Welcome Blood Bowl fans to the Goonhammer ALL-STAR GAME, where it’s once again time for the greatest players in the league – or at least the best of those still able to walk at this point in the season – meet to compete for fortune and glory!
With the release of the 2021 Blood Bowl Almanac, GW has given us rules for an All-Star game that uses nothing but Star Players. This sounds like a fantastic idea and a ton of fun! But, Forge World Star Player models usually cost about $30 US, so unless you’re a pay pig like me, it might be hard to field 22 Star Players at the same time. Wouldn’t it be better if an All-Star game contained players from your own league? And wouldn’t it be more fun to turn this game into a multi-player spectacular?
Obviously, the answer to both questions is a resounding “YES”. So I’ve designed a little multi-player event that can take place at the midpoint of your league’s Schedule or at the end to act as a fun capstone for your league. The idea here is that each coach gets to hand-pick the best players from their team and pit them against the best and brightest (or strongest and dumbest) from other teams in the league. In designing this game, I had a 4-coach league, and thus a 4-coach game, in mind, but you could play this with 6 coaches (3 per side), though it might get a little wonky with 3 people on each side of the pitch.
The idea here is, obviously, to have fun, but if you run an All-Star game at or around the halfway point in your league’s season, then you use it as a way to give each team an influx of cash to prepare them for making the playoffs. Sort of like Downtime in a Necromunda campaign. It’s also always a ton of fun to get more players around a table, ideally with some adult beverages involved! Alright, let’s get to the game!
Teams
This game is meant for 4 or 6 coaches. Any more and this game will get too wacky, even for Blood Bowl. For a 4-coach game, each coach makes a team of 6 players. For a 6-coach game, each coach makes a team of 4 players. While 3 coaches per side is possible, this game really does work better with 2 per side. Instead of spending gold like they would normally the team is constructed in the following manner:
- Position limitations (0-2 Blitzers, for example) are halved, rounding up. If the coach’s team normally allows for 0-2 Blitzers, then they can field 0-1, as an example.
- Coaches must use their most-experienced players in each category. For example, a coach has 2 Blitzers: one with 10 SPP and one with 7. In this case, the coach must use the Blitzer with 10 SPP, as this player is more likely to be a fan favorite.
- You do not have to bring a player from every category on your team. For instance, if your team has a Thrower available, you do not have to bring yours if you don’t want to. However, if you choose to bring a player of a certain ctype, you must bring the player(s) with the most SPP.
- The only exception to this rule is players with the 0-16 or 0-12 limitations on their team roster. A coach can fill out their roster with 0 SPP linemen if they want. This is done to prevent valuable kickers or whatever from having to spend time on the line in an All-Star Game. Not every linemen belongs on the line, after all.
- Coaches may use their Apothecary (or Mortuary Assistant or whatever) if they have purchased one and have chosen to use Injuries, and are given 2 Team rerolls per coach. These rerolls may be used by their teammate’s players, but only if the teammate’s player can pass a 4+ roll first.
- Players that have the Miss Next Game (MNG) box checked on their roster may not be used for this game, but after this game their coach may uncheck the MNG box for said player.
Pre-Game
The coaches are paired off to form 2 teams of 12 players. Each player is to be considered to have the Animosity (teammates from the other coach’s team) trait. It is best for coaches to randomly pair themselves up, but themed games might be fun, but they could also be a complete disaster. Use your best discretion!
For example, if your 4-team league has Ogres, Black Orcs, Skaven and Woold Elves, it might be prudent to separate the big, slow teams and pair them with the speedy, finesse teams. Otherwise the game could end up in an unfun blowout, or the finesse coaches could watch, in horror, as their teams are ripped limb from limb. Or, if you’re a pervert, that could be what you want. Figure it out on your own!
Before the game, the coaches must decide whether or not to grant SPPs or incur Injuries from this game. If they decide to award SPPs for the normal things, they must also follow through with players getting injured. Otherwise, the players can choose to ignore SPPs and Injuries for this game. Note that while Injuries might not be used in this game, players suffering a Casualty will still miss the rest of the game while they’re in the Dead & Injured box.
