Blood Bowl Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Sequence of Play
• Create Teams
  • Player Characteristics
  • Star Players
  • Defensive Players
  • Kicking Players
• Starting the Game
• Movement
  • Death Zones
  • Movement Phase
  • Substitution
• Throwing & Kicking Phase
  • Throwing the Football
  • Scatter Table
  • Catching The Football
  • Kicking The Football
  • Out Of Bounds
• Tackle Phase
• Attacks
  • The Attack Procedure
  • Throw To Hit
  • Throw To Wound
  • Armour Saving Throws
  • Effects of Wounds
• Tackles
  • Dodging
• Reserve Movement Phases
• Scoring A Touchdown
• Dropping The Football
• Picking Up The Football
• The Teams
  • Human
  • Dwarf
  • Elves
  • Halflings
  • Dark Elves
  • Half-Orcs
  • Hobgoblins
  • Orcs
• Special Teams
  • The Chaos All-Stars
  • The Chaos All-Stars Second Team
  • Ogres
  • Lesser Goblins
  • Troglodytes
  • Trolls
  • The Champions of Death
  • The Champions of Death Second Team
  • Skeletons
  • Zombies
  • Mummies
  • Ghouls
  • The Heroes of Law
  • The Evil Gits
• Blood Bowl Campaigns
  • Experience Points
  • Experience Exceptions
  • Long-term Injuries
  • Injury Exceptions
  • Replacement Players
• Designers Notes

Game Components

This is what should have been in the box with these rules, and what you are going to use to play this thrilling game.

• Large 6-piece mapboard, assembled like a jigsaw
• 119 card playing pieces
• 30 plastic bases to hold the players
• Pad of Team Rosters for recording team details
• 2 six-sided dice
• Rulebook
• Game box

Mapboard: This represents the playing pitch on which a game of Blood Bowl takes place. It's currently big and green but don't worry about that - it'll soon be flowing red! It is divided into squares to regulate movement, combat & throwing; each square can hold one team member at any one time. At each end of the field is the End Zone, which is where everyone is trying to head. If a team gets the ball into their opponent's End Zone they score a Touchdown. If they score three they're the winners, and can then dance around a lot!

The first row of squares either side of the End Zone line at either end is the Starting Zone, where players start the game at the beginning of the match and after every Touchdown. The centre spot is called the Football Start Spot, and yes, it's where the football is placed when the game starts. Just off the playing area are score tracks, where you can keep track of the score using the little counters included with the game.

The mapboard is labelled as follows: Substitute Entry Zone for Team A (Red Area) and Substitute Entry Zone for Team B (Red Area) along both sidelines, Start Zone for Team A (Yellow Area) and Start Zone for Team B (Yellow Area) at either end, End Zone beyond each Start Zone, and the Football Start Spot at the centre of the pitch.

Counters: The counters provided with Blood Bowl represent the teams, the referee, and the football. There are also two markers for recording the score on the tracks at either end of the board. The football has two sides to it - one with the ball sat on grass, the other with the ball in the air. When the ball is lying free use the grass side; when a player is carrying it use the other. Each player has a number to allow you to identify him on the Team Roster; you'll also find that each team is colour-coded.

There are no counters for Elves, Hobgoblins or Half-Orcs even though they are covered in the Team section of the rules. Use the Orc counters to present Half-Orc or Hobgoblin teams, and the Dark Elf counters to represent an Elf team. If you want to play teams of the same race against each other (Human vs Human for example) you'll have to use the counters for one of the other races to represent one of the teams.

The thirty players involved in a game should be stood upright in the plastic bases provided. Whenever we refer to a 'prone' player, we are talking about a player who has been knocked to the ground. To represent this, place the playing piece on its side and re-attach it to its base.

Team Roster: The pad of Team Rosters is used to record the playing characteristics of the team, as well as the score, details of the game and notes. Once you've played a few games of Blood Bowl you may want to start your own league; you can then keep track of players' Experience Points and the like on the Team Roster too.

The sheet heads each row with NO. and gives the columns DEF, KICK, MA, CS, TS, ST, TH, WD, AT, CL, EXP, INJURIES and NOTES, in 16 rows, with blanks at the top for TEAM, COACH and FINAL SCORE: HOME / AWAY. The column abbreviations expand to: DEF - Defensive Player; KICK - Kicking Player; MA - Movement Allowance; CS - Combat Skill; TS - Throwing Skill; ST - Strength; TH - Toughness; WD - Wounds; AT - Attacks; CL - Cool; EXP - Experience Points.

Dice: Two six-sided dice are included with the game. They are used for generating players and determining the outcome of tackles, attacks and other random events.

Rules: That's what you're reading now! As you read this rulebook you will find out everything you need to know about how to play the exciting and deadly game of Blood Bowl!

Sequence of Play

Whenever a game of Blood Bowl is played, the following is the sequence to follow. After this summary the main body of the rules will go through each section in order, detailing everything that can or must be done in that turn.

• CREATE TEAMS - Each player (or coach, as we shall call them to avoid confusion with the team's players) creates his or her Blood Bowl team and records the information on a Team Roster sheet.

• CHOOSE FIRST PLAYER - The coaches flip the referee to decide who will be the first team, and who will be the second.

• FIRST TEAM TURN - The first team becomes the 'phasing team', and carry out their moves for the turn.

• SECOND TEAM TURN - The second team becomes the phasing team, and does the same.

