![Great NEW Commander For Warcrow? Hegemony Mounted Hetman Review | Corvus Belli [7 Days Early Access]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/12/unboxing-corvus-belli-warcrow-hegemony-mounted-hetman-coverimage-225-127.jpg)
Is Blood Bowl Coming Back To The Pitch This Year?
March 27, 2013 by brennon
The rumour mill is firing on all cylinders this week as a new selection of theories and teasing details about Blood Bowl by Games Workshop escaped onto the internet via a Warseer post by two of the most on-the-spot spies Harry and Hastings.
Most of you will remember the game above you, and for those of you who didn't get a hold of it you most likely played the game in a variety of other forms. It truly is one of the best products Games Workshop have put out there and still holds up strong thanks to the Living Rule Book.
Well, this year could be the year of a new Blood Bowl Box. Check out a list of ideas for what could be in it...
- Plastic/Cardboard Pitch.
- Four Teams (Humans, Orcs, Elves, Chaos). The first two would be a good bet if the game were to return.
- Rulebook containing ways to play a mini-league with the four teams in the box.
Now that does sounds pretty interesting. While this is still very pie in the sky thinking this year does see the anniversary of the game and Games Workshop undoubtedly know that this will most certainly sell well.
If you want to know more about the rumours check out the thread on Warseer. Just remember that big handful of salt.
Would you buy Blood Bowl?
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
![Warcradle Studios Reveal TINY New 10mm Festive Marker! [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/11/christmas-kyle-main-600-338.jpg)
Lets hope they don’t change it. The whole success of blood bowl is that it’s spot on. It’s jervis johnsons masterpiece. He says do himself.
Go the averland mooties, my halfling team. Three treemen and the rest halflings. Winners of several campaigns.
While undoubtedly there are many fans of this game, and quite rightly so – it was a classic of its day, I’m less than enamoured by the thought of it’s return. If they just “do a Space Hulk” and gloss up the previous version (version 6 or whatever the LRB is now?) then the game-play feels really old fashioned and clunky. Seriously, these days, who wants to play a game that takes all day?
Back in the day there wasn’t much alternative, and the whole concept of a whacky fantasy sports game was pretty much a novelty, but nowadays?
Sure a new box will no doubt have lovely shiny components along the lines of Space Hulk and Dreadfleet, but unless they radically overhaul the gameplay and drag it out of the ’90’s then its only ever going to appeal to a part of the nostalgia market – after all, its not like the old edition actually went out of print, unlike Space Hulk.
I can totally imagine GW doing this, and it may even make them a profit, but….., meh!
You must be playing the wrong game; considering there is a 4 min time limit for each turn, and that can be drastically reduced by a turn over, I’ve no idea how you come to the conclusion that BB takes all day to play.
Also, do you play minature games? Personally there a few things as entertaining as getting together with chums, playing with toy soldiers while having a few beers and eating snacks.
As to why this is being done; maybe GW have been encouraged by the success / popularity of the Bloodbowl computer game and the Team Manager card games? New players from those could be just as interested in getting their hands on the board game.
I don’t know what on earth you’re talking about it needing to be “dragged” out of the 90’s. The game system is pretty much perfect with the possible exception that the game was never designed to be played potentially as much as you can with the online version (which has led to too many Dwarf / Chaos teams really).
I don’t remember Bloodbowl taking all day to play – are my glasses rose tinted?
No they’re not. 4 minutes a turn maximum. 4 minutes to set up maximum. 2 hours 26 minutes maximum play time per game.
Tough call – while I love blood bowl, I already have the third edition (and the 1st as well!), so not sure what there is to be gained from an updated box set – especially since (a) it doesn’t quite suit the one box format as well as space hulk and dreadfleet, and (b) dreadball is now on the scene… Still think it might be on the cards… The other rumour is it being a new version of Warhammer Quest – that would work as a one box very well! 🙂
Would love the return of quest and it would tie in quite well with the app they’re making. You know gw love to make computer games then bring out a new rule set very soon after.
GW could support Quest easily and make it direct only if they wished – it would still sell. They have the capacity to produce single figure plastic sprues – so that’s all the heroes covered, they could do battle level bundles and…I’d go on but they’d be crazy not to revisit it at some point. Meanwhile people will continue to buy elsewhere for their dungeon crawling needs – again it’s an area of the market GW have ignored at a cost to themselves IMO…
I heard somewhere that all the files were lost for Warhammer Quest so they would have to start from scratch rule wise and floor tile wise. I don’t know why the couldn’t use a copy of the old rules and at the minimum have an intern re-type them, or something.
Yes they also say they don’t have a lot of oop moulds. Yet my dad has seen the store room they’re all in. GW understand supply and demand very well.
