ball Hawk

On the glorious pitch of Blood Bowl, hitting on a weaker opponent is considered great fun. Especially when you break your opponent’s offensive formation and get your filthy paws on the juicy ball carrier. So what to do when YOU are the weaker opponent and you don’t have a chance at over-powering your opponent to get to the ball ? You call for a Ball Hawk J

The Ball Hawk allows weaker but often faster and more agile teams to retrieve the ball from a stronger opponent, without actually having to make a series of successful blocks. Instead of cornering and flattening your opponent, the Ball Hawk makes use of a quick-in – quick-out guerilla play. A precise strike is delivered to the ball carrier to pop the ball loose (mutilating the ball carrier isn’t even required but considered a nice bonus J). Ball Hawks are specialist players, with a developed team often carrying one dedicated Ball Hawk. Preferably the player is fielded only during Defense to reduce the chance of him getting removed by a skillful opponent who recognizes the danger.

Wood Elf Wardancer - the archetype of the Ball Hawk

Ball Hawks will be positioned out of danger when kicking, ready to strike from distance when an opportunity to reach the ball carrier presents itself. This opportunity can arise because of poor protection of the ball carrier by the opponent. Alternatively the Ball Hawk’s team can force the opponent into exposing the ball carrier. A unique opportunity frequently presents itself at the start of a drive, in case the opponent’s ball retriever is isolated after a well-placed kick and vulnerable to an aggressive deep strike play (Scramble).

Speed and mobility are the prime requirements to build an effective Ball Hawk. Reaching the ball carrier often is a challenging task – extra speed can help in making de-tours to minimize tackle zones and to approach from the optimal angle of attack. On top, the higher your action radius, the less your opponent will expect you to make a strike. This can present him with a nasty surprise when suddenly your Ball Hawk pops up out of nowhere next to his ball carrier and swoops the ball ! I’d consider MA 7 as a minimum, more is better. Mobility requires the ability to deal with tackle zones, as the Ball Hawk most often will have to operate in hostile territory. High AG and skills improving Dodge rolls are very beneficial. In a developed league with specialized Blockers guarding the ball carrier your Ball Hawk will benefit from Leap.

A Skaven team with access to 4 Gutter Runners allows for a dedicated Ball Hawk

So you manage to get your fast, agile Ball Hawk next to the opposing ball carrier. Most probably you will find yourself vastly outnumbered and overpowered and now you’re supposed to make a Block ? At best you’ll be making 1-dice blocks against the ball carrier, but chances are more likely your Ball Hawk will be throwing negative 2-dice blocks – opponent’s choice ! That’s where you need some specialist skills to get a decent shot at popping the ball.

Highest priority skill on your list is Wrestle. Popping the ball during a high-risk – high-reward action only makes sense if you can continue your turn. Wrestle will severely reduce the chance of your Block resulting into a dreaded Turn-Over ! Wrestle is preferred over Block as Wrestle will force Block ball carriers to drop the ball. Chances at avoiding a Turn-Over in case your Ball Hawk carries Block / Wrestle are 83% (97% with RR) for a 1-dice Block and 69% (91% with RR) for a negative 2-dice Block – very acceptable odds.

Strip Ball is THE key skill for the Ball Hawk, after you got him Wrestle. Strip Ball forces your opponent to drop the ball in case the blocking dice come up with a “Push” or “Defender Down” result. This means you don’t have to punch down that ST 4 ball carrying Chaos Warrior with your ST 2 Ball Hawk, you simply trip the ball out of his hands without him even noticing it ! Now this is where the odds truly get in favor of your Ball Hawk: Check below table with some statistics on 1-dice and negative 2-dice Blocks.

Ball Hawk statistics table : Chance of popping the ball

A Wrestle + Strip Ball player will pop the ball against ANY player (including Block + Dodge players) 83% of times in a single-dice Block and 69% of times in a negative 2-dice Block. If you’re willing to spend a Re-Roll this improves to a staggering 97% resp. 91% of times ! Sure Hands can ruin your day, as the only way of popping the ball from a Sure Hands ball carrier is to successfully block him to the ground. This can be countered by adding blocking skills such as Tackle and Dauntless to your Ball Hawk. Alternatively, you can block the ball carrier with a dedicated Blitzer.

