1) What’s your name and where do you come from?
I’m Dan. I’m one of the token ‘northerners’ in the group, hailing from a town in Lancashire called Ormskirk. I’ve lived in Liverpool, Bordeaux, Leeds, Frome, Bath and now I’m settled in Chippenham with my SO, Sarah, and our mixed flock of rescue animals.
2) Tell us a little about how you came to play Blood Bowl, and your experience with the game and wider hobby.
I was the perfect age for the late 80’s/early 90’s releases of Space Crusade and Hero Quest so those games were my first experience with the hobby. Then, being a teenager when GW released 40K 2nd ed. in 1993, Blood Bowl 3rd ed. in 1994, Warhammer Quest (1995) and Necromunda (1996) all those releases hold special places in my heart. My first experience of Blood Bowl therefore, was 3rd edition in ’94. I played Orcs and participated in a small league with my school friends. I miss “Illegal Procedure!”
Following the same route as many, I left the hobby in my late teens (uni, beer etc.), returning about 12 years ago. I engage in most aspects of the miniature wargaming hobby – painting, playing, reading, video games and I’ve played most GW games over the years. I’d describe myself as the hobbyist version of ‘jack of all trades, master of none!’
However, it’s the painting aspect of the hobby I have always held as my core preference. I’m a technique painter rather than someone who is blessed with creativity and I’ve said previously, I don’t often enjoy the process of painting; it’s the final outcome I like.
3) What Blood Bowl achievement are you most proud of?
Forge Breakers and the 2 tournaments we’ve run are my proudest achievements. Clearly these are team efforts, but being able to help facilitate, organise and add some elbow grease to something a lot of people enjoy being part of means a lot more than any individual achievement.
4) Tell us about the team you’ve brought into Season III. Did you select it for purely competitive reasons, or were there other factors involved?
I’ve redrafted a Wood Elf team for Season III. I chose Wood Elves as they have a polar opposite play style to the team I played in Season I, Nurgle. I wanted (needed) to play a completely different team and I’ve always had an affinity for the tree variant of elves (I play Sylvaneth in AoS and I’ve just started collecting a WE The Old World army), so after taking some advice from Yellow-Ox and others, they seemed a sensible choice!
5) What was your thought process behind your roster selections and the skills you took?
As it’s a redrafted team, I had a bit of a puzzle to solve when forming my Season III starting roster. My ideal roster would be something like this, and my skill selections are roughly aimed towards this core set-up:
- Tree (Grab, Guard)
- Wardancer (Tackle)
- Wardancer (Strip Ball)
- Catcher (Block, Sidestep)
- Catcher (Sidestep, Sure Feet, Sprint)
- Thrower (Leader)
- Lineman (Dodge/Wrestle) x as many as I can keep alive!
6) How would you describe your playstyle with this team?
- Don’t get hit in the face.
- Move around a lot (don’t roll 1s).
- Hope for 5s and 6s when leaping into cages.
- Try not to sound smug when any of the above (somehow) works.
7) What are your expectations for this season? Do you have any particular goals you’d like to achieve?
Division 2 is full of great coaches who can all beat each other. If asked at the start of the season, I would have liked to make the playoffs… I’d be happy to finish 3rd or 4th, play the extra game(s) and see what happens. However, at time of writing my team only consists of 5 uninjured players (thanks Mark!) so now I’d just like to get through the remaining fixtures this season with my butt hole in tact.
8) Outside of Blood Bowl, tell us a little about your life and main passions.
Sarah and I keep ex-battery rescue Chickens, have a Tortoise ‘Jerry’ and we’ve just adopted ‘Dale’ a 6-year-old Shar-Pei x Staffy. Our mixed flock is our passion. If we had the land, I’d fill it with Llamas, Pigs and Goats. I’ll happily bore anyone to death about Chickens given the chance… but I also turn up to Bargammons with boxes of fresh eggs when the ladies are feeling productive.
Other than that, I work in Financial Services as a lead change analyst who specialises in comms.
9) Pirates or Ninjas?
Pirates. They get to sail around in the sun, drinking rum and talking to parrots. Sounds ideal.
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