• Repeat 3 & 4 until one side has scored 3 Touchdowns. The first team to score 3 Touchdowns are the winners.

Each Team Turn is divided into 5 Phases:

• MOVEMENT - The phasing team's coach may move any or all of the upright players he has on the mapboard. Any substitutions take place now.

• THROWING & KICKING - If a member of the phasing team has the ball he may hand-off to another player. The player with the ball may attempt to throw or kick the football to another player. Only one pass or kick may be made per turn.

• TACKLING - Either team may attempt to attack or tackle with any players that are eligible to do so.

• RESERVES - The phasing team may move any of its players, providing they are upright and not adjacent to opposing players. After all reserve moves have been completed, any prone playing pieces from the phasing team are turned upright again.

Note: At the end of any of these phases, if the ball is lying free in a player's square he may pick it up.

Create Teams

First of all, both coaches should choose their team type (human, dwarf, orc, or whatever) using the section on Blood Bowl Teams later. It is strongly suggested that for the first few games coaches stick to simple teams while they get used to the rules. Once they've played a few games they can move up to the Chaos All-Stars or the Champions of Death - maybe even create their own team!

Each standard Blood Bowl team is comprised of 15 players, from which a coach chooses 11 to be on the field at any one time, swapping them for substitutes as the game progresses. Every player is represented by a number of Player Characteristics, which cover how strong, fit, fast, and calm the player is:

Player Characteristics

Movement Allowance (MA): This shows the maximum number of squares the player can move in a Movement or Reserves Phase.

Combat Skill (CS): Combat Skill represents the ability of the player at attacking or dodging opposing players (or the lack of it!).

Throwing Skill (TS): This dictates the player's ability to throw the football across the field, and his chance of reaching the arms of the person waiting to catch it.

Strength (ST): A player's Strength represents how physically powerful he is, and is used to tackle or wound opponents who have been hit by attacks.

Toughness (TH): Players with high Toughness are more resistant to damage and more likely to return to play after being knocked out (KO'd).

Wounds (WD): Most players only have a rating of 1 for wounds; however, some really hard players will have higher scores due to incredible stamina or resistance to pain (or such sheer stupidity that they don't know they've been hurt!).

Attacks (AT): Some Blood Bowl players are able to attack more than once in the Tackle Phase. However, no player may block or tackle more than once per Tackle Phase, no matter how many attacks they may make.

Cool (CL): Cool reflects a player's ability to remain calm and concentrate under pressure, and is used when players attempt to catch thrown or dropped footballs.

All characteristics are rated as a number from 1 to 10, the higher the score the better. Usually all the players in a team will be of the same race, but there are exceptions (such as the Chaos Allstars and the Champions of Law teams). However, these characteristic scores will be modified for Star Players.

Star Players

Each team may have one or more Star Players - players with exceptional abilities. These are chosen by spending Star Player Points (SPPs) in the Team Creation Phase.

All teams have at least 4 SPPs, and some exceptional teams may have more (again, see the Teams section at the end for more details). We recommend that coaches stick with 4 SPP teams for their first few games, and then try the more exceptional teams later on. SPPs provide an easy way for coaches to balance games between experienced and inexperienced players (for example, an experienced coach should take a team with only 2 SPPs, while his opponent can have the usual 4 SPPs).

Each SPP allows a coach one roll on the Star Player Chart. He can roll for each point before he assigns any of them, and it's up to him how he allocates the points to his team. They can all be allocated to one player or divided up between them in any way he wishes.

Star Player Chart: Roll 2 dice and look up the result. If the same is rolled twice for the same player, the second roll should be retaken. Players cannot receive a bonus to the same characteristic more than once.

Score	Ability
2	Roll twice (ignoring rolls of 2) or choose any ability except Magic.
3	Very skilful in battle, +2 to Combat Skill.
4	Very cool, +2 to Cool.
5	Skilful, +1 to Combat Skill.
6	Strong, +1 to Strength.
7	Fast, +1 to Movement.
8	Cool, +1 to Cool.
9	Accurate, +1 to Throwing Skill.
10	Very strong, +2 to Strength.
11	Very accurate, +2 to Throwing Skill.
12	Magic - roll one die on the Magic Table instead.

Magic Table:

Score	Magic Item
1	Boots of Speed, double a player's Movement Allowance.
2	Boots of Leaping * - see note below.
3	Gauntlets of Holding, player never misses a tackle.
4	Gauntlets of Catching, player never misses a Catch.
5	Helmet of Accuracy, player never misses a Throw.
6	Magic Armour, player has a Saving Throw of 2-6.

* In the Movement or Reserve Movement Phase a player with Boots of Leaping may be placed in any square up to 5 squares away from his starting location as long as he does not start or finish in an opponent's Death Zone (DZs are explained in the Movement rules later). The player's leap is the only form of movement he may make; he may not make a normal move as well.

Defensive Players

After the coach has spent all his SPPs he may choose any number of his team to be 'Defensive' players. Defensive players wear extra padding and armour, slowing them down but making them more effective at tackling. A Defensive player has -1 subtracted from its Movement Allowance, but receives a +1 bonus on its Saving Throw when attacked and a +1 bonus on any tackle die rolls.

After a coach has decided which of his players will be Defensive players he may not change his mind during play and turn a Defensive player back into a normal player.

Kicking Players

After the coach has spent all his SPPs and decided on Defensive players, he may also nominate Kicking Players. A player must have a Strength of 3 or more and a Cool of 7 or more to be able to kick the football. Any player with these scores may be chosen as a Kicking player, for which privilege they must reduce their Toughness by 1 point.