Well I can tell you that’s, for the most part, a fallacy. I have the original rules and the files – the bulk of which are easy to copy and reformat 😉
Quest is one of those games that doesn’t need a lot doing to it and is pretty easy to update all their new minis into. They don’t need new moulds as they have 80-90% of the monsters you’ll ever need. They just need new hero sculpts – what’s a dozen or so sculpts to GW? If that, even – they already have viable Elf, Wizard and Dwarf minis, as well as most of the other’s. They just choose not to do it and give us one off games like Dreadfleet instead…?
Actually, it’s not a fallacy – exactly the same happened with the BB rules, which is why they had to be completely rebuilt (by a non-GW staff member – Tom “Galak” Anders) for the release of LRB3.
Well if I have the 3 main books that can all be copied and pasted then I’d say at the very least the bulk of the game is available…they may have lost the files but they still exist in some form – unless I’m just imagining things…which is…possible I guess? 🙂
@osbad – I have to disagree a little there. Bloodbowl is as nigh on perfect a miniatures game as you’ll ever get. If anything needs updating its the models and pitch design. If GW had continued to stock their range of “specialist” games and updated them accordingly over the years – most would only require new sculpts and a small tweak of their rules – then I feel they’d be just as popular as they were back in the day. In fact I’d go so far to say a lot of these alternate companies producing skirmish games, naval or space combat games probably wouldn’t have come about or, at least, wouldn’t be so successful if GW didn’t neglect their respective formats and continued to promote them as games in their stores. GW’s LOTR gambit effectively killed the presence of these games off – yes they’re (mostly) still available but are pretty much phased out of GW’s spotlight, despite them being better games than any of their current ‘trinity’ of systems (except perhaps ironically LOTR).
Bloodbowl is still a great game, that has a small niche of the market devoted to it – keeping the game alive with new and alternate product where GW couldn’t be bothered. Just look at the variety of teams, pitches and extras available by the likes of Willy Miniatures and over at http://www.comixininos.com/
My only question is why wait until now? I know GW like their anniversaries and all but the fact is there is already some fantastic product out there that only exists due to their neglect of the product and its fans. Will this box set be value for money – I kinda doubt it? If not I’ll continue to use my original pitch from back in the early 90’s as there’s nothing wrong with it. I’d rather spend the equivalent on some new teams from comixininos or else spend an equivalent amount of money getting into Dreadball – and probably getting a lot more teams for the same price.
All this said I look forward to seeing it – no doubt the minis will be great and the set be of great quality – but I feel it might be a case of “too little, too late”…I’ll have to wait and see I guess?
I find BB to be a mind-numbingly turgid experience but that’s just personal preference.
Even at it’s peak of popularity, BB shifted minimal amounts of minis and made very little profit. It’s not a case of them not being bothered, it’s that no matter how much they tried it made no sense to keep it on the shelves or keep supporting it.
Really? I remember the GW in bolton having a blood bowl table permanently laid out for years. It was very popular. The reason i suspect it was dropped was that you only need a few models for a team.
Which is why even when it was very popular, GW made very little money out of it. It used up resources and shelf space that could be used on far more profitable games.
True but it’s also a leader game. It’s cheaper so you can start off with it, then move on to the other games.
Dark Vengeance does that job just as well and generates large amounts of on-going sales. BB generates virtually no on-ongoing. The disparity in revenue for the same amount of resources is huge.
Yes dark vengeance does generate interest. But that’s because it’s supported in stores. You’ve just made my point for me.
No, you’ve missed mine. It’s not that BB could sell as many boxed sets as DV if it was supported in-store to the same extent. Maybe it could, maybe it couldn’t. It’s that the customer who walks out of the store clutching DV will likely come back and spend lots more money on other 40K minis. The customer who walks out clutching BB will spend very little money on other BB minis.
You might argue that GW should just sell them both side-by-side and make a profit from both but leaving aside the fact that something more profitable would have to be removed from the shelves to create the space (shelf-space is a huge deal for GW stores), GW does not want their customers to be able to choose between a hugely profitable game and minimally profitable game. The customer who buys BB might come back and buy other games. The customer who buys DV is far more likely to continue buying 40K product.
GW are far more profitable company now than they were when they were selling BB in store. That is not a coincidence.
Well, I guess we’ll agree to disagree 🙂
At the end of the day it must have some popularity or GW wouldn’t consider revisiting it through a boxed set at all. I guess you could argue the same for Quest etc as well, however it’s hard to tell without looking at specific sales figures during the periods these games were active…either way there must be some profit in it or the various alternate producers wouldn’t be in business.
I refuse to agree to disagree, does that mean we agree? lol 😀
I suppose the point that I’m trying to get at, and something I was first on the wrong end of back when Empire in Flames was released and crapped all over The Enemy Within Campaign, is that there’s a difference between popular and capable turning of a profit, and popular and capable of turning a huge profit.
