The Lizardmen

Our league has a rookie division, every "season" everyone creates a brand-new rookie team.  This is a problem for me, since all of my teams already play in the league.  I could "restart" one of my experienced teams and have multiple instances of different races.  Or I could just make another team.

Guess which I chose!

Back in the 90s some time, my brother and I bought several boxed sets of Warhammer Fantasy.  This was a brand spanking new edition, which came with a fairly impressive number of Brettonnians and Lizardmen.
Also, this was when two high school students could afford multiple boxed sets of a new game from GW.  It was a different time.

Anyway, we started to paint these armies, but the lizardmen never really got played and eventually wound up spending the better part of two decades in boxes, being transported around.  I figured I'd save some money, and give old miniatures new life, and turn those old figures into a Blood Bowl team!


Saurus

Saurus are the big, bad, scary enforcers of the Lizardman team.  They are fast, strong, and tough, although they might never end up touching the ball.
I only need six of them, so I have a few spare parts.  And a few metal figures, if I want to make some unique players (or a figure for Slibli, possibly the most cost-effective Star Player in the game).

Skinks

I can already tell that the Skinks are going to be as much effort as the rest of the team together.  The quivers are going to have to be hand-carved off of their backs, the bows needs to be snipped, and the hack job that you see on the left is going to have to be patched with putty.  I'm thinking that I'll give them smooth, salamander-style backs and shoulder pads.

Kroxigor

"The Big Guy" aka "The Big Cheese".  Expensive but possibly the best "big guy" in the game.

Bases

I have 30 mm bases for the Kroxigor and Saurus, and 25mm bases for the skinks.

Rerolls

With all the money I saved on buying Lizardmen and Skinks, I bought some lizardman skulls.  They'll make better rerolls than the little cardboard tokens at least :)

Bloodweiser Babe

Teams can sometimes pay the Bloodweiser brewery to send babes serving beer; they help inspire and revive knocked out players.
What, was I going to NOT buy this figure??

The Ungrateful Undead

I haven't posted in a while, mostly due to laziness, but also because for the longest time I couldn't find my camera charger.  I kept putting off buying a new one, over and over again, and recently found it while cleaning up and installing some new equipment.
Procrastination pays, boys and girls!

Anyway, since then, I've painted several teams, and an very far behind on this log ... so to make up for lost time, here are the Ungrateful Undead!

Tomb Guardians

These big guys are the main (only?) reason to play a Khemri team.  In the league, they have a depressing habit of getting killed, and of not rolling doubles.  But at least I have plenty of cash to replace them ...

Blitz-Ras and Thro-Ras

Generally the most competent players on the field at any given time.  The Blitzers hit hard, the Throwers ... ok, I guess I should call them Runners.  Calling them Throwers and giving them Passing skills is actually a sick joke on the part of the makers of Blood Bowl.

Skeletons

They're cheap, they're ST3, they're surprisingly durable ... what more do you want?  Skills?  Heck, I get those too, because my Skeletons are notorious glory hounds and receive a disproportionate share of the MVP awards.

Staff & Extras

Everything I need to assist me coaching up another glorious and brilliant game plan.  Usually "Hit the other guys until we get the ball and score".

Star Players

Sometimes my opponents field teams which are rated even higher than mine!  How dare they!  For games like that, I hire some excessively violent freelancers to cut them down to size.

As Promised, here are the Norse!

The Norse are finished!  Well, except for the Yeti.

Linemen:

Linemen are pretty important on Norse teams, because the positionals are expensive and because they're a fantastic bargain.  They start with the Block skill, which is often the first skill of choice for many linemen of other races, so they're a skill ahead for a reasonable price of 50k.  Also, most Norse have lor armor, and every once in a while they'll have "one of those games".  They field loner linemen then, for the next game!

Here's a close-up of the front line:

Wolves:

Norse Werewolves are arguably the best players on the Norse team.  They're strong, Frenzy lets them get in additional hits, and they can develop into fantastic players with their Strength skill access.  Well worth it in spite of not starting with Block, and low agility.  Why carry the ball when you can just hit someone?

Blitzers:

Blitzers (aka Berserkers) are there to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and bubble gum hasn't been invented yet in the Blood Bowl universe.  They hit hard and can skill up to hit even harder.  They start with great skills and are one of the more feared players in the game.