Starting the Game

Each coach selects 11 players and places them in the Starting Zone or behind the Touchdown line at their end of the field, in any manner he wishes as long as there is no more than 1 player per square. The four players not placed on the field become the coach's reserves, and may be used to substitute for players that leave the field or are injured.

Note: There may never be more than 11 players from one team on the field at the same time.

The football counter is placed on the Football Start Spot in the centre of the pitch, grass-side up. After the football has been picked up by a player it will always remain within a square; however, for the start of the game only it is placed on the junction of 4 squares and may be picked up from any of these 4 adjoining squares.

One of the coaches should now toss the referee (as if tossing a coin) to decide who starts as First Player. The other coach should call 'Live' or 'Dead'. If he calls correctly he may choose to start as First Player or Second Player. Once the game starts, this arrangement remains the same for every Turn, until a Touchdown is scored. When this happens the coach who was First Player becomes Second Player, and vice versa.

And now the game may start, with the First Player making a mad rush for the centre spot to attempt to gain possession of the ball...

Movement

Death Zones

All upright players exert a Death Zone (or DZ) over the 8 squares adjacent to their location on the mapboard.

A DZ affects Movement, Throwing, Combat and Catching. Whenever these rules refer to a Death Zone or a DZ we are talking about these eight squares. Whenever a player enters the DZ of an opponent he must stop, but he may move on again next turn.

Movement Phase

In the Movement Phase the phasing coach may (but does not have to) move each of his players a number of squares up to their Movement value. Unused Movement points cannot be saved and used later. A player may move in any direction or combination of directions (including diagonally) as long as he does not:

• Enter a square containing another player from either his own or the opposing team.
• Travel through an opponent's Death Zone.
• Move directly from one square of a DZ to any other square of a DZ, whether it's the DZ of the same opponent or another.
• Enter more squares than his Movement value allows.

A player may move off the field as long as they are in a square adjacent to the sidelines or the End Zones, and if they could still move one more square in the Movement Phase. If they move into the opposing side's End Zone and are carrying the football they score a Touchdown, which is what this game is all about! If a player leaves the side of the field they are assumed to be making way for a substitute.

Substitution

If a player leaves the side of the field he can be substituted for by another player on the same Team who is not already in play.

The substitute player can be placed in any square in the Substitute Entry Zone, as long as it is not occupied by another player and it is as close as possible to the square occupied by the player who left the field to allow the substitution. A substitute player may not move in the Movement Phase he appears on the field - he has to wait for next turn. Subs cannot come on until the player they are replacing has left the field.

A player who leaves the field through a substitution may not re-enter play until the team's next Player Turn.

Throwing & Kicking Phase

In the Throwing & Kicking Phase, two things can potentially happen. Firstly, any prone or standing player with the ball may, if they wish, hand-off the ball to another player, providing they are in the very next square. This doesn't require a die roll to succeed. This second player now has the ball.

Whether a hand-off took place or not, the ball may now be thrown or kicked. The player can throw or kick the football to another player in his own team (or to any player on the opposing team if he really wants to), or simply to an empty square, though obviously the first of these options will be most useful - and may keep him from being attacked by his own team members! Of course, only a Kicking player may kick the football. The ball may be passed or kicked only once per turn (this does not include a hand-off).

Throwing the Football

The player can throw the ball a maximum number of squares equal to his Strength + 10.

To find out if the throw is accurate first count the range in squares, including the target square but not the square occupied by the ball thrower. Use the shortest possible route, but don't miss out any squares.

The basic chance the thrower has of hitting the target square is found by comparing the player's Throwing Skill (TS) to the range on the chart below.

Throwing Chart:

Range	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1-4	5	4	3	2	1	0	-1	-2	-3	-4
5-8	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	-1	-2	-3
9+	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	-1	-2

The basic chance is modified by +1 for every opponent who exerts a DZ onto the square occupied by the player who is throwing the ball.

To find out if the thrower hits the target roll one die. If the die roll is greater than or equal to the modified basic chance, the thrower has hit the square. If the thrower rolls lower than the modified basic chance he has missed and must roll on the Scatter Table below.

Note: A die roll of 1 will always miss, unless the thrower has the magic item Helmet of Accuracy, in which case they always hit the target square and do not need to roll at all.

Scatter Table

	1,2	3,4	5,6
1,2	↖	↑	↗
3,4	←	⬤	→
5,6	↙	↓	↘

To use the Scatter Table, roll one die twice and cross reference the scores. The ⬤ is the target square - note that it is quite possible for the football to scatter into the target square.

The arrows printed in the scanned table are too faint to reproduce. They are given above as the eight compass directions pointing away from the target square, which is what the two dice must encode: the first die selects the vertical offset (1,2 = one square up, 3,4 = no vertical change, 5,6 = one square down), the second the horizontal offset, and the football marks the offset of none. The rulebook's own wording, "it is quite possible for the football to scatter into the target square", confirms that the centre cell means no movement.

Catching The Football

If a thrown or kicked football hits a target square, or scatters to a square occupied by another player, they may attempt to catch the football. Either team's players may attempt to catch a football (if a player from the other team manages to catch the football he can yell 'Interception!!' and jump around a lot).

To catch a football the player must roll his modified Cool score or under on two dice. The player's Cool is modified by -1 per opposing player that exerts a DZ onto the square, and by -1 if he is attempting to catch a football that scattered (even if it scattered into the original target square).

