This week we get to spend time with an absolute sweetheart of a man, and Season 1 runner-up, Col!
1) What’s your name and where do you come from?
Colin, but Col to most people, including Discord and NAF so it’s pretty easy to remember!
2) Tell us a little about how you came to play Blood Bowl, and your experience with the game and wider hobby.
I have played Bloodbowl since the second edition was released in 1988 with the astrogranite pitch. I collected most (all?) of the teams, which wasn’t nearly as many back then, but I remember having 16 teams at one point (including some mixed race ones, which was sort of ok back then), before selling almost all of them during the Living Rulebook years. 40k was my main game from 2nd-6th edition, followed by Bushido for the last 10-12 years. Since 2016, I have started playing Bloodbowl seriously again and (re)collecting all the teams. To date, it’s 16 painted, 7 to paint, 6 to buy, unless I don’t, but I’ve come this far….. [Ed: some photos at the end of the article]
3) What Blood Bowl achievement are you most proud of?
My proudest achievement would be the one Bloodbowl tournament I’ve ever won, the Coffee Cup. If you haven’t heard of it, it is an 11-game tournament played non-stop over 24 hours. It’s as insane as it sounds, but such good fun. It hasn’t run for the last few years, but I hope to see it return.
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?
After playing Necromantic in S1 and Dwarves (boo!) in S2, I wanted something very different. Vampires seemed like the obvious choice because they’re a totally different puzzle for both coaches to try and unpick. Like any negatrait team, they can totally implode sometimes and there is nothing you can do about it. But when they work, they can be pretty devastating.
5) What was your thought process behind your roster selections and the skills you took?
Having played a couple of tournaments with Vampires I took 5 Vampires and the Vargheist, it feels like the right balance of strength, speed and hypnotic gaze. I took skills exclusively on the vampires. The thralls die too easily, so skills on them are a waste until you earn them, but don’t expect them to last long. You have to keep the rerolls for Bloodlust. Because those Bloodlust rerolls are so important, you need the Vampires to not fail the basics so it’s a mix of Block/Dodge/Leader with Strip Ball for the blitzer because breaking cages is what Vampires do! Don’t ever bite a thrall unless you have no choice, it is often better to just do what you were going to do with that Vampire and then end your turn.
6) How would you describe your playstyle with this team?
I am a naturally aggressive Bloodbowl player. It doesn’t mean I throw bad dice at the wall, slam my fist on the table, or shout in your face (I’ve seen it happen though), but I do tend to attack, attack, attack, with or without the ball.
7) What are your expectations for this season? Do you have any particular goals you’d like to achieve?
My main expectation is some very tough games! I expect to finish in the bottom half of the division, but I will hope for higher. Playoffs seem unlikely given the strength of players and teams, but it’s been a decent start so you never know. Of course, Vampires are only ever a handful of 1’s away from losing very, very badly. My only goal is to try and win a mini-trophy of some kind. Other than that I’m looking forward to the FB Cup and hopefully meeting players outside my division because there are so many I haven’t met yet!
8) Outside of Blood Bowl tell us a little about your life and main passions?
Family, board games, films, TV, cooking, beer. All the stuff that can be done from the safety of my own home it seems.
9) Pirates or Ninjas?
Pirates. I couldn’t really say anything else given the theme of my team this season!
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