Taking Empire In Flames as it’s probably the best example. At the time (we’re talking c.86-90) GW were regularly releasing books for WFB, WFRP and 40K (or RT as it was). The amount of man hours and resources they put into the production of each book was about the same and each had similar sales and made similar profits. The difference was that in the case of the books for WFB and 40K they generated significant minis sales whilst the WFRP books did not. All three systems were popular and all sold well but only two of them generated significant income for the company. It was a no-brainer to pull the plug on one and divert those resources to the other two as it meant the overall profits of the company grew*.
The same principle did for BB (and Necromunda, Mordheim, Gorkamorka, etc.). They each might be profitable but as WFB and 40K were so much more profitable it made no sense to put resources into them that would generate more revenue if they were placed in the latter two. So BB was certainly popular, it was probably profitable, but it made no sense for a company the size of GW to keep supporting it with shelf space and new content.
As of now we don’t know what the new BB will be, if it even exists at all. Along with many of the other posters here I assume it’ll be one off release like SH 3rd ed and DreadFleet. It’ll be limited ed and available for only a short time and it’s most likely purpose is to give GW’s profile a temporary boost and generate some short-term goodwill. It’ll then disappear as quickly as it came because it’ll never be cost effective for the company.
*Before anyone says anything. I know GW didn’t immediately can WFRP but diverted it to Flame where the costs were lower.
No my point was that as BB is a stand alone game it’s a cheap starter into the hobby. 40k and warhammer are not. You really need at least a 1000p of stuff. That’s not cheap. BB you need a team and to know someone who owns a copy. Back then it was about £12 for a team. £25 for the game. People get into it and decide to try the other more expensive systems.
And DV is a standalone game which then brings people into 40K. The numbers don’t lie, the more GW have devoted resources and shelf space to full-scale wargames that generate large quantities of minis sales and the more they’ve removed the games that do not, the more their revenue has grown.
We can debate its merits as a game, its popularity, its ability to bring new customers to GW, even if its profitability. We can’t debate the bottom line. GW make more money focusing on 40K and WFB to the exclusion of BB and the like than they did when they were giving resources and shelf space over to these games. They’ve close to doubled their annual revenue since 1999 when they were still giving over a small amount of store space to less profitable games. There’s just no way that games like BB bring in the overall revenue that a focus purely on large-scale wargames does.
I am not disputing that WFB 40K are the cash cows. But how many of us got into the hobby because of smaller games such as heroquest, space crusade, battle masters or necromunda. They do get people into the hobby because they’re cheaper and stand alone. GW have forgotten this. That isn’t smart economics.
I must admit that I have only played it a couple of times. And hated it. Special rule on special rule – it felt like every potential twist of fate took about 17 die rolls to resolve. But I may have just had an unrepresentative experience. I appreciate a lot of people like it and it is probably the most popular of GW’s specialist games, but I can’t ever see it breaking out of that niche. If it had ever had the potential to break out of that niche and make serious profits, GW would have surely exploited it before now.
I can imagine them doing a Space Hulk – bringing out a complete game-in-a-box. But this ain’t gonna relight the fire for bringing it back into anything like the mainstream. Just a pretty toy for the existing fans of the game I think.
The main question I have is will this be limited edition like dreadfleet and spacehulk
Probably – Ltd. Edition adds value to it 😉
This and I can’t see them supporting it as a ‘main’ game system again, which it pretty much was/is (?) in most European countries where GW has any presence (like Spain and France I believe). Hell, even Space Hulk had loads of extra missions they could have printed as a supplement in WD or else kept the game in print and provide them separately. As it is copies of Space Hulk sell for £80-120+ on ebay – which is simply money GW isn’t making. Hell they could still sell the minis if they wanted to and still be making money off that release – that’s the problem with making anything “Ltd. Edition” though, I guess. For a company that cares so much about money to the point of implementing policies that try and take out any “high-street” competition in markets they wish to grow in; the amount of money they leave lying on the floor around themselves begs belief when you think about it…
I can’t see it making it as a “main” system again simply because the model count is too low to satisfy GW’s needs. Small companies could and can make a living, but GW needs much larger returns from “main” systems. It would need to sell in multiple 100,000’s of units to justify “main” status, rather than the 10,000’s of units it is likely to, which has always kept it as a specialist game, despite the fact that it has a relatively large player base. A simple matter of scale of the game and maths.
I think the main reason BB isn’t actually worth very much money to GW is that there’s little incentive for players to buy dozens, if not hundreds, of new minis every year. Even if they refresh the teams every “season”, the numbers still won’t add up to the sales they generate from a single new army codex. It’s really not that profitable (when compared to GW’s other products). They can take that effort and direct it toward more army updates for 40k or WFB. It might be worth their time and effort to release a special edition BB (which is likely what’s coming) because they can drive their margins on that product much higher than normal. But long term support is unlikely unless they drastically change the game such that they can convince players to buy a lot more minis than the old game required.