These figures show stealing the ball from a stronger opponent with a dedicated Ball Hawk is a valid tactic. Having a Re-Roll available drastically improves the odds of this risky action, so it is good to invest in some extra team Re-Rolls. Keep in the back of your head you don’t have much to lose when kicking: The receiving team is expected to score a TD. Applying a Ball Hawk in a risky play to steal the opponent’s ball (and his TD J) is a preferable alternative to sacrificing your fragile team in an attempt to screen a powerful opponent. If it fails at worst your opponent scores a TD and you get another shot at receiving yourself. If your Ball Hawk pulls off a successful play, you can catch your opponent totally unprepared and go for a glorious counter-TD !

1987 - 2016 : 30 years of Blood Bowl Skaven miniatures !

Having sacrificed my soul to the Great Horned Rat many years ago, obviously I had to complement my collection of Blood Bowl Skaven with the most recent box of Skaven miniatures. And boy does Games Workshop deliver - I find the miniatures absolutely stunning !

The new Games Workshop Skaven miniatures from 4th Ed Blood Bowl 2016

The new box contains 2 identical sprues each carrying 3 different linemen, 1 thrower, 1 gutter runner, 1 storm vermin, 3 Skaven balls, a Skaven coin and a Skaven artefact to be used as a counter. Included are also 12 x 32mm slotta-bases, a full sheet of decal transfers allowing for many choices and a "ready-to-play" 1.000k team roster including all 12 miniatures for beginning Blood Bowl coaches. @ 25 € I believe this box to be excellent value-for-money.

4 editions of Skaven Storm Vermin 1987 - 1989 - 1994 - 2016

The technical quality of the miniatures is of the highest level, above my expectations. The plastic material of which the models are composed is very hard, not the soft stuff used in the 90s. This seems to allow for more crisp details in plastic figurines. I did not find a single mold line on any of the 6 models I assembled. All figures are multi-component (3 pieces + base) and require some careful assembly. They snap-fit, but obviously I applied plastic glue. I found these miniatures of the same technical quality as the incredible Space Hulk 4th Edition Blood Angel Terminator and Genestealer models - Games Workshop truly masters the craft of producing top-level plastic figures.

The lowly Skaven Linemen 1989 - 1994 - 2016

Compared to their historical counterparts, the design of the new Skaven miniatures is a huge leap forward. The poses of the different Skaven are very dynamic, the miniatures look like 3D pictures of the players in mid-action. Gone are the days of "clenched fists" all over and "one fist up, one fist down" poses (just take a closer look at the older models in these pictures and you'll see what I mean), the new figures actually show spread hands and individual fingers on anatomically correct limbs in mid-motion ! The model designers succeeded in giving the miniatures a realistic, agressive and menacing touch, very much fitting to what is supposed to be a race of mutated humanoid rats with evil and cunning minds. I only play tabletop, but from what I've seen in screenshots I guess the miniatures are inspired by the Cyanide Blood Bowl computer game.

Skaven Throwers 1989 - 1994 - 2016

The miniatures are bigger compared to the 2nd and 3rd edition figures - a positive evolution. Especially some of the 2nd edition linemen were very small, even next to other 2nd edition Blood Bowl teams. The dynamic poses make much better use of all 3 dimensions, in contrast to the classic "flat" poses by older models (I guess a limitation of the old molding process). This causes the new miniatures to take up more space, without becoming much taller. The only (small) point of critic are the long Skaven tails. While they do add to the visual spectacle offered by the miniatures, I wonder how long it will take before the first tail snaps off during play ? Also safe transport is worrying me. Possibly a better balance should have been looked for between visual design and playability.

Skaven Catcher / Gutter Runners 1989 - 1994 - 2016

This excellent set with outstanding new Skaven miniatures does not dissappoint - I'm truly impressed. This makes me look forward to what is to come before I will assemble my final 4th edition Skaven team, preferably with some variation options for the different positionals - the 2nd edition team counted no less than 17 different miniatures ! I do hope for some variations in body parts, possibly even some mutations and of course - the vicious Rat Ogre ! Wait and see what Games Workshop will offer the hordes of the Great Horned Rat ?

