Heresy & Heroes

Hello sports fans!The gridiron has grown cold and the Wolf God is prowling the stands as the brand new Blood Bowl Norse team has arrived and GW were sporting enough to send me the new team and some assorted goodies to take a look at and tell you all about. So strap on your big foam finger, get your peanuts ready, and let’s take a proper gander at what might be my new favourite Blood Bowl team.

I will confess that I am a huge fan of this team, and I’ve been waiting for them to get the plastic treatment for a very long time now. I had been planning on converting a Norse team several years back, but I never got round to it, so it’s a real thrill to have these volatile vikings to work on. Why do I like this team so much? Well, as someone who isn’t the best at tackling, having Block on all my linemen is a huge bonus, but I also get some hefty chaps to put some pain down, and a couple of swift Valkyries in case I decide to actually try and score. That fits my play style perfectly so the Norse were always on my radar (and also, I kind of look like one of them).

First and foremost, let’s talk about the minis. They look stunning. They capture that crazy, cold-ignoring, beer-chugging party monsters that definitely worship some gnarly gods vibe that you want from this team. There’s some fierce animal-pelts, beautifully braided beards and bone-breaking muscles, all of which you’d expect, and I think the sculptor(s) behind this kit have done a stellar job. And if any team was going to strap a keg of ale to a pig, it would be these guys. Personal opinion, but I think this is the best looking Blood Bowl team yet.

As with all of these new teams, there’s a Spike! journal to accompany them and it is as full of flavour, rules and ideas as ever in this issue. I love the rules and ideas in the “Icebowl” section in particular, but they’re all good. Ruleswise,they are gloriously thematic, and you’ll be recounting many sagas of your games for sure. But there are some tricky nuances in there too. The beer-pigs are super-fun minis, and they can perform some useful tricks on the pitch, but they are super-squishy, so how many do you want on your roster? I like these fun sort of headaches as they provide some tactical nuances that even ham-fisted players like me can cope with.

And as an extra special treat, GW sent me the new big guy – the Yhetee. He’s got great rules, and honestly, he looks sensational. Easy to put together, buckets of details, and really, really fun. This Blood Bowl “bug guys” really remind me of old Warhammer in a way, when being slightly more than twice the size of normal dudes meant you were massive. I like that, and I thoroughly like this model. I’ve already got a team name, colours, player numbers and names all planned out – I’m going to take some time and enjoy this new team.

So that was kind of a brief review, but what else is there to say? I think this is a stunning set of products with fun, thematic rules, beautiful miniatures, fun art, and well-written words. When it comes to the Norse, pour me a stein, and count me in. This team is great.