Note: If the player has Gauntlets of Catching he does not need to roll - he automatically catches any football that hits his square.

If the football is caught it is placed underneath the counter that caught it, grass side down to show that it is being carried (alternatively, you may slot it into the plastic base alongside the player's card). If the football is not caught, or the square is unoccupied it will bounce. This is a technical term for the thing jumping about all over the place while the players stumble about trying to grab it! To find out where the ball bounces to, use the Scatter Table again. A football that bounces may not be caught.

It is possible to throw or kick the ball into either End Zone. If the ball is caught by a player from the phasing team's side a Touchdown is scored! If the ball is not caught, or if it goes off the side of the pitch, play restarts with the ball on the first square of the pitch nearest to where it went out of play.

Kicking The Football

Kicking works in exactly the same way as throwing, but the distances and chances of hitting the target are different.

The player can kick the ball a maximum number of squares equal to his Strength + 15. To find out if the kick is accurate first count the range in squares, including the target square but not the square occupied by the ball kicker. Use the shortest possible route, but don't miss out any squares.

The basic chance the kicker has of hitting the target square is found by comparing his Strength (ST) to the range on the chart below.

Kicking Chart:

Range	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1-10	4	3	2	1	0	-1	-2
11-20	5	4	3	2	1	0	-1
21+	6	5	4	3	2	1	0

The basic chance is modified by +1 for every opposing player that exerts a DZ onto the Square occupied by the player who is kicking the ball.

To find out if the kicker hits the target roll one die. If the die roll is equal to or greater than the modified basic chance the kicker has hit the square. Check for catching using the above rules. If the kicker rolls lower than the modified basic chance he has missed and must roll on the Scatter Table as before.

Note: A die roll of 1 will always miss, unless the kicker has the magic item Helmet of Accuracy, in which case they always hit the target square and do not need to roll at all.

Out Of Bounds

If the ball is thrown or kicked off the side of the field, or into the End Zone without being caught by anyone, play is restarted with the ball on the field in the square nearest to where it originally left the field. Once the ball has been replaced the turn continues as intended.

Tackle Phase

In the Tackle Phase players may attempt to attack or tackle opposing players. A player may either attack or tackle in this phase, but not both. Attacks are attempts to injure the opposing player, while tackles attempt to knock the opponent over and are much less likely to hurt them.

The phasing team's coach must announce all his attacks or tackles first. Any upright player may attack or tackle any opposing player - provided they are in its DZ.

After the phasing team's coach has completed allocating all attacks or tackles, the non-phasing team's coach may allocate any attacks or tackles. Any upright player may attack or tackle any opposing player in its DZ. However if the player has a choice of targets it must choose an opponent who is attempting to attack or tackle them over one who is not.

• In addition, any prone non-phasing players that have been attacked may attack or tackle the players that attacked them.
• Finally, any of the phasing team's players that are prone may attack or tackle any opposing player that attacked them.

Attacks

All attacks are completed before any tackles are resolved. Attacks are assumed to take place simultaneously with each other. Resolve all the phasing players' attacks first, but do not remove any non-phasing characters that are KO'd until they have completed any attacks they have declared.

Most players will have one attack. If they have more than one, the extra attacks may be divided amongst any eligible opposing players in any order the coach wishes. This includes battering the same opponent more than once.

The Attack Procedure

1. Throw to hit. The coach whose player who is attacking rolls one die to see if their blow hits.
2. Throw to wound. For any hits scored, the attacker rolls one die to see if the hit wounds the target.
3. Saving throws. Any player who is wounded may roll to see if the wound is stopped by the armour they are wearing.

Throw To Hit

The basic score needed to hit will depend on the Combat Skill of the attacker compared to the Combat Skill of the defender. Prone players have their Combat Skill reduced by -1. Cross reference the respective Combat Skills on the chart below, taking into account any Star Player attributes and the like:

Defender's Combat Skill

Attacker's Combat Skill	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	5	5	6	6	X	X	X	X	X	X
2	4	5	5	6	6	X	X	X	X	X
3	4	4	5	5	6	6	X	X	X	X
4	3	4	4	5	5	6	6	X	X	X
5	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6	X	X
6	2	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6	X
7	2	2	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6
8	2	2	2	3	3	4	4	5	5	6
9	2	2	2	2	3	3	4	4	5	5
10	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	4	4	5

The number shown is the score that the attacker must roll equal to or over on one die to score a hit on his opponent. 'X' equals an automatic miss.

Throw To Wound

To find out if the hit wounds the target cross reference the Strength of the attacker with the Toughness of the defender on the chart below:

Target's Toughness

Attacker's ST →	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	4	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
2	3	4	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
3	2	3	4	5	6	6	6	6	6	6
4	2	2	3	4	5	6	6	6	6	6
5	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	6	6	6
6	2	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	6	6
7	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	6
8	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	5	6
9	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	5
10	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4

The number shown is the score that must be rolled on one die to wound the target.

Armour Saving Throws

All Blood Bowl players wear armour which may deflect or absorb a wounding blow. To find out if the player makes it Saving Throw roll one die. If you roll a 5 or 6 the player's Armour has stopped the blow and the wound has no effect. Remember that Defensive players receive a +1 die roll modifier for their heavier armour.

Note: Players with Magic Armour have a Saving Throw against injury of 2 to 6, only failing on a 1.

