Dungeon Bowl match report - random fun for three teams

After a long break with Dungeon Bowl we made a variation of the tried and true set up: big central chamber with symmetric starting positions. With three players the positions are randomized - there is some advantage to start with empty endzone opposite to you. As usual we used dungeon floor plan bits from the Descent board game by Fantasy Flight.



The teams were Skaven, Goblin and a new Chaos Pact team roster. With these teams - there were a lot of big guys: Skaven Rat Ogre, Goblins had three Trolls and Pact was fielding both a Minotaur and a Troll. But what is a dungeon without monsters?!

The game started with Chaos Pact and they made "blind blitz" thru the teleports: Minotaur crashed the Skaven party!



Within the first three turns there were two deaths: Skaven started to flee their Minotaur ridden starting location thru teleports... And unlucky Gutter Runner teleported right to the loving arms of Team Goblins Troll. Once again dungeons proved to be a pretty dangerous place. Blood was everywhere and team Skaven suffered four (4!) casualtys altogether: two deaths, Rat Ogre with Fractured Leg (missing next game) and one badly hurt Linerat. When two rats were lost in the limbo of the dysfunctional teleports only three rats were in the play when the match ended.

Oh, but there was a ball in the play too... That was found from the first treasure chest by the lucky Chaos Pact team. And what kind of a ball: house rule of Scarab ball. Here are our house rules to open a chest. This table is used until the ball is found. After that the changes to get money bags is increased, and there are Summon Runes that can bring new npc monsters to the board, etc.



This idea of a moving ball serves a twofold purpose: first, it rises the interest of coaches not currently moving miniatures - even if your turn is jet to come the ball might come crawling your way. Secondly it can help to break a gridlock where many players are next to the ball and their zones make picking up the ball very hard. This time the game was so brutal in removing players that the number of zones was not a problem.

Chaos Pact had the ball first in their hands, but it was knocked to the floor by the Skaven. As mentioned above, the skaven lines were thin by this late in the game and were desperately trying to reach the Endzone before the players vanished altogether. Here seen are two rats planing a dash thru the Goblin defenses - two Trolls stand in their path. Hired gun Ripper closer to the ball and and another Troll in the background.



They used their cunning ways to slip past the big guys - Linerat (#10) had a Magic Item card of Beguiling Bracers found in treasure chest, waving these in front of the Ripper made him dazzled by their beauty (lost zones). Gutter Runner slipped thru and saved the day for the badly beaten team Skaven.

Post-match sequence gave a consolation prize for the Chaos Pact team: +1 AG for the Dark Elf - so that is going to be someone to watch for in the future games.

Dungeonbowl First Test

Dungeonbowl? What did you say?

"The key difference between Dungeonbowl and Blood Bowl as is rather obvious from the name, is that Dungeonbowl is played in a dungeon!"

So, giving this concept the first tryout we got some dungeon floor tiles from Fantasy Flight Games Descent and some treasure counters from the same game. Some tape and markers made fast teleport tiles numbered from 1 to 6. Game board after the first turn. Tried to keep the board layout simple and symmetrical. Human team started from red-white endzone on lower left, Dark Elfs opposite from them in Violet-white and Chaos Dwarfs from Blue-white. Six treasure chests were placed in the big central cave. Teleport locations highlighted - those quick-n-dirty tapes don't show too clear in the pictures. All teams grab the closest chest and suffer some turn overs because of the traps. In the picture human team Indian runner is standing over the chest that finally revealed the ball. Human team star player Mighty Zug is first with the ball - and his AG of 2 makes him the first to drop it too. Human screen is fortunately in place - big crowd gathers in the central chamber. Human thrower makes the pass - but lineman have no luck on the catch department. So, Dark Elf blitzer is the next one to try his luck with the pinky disco ball. Elfs throw the ball - but a small miracle happens - and Hobgoblin intercepts in mid flight! Bull centaurs guard the hobbos run. Dark Elf runner teleports in an attempt to prevent the goal, only to get blocked out of the way by Chaos Dwarf Blocker with claw mutation. On turn 8 the lucky greenskin scores a touchdown and thus ends the game.

First impression notes on Dungeonbowl

Game has clearly more randomness than the regular Blood Bowl - movement thru teleports is risky business and the starting location of the ball is rolled with dice. If more random equals more fun for gamers this is not a problem. Ending the game with first touchdown and fewer player figures on the team gives faster playtime, even with three coaches going at it. After the game it was agreed that more alternative routes to the endzones might give good variation to the tactics. We used our regular BB team rosters - not the college of magic lists given in basic Dungeonbowl rules. Inducements were taken with full team value, but only 9 players in game - six starting on endzones, three reserves.

Naga - Painting and Playing

Naga guarding the portal glyph in Descent dungeon setup. Behind the door can be seen unpainted Tahlia figure and on the far right Sir Valadir lurking behind the corner.

Some basic colors and inkwashes done.

Naga - Sculpt

Basic form draft from Milliput Terracotta.

Wire skeleton for the sculpt for the new head.

Naga - Start

Pinning the original head.

Had an idea for two headed Naga - attaching the regular head in the right loop of the main body and making new second head on the old stump.

Red master Naga from Descent board game. Neck broke and needed some fixin.