Ball Handlers:

Throwers and Catchers (aka Runners) are kind of a point of contention among Norse coaches.  On one hand, with access to skills like Accurate on the throwers, and Catch and Diving Catch on the catchers, the Norse *can* develop a reasonably effective passing game.
On the other hand, they're AG3 and generally considered to do better in a bashy playstyle.  Plus the Catchers look to me like a poor man's Elf Blitzer, starting with Dauntless and Block, and AG skill access.

Hotties:

Yes I painted up a cheerleader!  See comments from earlier:

Sir Mix-A-Lot approves.

Legacy Lineman

I also painted a lineman for a legacy team in our local Tabletop league.  (For a legacy team, everyone paints one figure, then a raffle is drawn to see who gets the entire team).  I have withdrawn from the raffle, because I already have a Norse team, but then again I didn't pay for the figure:

Yellow and Black look entirely too much like Pittsburgh to me, but I can just pretend it's Bruins colors and I feel better.

Yeah, I got #16 to paint, getting the last slot for the legacy team!
I didn't put any grass on the base, because it's supposed to be yellow grass, and all I have is green.

Dreadball

I'm painting up some Dreadball figures for a friend.  Dreadball teams are smaller (the one I have here has 10 players).  The figures are decently detailed (other than the blockers missing their right arms!) and I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

The Norse are almost done, I'm working on the last four players, then one last Werewolf, then the Yeti.  I'll probably finish the Norse (or at least, everything but the Yeti) this week, leaving me 3 weeks (and a holiday / possible 4 day weekend) to do the Dreadball humans.  Should be fine.

... although the figures are tiny!  Here's a striker, getting totally dominated by two elves (not always the largest of players):

He looks a little smaller than he actually is, because of the base sizes, but still. 

Here's a more even matchup:

Wow, it looks like he could almost take on that Goblin!  Well, except apparently Strikers aren't allowed to hit anyone.  But still!  Goblin!

I'm still trying to figure out what color scheme to go with.  At first I was looking forward to using some green for a change (I don't often use green in Blood Bowl figures, because coupled with the base and the field, it's just too much green.  That's why the Goblins play on sand (see above).  I was thinking green pads on white, which would be an elegant, classy look ...
... until I remembered, that would make them look like the Jets.  For those of you not familiar with the NFL, the Jets are the exact opposite of a classy organization.  The players are thugs and whiners, the coaching staff divides their time between boasting about how great they are, and losing games.  They hired a popular, straighlace, high-class player last season,  then refused to let him play, to the point where they hired extra players at his position to make sure he never had a chance.  I can't stand the Jets and will not let any team I paint be associated with them.
So maybe blue and white, like the Elves above?  Maybe Orange and Red, with stylized flames?  Heck, I have a tube of pink paint which I have yet to even use ... ... :-D

Mangle-a-lot-of-players is the Norsca way, to say Merry Christmas to you

So I started painting my Norse.  I knew I was going to have some gray-white shades from painting the Werewolves, and since I wanted the wolves to "fit" with the rest of the team, I needed a color to offset the gray.  Dark Red contrasts really well, it's a very classy look.  I was imagining something like "Redskins without Yellow" or "Mississippi State":

This is the look I was going for.  Only a light gray instead of white, and a slightly lighter shade of red, that's almost purple.

So I am nearly finished with the first four figures and I just now figured out that that look (on a football player) looks like Santa Claus on a Blood Bowl figure:

Meh, too late now, I'm keeping it.

The comically oversized werewolf-like figure in the back will be the Yeti.

How to use the inducement menu

Inducements are a great way to turn a one-sided match into a ... slightly less one-sided match.  But in the Cyanide Blood Bowl game, the menu is very non-intuitive and clunky.  Worse, in multiplayer, you're on a timer (!) so that's the worst time to look at your options and figure it out.  If you know how much inducement you're getting before a match, you're probably better off deciding what you want well beforehand, and just taking it when the menu comes up.

Here's what the main menu looks like:

The sections are pretty straightforward.  "Star Players and Mercenaries" is for buying mercs and star players (go figure), "Fair Play" is for boring stuff like wizards, "Foul Play" is for awesome stuff like bribes, "Extra Training" has rerolls and Bloodweiser Babes.
"Potions" is for some optional stuff that nobody uses.

