2023 Round-up

What a year! In 2023, Blood Bowl has gone from a thing I had played years ago and sometimes played online, to more or less dominating my spare time. As per the NAF website, I have played a total of 114 NAF ranked games in 28 tournaments - that's an average of 1 every 2 weeks! And that's not counting all the league games, friendlies, BB3/FUMBBL matches... Blood Bowl has really taken over my life this year! I am deeply grateful for it, too - I grew up playing competitive board games mostly every weekend, and had been missing something like this for a long time, and I have enjoyed having BB in my life immensely this year. Now that the year is almost over, I thought it would be good to reflect back on the year, look at the successes and failures, and make plans for 2024.

Highlights of 2023

2023 started in top form as my Norse went 4/1/1 at Double Standards, which together with my teammate TheShepherd's 5/0/1 performance led us to win the team award. This was also my first ever experience with Underworld, whom I lost the game (and with it the individual award) to on the top table in round 6. I also came a hair's breadth away of taking the win at Beachhead with Dribl & Drull Amazons, going 2/1/0 and coming 4th overall. Soon enough, though, that elusive NAF shield finally came after a 4/0/0 Borak Renegades run at Pitch Invasion in March. I then set my sights on the upcoming NAFC. Instead of my trusty Norse, I decided to take Dark Elves. They performed well in the prep tournaments, coming 3/0/1 and missing out on the win due to BartK's Skaven shenanigans. I went into the NAFC with spirits high, dreaming of the top tables. And then... it all came crashing down. I enjoyed the evening before a little too much, and was nursing a tremendous hangover for game 1, which I barely managed to squeak out a draw for. Things went downhill from there, and a combination of poor play and unfortunate rolls saw my Elves limping away from Nottingham on a 1/3/2 record. This was followed up by an even more disappointing 1/0/3 with Norse at the following Pitch Invasion. My winrate, that had been flying high in the high 60s, plummeted to below 60 for the first time since I became aware of it.

As fate would have it, though, BB3 had recently come out, and since Norse were not in it (and Delves had left such a bitter taste in my mouth!), I figured I'd try something else: Elven Union. And it went well! Unlike their dark cousins, these elves were picking up win after win online, which helped reignite my love for the game. They then hit the board for the Red Trophy with a respectable 4/0/2 (once again foiled by Underworld Denizens, this time piloted by GreenskinPhil!), and went on to win at Barton Bowl and COSH Teams on 3/0/0 and 4/0/0 respectively. The Onions' winning streak was tempered at the World Cup, where they delivered a mediocre 4/2/3. Meanwhile, I had been dabbling with the Skaven team I had won at Barton Bowl, and all seemed set for the rats to become my new main team.

And then, GW released Vampires.

I had played Vampires on BB2 for a couple seasons, and despite some pretty terrible results there was something about them that really stuck with me. Between their massive statline and the ability to Hypnogaze, the potential for shenanigans the Vamps offered was huge - there was only the tiny matter of Bloodlust to deal with. The Teams of Legend changes in 2020 were (in my opinion) good for them, but they still remained a very difficult and swingy team to play. But when I first read the teasers and leaks regarding the new Vamps, I knew that they were going to be good. So the day they came out I picked them up from TTR, went on a painting spree to get them ready, and brought them to the next available tournament where they made it to top table on round 4 only to get splattered by Nonumber's Undead. A second outing for Filth-tober saw them picking up a Most Touchdowns award but again narrowly missing out on a win, but third time was indeed the charm as they took Screaming Spires 3 by storm and won their first NAF shield on a 4/0/0. They then went on to come second at WAR Bowl, and then win another shield (my 5th of 2023!) at Pitch Invasion in December, closing out the year with a bang.

Lessons of 2023

Throughout all these games, I feel like I have learnt a great deal about Blood Bowl. A lot of it is basic stuff (for example: never side cage against a stunty team!), but there are a few deeper things I feel are important take-aways from the year:

Lesson 1: Play Better Coaches

This sounds pretty self-evident, doesn't it? But we tend to forget and fall into comfort zones. You play in your little bubble, you think you're hot shit, then you step out and get demolished. Consistently playing better coaches will hurt your stats in the short term, but it is the best way I know to get better at the game.

Lesson 2: Enjoy What You Play, Play What You Enjoy

Many things went wrong at NAFC, but one of the biggest ones I think was my team choice. Not because Dark Elves aren't a strong team - they absolutely are - but because I wasn't really enjoying playing them. Had I run Norse instead, I still would not have made the top tables, I probably would have done better than I did (and had more fun!).

Lesson 3: Respect Every Opponent, Fear None.

One thing that I like about Blood Bowl is the brilliant job the NAF does at record keeping. When you sit down to play, you can quickly check out your opponent's stats - what is their winrate? Have they played this team often? How many trophies have they won? While that can be useful information, it can also hurt you - changing a playstyle that has served you well so far just because your opponent is exceptionally strong (or weak!) will lose you games.

