Rules of Play
Welcome to the Big Leagues! Welcome, sports fans, and all our loyal viewers on Cabalvision! This is Blood Bowl! The most popular sport in the Old World, isn’t that right, Bob? It sure is, Jim, and for one simple reason: it’s the most violent! Where else can you see a minotaur drop-kick a goblin? Where else can you watch an ogre flatten the entire opposing line? Isn’t there a ball in there somewhere, too, Bob? Who cares!? Well, the Athelorn Avengers might – they lead the league in passing yards last season a
Component List 168 Bridge-sized Cards, consisting of: Component Overview This section describes all of the various components in detail. 72 Starting Player Cards (12 per team) Player Cards 25 OWA Star Player Cards These players are the basic scrubs who make up each manager’s starting team. None too bright, these players need direct guidance and careful positioning from their manager in order to use their limited talents to their fullest.
Team Tokens These tokens identify Star Players who belong to a team not of their race. This helps avoid confusion during the game. Scoreboard Assembly Cheating Tokens Assemble the scoreboards as shown in the diagram. These tokens determine how cheating players are rewarded or punished for their shenanigans. Sometimes cheating can increase a player’s Star Power or even gain fans for the team.
Setup Diagram (4-manager game) Cheating Token Pool Gouged Eye’s Play Area Chaos All-Stars’ Play Area CWC Star Player Deck Staff Upgrade Deck Spike! Magazine Revealed Spike! Deck Magazine Card Highlight Deck The Highlight Reel Athelorn Avengers’ Play Area Reikland Reavers’ Play Area Team Tokens 5. Prepare the Staff Upgrade Deck: Shuffle all Staff Upgrade cards and place them facedown near the Highlight deck. 6. Prepare the Spike! Magazine Deck: Follow these four steps: a.
Card Anatomy 1 3 2 1 1 3 2 6 2 2 4 13 4 5 3 4 13 5 5 6 Starting Player Card Star Player Card 6 Neutral Star Player Card 2 2 2 10 9 8 Highlight Card 6 Staff Upgrade Card 2 7 8 4 4 11 4 6 12 Headline Card (Spike! Magazine Card) Tournament Card (Spike! Magazine Card) Team Upgrade Card 1. Standing Star Power 6. Team Logo 11. Runner-up Payout 2. Card Title 7. Announcer Commentary 12. Loser Payout 3. Skill Icons 8. Team Zone Payouts 13.
Team Management 101 Managers can develop their teams in a variety of different ways. Each time a team competes in one of the weekly matchups, the team manager collects payouts in the form of new fans, Star Players, team upgrades, and staff upgrades. Some matchups are more lucrative than others, and of course the winner of a matchup collects a bigger payout than the loser.
The Game Round He flips these cards faceup and places them in the play area one after another to form a line between the Highlight deck and the Spike! Magazine deck (see “Setup Diagram” on page 5). The cards should be placed in a successive line, with the first one closest to the Highlight deck and the last one closest to the revealed Spike! Magazine card. This line of Highlight cards is known as the Highlight Reel. Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game is played over five rounds.
If a manager does not wish to (or cannot) commit a Player card, he must pass. A manager who passes cannot commit any more players or resolve matchup actions for the remainder of the Matchup phase. He may also discard any Player cards that he does not wish to keep for next round. After all managers have passed, the Scoreboard phase begins. Scoreboard Phase During this phase, managers determine which team won each matchup by comparing each team’s total Star Power.
commit players to that highlight. If for some reason the last player is removed from a team zone, leaving it empty, it is possible for a different manager to then place a player in that team zone. Note: When a manager commits a Star Player card whose team logo does not match his team’s logo, he places one of his team tokens on the card to remind managers that the Star Player belongs to him.
Sprinting Sprinting is optional. For each sprinting icon, the player’s manager draws the top card of his Team deck, then chooses one card to discard from his hand (he may choose the card just drawn). Tackling Tackling is optional. For each tackling icon, the player may attempt one tackle against any opposing player at the same matchup.
Matchup Phase Example 1 5 2 6 3 > 4 1. The Athelorn Avengers manager commits “Wood Elf Catcher” to the “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” highlight. 2. The Catcher uses the passing skill, so he becomes the ball carrier; the manager places the ball token on the Catcher’s card. 3. 12 = 7 4. The Blitzer uses his tackling skill to attempt to tackle the Catcher. The Blitzer has a higher Star Power than the Catcher, so the Blitzer’s manager rolls two tackle dice. 5.
Scoreboard Phase in Detail Collect Payouts This section further explains certain steps of the Scoreboard phase, such as revealing cheating tokens, determining the winner, and collecting payouts. Highlight Payouts Reveal Cheating Tokens Each manager collects the payout for his team zone. The winner also collects the central payout. Managers gain fans immediately. Cards collected from the payouts are placed facedown in the manager’s improvement pile.
Resolving the Scoreboard Phase 2 1 + + 14 + = 4 = 6 + 5 3 1. The first manager flips each token, which reveals a Star Power “3” on the “Chaos Warrior” and one Fan Frenzy and one Ejection on the “Beastman”. 2. The first manager immediately ejects the “Beastman” from the matchup (and the Fan Frenzy is discarded without resolving its effect). 3. “Human Catcher” has a Scoreboard phase ability that reads “If this player is the ball carrier, gain .
Reveal Improvement Pile Each manager reveals his improvement pile, which contains all Star Players, team upgrades, and staff upgrades that he collected from payouts this round. In turn order, each manager reads each card’ text aloud so that all managers know what the card does and when it can be used. Reveal cards in the following order: 1. Staff Upgrades 2. Team Upgrades 3. Star Players with the Freebooter Ability 4.
Additional Rules This section explains some additional TMU guidelines. Player Card Abilities Player card abilities usually require that a condition be fulfilled before they take effect. Some abilities only occur once during a certain part of the round; other abilities can be fulfilled several times over the course of the round. Unless explicitly stated on the card, all abilities only interact with players at the same matchup.
Optional Rules List of Named Abilities This section explains a few optional TMU rules. This section lists and explains all named abilities in greater detail. Abbreviated Season Dauntless: When this player attempts to tackle an opposing player whose Star Power is higher than this player’s Star Power, roll only one dice and apply the result. The players are demanding more cash, and there are rumours of a lockout! Managers must do the best they can with an abbreviated season – four weeks, to be exact.
Index Credits Abilities Based On Winning or Losing........................................................16 Game Design: Jay Little with Corey Konieczka The Cheating Token Pool.............................................................................16 Producer: Steven Kimball Collect Payouts............................................................................................13 Additional Content: Brady Sadler, Lukas Litzsinger, and Dan Clark Committing Players to a Matchup...............
Quick Reference The Game Round Skills The Maintenance Phase 1. Refresh Cards 2. Replenish Hand 3. Restock the Cheating Token Pool 4. Reveal the Spike! Magazine Card 5. Roll the Highlights 6. Prepare for Kickoff The Matchup phase 1. Use Skills Passing (optional) If an opposing player is the ball carrier, move the ball to midfield. If the ball is at midfield, move it to the player using the passing skill.