All of the menus work the same except for the Star Players and Mercenaries.  Clicking on the button (the one on the center bottom!) brings up a sub-menu:

Under "Mercenaries", you have a dropdown menu for any position you'd normally be able to buy.  You need a "Slot" free, so if you've already maxed out a position, you can't get more.  But of course you can always get more linemen!  Whatever the position, a mercenary costs 30k more than they usually would (and get Loner).  You can buy an extra skill from their normal selection for 50k.  Once you've selected what you want, click "Hire".  Clicking "Confirm" without first clicking "Hire" just brings you bacak to the main inducement menu, make sure you "Hire" if you want one.

Star Players work the same way, select them from the "Star Players" dropdown menu:

Again, once you decide who you want, click "Hire" FIRST, then "Confirm".

All other menus are much more straightforward.  Click on what you want, and a "Buy" button appears:

Once you click "Buy", select how many:

Click the "+" and "-" until you're at the right amount, then click "Accept".

Once you've "Bought" something, it shows up under "Bought Inducements" on the right.  When you're done, click "Inducement Results" on the bottom left.

You get one last screen:

... where everything you've bought is displayed for you to review.  If you're happy with what you've selected, click "Start of match" and unleash what you've just bought on your opponent!
If not, the "Back Arrow" at the bottom left brings you back to the previous menu.  Remember that you're on a timer in multiplayer though.

Good Luck!

Brace yourself; the Norse are coming!

One of the teams I'd considered painting up for the Tournament was the Norse.  My biggest problem was that the Norse roster has changed since I bought the figures in the late 90s (wow, that's like almost five years ago!).  The roster I bought had four Catchers and four Blitzers.  Since then, the position names have changed (a lot), the team can only buy two each Blitzers and Catchers, but can get two Werewolves.

So I was short two wolves.  Fortunately, yesterday I was able to acquire two ridiculously awesome wolves.  Just look at these guys:

... just LOOK at those models!  They look fast, dynamic, strong, and intimidating - just what the Norse Werewolves are supposed to be!  Cool enough that I now really want to paint the team just so I can use them!

Here are the rest of the team:

Generally I'll only have one (or zero) throwers, but they're cheap enough - if I want two, I'll be able to get two.  Heck, worst comes to worst, a mercenary thrower with Leader is a pretty decent inducement for 150k ...

Blitzers aka Berserkers are pretty awesome killers, but losing two to get Werewolves (aka Ulfwereners) is probably an upgrade.  I plan to always start with both Wolves, and might not always start with both Zerkers.  But in the end, solid and scary players.

You can see the one lineman that I started painting waaaay back in the day.  Once I finish, he'll probably have the record for longest time from start to finish ... "It took me 15 years!!!".  ish.  Not sure when I actually started.

The cheerleaders!  Don't worry, they'll be hot.  Once they actually get onto bases.  These girls are going to be necessary too.  Bad enough that I picked the team with probably the most exposed skin, despite the fact that I hate painting skin ... without the cheerleaders, it would just be a little too much of a homoerotic experience, highlighting every last ab, bicep, and quad on the shirtless Norse ...

Oh yeah, the Catchers!  They've actually improved somewhat since I bought them, but they're still slow-ish (for catchers, MV7 is still not bad).  They also don't start with Catch, getting Dauntless instead.  I think they're now less Catchers now and more "Utility Blitzers".  But I guess I'll find out when I actually play them ...

I will also eventually need a Yeti (aka Yhetee, aka Snow Troll).  Warmachine makes a fantasy game called Hordes which has a surprisingly diverse selection of models suitable to be "Blood Bowl Big Guys".  They actually have a model for a "Winter Troll":

... but since I'm already sort of going with a wolf theme, I was thinking of getting their "Feral Warpwolf":

I'd paint it all white and snowy-looking to fit the theme.  There's no real consensus anyway on what a Yeti looks like ... I don't think there are any official models for it.  But they have Claws (check), Frenzy (check), Wild Animal (check), and Disturbing Presence (would YOU be able to concentrate on throwing or catching the ball when this guy was near you??).  So it seems to fit.

It'll be a while before I'm buying a Yeti anyway so no rush here ...

I'm going to need a color scheme which will fit both wolves and human players.  I'm thinking of going with a medium gray (which will look awesome as wolf fur) and crimson or burgundy to contrast.  I imagine the end effect looking something like Mississippi State. 

I'll keep you all posted!