I agree with your point but I’d say if something is profitable then it’s worth maintaining in order to keep customer loyalty – after all there is still a community out there that spends money for BB that GW isn’t seeing much of, whereas if they supported it and other games like it a little more they’d see some more profit each year, which would add up. There’d be nothing to stop them from doing a Blood Bowl week across their stores to promote the product one summer or one half-term for example.
GW doesn’t have to give it the same attention as their “flagship” games but by neglecting it they’ve simply allowed others to step up and make profit – if anything (and I don’t mean this as an insult to the companies in any way) it is these smaller companies that are the “free-loaders” they’re obsessed with. Whether or not that profit is “worthy” of GW’s attention is a different matter of course 🙂
For me it’s down to principles – GW made a product that did make money, maybe not a lot, but it did. By not supporting it in some fashion they’ve perhaps alienated some fans of the game, whilst not getting as many new player’s. For me these specialist games are small niches off of Fantasy and 40k which I still got into as a kid, alongside buying 40k and Fantasy stuff, so I don’t see why the same wouldn’t hold true today.
I don’t think it’s a case of the game not selling as many miniatures as fantasy/40k. I think most people who play BB would do so as a supplement to Warhammer, or even if someone might not play fantasy (and instead play 40k) they might play BB, which might get them into fantasy. I think there’s a reciprocal nature between such games, perhaps not in every case but I still think it’s there. For example Gorkamorka, while not the best game, may have pushed someone into collecting an Ork army for 40k etc. It’s the compatability of the background/lore between systems that can generate more sales, I don’t think the systems are divorced from each other – far from it.
I’ll stick by my view that most of the competing games systems out there are in areas that GW have neglected. They used to be a company that could release a wide range of models for multiple gaming systems every month, with a lot less resources and lesser technology than they have now. Hell they had the time to devote to Dreadfleet which is a product no one really wanted, so why not new sculpts or new rulebooks for games they know still have at least some interest?
If they were that concerned by not making money on a system they ought to try a kickstarter for any one of them and see how popular they are or not, once and for all, they’d have nothing to lose but perhaps a lot to gain from doing so…but we all know GW won’t because they likely think “we’re too good for that” or that kickstarter and letting people know what they’re planning on doing is somehow beneath them…so…I don’t know if that makes any sense?
For a creative company GW shows a distinct lack of creative thinking when it comes to their beloved IP and how much they can get out of it, is all I’m really saying. It’s a shame in many ways but I’m also glad for it in other ways 🙂
Principles is something GW can’t afford anymore. They’re a publicly traded corporation and they answer to their shareholders. Shareholders want one and only one thing: growth. BB is probably sustainably profitable, but it doesn’t have a great deal of year after year growth potential. Shareholders don’t like that so GW makes a special edition instead and they get a single-quarter spike in revenue. Shareholders like that.
You make good points, but in the end it’s the economics. A company that isn’t publicly traded has a lot more leeway in this circumstances. As long as they can pay their bills and make some profit they can release whatever games they want, whatever they have fun playing and supporting. GW can’t do that. GW is legally obligated by the terms of their corporate charter to maximize shareholder value.
You’ll notice that most of the “old guard” of GW don’t work there anymore.
I agree with you completely – all I’m really saying is that the corporate mindset may (and I’d wager is) doing the opposite effect of what made GW into a big enough company that they could gain initial interest on the stock market.
The corporate mindset is a detriment to the kind of business that GW ought to be — it may work for other’s but I feel not in this case. They are their own worst enemy. I know they have a legal obligation to their shareholders, however I believe they are making moves that only generate less money for them – simply because they no longer seem to understand (possibly care) what GW hobbyists (at least some) want – they’ve taken the mindset of “we know what’s best for you and you will pay for it” – well they don’t and not all of us will.
It can be said that they’re catering to teens, which is okay, but ultimately you want someone to be in the hobby for as long as possible, you want people with disposable income spending money on new armies (young professionals say), you want father’s who are into the hobby getting their kids into it and so on, which we’re seeing the first generations of. They say they want to be around forever, well if they continue to lose the custom of “veteran” gamers such as myself they won’t be.
In this economy most parents can only afford so much. GW seem hell bent on being a “premier” toy/games company that they are in danger of pricing their products to only cater to upper middle-class or upper class families. The “true” middle-class (of which I’d wager has been GW’s primary customer through the years – I may be wrong) is getting continually squeezed. In short they are only making themselves less appealing in the face of better and improving competition so that people take their money elsewhere.
They still have a relative monopoly on the industry – so they should be looking at it like this: every dollar spent on an alternate company is a dollar we won’t be making. Then they should be asking themselves – why?
As you said a lot of the “old guard” have left and you don’t leave something you love unless there’s something very wrong with it.
