1993 Human Bloodbowl 3rd Edition Boxed Set Citadel Marauders Football Team Game. Designed by Gary Morley.

This is a listing for 12 Human metal miniatures from the 3rd Edition Games Workshop Citadel line. The third edition figures can be seen in the Citadel 2004 Specialist games catalogue with the team box reference of 99110999037. This box just states Marauders on it but I believe these to be the Middenheim Marauders. Unfortunately the boxed set didn't include waterslide transfers. The decals really finish off a miniature nicely, so if you are putting together a team, search out the Reikland Reavers decals sheet that was included with the Bloodbowl games boxed set (from around 1992 the boxed set was re-issued a few times). In that box you had the cardboard fold out playing field and everything you needed to play a game including the plastic Reikland Reavers sprues and the decals. If you are spending the time to paint them up and do a really nice job, then using decals on the players really makes them look that much better.

Humans are seen as a very flexible, jack of all trades with average player skills. They are not the fastest, toughest hardest team, but can switch plays very easily. A good team to start playing the game with, as you don't need to carry out complex plays and tactics, which are needed with some of the harder to play teams. The Humans also get an Ogre on the team. Famous Human teams are the Albion Wanderers from the Isle of Albion, Altdorf Acolytes who play in the Griswell Memorial Stadium, Bad Bay Hackers, Bright Crusaders (AFC West), Creeveland Crescents (AFC North) shown on the Hoshi Komi card (I'm sure someone is taking the mick out of a language barrier here), Middenheim Marauders from the city state of Middenheim, Middenland, Paravon Penetrators and The Reikland Reavers from Altdorf (NFC West home stadium the Altdorf Oldbowl).

GW originally brought out 13 miniatures in the 1st edition set and only did a few of each race. Citadel originally brought a few out under the LE18 reference. The advert for these can be seen in the Citadel January 1987 flyer. GW released a Human, a Dark Elf, an Orc and a Dwarf. The LE reference was for GW's Limited Edition range that was usually only available for a month and then withdrawn. Although various miniatures were called back into dutiful service later on. These four players did reappear as they were brought back out later on. Three of them can be seen in Games Workshop's White Dwarf 89 May 1987 under the BB3 reference, but GW dropped the Dark Elf name, referring just to Elf from then on, as the figure could easily double for either. Also the first edition metal miniatures were then referred to as either Attackers or Defenders. These early figures came out under the references BB1, BB2 and BB3. Most of these early 1st edition Bloodbowl minis can be seen in the GW 1988 catalogue where some were referred to as Linesman or Blitzers, as those were the only positions in the early version of the game. GW did two early 1st edition Lead miniature Humans. They can be seen at the bottom of the page here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat1988/cat1988p078-00.htm

Citadel then expanded the range with the second edition and brought out a full team in the GW 1988 catalogue. This showed Blitzer, Blocker, Catcher, Injured Humans (wounded, casualty), Kicker, Lineman (Linesman), Thrower (states chucker on the slotta) and a Referee. The second edition BB104 Bloodbowl Humans can be seen nicely painted up in Games Workshop's White Dwarf 102 June 1988 here:

http://www.solegends.com/citbb/bb104humans.htm

I believe that they were released around that period, in that year, even though some of the set show either 1987 or 1988 on the slotta. Likely they started work on them the year before, but this wasn't completed until the later year. They were again shown in the GW 1991 catalogue which showed a more complete team line up including two star players (Griegor Miessen and Hoshi Komi), a chainsaw wielding looney and a great cheerleader mini. The page can be seen here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat1991b/cat1991bp316bbhumans-00.htm

The same catalogue also showed the plastic Human sprues, and there are also the separate plastic team that came out with the box of the third version of the board game. Citadel then redesigned the Humans and released the 3rd edition set. This consisted of nine different team minis which can be seen in the Citadel 2004 to 05 catalogue and hobby reference here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat2004us/c2004usp0949-00.htm

These could be bought individually, in a Human booster pack (to bulk up a team) or in a Bloodbowl team box (reference 99110999037). They can also be seen in the GW 2004 Specialist games catalogue. I see this miniature set as a bit bland. In my opinion if they did not have the Lion detailing, they would be one of the worst teams that GW brought out. This edition also had two Star players (Griff Oberwald and the Mighty Zug) which are excellent.

GW then brought out the 4th edition. The fourth edition blood bowl Human miniatures (disregarding the Amazons), only comprised of the Thrud the Barbarian mini. This is more of a Star player and was designed by Mark Bedford. He can be seen here:

http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/File:Thrudball.jpg

Limited? Hmnnn, harder to get maybe. The miniature came with 4 metal parts (body, arm, base and head) and there were actually two different heads available for him. Thrud the barbarian was a staple of the old White Dwarf magazine back in the eighties. A popular but excessively dim muscle bound idiot.

The 5th edition human team seemed very soon after the release of the 3rd edition. They can be seen in the GW 2005 Specialist games catalogue here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat2005spc/c2005spcp0150-00.htm

and

http://www.solegends.com/citcat2005ussc/c2005usscp0033-00.htm

I actually think the fifth edition humans were much better than the third. They were also great as they had 16 different miniatures in the set, so you had all the positional miniatures that you wanted for a team. These could also be bought individually, or as a Bloodbowl team box (reference 99110999108). Citadel also had various Star Player miniatures. GW redid the Griff Oberwald miniature, twice! The first was designed by Aly Morrison in March 2004. This had a choice of two different heads. The second was done by Mark Longdown in 2008 and was also a  multipart miniature (arms, body and head). There was also the Might Zug figure and the female Blood bowl Star Player Zara the slayer (designed by Shane Hoyle), as she can play for Humans, Norse and Amazons. Even though the Amazonians and Norse are humans, they are looked on as a different line.

