Blue 42! Blue 42! Kill-Kill! Waagh!

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I stumbled on an issue of White Dwarf that had an account of something like American football, with orcs. It was, as you probably know, an account of Blood Bowl. 

I loved the concept (I love American football and fantasy) but never saw a game played or even heard of anyone playing it outside of that. Indeed, the only football game I had ever seen or played (and still own) is the one by Tudor with the vibrating playing surface and the figures that went everywhere but where I wanted them to go (which was indeed, much of the fun!).  

This looks much sleeker than mine. Mine was acquired in the late 1970s, and featured the classic rivalry of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. Years later I acquired the entire AFC East, including the then Baltimore Colts

I had yet to grasp the idea of playing non-video games as a solo gamer outside of well, Solitaire.

Flash forward 20 years and I started wargaming. I immersed myself in solo gaming with abandon. I even saw solitaire rules for Blood Bowl although by then, I knew perfectly well how to make an enjoyable solitaire experience with most games.

But, while it sounded fun, it never crossed my mind to actually get the game or figures.

Until recently.

With my son spending hour upon hour immersed in the Warhammer video games and watching endless YouTube videos about the game and the lore of Warhammer fantasy, I found myself drawn back the idea of Blood Bowl- something different from all of my other figure games that could easily justify the change of scale.

As it turns out, there's a smaller version of the game called Blitz Bowl - it uses only six figures per side, has simpler rules, and games can be played to completion in an hour or two.  

Simpler? Few figures? Count me in!

So, for a Christmas present to myself, I picked up a copy from Barnes & Noble.

Even better, my son is eager to play AND one of his favorite factions in Warhammer, the Skaven, have a team in the box!

Here's a picture of the contents:

 You could, of course, play as is, no paint required. 

However, I decided I would go all in and paint mine. Using GW's paints no less. And following their painting tutorials on YouTube, more or less.

The paint order has just been placed and please excuse me while I pick my jaw off of the floor.

I spent more on paint than on the game!

My son also really likes Nurgle, and I stumbled on a discounted box of the Nurgle team (a Blood Bowl box provides enough figures for two teams in Blitz Bowl) which for the price, I could not ignore. The paints for those will wait for my birthday.

There have been recent talks with him about how some of the kids at school play W40K and he seems interested. If he decides he wants to give it a try, resisting the temptation to buy myself some Sisters of Battle is going to be neigh impossible.

What can I say, I have a thing for space nuns.