Dungeonbowl Project

[celticgriffon]

My lord... the hair on that beast looks real. Thank you so much for the inspiration Yggdrasil. I aboslutely love what you have done with Dungeonbowl and the teams based on the 2nd edition fluff.

Keep up the amazing, amazing work!!

Michael

[yggdrasil]

Thank you, I really appreciate it!

The 2nd edition thing is interesting, because the project is obviously really driven by nostalgia. I got the Dungeonbowl box when I was 12 or so, and the fact that I remember the illustrations and miniatures from back then is what made me really start on the miniatures and boards originally. I feel like now, it is a bit more, because it's so much bigger than I ever thought it would be, but the original 2nd edition models and boxed game are still at the core of it.

And it's weird to be working on new teams for DB that aren't the original DB teams. That's the main thing I am working on now - An Amber beastman team, a Grey chaos team, a Bright lizardman team, and a Celestial dryad team. Part of me feels like it is wrong, because I am adding too much and diluting the feel of the original game. But a larger part feels like innovation and expansion is so much fun, so I am carrying on with it.

[yggdrasil]

I was thinking about Dungeonbowl in terms of Necromunda a little while ago, and how I would like it if I could get multiple different elevation levels into my dungeon, rather than just the ground and the first floor like I've had it so far. So I just finished what I like to think of as "the keep", a sort of tower with two levels within the dungeon.



The idea is that the top is wide enough that I can add additional layers on top of it, such as shown in the combination of sections below. Lots of levels, lots of climbing up and down, just what I wanted.

[Regash]

Looks cool but I'd fear that moving the guys while others are on higher levels could be difficult.
Or do you have a solution for that?

[yggdrasil]

Looks cool but I'd fear that moving the guys while others are on higher levels could be difficult.
Or do you have a solution for that?

I'm not sure what you mean, can you give an example?

If you mean that it could be difficult to actually reach any level that isn't the top level with your fingers in order to move models around, then this is true, it can be a little tricky. You basically have to avoid building the dungeon so that there are large elevated sections that have large ground sections beneath them. But that's quite easy to do. Just don't stack the sections too much.

If you place models too hidden away beneath elevated sections, you also risk forgetting that they are there because they aren't immediately visible. That one is always fun.

[Regash]

If you mean that it could be difficult to actually reach any level that isn't the top level with your fingers in order to move models around

Yep, that is exactly what I meant.
And forgetting them is something I haven't even thought of.

Do you also make movements up or down count more than one space of MA?

[yggdrasil]

Yup. The full rules are on this page: http://senshichamber.com/dungeonbowl/du ... ables.html

But the gist is that moving up a step cost two squares of movement, unless you rush it, which makes it only cost one, but then you have to roll for falling over as if you are going for it.

The way I have built my levels, each level of elevation is three squares high. To move up, which can be done with either steps or ladders, you have to pay movement for each square you move both horizontally and vertically. So moving up via three steps costs six movement in total, three vertical and three horizontal. Moving directly up via a ladder costs four movement, because you are moving up three squares vertically but only one square horizontally.

[yggdrasil]

Also, some new WIP models I am working on.


Two Treemen for a Celestial team called the New Champions. Sculpted from Fimo.


Three Fimir for an Amethyst team called the Disciples. Classic Heroquest models.


Some Skaven for an Amber team called the Blood Beasts. Mainly to show off the white and ochre colour scheme idea.

[Axtklinge]

Nice sculpts there, congrats!
(WIP's of those could be useful to those of us who enjoy building minis from scratch once in a while.)

The multi-level dungeon sounds like fun, however as mentioned before may not be that practical sometimes.
I used to play Necomunda (great game by the way), but while playing in more than two layers of scenario looked absolutely fantastic, sometimes it was a pain to move the minis (let alone check properly for "Line of Sight" for shooting opponent gangers).
Of course movement wise Blood Bowl has a big advantage over Necromunda by using "squares" to move (over range ruler or measuring tape), but still it may take a great deal of careful and patience to avoid knocking minis over, or dangerously "shaking" the dungeon tower foundations.

Might be well worth to give it a go.

[yggdrasil]

Thanks! The treemen are actually still WIP, but relatively close to being done. I'll try and remember to take more early WIP shots.