The Bloodbowl fantasy football game was designed for Games Workshop Citadel by Jervis Johnson, back in 1986. The artwork was done by Aly Morrison and Brett Ewins. American football was being shown on Channel 4 at the time, and the game itself is a mash of this, Rugby and the Warhammer fantasy world. Originally a simpler Warhammer wargame set on a pitch, with two opposing teams trying to score, kill or maim the opposing players. The rules went through various incarnations, and additional books were brought out for it. The Death Zone expansion in 1987, introduced a lot of new rules and races and the Star Players book in 1989 gave options for 48 Star Players that could be used for teams and included rules for Chaos, Chaos Dwarfs, Dwarfs, Dark Elves, Elves, Goblins, Halflings (Hamsters!), Norse, Skaven, Slann, Snotlings, Werewolves and Undead. A Bloodbowl Companion was released in 1989 which added more Starplayers and additional rules. Deathzone was then re-released in 1994 as a full boxed set. It included dirty trick, random event and magic item cards. It also had more Star Player cards. It also had details on running leagues, which are an important aspect of the game, with teams developing over a period of time. With player interaction and ideas being put forward Bloodbowl developed over the years and the Living rulebook was then introduced.

The Living rule book was well supported by GW. This is still available on various sites for free and I'd like to genuinely thank Games Workshop Citadel for this excellent resource. For those who don't know, the Living rulebook is a fair set of rules that have been fully played over time. This eliminates to a greater extent, unfair advantages, certain teams and prior published rules that don't give a fair game. so if you are playing a League of follow on games, which is the best way to play Blood Bowl, then little disparities between different teams, will not become exacerbated over a  course of many games. Or if they do, they will be comparatively minor, compared to some other tabletop wargames out there. That said, there are various teams, weapons and all sorts in the other rules, that appeared in various publications, the Bloodbowl magazine, the Citadel Journal, and the GW White Dwarf magazine. These can really add a sense of fun into the game, so personally I'll be doing a league for a season that includes teams using all these older rules. When I get round to this, to even it out, the coaches will play each team involved in the league an even amount of times. So overall at the end, they will have fielded the same teams, the same amount of times, against the same opposing teams, to ensure fairness.

Of note, the game board also changed over time with it originally being card board, then becoming a polystyrene "Astrogranite" pitch and then back to a foldable cardboard pitch. Personally I'll be using the latest foldable cardboard pitch, as I feel the dice will lie flat on it. I think the polystyrene pitch is preferred by people who want to build their own stadium, painting and grassing it up. Take a look around, there are some really excellent ones out there that people have put together. It was tempting, but time and carriage was also an issue for me. Talking about time, a game will last about 128 minutes. Pretty precise, but the game turns are a set amount, and the rules actually state that each player turn lasts for four minutes. Personally I won't be there with the clock timing someone, but I have actually seen people do this and it does stop people umming and ahhing about the move they are to play for half an hour, for which they then do what they originally started to do thirty minutes earlier. So it can keep up the pace and speed of the game.

The Wiki page has a lot of Blooders information on it, and the development of the board game here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Bowl#Kerrunch

The NAF can be found here:

http://www.thenaf.net/

The Blood Bowl boardgame was published in 1986 but the boxed set was first shown in the Games Workshop Citadel White Dwarf 85 January 1987 (in the open box article). The first release of the game had cardboard team players, and metal miniatures started coming out later in 1987. These Lead figures can be seen in the GW White Dwarf 89 May 1987. These were the BB range (BB1, BB2, BB3) but were more individual Lead miniatures. They then developed into full teams with the BB101 Elves through to the BB108 Skaven (Chaos Ratmen). GW have since done various incarnations of the teams and there is a lot of choice available. A team will consist of various positional players. Names that have been used over time to describe these are Blitzers, Blockers, Catcher, Gutter runner, Linesman (Lineman), Storm Vermin, Throwers and Kicker. The latest rules simplify this, so not all these named player types are actually used in the game, although the miniatures are still relevant for a good game. GW also did wounded casualty, referee, and cheerleader miniatures. The older rules also allow for Apothecary and Magic user miniatures to be used, f which you'll be able to find many figures from their standard lines that will suffice.

This is an excellent site for a lot of information on the game and also miniatures for it:

http://www.blood-bowl-miniatures.de/

There are also many different companies out there doing "not Blood Bowl" miniatures. Some of them are really top notch. There is also a Video game by Cyanide Studios called the Legendary Edition of Blood Bowl.

I was not interested in this game at all when it came out prior, but looking back at it now I can see why it is still being played and is very popular. What struck me most was the humour that GW put into it. It's a parody of so many little things and reading it I find it very funny. A bit of schoolboy humour and all sorts and they even refer to the people playing the game as the coaches for the teams in it. It just seemed to draw me in.

Regards the above links, thank you to the individuals involved for taking the time to make that information available for people. An excellent and detailed resource.

SHOP LINK:  Hygienic Porridge Miniature Emporium  Thanks for looking.