Blood Bowl is incredibly popular here at the home of Warhammer in Nottingham. There’s a league running throughout the year, with games often played at lunchtimes and after work. As you’d expect, there’s some exquisite paintwork on display from the studio – and plenty of fantastic kitbashes. Let’s take a look!
Hayfeet Harvesters
Will: After years of playing Dark Elves, I wanted to try a team that let me feel like I’d won just by scoring a touchdown. Halflings are great little characters, and their blunders are often just as fun as their successes – though nothing quite beats the feeling of a one-turn Throw Team-mate touchdown!
The Harvesters have a rural theme, with pink gingham shirts and Treemen that wouldn't look out of place on a village green. With a little converting, I made every player unique. They're definitely a gaming rather than painting project, though – they're almost entirely finished with Contrast paints and washes, and I'm very happy with how they look on the pitch.
I've been collecting Star Players to spend any inducements on, and tweaking them to fit the look of the team – Deeproot has been converted to be holding a giant marrow, for example! He really evens the odds, but my favourite is Rumbelow Sheepskin – he's a great model and provides a powerful Blitz!
Tyrant Peak Buccaneers
Callum: One thing I intended to be immediately obvious about my Dark Elf Buccaneers is that the tones of red armour differ between players – some of them were painted with Baal Red Contrast paint, whilst others were painted with Flesh Tearers Red Contrast. The change in red is to signify that, like me, the Buccaneers are rookies at Blood Bowl and as a team are a bit mismatched!
I wanted to give the impression that the team plays a lot of their games onboard their Black Ark, and have based them to look as though they are on deck. The planks were painted with Dryad Bark, before being drybrushed with Gorthor Brown and then very lightly with White Scar. Despite this being their maiden voyage, I’m hopeful that they will eventually achieve plenty of success.
Skull Breakers
Fil: I usually prefer playing quick, high-scoring teams such as Skaven, but every now and then I like to pick a team that hits hard and can take a great deal of punishment in return. When I do, Orcs are my go-to team. The combination of a tough frontline and fantastic Blitzers make for a very durable team, and having some Strength 4 Big ‘Uns is the icing on the cake.
When making the Skull Breakers, I decided to delve into my bitz box and perform some minor conversion work to make my Orcs unique. I also wanted to go for a striking colour scheme; in this case, yellow and black! After a few liberal coats of Contrast paint, some highlighting and a generous helping of blood splatter, the Skull Breakers were ready.
Gnobby Gorge Gnashers
David: I chose a blue, red and white colour scheme for my Ogre team. The Ogres themselves are all in their team’s kit, whilst the expendable Gnoblars are wearing scraps and offcuts rather than the full colours. I used a mix of Base, Layer, and Contrast paints when creating my team, and decided to go with a barren desert basing style to mimic the Badlands where they hail from.
I raided my bits box for anything Ogre or Gnoblar related, before doing some head swaps and converting so I could make each player unique. I'm yet to win a game with them (I’ve come super close a number of times, though!), but they were great to paint – and it's always fun chucking Gnoblars around the pitch.
Da Runt-Smashaz
Tom: I wanted my Black Orc team to be reasonably quick to paint but still look good on the pitch. The black armour was painted with Black Legion Contrast paint, followed by crudely running Leadbelcher around the edges, as well as the occasional scratch to give a gritty, worn appearance. I then applied yellow dags with Averland Sunset, cutting back in with the Black Legion where needed. I then applied drips and glazes of thinned Skrag Brown for yet more wear and tear. During games, my motto is very much “Tactics? Who needs tactics?” I generally try to smash stuff up and if I score, that’s a bonus. I love using Varag Ghoul-Chewer as a Star Player with my team and have painted him to match. He is my head smasher-upperer, as well as my chief scorer. With his decent Agility and high Strength, I try to get the ball to him as often as possible – when he isn’t busy smashing someone's teef in, that is.
Thanks guys, that’s some beautiful work. We’d love to see more Blood Bowl teams, so please share your own work with us on Facebook and Twitter.