I’m not a business major or anything, I’m not aware of what goes on behind closed doors but I feel GW are slipping on their own banana peels – which is only making me want to spend money elsewhere and I can only assume it’s the same for many other’s – which only makes certain decisions of their’s the more frustrating.
In a major way I’m grateful as the industry is the better for it (I believe). In another way it’s frustrating to watch GW slowly decline into the realm of madness – like watching an old friend batter their brains against a wall when the medicine to make them better is an arms reach away.
Buy, hey-ho, things move on – I just hope GW, at the very least, realise that many of the things they continually legislate against only exist due to their own ineptitude 🙂
I believe a certain-kind of business (though not all) can still have principles and make as much money, if not more, from doing so. I know this comes across as a naive statement in the world of slave labour, but in GW’s case I feel they’ve done things to save money and increase their margins, only to lose a lot in return.
Even though i loved playing Bloodbowl, and indeed the average game didn’t last over 2,5 hours. I am wondering at the price they wil charge for it. If it in the range of dreadfleet and spacehulk, i’ll pass, for that kind of money dreadball is way cheaper and I would rather support them……..
Sorry GW, we the people now own Blood Bowl. It’s advanced without your help. New models are made by others and new team rules as well (official or not). As much as I would like to see a new version of BB, I feel like many others have contributed far more now than GW has as of late. It’s like they know they have the right to the game but really don’t give a damn about it until its time to tug at the cash cow strings.
Surely one exception,,, an unlikely one
If GW sat Jervis Johnson down and said “we’ll let you do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. Everything you’ve never got to do, all that stuff in your notebook, we’ll let you do it for Blood Bowl, nothing is off the table, we trust you, you’ll direct the design team as well, the miniatures will be entirely under your control as well”
Then you have a different ball game.
I think they are trying to plug this as a lot of Kick Starters are doing so well. Personally, I think KS are doing so well as people are fed up with the GW side of things and a lot of people wanting to jump ship. As you correctly identify Manpug, GW own the name but the game belongs to the gamers, plus there is Dreadball which is a good favourite of the masses.
GW feel they are missing out, I am guessing. I would say yes they are. 🙂
I agree with manpug, but I have to say. My 3 fav games of all time were.
1. WH Quest
2. Necromunda
3. Bloodbowl,
But there are other companys making new team and pretty nice looking to. Can’t see how they could improve the game, I mean why fix something that ain’t broke. But still, will have to wait and see.
Necromunda is my fav game,i’ve got origanal models and also some of my gangs are made up of models from games like infinity.I’ve been playing games workshop games for about 20yrs but got very peeved with the way they bring out new games e.g. Inquisitor which i put alot of time and money into and then they just drop them after a year or so.
Damn, I’ve been saving to buy Blood Bowl so that I can start a league with my friends! :S Maybe I should just purchase the existing version – the new one will probably cost more than my car anyway…
Idea of Blood Bowl coming back is interesting idea and even with models and rules from other companies I wonder is there could be demand to this. Some people might want new BB from GW from one reason or other like having played classic BB before but not having owned it themselves back in day so maybe some people might buy it. Then again not everyone have even played BB but might be interested from it.
Personally I’d prefer a re-done Adeptus Titanicus. Give us titans, gargants and what not.
Six or seven per side, none of this infantry nonsense, just giant machines smashing one another up. Re-do the stat lines so damage is all built into the weapon profile and cut down the number of dice rolls for a truly tactical game based on movement, crossfires, void shields (sacrifice moving for shields), go Ork, Eldar and Imperial. Three distinct models, put 5 models in the box and sell the titans separately for upgrades.
I can’t be the only one wanting to field 15 titan armies with four Imperators, can I?
This would be my number one choice for the next relauched game. i still have 12 of the original bettle back titans and once in a while get them out to slug it out with a bunch of mega gargants.
I think warhammer quest is better suited to the Limited Edition treatment that space hulk got, as everything you will ever need could go in the box. The problem with blood bowl would be people who don’t play the four teams that come in the box would feel left out, and there’d be no point in releasing other teams later if the boxed game was unavailable. Of course they could do it as a limted run anniversay version and keep the current version in print.
I know i’d pick up a copy of blood bowl if the models / cardstock was of the quality we saw in space hulk. Skirmish level games are going down well at the moment as they are much easier to pick up and play, and are great for introducing new people into the hobby. Space hulk was the first game i ever played back as a child, and the new version got my girlfreind into wargaming.
This is the sort of thing GW need if they want to attract new people into the hobby.
“Gondor has no King. Gondor needs no King.”
To explain my Boromir quote further, Blood Bowl has got along just fine thank you very much with little or no love from Games Workshop. I would prefer they left it that way. Sure – a new box with new board/toys would be nice but the big fear is that GW will change the current rules to suit some marketing ploy. The Khornate Daemon team in the Cyanide game is such an example.
