At Gen Con last week, we revealed that the most brutally violent team in the history of the sport is on its way to join the Blood Bowl circuit. That’s right, the Khorne team is coming to spill blood in quantities never before imagined by even the most unhinged spectator. But how in the name of Nuffle’s sacred boot did the Blood God’s notoriously battle-hungry warriors ever get tempted onto the astrogranite? Let’s find out…
It may be the most violent sport in existence, but even Blood Bowl can’t compete with some good ol’ fashioned war and death for the worshippers of Khorne, right? Well, that’s what the Blood God himself thought, too… that is, until he saw a game being played and revelled in the merciless brutality unleashed by the players.
Khorne wanted in on the action, and his loyal followers were soon terrorising pitches across the Old World for the glory and amusement of their bloodthirsty patron. The Blood God’s teams took to the aggressive side of the sport with all the murderous intensity that one could expect from a bunch of glorified psychopaths, who often left the ball untouched in their frenzied determination to beat their opponents to a pulp.
Khorne famously cares not from whence the blood flows, and to seek a spot on one of his Blood Bowl teams is a death sentence to all but the most psychotic – and violently capable – prospects. Try-outs usually comprise being hurled into a fighting pit, with a place on the team being offered to the lone, gore-soaked ‘winner’ of the challenge. It’s survival of the fittest in the most vicious way possible, yet there’s a brutal logic to it – after all, how can their opponents hope to stand up against a team filled with berserk killers?
The most favoured of Khorne teams may even supplement their line-up of Bloodborn Marauder Linemen, Khorngors, and Bloodseekers with a Bloodspawn – a hulking mutant swollen with the Blood God’s unholy power. These monstrous brutes are capable of tearing players limb from limb in a raging frenzy, or even disemboweling an Ogre with one of their elongated bone spurs.
There are a number of Khorne teams that have risen to prominence since taking up the sport, though more for their horrifying casualty stats than their victories. Teams such as Khorne’s Killers, the Flesh Hounds, and the Bloodsoaked Bruisers have each cemented their place in Blood Bowl history, though none can match the success of the infamous Skull-tribe Slaughterers.
Unlike many of their peers, the Slaughterers don’t just play to maim and kill, but to actually win matches. Though it may appear that they have their priorities backwards (for a Khorne team, at least), the Slaughterers are nonetheless aware that the higher they reach in the league, the more worthy their opponents will be. Of course, this doesn’t come from a sense of professional pride in aiming to pit themselves against the best of the best – it’s all about facing the toughest opposition and claiming their skulls for the glory of Khorne!
We’ll have more on the fearsome new Khorne team later this week, so join us then for a closer look at the models and their (ultra-violent) rules. And keep an eye out for the Khorne team and Spike! Journal Issue Thirteen later on this year.