2002 Elf Bloodbowl 5th Edition Catcher 1 Citadel Team Fantasy Wood Elves Pro GW. Designed by Dave Thomas.

This is an Elven metal miniature from the 5th Edition Games Workshop Citadel line. The fifth edition Wood Elves originally came out in 2003 and can be seen in Games Workshop's 2004 Specialist games catalogue. I wouldn't go looking at them in this catalogue though, as it only shows 9 figures of the set. After a bit of confusion I realised that the later 2005 Specialist games catalogue shows 11 in the team, but actually duplicates Lineman 1 and Lineman 2. They are the same miniature and it took me awhile of squinting at miniatures and faffin about with various catalogues to figure that out! The full team can be seen in GW's US 2004 to 2005 Catalogue and hobby reference here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat2004us/c2004usp0947-00.jpg

Those GW catalogues do not show Lineman 1 and Lineman 4 are not included in the Elf team box picture, so I assume they are possibly harder to get than the others. In all those catalogues the set was just referred to as Elves and many refer to them as the Pro Elf set. They were in nice poses but quite thin miniatures with a small head. I thought this very noticeable on the Cheerleader, possibly because I'm used to the 2nd edition BB101 Cheerleader. Her Pom poms are also smaller than the earlier editions but she does go well with the rest of the 5th edition set. David Thomas did this team taller and slimmer, which is how Elves are usually described in roleplaying games, such as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) and also Pathfinder. The Elves are considered an agile team and usually play a passing, receiving game. The long bomb (long pass) being a useful tactic. Famous good aligned Elf teams include the Athelorn Avengers (NFC Central), Elfheim eagles (AFC West) and the Galadrieth Gladiators (NFC West).

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 The LE reference was for GW's Limited Edition range that was usually only available for a month and then withdrawn.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 Elves. They can be seen at the bottom of the page here:

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

Citadel then expanded the Elvish range with the second edition and brought out a full team in the GW 1988 catalogue. I see these miniatures as Wood Elves, but it was not until later that the good aligned Elves were split up into different teams. This second edition set was an excellent team consisting of 12 players with one sideline staff figure and even though they are linear in pose, I personally feel that this was the best set of Wood elves for Blood bowl that Citadel did. The full Elvish team consisted of Blitzer, Catcher, Kicker, Lineman (Linesman), Thrower and a Female Cheerleader with Pom poms (an absence of Blockers, as Elves don't get them in the game). This was one of the best Cheerleader miniatures that Citadel did, and was shown on the classic cover of the BloodbowI Companion, in the near exact pose with Poms. If you are after a group of cheerleader girls, then also check out the Human cheerleader miniature that Games Workshop brought out. Which is rather college girl nymphet looking. This nymph can be seen in the GW Red 1991 catalogue. The second edition BB101 Bloodbowl Elfs can be seen nicely painted up in Games Workshop's White Dwarf 101 May 1988 here:

http://www.solegends.com/citbb/bb101elves.htm

They were again shown in the GW Red 1991 catalogue which showed a more complete team line up (under the new 073301 reference) including the star player Eldric Sidewinder (ref 073387/10). Eldric also came out in 1988, as it states this and Wardancer on the slotta. The page can be seen here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat1991b/cat1991bp319bbelves-00.htm

The same catalogue also showed the plastic Elf sprue that included a Bloodbowl spiked ball. I'm not into plastic, but they were not bad. These plastic Elves were not chunky and fitted in with the design of the time. They also had the very noticeable 80's hair! If you want to field the best team, then you'll have to take a look at the big guys. The Halflings always feature Treemen, and this is pretty in keeping with the Wood Elf ethos. That said, GW did various variants of the 2nd edition Treeman miniature at the time (some varients are rather hard to get a hold of, as two of the Treemen were limited release), but to my mind they were a bit too nice looking. They were perfect Ents, and some even had a Bloodbowl helmet on.

If you are interested in collecting all the Citadel Bloodbowl Treemen, then they can be seen here:

http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Bloodbowl_-_Limited_Release

The unreleased Bloodbowl miniatures can be seen here:

http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Bloodbowl_-_Unreleased

BUT be careful who you buy from, as some sellers have large amounts of the same hard to find unreleased limited miniatures continually coming up for sale.