The reason that Blood Bowl is still popular now has nothing to do with GW – in fact, I suspect it’s to do with being in spite of them.
Why does anyone care about any potential rule tweeks? You could just buy the set for the board / dice / models / rulers whatever and then just download the 5th or 6th edition rules for free and use them if any new changes are silly.
Your aren’t going to find your door knocked down if you don’t play with the new rules.
Who is to say that GW hasn’t taken some feedback with regards to how the game is played online (i.e. look at the reasons why there are so many dwarf / chaos teams)?
Also, people are wrong when they say GW have had nothing to do with the popularity of BB. You can argue that GW should do more than have the game / its teams / rules / articles available to purchase / download from their main website, in addition to licensing it out for people to make the computer card game, but to say they have nothing to do with it? Sorry to break it to some people, but you’re wrong.
Unless the new sculpts are amazing, I suspect it just won’t be worth buying just for the minis. Especially since all the best looking BB miniatures on the market right now are not made by GW.
I have no experience with BB so I have no idea if it’s a good game or not. But it’s pretty clear that GW thought it unprofitable enough to stop supporting it once. I can’t imagine what recent events might have changed their mind about that… oh yeah, Dreadball’s very successful kickstarter campaign and all the hype that Mantic has been receiving surrounding the game might have something to do with it. GW has come to believe (possibly rightly so) that there is a larger audience for this than they previously thought.
Seems like so many other recent GW decisions. Let an independent do the groundwork of creating a market for you (or in this case, recreating a market that you previously abandoned), and then swoop in and try to take that market for yourself. Part of me hopes that a rereleased version of the game is good because… more good games! Another part of me kind of hopes this turns out to be another Dreadfleet. After all, the hobbyists have kept BB going for years without GW’s help. Why should they care about GW’s new BB now? It seems more and more like what’s good for GW is bad for the rest of the hobby as a whole, or at least GW seems to want it that way.
Have you ever considered that it might be the other way round and that Mantic pre-empted a BB re-release with DB?
Seeing how closely GW plays their cards to their chest it seems rather unlikely that DB knew about this beforehand, especially when you consider that the DB kickstarter started almost a year ago now and they already had most of the game designed before launching that kickstarter (which implies they started work on the game probably almost a year before that). I find it highly unlikely that GW planned the BB release almost two years ago, it was leaked to Mantic (and nobody else apparently) and then Mantic quickly threw together a well-designed and stylistically interesting product in less time than it took GW to get their relaunch of an existing property to press. I find that especially unlikely considering that GW has significantly more resources at their disposal than Mantic does.
And again, GW’s behavior in recent years demonstrates a pattern of opportunistic (and sometimes predatory) business practices.
I got my dates a little wrong (comes with age). The DB kickstarter was a little over half a year ago. Still, I don’t see how Mantic could have heard about a potential BB refresh without anyone else knowing, and they still got a new game and a bunch of minis to market with a relatively limited set of resources compared to GW. Seems very unlikely.
GW plan a new army book/codex as much as five years before it gets released.
As to how Mantic might know what’s going in GW towers. That doesn’t seem to stretch the imagination too far.
@redben; allow me to reiterate what I believe you’re hinting at – Mantic learns of GW’s plans to put out a Bloodbowl reprint, decides that GW’s marketing research on one-box games is sound (as proven by the success of SpaceHulk and Dreadfleet) and quickly gets out a sci-fi themed game of their own, with miniatures completely incompatible with BB. All that cunning and they don’t make the minis derivative of BB, which could have, at worst, net profits from players of older editions and, at best, sell more stuff as the new edition of BB would have come out.
Occam’s razor dictates Mantic simply decided to cater to the unsupported fantasy-sport audience. And further, that GW decided to profit from the pedigree of BB.
I’ll leave at saying that I don’t think DB’s release has anything to do with BB’s potential re-release and that the latter likely pe-dates the former.
I may be overly pessimist, but that’s how I see it going down;
They’ve seen the potential with the success of the PC version and Dreadball, they want to tap into that.
They’ll make it limited release, to profit from the hysteria by people thinking “I’m not missing this for the next 25 years again”.
It will be a game-in-a-box format, since they don’t plan to support it beyond the initial release. My arguments are that there are four teams in the box and rules for a “mini campaign”. They could have given just two teams (making the price more accessible) and further on with new waves, but instead they’ll give us four, saying “it has enormous replay value, it’s all you’ll ever need” (like they did with Dreadful Fleet).
In order for it to work (and sell) like a game-in-a-box format, the rules will have to be different enough, so that people won’t just go “oh, cool, but I can’t afford it, so I’ll continue playing with my old team and if someone at the club brings the new edition, we can still play a game we both know.”