I can say that for me, having the extra 3D levels is totally worth it - pushing people off the platforms is so much fun, and you can build the board so that the access problem is not much on an issue. Using a purely 2D board is simpler and more practical, especially since I don't play at my house and I have to carry all the terrain with me when I play, but I think the look and feel of having the 3D elevation to go with the 3D miniatures really makes it worthwhile.

Knocking models off the platforms hasn't been an issue I've run into yet, but I see what you mean. Being careful definitely helps. Most of my models are plastic though, so they don't mind being knocked over much.

[yggdrasil]

Yesterday I realised that one thing I have completely forgotten about so far is Star Players.

I would say that the reason for this is that they never interested me that much - like in Necromunda, the fun in BB is developing your own players, not using pre-made players that cannot be developed. However, there are compelling plus points about star players too, mainly the opportunity to convert and paint some standalone models that aren't a permanent part of any team, and therefore can have their own unique colours, style and character.

So I made up a list of 17 stars in total for the website, including the four that were around in 2nd edition that were dressed in Dungeonbowl colours (two ogres, a troll and a mino). I don't have much experience in making up stars, so these might be terrible - any feedback appreciated.

The list is here: http://senshichamber.com/dungeonbowl/du ... ayers.html

[yggdrasil]

I've started going with my friend William to a small gaming club which meets on Tuesday nights, so last night was game night again, and another game of Dungeonbowl.

The Destroyers were keen to test their mettle once again, and set their sights on another Elf team - the Storm Bolts. The dungeon was dominated by the underground Tower of Doom, a tall structure in the centre of the playing area.



The Storm Bolts won the first turn, and with their very fast players - a trio of two Skaven Runners and a Dark Elf Runner - they slowly started climbing the tower. Meanwhile, the first Bolts player that teleported in was an Orc Blocker, who ended up close to the Green Destroyers' end zone. The Blocker positioned himself to block a set of steps, but the Destroyers simply sent in their Troll (called Grimtroll), who smashed the Blocker down the steps easily.



Grimtroll then stepped onto the teleporter, and ended up in a corner of the dungeon, where he spotted a fast Skaven Runner. Grimtroll tried to go for it to blitz the frightened ratman, but he stumbled over his own feet and caused an unlucky turnover for his team.



A Skaven called Whitemane was by now guarding the chest at the peak of the tower. A few Destroyer orcs started to climb the tower too, but a duo of Dark Elves pounced on an Orc Lineman, pushing him off the second level, and him falling almost 40 feet straight down to hit the ground with a hard thud. Only the orc's unnatural resilience and bounciness saved him from breaking every bone in his body.



Gradually, chests were opened and all exploded, until there was only one chest left - the one at the top of the tower.

Whitemane opened the chest, grabbed the ball, climbed down a ladder, and passed the ball to a Dark Elf Lineman on the level below. The Dark Elf then climbed down a ladder and onto a bridge that led towards the Destroyer end zone.

The Destroyers' Orc Bombardier sensed that this was his moment to shine. He packed his bombs away, dodged out of an Orc Blitzer's tackle zone, climbed up a ladder, and blitzed the ball carrier, pushing him off the bridge, where the elf was stunned on the ground below.

The Bolts Orc Blitzer that the Bombardier had dodged away from now turned and tried to grab the ball, intending to pass it to a waiting Blocker in the end zone. He fumbled it, but it was grabbed by another Blitzer team-mate of his, who had already moved. It was now the Destroyers' turn to strike back, as the ball carrier was surrounded by enemies and right next to a trap. However, disaster struck - a Destroyers Blocker at the top of the tower went first, and unluckily stepped on a hidden mine trap by accident, blowing himself up. This distracted everyone enough that the Bolts Orc Blitzer could dash off and score the winning touchdown.



Little money was made by the two teams, so it all went into the treasury. However, the coaches had a great time, as the final shot shows. It's William on the left and Lars on the right.

[yggdrasil]

Welp, the first "second generation" Dungeonbowl team is now ready. Purple, black and white here we go.

[yggdrasil]

New painted models yay.

[Axtklinge]

Yay indeed!

The tree turned out great, congrats!