From an early age, every Human, Orc, Dwarf or Elf longs to be a Star Player of their favorite Blood Bowl team. Forward thinking Coaches try to sign these enthusiastic youngsters at an early age, hoping to lay their hands on the next Griff Oberwald. Unfortunately, for every player who makes the big time, a thousand others prove their worth as members of the team’s fan club!

Any team except Undead, Vampire or Big Guys may have a reserve team. It is in this reserve side that future talent is groomed until ready to join the first team full-time. If you wish to set up a reserve team you must first gain the approval of your League Commissioner. The next step is to hire a Coach to run your reserve team. The types available, along with their cost and advantages are listed below. You may only have one Reserve Coach at a time.

You deal with reserve team affairs at the start of the purchases section of the Post-Match Sequence, before you buy any new players/coaching staff. You must first pay the Reserve Coach 10,000 GPs for the team’s upkeep (i.e. bribes!). If for some reason you cannot or will not pay this then the Reserve Coach ups and leaves, along with all his stars of the future. You may hire another Coach as soon as you have the money. When you have paid for the team’s upkeep you may make one roll on the Reserve Team Table. Note the bonus for having a Veteran/Star Coach is applied on the Player Table, not the Reserve Team Table. Because there are so many cheap Goblins and Halflings willing to sign up to play Blood Bowl, a Head Coach from one of these teams may reroll the dice roll on the Reserve Team Table only, if he wishes. If you choose to reroll then you must accept the second result, even if it is worse than the first. You do not have to roll on this table if you don’t want to, but once you have tolled the dice you cannot ignore the result.

*You may have any number of these bonuses, in addition to your Reserve Coach bonus.

If your roll entitles you to a new player then roll immediately on the Player Table to determine the type of player available, adding any bonuses for your type of Coach and Promising rolls on the Reserve Team Table.

The player you roll is free and you may add him to your team roster straight away. If you already have 16 players you must either retire an existing member, or lose the new player for good. Remember you cannot exceed the limits on particular types of player (e.g. 4 human Blitzers).

If you roll a player type that means you cannot afford even the cheapest player available to you, do not add a player to your team roster; instead add +2 to your next roll on the Player Table.

Note if you are using Jervis Johnson’s Big Guys rules that Bull Centaurs, Rat Ogres and Trolls may not come through the reserve team. Neither can you take allies or Star Players from the cards in Death Zone or the original game as players from the reserve team.

A special not if you are using Andrew Hall’s He Plays Like A Daemon rules or Phil Lowle’s Blood Bowl Squigs rules. Daemons and Squigs may not be taken as reserve team players, and anyone who tries to take them as such should be shot! (Here, here – Ed.)

If a Head Coach that has a reserve side ever has to go into a match with 10 or fewer players available to start (due to injury or death for example) then you may draft in a player form the reserves, the only exception being if you have a full squad of 16 players. This takes place in the Hire Freebooters section of the Pre-Match Sequence. You may ‘draft’ any type of player on your team list (still not allies), and pay half his normal cost. Remember to update your team rating with the player’s full cost for the purposes of handicaps etc.

You get to keep the player after the match just as if you had bought him, but he has been plucked from the reserves prematurely, and will suffer due to lack of match practice. Make one unmodified roll on the Rookie Table to determine this handicap. A characteristic may never fall more than 2 below its original value, and may never fall below 1. Ignore a result that would cause this to happen. All results are permanent.

In the harsh reality that is Blood Bowl large, rich teams often prey on the young talent of poorer teams, knowing that big-money deals cannot be refused when you’re saving for even the cheapest of players.

The duration of a contract is measured in ‘seasons’. This is the time it takes to complete all league fixtures and open tournaments once. (It is a good idea to play these in the same order each season). So if a player ‘signed’ a two-year contract at the start of a new league, he would become a free agent as soon as the last match of the second season had ended (including after the Post-Match sequence).