Citadel then redesigned the Elvish team and released the 3rd edition set. This consisted of seven different team minis which can be seen in the Citadel 2005 Specialist games catalogue and here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat2005spc/c2005spcp0157-00.htm

This GW boxed set was designed by Gary Morley and consisted of 2 Catchers, 7 Linemen, 2 Wardancers a Thrower and the prior Cheerleader figure. These could be bought individually, in an Elven booster pack (to bulk up a team) or in a Bloodbowl team box (reference 99110999012). This edition was actually referred to as Wood Elves and also had the Star player Jordell Freshbreeze (reference 73520/1). He can be seen in the Citadel 1999 catalogue here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat1999/c1999p0522-00.htm

Games Workshop also produced a new Treeman miniature that can be seen in the GW US 2004 to 2005 catalogue and Hobby reference here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat2004us/c2004usp0948-00.htm

This Tree man (reference B 054, changed to 9906099070), which is a good miniature. It was released in 2000  (being referred to elsewhere as 4th edition) and was designed by Mark Bedford. It's a really nice simply designed miniature and very effective, but if you are putting a team together, then go back in time and ensure that you check out the MB14 (MB14/A and MB14/B) Marauder Wood Elf Treemen. These were designed by Trish Morrison. Excellent pictures of them can be seen in the Marauder catalogue section from the Citadel Green catalogue 1993 here:

http://www.solegends.com/marauder/mb14treemen.htm

They were later shown in the Citadel 1994 catalogue, where the reference changed to Treeman A MM48/1 and Treeman B MM48/4. For me, these two guys are the epitome of a great miniature. The detail from the catalogue picture of these three part miniatures may not be fully apparent, but you will not be disappointed. They are simply excellent, in pose detail and design and go well together with one reaching high and taller and the other reaching out to grab something. In the latest rules, the Wood Elves only get one Treeman on the team, the rest of their Elven kin go without.

The 3rd edition is the point where GW split off the good aligned Elves into Wood Elf and High Elf teams. The High Elf Boxed set, The Galadrieth Gladiators can be seen in the GW 1994 catalogue here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat1994/cat1994p010-00.htm

The set was also designed by Gary Morley. It comprised of 9 different metal miniature players (not including the prior Elf cheerleader figure). The boxed set duplicated some of these players. In it you got 12 miniatures in total, 2 Dragon warriors (Blitzers), 7 Linemen (linesmen), 2 Lion warriors (Catchers) and a Phoenix Warrior (Phoenix Thrower). They are nice, but I've never really gone for High Elves. These were also available to be bought individually, in an Elven booster pack (to bulk up a team) or in a Bloodbowl team box (reference 99110999001). GW brought out the High Elf star player Prince Moranian for this set. He can also be seen in the GW 1994 catalogue (ref 73511/1).

GW then brought out the 5th edition Elfs. These are referred to as the 5th edition elsewhere on the internet, so to stop any confusion, I've kept my listings uniform to this way of thinking, so there's a set standard out there.  I assume this has occurred due to the gap between these and the prior 3rd edition not having anything released in that era, but a few other miniatures brought out in that gap for the rest of the Bloodbowl range. Citadel released more of some teams than others, so you could either catalogue the teams and sets by the edition, or by the year that they came out. The problem is if you do it just by edition, you'll have various different racial teams of the same edition number giving the impression that they were brought out at the same time period, but there actually being a sizeable date difference between releases. Looking at it the way I have, in edition periods as shown elsewhere, the release year is relevant. This set was designed by David Thomas and can be seen in the GW US 2004 to 2005 catalogue and hobby reference here:

http://www.solegends.com/citcat2004us/c2004usp0947-00.jpg

This set of Elves is is plainly referred to just as just Elf team in the catalogue. Elsewhere people refer to it as the Pro Elf team. They had 10 different miniatures in the set, 2 Catchers, 2 Blitzers, 4 linemen, 2 Throwers, and a new Cheerleader miniature. These could also be bought individually, or as a Bloodbowl team box (reference 99110999059). GW also re-did their Jordell Freshbreeze star player figure (reference 99060999099). This was designed by Aly Morrison and came with two different heads, so you could choose what you wanted (with helm or without). He can be seen in the GW 2005 specialist games catalogue. The Bloodbowl competition rules have three of the good aligned Elven teams in there. The plainly labelled Elf team, the High Elves and Wood Elves. So the later edition teams cater for a separate team for each. I don't really go for either of the last two editions, 2nd Edition for me, with a few 1st edition included due to their non linear pose.

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.