I hope I’m wrong and it will not be a limited release. I hope four teams are in in order to compete with Dreadball (which comes with two) at a similar price point. I hope the rules will be just a re-write, because GW wants as many people as possible in on the game and having fun with it, even if they buy teams from someone else or already have them. And it would have been just grand, if GW’d plan to support the game with annual releases, new material, special rules and league support.
Somehow, I don’t see much of that happening.
And with that, Dreadball looks more and more appealing.
I think you’re right to say that this would be a one-shot release with no future support. On the other hand there is an existing range of BB teams you can buy from the GW website so it’d be a simple thing to port them into the new BB.
Depending on how drastic a potential rules change would be and if GW would provide official updates to the statlines for those.
They might actually release updated stats in a direct-only overpriced booklet. :D:D:D
I really don’t care much because i’m already playing Dreadball ( two teams from the starter + the ladies team and maybe the Veer’myn in a near future ). I know Blood Bowl is a classic and surely it will be massively welcome by many but i’m also sure that GW won’t invest a lot of resources in it ( new teams, remake of all the old ones , seasons?!?! ) It will just re-release what it was with a better quality and better package, that’s why i prefer to put my money on Dreadball.
If its ture I will dance a Happy Little Dance as more people start playing giving me an excuess to pull out my teams and playing a game or to (or heaven forbid start a league).
I’ve been running a league at the Chelmsford Bunker since 2006 Swampy – you’ve missed three Bunker Bowl NAF registered tournaments too 🙂
I played in a league for a couple of years and loved it. I’m just starting a new one with some friends… Anyone has a release date!?
I cannot see it working honestly, Spacehulk, self contained, Dreadfleet (I think), self contained, Bloodbowl, you cannot make it self contained its the nature of the beast and what people will expect, I will be really disappointed if they attempt to cash on nostalgia by releasing a cut down version of a really classic game.
Call me cynical, but that’s exactly what I have no trouble imagining; heat up the hype with the anniversary, net a quick profit, add it to the overall half-year (third quarter, whatever) numbers and serve to the shareholders.
I’ll cut myself short, as we have no proof BB is even coming out, much less in what format. But based on (limited) observations of the GW’s recent practices, that’s where I see the trend going.
Bah thats the 3th time around that GW is bringing out old stuff. just like epic and space hulk.
whats next? gorka morca or necromunda?
I’ve tried to write a cogent, coherent and well argued response to this thread half a dozen times but what it comes down to is this – I own all the GW games I enjoyed playing (Quest, Necromunda, Mordheim, Bloodbowl, Battlefleet Gothic and 40k 2nd Ed.) and if I had the £75+ they’d probably charge for whatever they do release I find I’d rather spend it on one of the many new games that have come out lately – Infinity, Mercs, Carnevale, Malifaux and the Dystopian ranges to name but a few – I’ve even stopped going into the local GW after the unremitting aggressive selling attempts consistently interupted my attempts to actually shop in the damn place …
How true. The what are you here to buy? Really pisses me off. Am i not allowed to browse? Do i have to buy something? Could you not just have a hello, if you need any help we’re over here.
And the hello, if you need any thing just ask was not random but something we were trained to do as staff, back when I worked for them. As well as building a rapport, listening to customer needs and offering advice.
As for Bloodbowl, great – as long as it is back to pure third rules – I personally don’t like the latest incarnation – lacks the fun of the original. It is still however a great game. Oddly I heard that Bloodbowl got pulled from release last year due to Dreadball – I personally don’t believe it as I think end of last year was too busy with game releases.
Maybe intersted but contents and price point will decide that – would of been an auto buy but currently I believe they are incapable of delivering a justifiably priced product – let alone a reasonablly priced one.
@redben, sorry but DV is not a self contained game – its a starter set, it is an important distinction, but DV in itself is too limited to be a self contained game – and rightly so its a gateway product to draw people in. IF it worked as a self contained game you wouldn’t see people expand so readily, which would be counter to GWs intention, it is designed to give a taste but leave you craving more.
I think the big thing GW misses about the importance of the specialist games is how they supported the core systems. I say this as they offered alternative playstyles and experience while maintaining the immersion in the worlds – they drove new projects for the main games and kept the variety which meant you had less opportunity for competitors to have huge market gaps to fill. Now its varient of 3 games or nothing – leaving whole sectors unchallenged – Not actually a negative for us gamers.
It’s certainly not a negative given the way those gaps are being filled now – there are some great systems coming out these days, some with similar settings to the GW universe and some that are very different … good days indeed.
Would love to see the return of BB – got the original at home in the attic, may have to dust it off…
I for one was a big fan of the GW Specialist Games range – especially Mordheim and Necromunda – shame they’ve essentially ditched them…
This is the 3rd or 4th year these same “rumours” have started to circulate, and there’s been nothing yet.
And why would you do a 25th anniversary of 2nd edition? Why not 1st (whoops, missed that one) or 3rd (which would at least have some relevence)? Sounds like someone pulling figures out of their butt if you ask me.
