SPALDING WARGAMING CLUB
Until very recently I played amateur American Football (just 'football' from now) for a team not too far away. When I first began training, I had dreams of playing in 'skill' positions. I wanted to be delivering crunching hits and tackles as a line-backer or catching and holding the ball under pressure as a tight end. Unfortunately, my body and general lack of athleticism, which had deserted me about the same time I started an office job, denied me my delusions. But I was not to be dissuaded and the head coach of the team at the time, with football being such an inclusive game, said, "We have just the spot for you!" Now I was a tackle and an offensive lineman for my first team. Spot the difference: professional lineman v me Once I had I place, as you’d imagine, training felt easier and camaraderie came quicker. Playing as a lineman you are colloquially referred to as being "in the trenches". It's here that games are won or lost. You see at the line of scrimmage you have 5 offensive linemen, whose job it is to protect the ball carrier. Lined up against them are commonly 4 defensive lineman and 3 line-backers whose role it is to attack the carrier be that the running back, running with the ball, or the quarterback passing the ball downfield. At the line you have a series of one on one physical battles and if an offensive player loses his it can 'blow up' a play and stop the chains from moving, grinding the offence to halt. It's in these trenches I found the simple joy of headbutting. Getting into someone's face, in competitive environment, and battling for the team. Sacrificing myself so the team could prevail. Well, this is supposed to be an article on my Blood Bowl experience. So how does this relate to the table top? I have played Blood Bowl since 1996 when I as introduced to it at school. In many ways it enamoured me with football long before I began playing it myself. I enjoy Blood Bowl for many of the reasons I love football. Blood Bowl is, after all, a game of fantasy football. Lineman are replaced with ogres, mummies, zombies, orcs, and even the occasional halfling but the principle is just the same. You win your games of blood bowl in the same place: in the trenches. Your fine athletes or diminutive goblins are all putting themselves in jeopardy so you, as a coach, can move the ball to the endzone and ultimately win. Crucially, this time it’s your little plastic players' bodies on the line, not your own. As it turns out, I find their bodies far more expendable than my own. Again, just like football, there are many different play-styles to make it to the endzone. You can run the ball like the Dallas Cowboys with an orc or dwarf team, or you can play a high flying passing game like 'A-ron' Rogers and the Green Bay Packers with many of the elvish teams. All of the teams in Blood Bowl have their strengths (except maybe the goblin and halfling teams!) and there’s a lot of enjoyment in finding the system that works for you. As you might have guessed, I prefer a tougher harder hitting team but it isn’t necessarily going to more successful than a squishier team that just stays out of harm’s way and actually plays the ball (Blasphemy)! Your team will find success if it is well-coached and, ultimately, the players are willing to do their jobs and put themselves in harm’s way. Much like football, Blood Bowl coaches pour over the x's and o's and develop cunning ploys to victory. You can see from the following the images that the fundamentals are not much different and the core is the same. In both cases the goal is to move the opposition players and you create holes and opportunities for your team. First you hit the defence at the line and then move to those players at the second level to create a wedge which the ball carrier can burst through and hopefully score. The great thing about Blood Bowl is that the hits are so much more meaty, shockingly violent & utterly fantastic. These tiny plastic players perform feats I could only dream of on the pitch. For example, when your plucky enslaved hobgoblin stands up to that ogre on the other side of the line and fends him off turn after turn. Or when the goblin defence has had enough and starts throwing bombs at the opposition, only to be sent off moments later, his work done! There’s heroism, of sorts, there too. In short, my Blood Bowl experience is really living out those delusions I had, and some of you may share, when I first started playing football - and even when I was a teenager and began playing. All of these 11 little figures that make up my team fulfill a different desire. Crushing blows, outrageous catches, mind boggling runs. They’re all there for you and your opponent to share in. Hopefully the club’s 2019 season will bring more of those moments to life for me and the whole league. Everyone can appreciate the spectacle and the simple joy of headbutting.
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