Lesson 4: Mentality is Everything

People will often (rightly) look at team matchups, builds, winrates etc when predicting the outcome of a particular match. A factor that is often overlooked, though, is the mental state of the coaches. Blood Bowl can be a very emotional game, and it can be really hard to keep your cool when you're on the 4th snake of the game and your opponent just cagedived you on a 6+. Having a clear head and a good mindset going in can be the difference between losing it and playing erratically, and being able to take a step back, evaluate your position and find the best play. It doesn't mean you'll win every time, but you'll lose less, and learn more.

Plans for 2024

On the trip to NAFC earlier this year, nonumber mentioned Eurobowl and the competitive Blood Bowl scene. At the time, I wasn't sure I was good enough (and I definitely didn't think so after NAFC!). 8 months and 4 NAF shields later, I am still not sure that I am at Eurobowl level, but I am pretty sure I could be by September (of course, I'm not the one who needs to be convinced!). I have therefore applied for Team England (why not Spain? Well, compare the way in which the Kfoged vs PeteW Q&A went with the Eurobowl 2024 thread on the Spanish BB forum, and maybe you'll understand). I am very aware of my lack of international BB experience, and would not be surprised or offended in the slightest if I did not make the cut this year, but there is a long time between now and September to prepare if I do.

Regardless of whether I get on the team or not, the plan is the same: Play the toughest fields I can, and play as many international tournaments as I can, especially team ones. So far, I have made plans to be at Waterbowl, NAFC, UKTC, Tilean Team Cup, Tackle Zone Challenge and Team England Challenge. In between, I will try my best to find other international team tournaments and go with the most competitive squad I possibly can. Whatever squad I'm with, I will be in Athens come September, and I will play a team I have practiced with for the whole year up to that point against the toughest opponents I could muster.

The focus on Eurobowl means I will likely be playing one team and one team only. This is probably going to be Vampires, as I think they are going to be very strong in Euro 24 rules, plus I really enjoy playing them. However, I would also like to try new teams this year. So far everything I've played has been glass cannons or fast, elfy teams. I think it would be good to practice playing more traditional bash, to get a more nuanced understanding of the game. Possibly even finish some games with 11 players on the pitch, wouldn't that be nice!

In terms of this blog, I intend to keep updating it. However, I will probably not be making a post for every tournament, as it gets a bit too much! However, for those tournaments I do write reports about, I will try to be better about recording game details at the time, and give a bit more info on the venues/organisers as well. Maybe even some team photos, too.

Acknowledgements

As some of you know, my first Blood Bowl tournament experience was a bit of a disaster. A friend of mine who was running a games cafe offered to run a BB tournament while I was in town as he knew I was interested, and I gladly took part with my old Norse (old old Norse - this was around 2010!). I had all of 1 tabletop game under my belt at this point, and a handful of games on BB1 (all vs. AI or similarly new friends), and had zero idea of what "good Blood Bowl" was, so my build wasn't exactly great. This was repeatedly and rudely pointed out to me by a couple of the players, who I had never met before. They made fun of my team name, changing it after registration without my knowledge or consent, and when I beat one of them they made a big angry fuss about how I'd diced them and how I didn't deserve the win. Oh, and then there was "Illegal Procedure" (good riddance to that rule!) which they took great delight on calling me on. Only one of my opponents was in any way friendly - a Goblin coach who politely and patiently talked me through the more obscure aspects of the game and gave me constructive feedback on the build and my play.

Save for that one opponent, everyone there was so unpleasant that it put me off Blood Bowl for a long time, and made me very apprehensive of playing any sort of tournament. Which is a shame, because now that I have, I can say that every experience I have had since has been the complete opposite. I cannot remember a single opponent who wasn't at the very least polite and gracious in victory or defeat, and more often than not lovely, helpful and sportsmanlike. There are far too many people to mention them all, but I'd like to give a shoutout to a few that have made my year in Blood Bowl that much better. In chronological order:

daje: The first person I ever played on tabletop 2020. Thanks for introducing me to the local leagues, and for being the driving force behind TRUBBL!

totalfuzzylogic: My first ever opponent in a NAF game! Thanks for your patience and for giving me my first glimpse of real competitive play!

nonumber: Owner of Tabletop Republic, by far the place where I have played the most. Thanks for creating a great Blood Bowl community hub!

BartK: First person to ever beat my ToL vampires. Thank you for giving me one of those defeats that teach you more than any win ever could! Glowworm: Played vs. mefspores at Bloxworth, and invited us both to Noodlebowl, and from there to so many other tournaments. Thanks for welcoming us so warmly into the community!

NippyLongskar: Got absolutely demolished by his Skaven in NAFC, and still remember that as one of the best games in the weekend. Thanks for showing me what true top-shelf Blood Bowl looks like, and helping me break into the competitive scene!

GreenskinPhil: Kept showing up at all of the tournaments I went to and giving me some tough games. Thanks for bringing me into the team for COSH and for great times both on and off the pitch!

CptOats: Another regular, and core member of the Pitch Invaders. Thanks for COSH too, and for being the more grounded foil to Chris and my all-marbles madness!

And of course - thank you mefspores for giving BB a chance, and for all your support! I am so glad BB isn't just my thing, but our thing.