Spike! Journal

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faust_33
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Spike! Journal

Post by faust_33 »

Surprised there hasn't been much discussion about this. Did people like it in general?

I mainly started the game with CRP, so I'm not too familiar with most of the fluff in Blood Bowl. I found the magazine kind of fun, but there is also a small part of me that prefers more rules over fluff pieces. I'll definitely keep buying these though, as they are pretty fun.

I liked the single team focus. That's an interesting way to go deeper into the backgrounds of the teams and Star Players.

The strategy section looks to be pretty helpful for new coaches. I could imagine pointing it out to my teenager if he wanted to play a Chaos Chosen team.

The new Star Players are a treat, as well as seeing old ones make a comeback. Yay, for Lewdgrip, and others. I still have those models. The behind the scenes info on some of the Stars was funny.

The comic...sadly it disappointed a bit. The art was good, but the story didn't really feel like it matched the art. I was excited about having an illustrated comic make it's way back into Blood Bowl, but I didn't find this one that funny. Hopefully they are just working on getting back into the groove.

Writer personas. This was pretty interesting. You had writers like "Johan T Mad", etc. writing different pieces. I thought that was pretty cool, but wish there had been some credits in the back so we could know who was writing which pieces. Or even just credits, so that credit could be given to the writers and artists. (Note: I have the digital version, so maybe that was missing)

Overall I like these team focused fluffy books. I do hope all big rule changes like Wizards, Team Rosters, etc. get put into a core rulebook on down the line. We really need one solid reference book for playing the game. When I want to be inspired on a given team or think of some new ideas for a team, I'd gladly reach for a Spike! Journal.

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Post by Gaixo »

I really like the concept, if not 100% of the execution.

Agree that it would be nice to see (real world) credits, even if they were hidden in fine print somewhere.

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Post by spubbbba »

faust_33 wrote:
The new Star Players are a treat, as well as seeing old ones make a comeback. Yay, for Lewdgrip, and others. I still have those models. The behind the scenes info on some of the Stars was funny.
Something I wasn't sure about is if there are stats for all the new star players in the book? Also if these are now "official" as things were always a bit unclear with stuff like that.

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Post by Mystic Force »

I didnt realize this was out already! Where do I get it (USA)?

(Hard Copy)

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Post by Gaixo »

You can buy it an many independent game shops or order it from GW direct.

My local shop didn't have any, so I got it on eBay for less than cover price and free shipping.

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Post by faust_33 »

spubbbba wrote:
faust_33 wrote:
The new Star Players are a treat, as well as seeing old ones make a comeback. Yay, for Lewdgrip, and others. I still have those models. The behind the scenes info on some of the Stars was funny.
Something I wasn't sure about is if there are stats for all the new star players in the book? Also if these are now "official" as things were always a bit unclear with stuff like that.
Yep, they have 9 Star Players in the book. Each one has stats and a small to large blurb about their background. Borak, Gobbler, Scyla, and Grashnak got the most attention. The rest have half page sections, except for Guffle Pussmaw. Maybe he will get more background in a Nurgle Spike! Journal?

Which reminds me, there is a nice one page section with the Chaos team roster up top and then a list of the Star Players below (with stat blocks). That's a handy reference for a Coach and I hope they continue to do that with all Spike! Journals.

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Re: Spike! Journal

Post by JT-Y »

spubbbba wrote:Something I wasn't sure about is if there are stats for all the new star players in the book? Also if these are now "official" as things were always a bit unclear with stuff like that.
Full stats for all ten Stars that will play for Chaos Chosen are in the Spike! Journal, in the team reference section (yes Faust every one will have a full reference page like that). That'll be the same for each one. Certain Stars get a full write up, some just get a statline in the reference section because I'm not keen on duplicating Morg's write up, for example, numerous times.
In this one 8 Stars get full or partial write ups. Morg and Guffle will get write ups in a more appropriate Spike! Journal and any with a half page may get a two page spread elsewhere as well. I really don't want to duplicate background text if avoidable.

Everything we print is official the moment it becomes available.
How it is used is up to the individual. As always Inducements and the like are up to league commissioner or event organisers discretion.

I'd add the caveat that certain things that aren't on general release like Grak & Crumbleberry, or stuff we clearly signpost as experimental like the app teams, should be handled accordingly.

In the old days of the Fanatic magazines a lot of content was submitted by readers and so was not official. That's not the case with these supplements.

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Post by Stout Youngblood »

Overall I enjoyed it but the one thing that I didn't like was the rules for the balls were in the White Dwarf. Don't really feel like paying $10 for one page of rules.

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Post by peo2223 »

I've ordered mine so really looking forward to getting it on Wednesday now after reading this.

Will there be any scope for members of the public to add articles in the future?

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Re: Spike! Journal

Post by JT-Y »

Stout Youngblood wrote:... the rules for the balls were in the White Dwarf.
Page count is a very real consideration for stuff like that, I had to leave a fair bit of this first one out (don't worry, it'll feature elsewhere). That and it's a WD feature. I can't just stop giving them those rules to publish.
peo2223 wrote:Will there be any scope for members of the public to add articles in the future?
No, sorry. All writing is done internally these days, or we get strange bits of non canon stuff or confusion over what is or is not official. It was quite the coup getting the tactics article done externally and as Gegg will attest, the brief was stringent and the editing more so!
I may be quietly approaching people to write a tactics article for us though.

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Re: Spike! Journal

Post by Skitters »

I thoroughly enjoyed it and think the single team focus works very well. I would agree with the gripe about the Chaos chosen balls.....though I guess that is in keeping with previous ball rules and also means a second almanac would have content in addition to these journals (it'd just be 'nice' to have chaos chosen rules contained in one book).

...but it makes me smile, and I have a lot more time for chaos chosen than I did pre-Spike!


JTY - am I reading into your post too much, or it the implication that in time there will be journals for all the already released teams? Humans, Orcs, Goblins, Skaven, and Dwarves must account for a fair proportion of the collective fluff of BB. Could perhaps be timed with boosters?

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Re: Spike! Journal

Post by peo2223 »

Well shy boys get nowt! JTY if you ever want to bounce ideas off then you know where to find me! Would love to be involved somehow!

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Post by Moraiwe »

I'm pretty disappointed with it. Far too little rules content for me to consider it a worthwhile purchase. As a league commissioner I like to stay up to date with the rules out there, but paying AU$20 for rules that could probably fit on two pages is not appreciated.

Put more rules in (or give us another avenue to get them) and I'm on board.

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Re: Spike! Journal

Post by JT-Y »

Skitters wrote:JTY - am I reading into your post too much, or it the implication that in time there will be journals for all the already released teams? Humans, Orcs, Goblins, Skaven, and Dwarves must account for a fair proportion of the collective fluff of BB. Could perhaps be timed with boosters?
It'd be nice and to have a Spike! Journal for every team eventually. We shall see if it's possible I guess.

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Re: Spike! Journal

Post by faust_33 »

JT-Y, can you tell us who Johan T Mad and some of the other authors are in the real world?

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