The Chaos All-Stars - a legendary Blood Bowl team

The Chaos All-Stars - from Old Skool Picture Archive

For a very long time, the Chaos All-Stars have been part of the Blood Bowl meta. This collection of bad guys, mutants and misfits from many different races, including multiple Big Guys, have claimed a legendary status since the conception of the game in 1987 (the team should not be confused with the 11-player team box which was released in 3rd Ed in 1994). Official Blood Bowl canon contains many references to the Chaos All-Stars, the team being the ultimate Chaos (Pact) team and often sporting an untouchable status. The Chaos All-Stars are the bane of the Blood Bowl league circuit, both because of their physical prowess and a series of random, magical events which make games against the Chaos All-Stars unpredictable (and often highly unpleasant for their opponents !).

The Chaos All-Stars by Phil Lewis in White Dwarf 114, June 1989 - from Realm of Chaos 80s

Many coaches field creative combinations of miniatures to represent the Chaos Pact team. For die-hard Blood Bowl collectors, there exists an "official" set of Games Workshop miniatures which represent the original Chaos All-Stars. At the core of the team are 7 limited edition figures, complemented with 10 x 2nd edition models. The original (and unique !) team was composed by Phil Lewis, a former employee with Games Workshop / Citadel Miniatures in the 80's. You can find an excellent interview with Phil Lewis on Realm of Chaos 80s by orlygg. Below you find a classic picture of his original version of the Chaos All-Stars :

The Chaos All-Stars - from MidgardBB.com

Phil Lewis based his selection of miniatures on several images of the Chaos All-Stars in Blood Bowl meta, such as the one at the top of this article and the one below. For 10 players he found a proper miniature available in the existing Blood Bowl range; the other 7 are conversions. This original set of miniatures and unique figures have come into the possession of Tom Anders aka GalakStarScraper, THE reference in the Blood Bowl community. You can find a detailed set of pictures of the original Chaos All-Stars on his website.

The Chaos All-Stars - from Old Skool Picture Archive

For about 15 years the Chaos All-Stars team continued as a unique collector's item. On a good day, Tom Anders decided the annual GW Chaos Cup tournament organized in Chicago required a special give-away miniature. I prefer to quote Tom himself from a reaction he posted on the Phil Lewis' interview on the Realm of Chaos 80s blog:

"Working with Games Workshop Chicago ... I had purchased original master metal casts of Phil's sculpts of Juergen Demonfeeder and Garak Grigolson that were original cast by GW so those were moulded and cast up for the GW Chaos Cup event with their approval. The other original characters that were given away at future years Chaos Cup tournaments at Games Workshop were created by Phil Bowen who took the original stock figures that Phil Lewis had converted and then converted them to match as closely as possible the conversions Phil Lewis had done ... those figures were Sark Four-Eyes, Snake Sanders, Krefft the Despised, Acid Scarred Max and Constrictor Atlanson. So these 5 are very similar to the Phil Lewis models for these characters ... but are not exact."

Yes, you have read correctly: It appears only Juergen Demonfeeder and Garak Grigolson (the 2 blitzers with the big shoulderpads) are EXACTLY the same like in the original Chaos All-Stars team by Phil Lewis ! The 5 other limited edition figures are proxies created by Phil Bowen aka Lucien Swift - a well-known miniatures sculpter - looking very much like the original team members but NOT exactly the same... On some figures the differences are hard to spot, but the difference is clear when comparing the original and the copy of Acid Scarred Max. Thanks to the efforts by Tom Anders, a couple of hundreds (?) copies of all seven "special Phil Lewis minatures" have been distributed at the Chaos Cup tournament and some other, smaller occasions. The original team is safe in Tom's cabinet (see picture below).

The original Chaos All-Stars in the cabinet of Tom Anders - from MidgardBB.com

For the sake of completeness you find below a full list of Chicago Chaos Cup tournaments figures. This is a direct listing by GalakStarScraper on TalkFantasyFootball.org. As you can see, all 7 limited edition figures which are part of the Phil Lewis team have been distributed between 2004 and 2009. Galak continues the tradition of launching a miniature based on Chaos All-Stars meta, but from 2010 these were no part of the original Phil Lewis team.