Calculate Team Value as normal, including the 2 re-rolls per coach based on their team’s reroll cost. Limited Inducements are available in the All-Star game. Coaches can choose from the following list:
- 0-4 Temp Agency Cheerleaders (20,000 gp each)
- 0-3 Part-time Assistant Coaches (20,000 gp each)
- 0-1 Weather Mage (30,000 gp)
- 0-2 Bloodweiser Kegs (50,000 gp each)
- 0-3 Bribes (100,000 gp each, unless both teams one the same side have the Bribery & Corruption special rule)
- 0-1 Wizard (Price varies, can hire whichever wizards are available to any of the teams playing on the same side)
Each coach brings with them their team’s Dedicated fans. Do not roll to see if any Fairweather fans show up. It is assumed that the stadium is full to capacity with die-hards! This will give you the game’s attendance figure! Also, don’t forget the weather roll!
The Kickoff
Kickoffs proceed as normal, save for one exception. Due to the fact that the coaches are unused to communicating with one another or their respective teams, each coach on the same team must roll-off or flip a coin before the first kickoff. The winner then gets to set up both (or all 3!) coach’s players for the first kickoff. Then, and for each subsequent kickoff, the coaches must trade off setup duties for the rest of the game! So, for example, Coach A wins the coin flip before the game and gets to set up all the players for the first kickoff. Then, after the drive ends, Coach B gets their turn, and so on. Coaches must abide by the normal setup rules when setting up their sides.
However, not all players will agree to let Ogres punch them in the face at the beginning of every drive. The coach that did not set up their side may remove any players from the Line of Scrimmage that do not have 0-16 or 0-12 limitations on their team’s roster, unless that player has a Strength of 5 or more. This is designed to stop “friendly” coaches from putting fragile Throwers or Runners on the line on defense to weaken their ally’s team down the line. If this would force the side to have fewer than 3 players on the Line of Scrimmage, the coach who did not set up the side for this kickoff may choose a player from their own team to replace the removed player’s spot on the line. If that coach does not have enough of their own team’s players to do this, they may use a 0-16 or 0-12 player or a player with Strength 5 or more from their ally’s team to replace their more fragile player’s spot on the Line of Scrimmage.
For example, Coach A understands that Coach B’s valuable Elven Union Thrower could be permanently injured if they line them up on the Line of Scrimmage opposite from the opposing side’s Troll. Since this All-Star game is being played mid-season, Coach A thinks this is a fine opportunity to weaken their rival’s team down the line. However, Coach B doesn’t want to risk their valuable player in such a manner, so replaces their Thrower’s spot on the Line of Scrimmage with a lowly Lineman.
The Game
The All-Star game plays out like a normal Blood Bowl game, except for 4 adjustments:
- Players on the same side are considered on the same team and can give assists, catch passes, throw consenting teammates, etc.
- Coaches can only move and control players from their own team. Though, things like chain-pushes are determined normally.
- Due to their unfamiliarity with one another, Coaches must trade off activations during their team’s turn. A coach may not activate two players from their own team in a row unless their allied coach has no more players to activate.
- If a player with the Throw Teammate skill selects to use it on an allied player with the Right Stuff skill, the coach who controls the Right Stuff player must consent to this action. If not, the Throw Teammate player’s activation ends, as the players on the field argue.
Other than these rules adjustments, the All-Star game will proceed as a normal Blood Bowl game would, except with considerably more mayhem!
The Rewards
After the game, each team gets gold determined by this equation:
Gold earned = (Attendance/4 rounded down to the nearest 5,000) + (# of touchdowns scored by the coach’s players only x 10,000) + (# of casualties caused by the coach’s players only x 10,000)
With many fans of other teams in attendance, Dedicated Fans are up for grabs during this game. For each Touchdown scored or Casualty inflicted by the coach’s own players, increase that team’s Dedicated Fans by 1. This game is an exhibition, and no Dedicated Fans are lost as a result of losing this contest.
If you’re using League Points to determine playoff seed, no LeaguePoints are granted for winning this game, it is purely an exhibition.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, Sports Fans! A multi-player event to add a little spice to your Blood Bowl league! While it won’t be the cleanest game of Blood Bowl ever played, it will be plenty wacky, and that’s exactly what we want from our favorite fantasy football game. Thanks for reading, and try not to roll any skulls!
If you’ve played this game and want to tell us about it, feel free to drop us a line at contact@goonhammer.com! We’d love to hear from you! Until next time!