Players will sign new contracts at the very start of the purchases section of the Post-Match sequence, before any players are bought of sold. A contract costs 1,000 GPs per star player roll a player has taken, per season. So a player with 126 SPPs – 5 star player rolls – would demand 10,000 GPs for a 2-season contract. It is a good idea to place a player under contract as soon as he becomes experienced for as long as possible – it is a rare player (or league) that will last 5 seasons!

Note down in a handy space the length of the contract, marking each season down as it passes using a tally system. The maximum length of any contract is 5 seasons. Players under contract are paid one lump sum when they sign the contract, cutting down on their weekly wage. To represent this while a players contract lasts you may deduct half his value from your team rating (not any SPPs) on the Match Winnings Table only.

Newly purchased players (in a starting team for example) count as free agents until they have earned enough SPPs for you to place them under contract and you have paid for such a contract.

When a contract ends it may be renewed using the players new no. of star player rolls. Note that as contracts are signed before players are bought a Head Coach may renew a play’s contract before any other coach has the opportunity to take advantage of his free agent status. This becomes important when using the rules for transfers detailed below.

Star Players from the cards in Death Zone and the original game will not sign contracts – they instead demand a huge part of the gate! – but they can never be transferred either (see below).

Transfers take place in the purchases section of the Post-Match sequence, after contracts are signed, but before normal purchases (so Head Coaches can spend the money they receive). This is summarized below:

1. Work out each team’s winnings.
2. Allocate Star Player points and roll on Star Player Table.
3. Roll on the Fan Factor Table.
4. Purchases
1. Work out contracts.
2. Transfer existing players.
3. Purchase new players/coaching staff.
5. Work out new Team Rating.

If a Head Coach decides he wants to buy an existing player from another team he must first find out if that player is under contract. If he is then that player’s Head Coach may decide to let you approach the player or not. If the player is a free agent then the Coach has no say at all – you may make an approach. You may not attempt to buy a player from a team with 11 or fewer players. You may attempt to approach a player once after every match his team plays. To make an approach simply roll on the Player Reaction Table, using any modifiers stated below. You should make this roll in front of the other player.

When buying a free agent a tribunal will set the player’s price – the Head Coach who made the approach must either refuse to pay that price or accept it, transferring the correct number of GPs to the other team’s treasury.

When buying a player under contract the Head Coach of the player’s current team may demand any price he likes! Again, the buying Head Coach must either accept or refuse. The only exception when setting a price is that it may never fall below the player’s original price (e.g. 50,000GPs for a human lineman). It is still a good idea to use the fixed part of the tribunal table to get a rough idea of the player’s worth.

Once a price has been agreed and the money has been paid the player is added to the team roster for his new team – remember you may not have more than 16 players in a team. You must have the League Commissioners present to over see the transfer at this stage.

A player bought from another team must sign a contract immediately – this is the only time when you may sign a contract out o sequence – that’s the whole point of the transfer system. Obviously Rookies transferred will not sign contracts.

*Including those from Special Play Cards

You may buy players of the same race as your team without restriction. Buying players of a different race to your team follows the rules and restrictions listed in Jervis Johnson’s Big Guys article (Pages 34-11). Treat players transferred exactly as you would any other allied-race player, suffering the fan factor and team reroll penalties as normal.

Note neither the daemons from J8 or the squigs from J11 may be transferred, as only Chaos and Goblin players may have the Chaos Sorcerers/Squig Hunter Teams respectively needed to use these players and anyway, imagine a Bloodletter playing for a Goblin team!

1. Decide which player you wish to buy.
2. Tell the Head Coach of that player’s team you are making an approach.
3. If the player is under contract the Head Coach may refuse to sell the player. If he is willing to allow the approach, or the player is a free agent, continue to Step 4.
4. Set a price. This is done using the Tribunal Table for free agents. A Head Coach may demand any price for a player under contract.
5. This is your last chance to pull out – if you cannot or will not pay the price asked the deal falls through, otherwise continue to Step 6.
6. Deduct the player’s cost from your treasury.
7. Add the player’s cost to the treasury of the player’s old team.
8. Write the player’s stats on your team roster.
9. Remove the player’s stats from the roster of the player’s old team.
10. Pay for a contract for your new player and mark it down on you roster.