Effects of Wounds

After all attacks have been resolved the effects of injuries must be determined.

If a wounded player has more than 1 Wound, the total is reduced by 1 on the Team Roster, and the player is otherwise unaffected.

If the player has only 1 wound remaining (or, as is usually the case, only started with 1 wound) roll two dice on the chart below to find the effect of the wound. In addition, the player will automatically drop the football which will bounce (as in Throwing, above).

Roll two dice on the Wound Table:

Roll	Result
2	Berserk
3	Arm Broken
4	Leg Broken
5	KO'd and Leg Hurt
6	KO'd
7	Stunned
8	KO'd
9	KO'd and Concussed
10	Arm and Leg Broken
11	Skull Fractured
12	Dead

Any player that has an arm or leg broken, a skull fracture, or is killed is out of the game and may be substituted by another player in the team's next Movement Phase (but not the Reserve Phase). If players are playing a campaign game with a league, broken arms, legs or heads will have long term effects. See the Blood Bowl Campaigns section later for details.

Any stunned or KO'd player is immediately removed from the board and may be substituted by another player in the team's next Movement Phase (but not the Reserve Movement Phase).

Stunned players may return to play after either team has scored a Touchdown.

KO'd players may be able to return to play after either team scores a Touchdown. Roll one die for each KO'd player after a Touchdown has been scored, and add the player's original wound total to the die roll. If the score is 5 or more the player may re-enter play.

Players with a leg hurt have their Movement Value reduced by 2 (but never to less than 1).

Players who are concussed may re-enter play but will be very confused. At the start of the team's turn he must roll one die. On a 5 or 6 the opposing coach is allowed to make the move, throws, attacks & tackles for the concussed player.

Players that go berserk have been so enraged by the attack upon them that they can think of only one thing - REVENGE! The berserk player must drop the football if they are carrying it. In any Movement Phase the berserk player must move to end up as close to the nearest opposing player as possible. In the Tackle Phase the berserk player must attack any opposing player next to him. The berserk player gets double his normal number of attacks and adds 1 to both the To Hit and To Wound die rolls. However the To Hit die roll of any attacks upon him are also modified by +1. A berserk player may never leave the field or pick up the football.

After either team has scored a Touchdown the berserk player returns to normal.

Tackles

Tackles are much easier to resolve than attacks, but they do far less damage to an opponent. Simply cross reference the Strength of the attacker to the Strength of the defender on the table below. However, a player being tackled who has not attacked or tackled this turn may attempt to dodge it, using the rules which follow. A dodge must be declared before the tackle die roll is made on this table:

Defender's Strength

Attacker's Strength	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	4	5	6	6	X	X	X	X	X	X
2	3	4	5	6	6	X	X	X	X	X
3	2	3	4	5	6	6	X	X	X	X
4	2	2	3	4	5	6	6	X	X	X
5	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	6	X	X
6	2	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	6	X
7	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	6
8	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	5	6
9	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	5
10	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4

The number on the table is the score the attacker must roll equal to or over - on one die - to tackle the defender. 'X' equals automatic failure.

If a player is successfully tackled, their piece is turned sideways into the prone position, and they must roll equal to or under their Cool to not drop the football. Prone players lose their DZ and may not move. They may only attack opponents that declare attacks upon them first. In addition, prone characters may not throw or kick the football, and have their Weapon Skill reduced by -1. However, in the Throw and Kick Phase a prone player can hand-off the ball to a player on an adjacent square. An already-prone player may obviously not be tackled.

Roll one die for each successfully tackled player. On a score of 6 the player receives 1 wound as if attacked. The player is allowed a Saving Throw for armour protection as usual, and all the normal rules for wounds apply (see under Attacks).

If the tackle is unsuccessful the defending player may be moved on 1 square by his coach, as long as he does not move to a square in a new opponent's DZ. If the defending player is moved out of the DZ of a player that has declared a tackle upon him, the dodge is successful and the tackle attempt is lost. This is the only case when attacks or tackles are not assumed to happen simultaneously. An eligible player may attempt to dodge any number of tackles.

Dodging

Players that have not declared an attack or tackle may attempt to dodge any tackles upon them by declaring so before the tackle roll is made. The tackle is resolved normally except that the Combat Skill of their attacker is compared to the Combat Skill of the defender on the Tackle Table, instead of using Strength. If the tackle is successful carry on as above.

Reserve Movement Phases

In the Reserve Movement Phase any of the phasing team's players not in an opponent's DZ may move, regardless of whether they have moved before. The only change to the normal movement rules is that no player may enter an opponent's DZ at any time during the Reserve Movement Phase. Once all movement has been carried out, prone players from the phasing team may recover, and their pieces should be stood upright again.

Scoring A Touchdown

A team scores a Touchdown at the moment one of their players moves off the board into the opposing End Zone while holding the football. As soon as the Touchdown is scored play stops, the crowd cheer and the cheerleaders dance about waving pom-poms.

If one team has scored three Touchdowns they are declared the winners and the crowd may even invade the pitch if they so desire. If the game is not yet over, play is restarted and the match continues. Both coaches may check to see if any KO'd players can re-enter play, and then place up to 11 players in their respective Start Zones again, just as they did at the start of the game. The team against whom the Touchdown was scored become the first team and are given possession of the football. They start the turn with one of their players holding the football - ie, the ball starts in their possession rather than on the Football Start Spot.