History of the Chaos Cup figures:
2004 - Garak Grigolson and Jurgen Demonfeeder
2005 - Sark Four-Eyes
2006 - Snake Sanders
2007 - Krefft the Despised
2008 - Constrictor Atlanson
2009 - Acid Scarred Max
2010 - Rex Farsight and alternate Rex Farsight
2011 - Lord Dorian the Lost
2012 - Spider Smith
2013 - Phil Lewis sculpted Apothecary/Wizard for the Chaos All-Stars (from when he made the original team)
2014 - Ruddog Ironhead (starting in 2014 all Chaos Cup miniature moved from metal to spincast resin)
2015 - Margoth Doomgrim
2016 - V'hnn Qlss 'Snakey' Zzchhtrr

My references for this article have been TalkFantasyFootball.org ; midgardBB.com ; Realm of Chaos 80s and old skool picture archive. I would appreciate if any of the people actually involved would correct me on any mistake I have made in the reconstruction of this small but relevant part of Blood Bowl history.

My personal cherry on the cake is my very own copy of this famous team ! I started collecting the miniatures when I got the opportunity to buy a full set of the 7 limited edition figures from Dave "Da Dutch One" via the Belgian Blood Bowl Forum in 2014. Next I started selecting eBay auctions for the 10 remaining miniatures to complete the team, which took me about 2 years to get some affordable wins. Being a slow painter, after another 6 months I can finally present below pictures of what is today the prime of my Blood Bowl collection : The Chaos All-Stars, a tribute to the Phil Lewis classic team !

The Chaos All-Stars - my tribute to the classic Phil Lewis team !

The 7 limited edition Chaos All-Stars miniatures

Chaos All-Stars marauders - some  classic miniatures !

Skaven mutant, Dark Elf and Goblin - the Animosity carrying Chaos All-Stars allies

The Chaos All-Stars are mainly associated with the inclusion of 3 different Big Guys !

The most expensive Blood Bowl miniatures to date ?

When quickly going through the eBay offers a couple of weeks ago, I was quite exited to find a Games Day 2000 limited edition Lizardmen team on auction, including the Kroxigor ! This is a very rare event, the first time I witness one in recent years. For those not familiar with this team, Games Workshop produced 200 copies to distribute during its annual gaming fair event (called Games Day) in 2000. The models themselves are not exceptionnal, they are simple conversions from Lizardmen miniatures from the Warhammer Fantasy Battle range in 2000. You find below the pictures of the miniatures which were actually put on bid by an Italian seller in November 2016. Best pictures you can find at Stuff of Legends.

Games Day 2000 limited edition Lizardmen team

Games Day 2000 limited edtion Kroxigor

I was very curious @ what prices these would sell. I'm not a Lizardmen player so I'd only have a collector's interest , but I would take a shot at getting these legendary miniatures if the final price would be reasonable (= low ☺). My illusion at getting these in possession was quickly broken, as bids rose sharply and still several days remained for the auction to close ! As prices can easily triple in the last hours of an auction, my expectations were high and I was sure these would shatter the record of 115 € for the sales of the unreleased Human Blood Bowl coach !

When the auction finally closed, the Kroxigor went first in a separate auction for 185 € ! Approx. 1 hour later the Lizardmen team was sold for 419 € !!! The same seller also offered the limited edition Skink Cheerleader - not an official part of the Lizardmen team but a fitting company of rare and limited edition Lizardmen miniatures. It went for 47 €, which suddenly sounds quite modest ! That's a total of 651 € for a set of 13 metal figures. "It's only money", a couple of collectors must have thought - I do hope the different miniatures were sold as 1 set to 1 person, this would make an awesome addition to any Blood Bowl collection !

Limited edition Skink Cheerleader

The investment in these ultra-rare miniatures possibly is not even that foolish. Intrigued by the high prices, I did some quick research on the internet, mainly TalkFantasyFootball.org - the collective Blood Bowl memory ! I found a link to a eBay auction from April 2012 in which the team went for 220 €. Much longer ago, in a TFF.org thread from 2002 some collectors discuss the price of the Games Day 2000 Lizardmen team, including GalakStarScraper aka Tom Anderson. It appears in 2002 a price of 150 USD for the complete team was considered "expensive", as 1 auction closed even below 75 USD !

