Games Workshop has announced Blood Bowl Third Season Edition, the inaccurately named seventh edition of its beloved board game of fantasy football teams kicking seven bells out of one another. Two new team kits will make their debut in the new edition’s starter set, the returning undead Tomb Kings, and the knightly Bretonnians.
The new edition of Blood Bowl will be available “later in the year”, and GW promises that “the core game is exactly the same” as it was before “and everything should be very familiar”. Die-hard Blood Bowl fans will be relieved that Games Workshop isn’t messing with a game that is already practically perfect, or angry that the firm isn’t doing more to overhaul the many problems that are ruining the game, depending on their blood sugar level.
I jest – the Blood Bowl fandom is remarkably chill, probably because their game is the silliest take on the Warhammer Old World out there. Games Workshop has let on in the announcement article that some rules changes are coming, among them the new once-per-turn ‘Secure the Ball’ action. This allows a player to gather the ball on a 2+ and end the turn. Big Guys and some other heavy hitters can’t use it, and it’s not available while an enemy is within two squares. It should still save low Agility teams from the agony of repeated failed pickup attempts.
The WarCom article adds that “the Kick-off Table has been improved (no more Officious Refs), Wildly Inaccurate Passes no longer apply, and you can even now earn Star Player Points from throwing your team-mates and being thrown”.
The rules updates are, apparently, mostly just intended make sure that everything is nice and clear. For example, the word “player” is only ever used to refer to one of the player’s on the Blood Bowl pitch, not one of the two people sat down at the gaming table (they’re the “coaches”).
The two teams in the new starter set come from the same two Warhammer: The Old World factions that Games Workshop used to launch that game, the Tomb Kings and the Bretonnians. The Tomb Kings are an updated kit for an existing team with very, very old models, while the Bretonnians are brand new.
The Bretonnian’s Grail Knight blitzers have a new skill, Steady Footing, which prevents them being knocked down on a roll of six. Knight Throwers and Knight Catchers both have Nerves of Steel and Pass and Catch respectively, making them very hard to shut down their passes without actually tackling them. Squires have Wrestle, and at least some of the team has Dauntless, though it’s not clear precisely who.
The new starter box set comes with status markers, letting you mark out players who have Blitzed, and indicate models that are Knocked Down or Prone without tipping them on their backs, among other effects. The big Possession marker you can place under the ball carrier should be infinitely easier to see than the tiny ball tokens. They’re a profoundly sensible inclusion
New editions of Spike Magazine with the rules for the two teams, custom boards, and other accessories are coming too. How do you feel? Excited for a new edition of Blood Bowl? Apprehensive that the changes might go too far – or not far enough? Let us know in the official Wargamer Discord community.
Blood Bowl would have a spot on our guide to the best strategy board games if it weren’t also kind of a miniature wargame, or at least, a game where painting miniatures is all but essential. It’s not what most board gamers sign up for – but they should. Packed with humor, profoundly asymmetrical, and deeply tactical, it’s a hoot. Fingers crossed Third Season Edition keeps the magic.