Dropping The Football

Any player who is successfully tackled while carrying the football must roll equal to or under their Cool - on two dice - to hold onto the football. If they fail to do so the ball is dropped and will bounce (as in the Throwing Phase). Any player who is attacked and wounded will automatically drop the football, which will bounce.

Picking Up The Football

At the end of any phase, a player who is in the same square as the football may pick it up. Flip the football so the 'carried' side is upwards, or slip it into the front of the player's base.

The Teams

A Blood Bowl team is usually made up players from one race, although there are exceptions to this rule. The race the team belongs to establishes the basic statistics used in the Team Creation Phase. In addition, most races have certain advantages and disadvantages that affect the way they play. Full details of some of the races that participate in Blood Bowl are listed below. Once you've played a few games you should even be able to add your own favourite creatures and teams to the game with little difficulty.

Human

Human teams use all the normal Blood Bowl rules as they stand above, and get 4 SPPs.

Humans

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	3	3	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
3	1	1	7

Dwarf

Dwarfs are excellent armourers. Their high quality armour means that Defensive players do not have the -1 MA penalty. In effect this allows the player to designate the whole team as Defensive players. However dwarfs are not noted for their accuracy or speed, so any Throwing Skill or Movement Allowance bonus on the star player chart must be allocated to Strength or Toughness instead (the coach can choose which). Teams get 4 SPPs for player creation.

Dwarfs hate members of all the goblinoid races (including goblins, orcs, hobgoblins & ogres). In the Tackle Phase any dwarf player adjacent to a goblinoid must roll equal to or under their Cool on two dice; if they fail they must attack (rather than tackle).

Dwarfs aren't overly fond of elves either (they're a miserable lot!). If dwarfs & elves are on the same team any dwarf wishing to throw the ball to an elf must roll equal to or under its Cool. If it fails the dwarf must throw the football to another dwarf instead, or not throw the football at all.

Dwarfs

MA	CS	TS	ST
3	4	3	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
4	1	1	9

Elves

No elf worth his salt is going to be weighed down by extra armour and be forced to lurk about and attempt to knock opposing players over. For elves the long pass is everything, and all their effort goes into being an expert at throwing or receiving.

Elves are not allowed to designate players as Defensive players. On the Star Player chart any additions to Toughness or Strength must be applied to Throwing Skill or Cool instead (the coach can choose which). They receive 4 SPPs.

Elves

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	4	4	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
3	1	1	9

Halflings

Halflings don't make the best Blood Bowl players. Their small size and short legs make them rather weak & slow. However, halflings have learnt to compensate for this by refining their natural fast reflexes - it may be easy to catch up with a halfling, but it's very difficult to hit one!

Halflings may double their Combat Skill when dodging, and when defending against attacks. Because they are so small and weak, halflings must double the range when throwing the football (ie, 3 squares count as 6). Halflings must apply all Strength or Toughness bonuses from the Star Player chart to Combat Skill or Cool instead. A halfling team gets 4 SPPs.

Halflings

MA	CS	TS	ST
3	2	4	2

TH	WD	AT	CL
2	1	1	6

Dark Elves

All the rules that apply to elves also apply to dark elves. In addition, though, dark elves hate other elves. When they are adjacent to an elf in the Combat Phase they must roll equal to or under their Cool on two dice. If they fail they must attack the elf if possible (not tackle it). They get 4 SPPs.

Unlike their good-aligned cousins, dark elves are generally quite superb Blood Bowl players.

Dark Elves

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	4	4	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
3	1	1	9

Half-Orcs

Half-orcs have the same stats as humans, but are much, much uglier! Half-orc teams are a mundane lot, preferring to grub about in the mud rather than throw the ball about.

Hobgoblins

Hobgoblins suffer animosity towards other goblinoids. If they want to throw the football to other goblinoids, they must roll equal to or under their Cool on two dice. If they fail they must throw the football to another hobgoblin or not at all. Hobgoblins are also subject to 'frenzy'. In the Combat Phase a hobgoblin may only tackle if it rolls equal to or under its Cool; if it fails it must attack instead. They get 4 SPPs.

Hobgoblins

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	3	2	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
4	1	1	6

Orcs

Orcs suffer animosity towards other goblinoids in the same way that hobgoblins do. Otherwise no special rules apply. They receive 4 SPPs for team creation.

Orcs

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	3	3	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
4	1	1	7

Special Teams

The Chaos All-Stars

The Chaos All-Stars are a special team made up of 4 ogres and 12 lesser goblins (Note: That's why there are 16 places on the Team Roster!). Only 2 ogres are allowed on the field at the same time. The team receives 4 SPPs. Their star player is Mor'g'th'n'hrog, more commonly referred to as The Ballista.

The Chaos All-Stars Second Team

Instead of using ogres, the coach may use troglodytes or trolls. A troll or troglodyte can replace an ogre on a one-for-one basis. For example, a Chaos All-Stars Team could consist of 2 ogres, 1 troll, and 1 troglodyte.

Ogres

Ogres cause fear in opposing players, who must roll their Cool or under on two dice to move into an ogre's DZ. Ogres are only allowed to have one SPP each spent on them. Any Movement Allowance bonus from SPPs must be taken as a Strength bonus instead.

Ogres may throw a lesser goblin instead of the football. The goblin must be in an adjacent square to the ogre to be thrown, and both players must be upright. Count each square as two squares when working out the range. When the goblin lands roll one die, adding +1 if the throw scattered. On a 5 or 6 the goblin suffers 1 wound and must roll on the Wound Table.