Quite a good return : from 75 USD in 2002 to +600 € in 2016 ! It also means that this team will most probably remain out of reach for those still looking for it, unless they are willing to put an indecent amount of cash for a couple of toy soldiers on the desk - if you can find one. Good hunting !

Player Profile : Blocker

A key concept in playing Blood Bowl is pitch control : If your team can direct the opposing team where they can go and more importantly where they cannot go, you're an important step closer to victory. Some teams have speed and agility to impose pitch control, other teams rely on straight-forward brutal force. The latter requires development of a low-profile but extremely powerful positional, especially when fielded in high numbers : The Blocker.

The Blocker is resilient, dominates his tackle zones and isn't going anywhere unless by his own choice. Blockers are strong, tough and skilled in such a way they make the opposition think twice of engaging them. Important positional points like cage corners, wide zones, flanks on the line of scrimmage, running lanes for opposing Runners and Catchers, ... are held by your Blockers as they give the highest assurance to hold their position and by doing so disrupt the opponent's play.

The latter is quite unique for the Blocker compared to other player profiles : Blockers can be most succesfull by doing nothing, dig in and stand their ground ! Because of this passive mode of action, many Big Guys are best suited to the role of Blocker as their negatraits need to be triggered by an action.

Blockers are very complementary to each other. Shoulder to shoulder, they dominate pockets on the pitch with concentrated blocking power and resilience. A set of strong Blockers will negate blocking opportunities to weaker opponents, next retaliating and clearing the pitch. This is very useful when in a scrum around a loose ball, protecting a ball carrier or breaking a cage.

The Blocker is a versatile player, with important tasks both in offence and defence. On top, the Blocker can take care of himself, not requiring screening or protection from other players. The worst which can happen to this often slow player profile is poor positioning. This can cause him to be isolated from the action while he's at his best in the scrum, making life miserable to weaker players.

Looking at stat lines, Blockers profit from high AV and ST, and have little use for AG or MA. Skills focus on keeping them on their feet and immobile during engagements. Blockers dominate the scrum, requiring skills which concentrate blocking power and help disabling opposing players. Very importantly, Blockers perform best in team, so it makes little sense to develop a single Blocker.

Block will be the first skill you want on your Blocker as it keeps him on his feet, keeps his tackle zones intact and will drastically increase the offensive capacities of your player. For a second skill, one can try to be original but there are few reasons not to take Guard. When establishing a power pocket on the pitch, Guard is invaluable. A couple of Blockers with Block and Guard will effectively negate the opposing team from breaking your line. The combination of Block and Guard will enable 90% of the potential of your Blocker, so as long as you don't carry this set I'd negate double star player rolls and stat increases, except for a ST increase.

Additional skills are less crucial and allow for some diversification. Stand Firm, Mighty Blow, Tackle and Grab are valid options. I don't like skills which leave your Blocker on the ground, so would never consider Diving Tackle, Piling On or Wrestle. Dodge should be considered for double star player rolls, as in combination with Block it makes your player a very unattractive target for a block or blitz. Only a ST increase makes sense on a Blocker, all other stat increases are a waste (assuming your Blocker started with a high AV).

When selecting potential Blockers you'll be looking for minimum ST 3 but preferably ST 4, AV 9 and access to both General and Strength skills. Teams developing Blockers should have multiple potential players which can be dedicated to this player profile. Nice examples (but not limited to) are Black Orcs, Chaos Warriors, Sauri and Dwarf Blockers. Some teams have no access to developing Blockers:  Amazons, Norse, Skaven and all Elf teams.

A separate note on Big Guys : Many of these thick-headed mountains of muscle are prime Blocker material with 2 obvious handicaps: Their negatraits and no access to General skills. Developing Big Guys in Blockers offsets the first handicap. Blockers excell in a passive role, which does not require to test for the negatrait. The second handicap boils down to requiring a double star player roll to acquire Block. But even without easy access to Block a ST 5, AV 9, Mighty Blow player with access to Strength skills (Guard) develops into a formidable roadblock, especially when flanked by a couple of dedicated Blocker player profiles. Wild Animals require a different approach and are less fit as Blockers.