That said, I could see GW doing a “stand-alone” version of BB, but whether it would get brought (for me) would be on what the pitch and figures are like. I’ll ignore any GW-only rules, because when it comes to BB, they haven’t a clue, and nor has Jervis anymore (based on the last version he did, 4th Edition in the BB mag). The BB rules have improved immeasurably over the last 10 years because of the fan participation – indeed, Jervis had very little to do with the latest version, other than a veto of a perfectly good rule (the Bank) for his own useless one (Petty Cash).
Even as a huge BB fan (it is my #1 game) I’d rather they did a new version of Quest, and left BB exactly where it is now.
With a dozen manufacturers making better mini football team minis than GW ever did, Dreadball rocking, Tutatis small scale fun, and even Elfball a nice option, why do we care if they relaunch a rehash.
Is it fair to compare teams that have recently been sculpted, to those GW did some 15+ years ago?
I’d also debate that the vast majority of Elf football teams that are out there, are actually worse then the old GW versions, if only for the fact that the majority of Elf teams tend to be females wearing very little clothing.
Personally, I couldn’t find “ratmen” teams I liked the look of, but that didn’t matter because I managed to make my own pretty easily using mostly just the Stormvermin box.
It’s not like you have spend much imagination with regards to which GW kits would be suitable for which team (eg: Wych kit for the elf teams).
If you’re not a fan of bare skin then don’t paint it like bare skin, I agree it wouldn’t help with all minis out there …. what you say about using alternative minis with a bit of conversion is true and even more effective when you start to use minis from any range – for skirmish games I’m a huge fan of Kev White’s range over at Hasslefree, minis for all needs and situations 🙂
Wasn’t part of BB’s profitability lost in to the other big two at the time due to many of us grabbing plastic box sets and converting our teams. I have used plastic skaven, 40k orks mordheim amazons, Khemri undead to name a few. All of which are recorded on other profit sheets.
@moodygit.
I believe lots of 40k/WHFB minis were used in the specialist games , as alternatives -proxies.
(Plastic minis being a fair bit cheaper than the ‘proper’ white metal ones.)
But this and the ‘easy introduction to GW games’ the SGs provided, were not really considered by GW corperate managment when reviewing product sales….
BB is currently the best game GW plc released, and let the fans develop, and third parties support indirectly.(IMO.)
Totally agree, we used to rotate the speciaist games with the big 2, now we just rotate the specialist with warmahordes/x-wing thrown in.
This year plan is for at least 5 BB tourneys, two already done. We are blessed in the South of England for the coverage of this game.
If you thought the game was long winded and took ages try speedbowl. 10 games in 1 weekend!
My FLGS has a regular, weekly Blood Bowl league… I’m sure they’ll buy into it (in fact, it appears that and 40k is all they have posted for play on their boards. I’ve seen some other stuff, but nothing seems scheduled).
If you’re a fan of a long time unsupported game, you probably buy actual, new, official stuff when it comes out and maintain a wide, happy smile. It also gives the younger brothers, new people, etc, a chance to buy in and not feel like they are scrapyarding it.
I much, much prefer Dreadball, though, and I have no personal doubts that its success has GW thinking “if they did that well, think what WE can do.” I *do* hope BB gets a new release, even though I have no intention of picking it up. More happy gamers is good for everyone.
It’d be great to see it redone. Flashy new models are always fun.
The problem they’ll run into is the price. If Space Hulk and Dreadfleet are anything to go by it’ll be a high price board game. Very well done but up there. That price will be held in comparison to the Blood Bowl PC game. Which is 30 bucks on Steam with every army and a large player base set to go.
Sweet, a new edition of Bloodbowl, I would buy
*If* it is indeed Blood Bowl next, you will be looking at a limited edition £75+ boxed game this Sept with the best plastic miniatures sculpting technology available. It will doubtless be a thing of beauty, heralded as the best looking product to date from GW and will sell like hotcakes. Team wise it might be the classic Orcs vs Humans or it might be Alliance of Light vs Forces of Destruction (a la Dreadfleet). The 4 teams in a box (about 50 minis) isn’t beyond possibility but I think a greatest hits is more likely.
Then in November GW will continue to trade and promote their existing core ranges as though it had never come out (other than the very healthy sales boost for the quarter profits).
I myself was hoping for Warhammer Quest!
I’d love to see a re release of Blood Bowl. GW’s original boxed games like this and Space Hulk and the like could be played in your lunch brake and certainly didn’t have to take all day either. It’s also true that it’s a game that didn’t need a lot of tweaking too. I think they could re release it without touching it actually. The good thing with GW boxed board games like that was you didn’t have to spend huge amounts of cash on building up your minis collection if you didn’t want to to have a decent game, unlike with Warhammer or 40k.
NECRO!!!
This old game needs to be bought back, and bring it back with some new minis too.