However, any goblin who is thrown may drop the ball. Roll one die. On a 6 they drop the ball where they land, on a 5 they drop the ball half-way to the square where they land. Any dropped ball must check for bouncing twice.

Ogres

MA	CS	TS	ST
6	3	2	4

TH	WD	AT	CL
5	3	2	5

Lesser Goblins

Lesser Goblins hate dwarfs, and must roll their Cool or under on two dice to tackle them; if they fail they must attack instead. They fear elves and must roll their Cool or under on two dice to move into an elf's DZ. Lesser goblins must take all bonuses on the Star Player chart as Movement Allowance or Cool bonuses (the player may choose which).

Lesser Goblins

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	2	3	2

TH	WD	AT	CL
2	1	1	5

Troglodytes

Troglodytes are members of the lizard race, which makes one player very much like another. As a result, a maximum of only 1 SPP point may ever be spent on the Troglodyte faction of a team, regardless of how many there are. Troglodytes never wear armour, and may not be designated as Defensive players, but their scaly hides are so thick they are allowed the normal Armour saving throw anyway.

In addition, troglodytes are subject to stupidity. At the start of his turn the team's coach must roll one die for each troglodyte on the field. On a 5 or 6, the troglodyte becomes confused and the opposing coach may decide what he will do in the Movement, Throw, Tackle & Reserve Phases. If a troglodyte is concussed it becomes confused on a roll of 4, 5 or 6. Troglodytes cause fear to creatures under 10 feet tall in the same way ogres do, and also emit a strange & unpleasant aroma which causes a -1 modifier to the attack or tackle die rolls of any non-lizard races.

Troglodytes

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	3	3	4

TH	WD	AT	CL
4	2	2	10

Trolls

Trolls are subject to stupidity in the same way as troglodytes, and cause fear in creatures under 10 feet tall as do ogres. Trolls may never receive any Star Player Points.

Trolls have the ability to regenerate damage. A troll that has a broken arm, leg or head, or is dead, rolls one die after either team has scored a Touchdown. On a 1 or 2 they have failed to regenerate and are removed from play. On a 5 or 6 they have regenerated, all damage is healed and the troll may re-enter play as if nothing had happened. On a roll of 3 or 4 the troll is still trying to regenerate, and may roll again after the next Touchdown is scored.

Trolls

MA	CS	TS	ST
6	3	1	5

TH	WD	AT	CL
4	3	3	6

The Champions of Death

The Champions of Death are a special team of skeletons & zombies, whose manager is a very powerful necromancer known as Tomolandry the Undying. The Champions never run out of players - Tomolandry simply creates more players as and when he needs them. When filling out the Team Roster a coach creates skeleton Star Players as normal (the team gets 4 SPPs), and then records the basic statistics for other zombies or skeletons once each. The coach has an unlimited reserve of zombies or skeletons to replace injured players and use as substitutes.

The Champions of Death Second Team

Instead of having Star Player Points, The Champions may include 1 mummy or 4 ghouls in their team. Mummies and ghouls may not be replaced.

Skeletons

Skeletons are immune to fear, and do not need to roll against their Cool to move adjacent to fearsome creatures. Skeletons take all Movement Allowance bonuses as cool bonuses instead. Any skeleton who suffers a wound is simply removed from play - do not roll on the Injury Table. Skeletons tend to break when tackled; when rolling for injury from tackles skeletons suffer 1 wound on a 4, 5, or 6.

Skeletons

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	2	2	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
3	1	1	5

Zombies

Zombies may not receive Star Player Points. All the rules that apply to skeletons apply to zombies as well, except that they roll normally for injuries from tackles.

Zombies

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	2	1	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
3	1	1	4

Mummies

Mummies cause fear in all living creatures, who must roll their Cool or less to move into it's DZ. Mummies are not very good at catching footballs, and must halve their Cool when attempting to do so. Mummies who are reduced to one wound, and then wounded again, are removed from play; ignore the Injury Chart in this case.

Mummies

MA	CS	TS	ST
3	3	1	4

TH	WD	AT	CL
5	4	2	8

Ghouls

Ghouls can be very dangerous opponents. Hits from ghouls are venomous to non-undead creatures (ie, not skeletons, zombies, mummies or other ghouls). Any living player who is hit by a ghoul rolls on the Injury Chart as usual, and then rolls another die. On a 5 or 6 the player has been poisoned and is removed from play. In campaign games poisoned players will be completely recovered by the next match.

Ghouls

MA	CS	TS	ST
4	2	1	3

TH	WD	AT	CL
4	1	2	8

The Heroes of Law

The Heroes are a special team made up of humans, elves, dwarfs & halflings, who are only wheeled out when really important matters of honour have to be settled for the side of good. There are 15 players in the team as usual, but the coach can choose players from a mixture of any of these four races. The team receives 4 SPPs. Their big rivals are, of course, the Evil Gits, who they loathe with a repugnance not normally found among such lawful creatures.

The Evil Gits

The Evil Gits are an evil team made up of evil hobgoblins, evil orcs, evil half orcs and evil dark elves. There are the usual 15 evil players in the evil team, but the evil coach can choose evil players from an evil mixture of these four evil races. The evil team receives 4 SPPs.

Blood Bowl Campaigns

In campaign games, coaches keep track of how well their team is doing, and can watch players improve as they learn by experience. They can even set up their own league and knock-out competitions, playing for the Blood Bowl Trophy and the Chaos Challenge Cup, if they so wish.

Experience Points

Players receive experience points for good play from the following chart. A player can trade in 10 experience points for one roll on the Star Player Chart. If they are intending on running the same team over a series of games, coaches should keep track of a player's experience points on the Team Roster as the game progresses.

Points	Reason
1	For playing in a game.
1	For successfully passing or kicking the football over 8 squares.
1	For successfully catching the football (thrower's points).
3	For scoring a Touchdown.

Experience Exceptions

The Champions of Death never receive experience points. Instead the necromancer receives one roll on the Star Player chart, which he may apply to one skeleton of his choice before the next game.

Creatures who cannot receive Star Player points may never receive experience points.

Long-term Injuries

KO'd, Leg Hurt, Concussed: Any player receiving any of these injuries will be completely recovered by the next game.

Arm Broken: The player must miss the next two games. His Combat Skill and Throwing Skill are permanently reduced by -1 each.

Leg Broken: The player must miss the next two games. Their Movement Allowance is permanently reduced by -1.

Skull Fractured: The player must miss the next 3 games. When they do play, they count as always being concussed.

Dead: He's dead, Jim!

Injury Exceptions

Trolls who didn't regenerate by the end of the game must roll one die. On a roll of 1-3 they fail to regenerate and the above rules apply. On a 4-6 they do regenerate and may play in the next game as if nothing had happened.

Mummies who are injured will be repaired in time for the next game and can ignore all the above rules. Players suffering from ghoul poisoning will recover in time for the next game too.

Replacement Players

Dead players may be replaced between games. The coach should roll up a new player as per usual, but not give them the benefit of any SPPs. If they survive long enough they will be able to become experienced players, but until then they must take their chances!

Designers Notes

Blood Bowl has changed lot from my original prototype of the game. The reasons for this are many and varied, so to give you an idea of why Blood Bowl is the way it is I'll go through a short history of the game.

The first version of the game (Blood Bowl 1) was much closer to American Football than the game you now hold in your hands. The rules were not based on the Warhammer Fantasy Battle rules system, and were very complicated and detailed. In this first version all the standard rules of American Football applied: you had four downs, could only throw one forward pass to an eligible receiver per play, and so on. The result was a realistic simulation of American Football - apart from the fact that your players were orcs or goblins of course - but it did have one or two rather serious problems. The most drastic of these was that the game took ages to play - it could easily take 20 or 30 minutes to play one series of downs, which simply wasn't right. After playing for four hours without getting through the first quarter we realised that something was wrong...

So I had to completely scrap the first version of the game and start afresh. However, my experience with Blood Bowl 1 had taught me some valuable lessons. I now knew that I had to keep the game fairly simple and that I should forget about making an accurate simulation of American Football. After all, I thought to myself, Blood Bowl is a fantasy game. Above all I wanted to make sure that the different races in the game would have abilities and characteristics that set them apart from each other, to really enhance the fantasy element of the game. As an experiment I tried out a simple game of Blood Bowl using the Warhammer rules, with only some very minor adjustments to cover throwing the football. Much to my surprise it worked incredibly well and I was away!

It was an easy task to convert the Warhammer rules for a board game, especially as Blood Bowl is more like a skirmish wargame than a sport, and very soon I was the proud owner of the first prototype of the game that you now hold. I had dropped the use of Downs in play and added the '3 touchdowns to win' rule. Instead of stopping the game every couple of minutes and setting up the players in new positions, as had happened in the original game, you now played continuously until a touchdown was scored. The first player to get three touchdowns won the game, negating at a stroke the need for complicated and easily-forgotten rules about keeping track of how much 'real' time had passed in the game. The combination of these two rules led to a game that was far more free-flowing than my original game, and also much faster.

Most importantly Blood Bowl now 'felt' like a fantasy game: play was violent, fast and varied - or, to use Design Studio jargon, it had acquired Games Workshop's legendary 'Chaos death spiky bits'!

The first play-tests were a lot of fun and very bloody, most games being lost by the first team to be wiped out! The Wound Table was added, which made it much more difficult to wipe out a team, and the Dodging rules were put in to reduce the effectiveness of tackling (which proved to be too easy once players had given up trying to slaughter the other team!). Bryan Ansell suggested adding the Star Player Table, and Stewart Parkinson (who actually plays American Football for real, the crazy fool!) suggested increasing the size of the board, originally only 12 squares by 24, and came up with numerous other ideas, including the history of the game. My thanks to both of them.

A few things had to be dropped from the game before it was published as, unfortunately, there just wasn't room to fit everything into the rulebook. Perhaps the most notable of these were the magic rules. Until quite late in development you could include a magic-user in your team who could cast spells to increase the characteristics of players or give them special abilities for a limited amount of time, as well as zapping opposing players with various spells of a somewhat more deadly nature. Also gone are variant rules for playing a game closer to 'real' American Football, and quite a few of the special teams (particularly the poor departed Lizard-men). However, the good news is that we have all of these rules on file and if demand is high enough we should be able to persuade Games Workshop to bring out a supplement.

I'm very pleased with the way Blood Bowl has worked out. In a lot of ways the tactics of American Football can be used in the game, although there are differences - for a start, real American Footballers don't try to beat each other to death as a standard tactic (well, not always). You should feel free to experiment with making up your own special teams for races not covered in the Blood Bowl rules, but try not to get carried away (no balrog teams please!) and only use your own teams if your opponent agrees. And that's it... now get out on the field and fight!!