One of the most fascinating things in any team sport is the way that the teams change year by year. This is as true for Blood Bowl as any other sport, and fans will often discuss if their present team was as good as those in previous years. Unfortunately, Blood Bowl fans being what they are, these ‘discussions’ can easily get out of hand and more often than not end up in a huge brawl – the most infamous example of this thing being the Gouged Eye civil war of 2482, which was sparked off by a particularly violent argument as to which was the best out of the 2461 and 2473 Gouged Eye Orc teams!

In the very earliest days of the sport, new Blood Bowl players were recruited from anyone who wanted to play. This was fine, but often left teams with throwers that couldn’t even hold the ball, let alone throw it. Eventually, though, a system grew up where promising players had to go through a special betting procedure in order to join a team.

The process of selection that decides which players go where quickly became known as The Crush. It’s a very complicated procedure, but – basically – all the available players are put in a large room, with representatives of all of the major Blood Bowl teams outside. On the word ‘Go!’, all of the players rush through a small door to get to the team of their choice before their quota of new players is filled. The Crush takes place two weeks after the Blood Bowl final, and always attracts high viewing figures because of the exciting scramble for the door!

But that’s not all that happens when The Crush takes place, not by a long chalk! Far more importantly for most teams, the two weeks before the Crush takes place have come to be accepted as the period when old players hang up their spiky jock-straps for the last time and retire, and when Star Players who have become upset with their treatment in their present team will look for new and more lucrative contracts elsewhere.

All of these factors combine to make the two weeks of the Crush a fascinating period for all true Blood Bowl fans. Not only is there a chance to see the potential new stars of the game for the first time, there are also all of the award ceremonies and testimonial dinners held for retiring players, not to mention the press coverage of the often angry and sometimes violent departure of ‘prima-donna’ star players from one team to join another. By the end of the two weeks it is not unknown for the head coach to be the only recognizable face left on a team, all of the other players having either retired, left to join a new team, or been replaced with a new and highly promising rookie player!

The following rules allow you to add the two weeks of mayhem, skullduggery and excitement that make up the Crush to your league. Their use is entirely optional, and a League COMMISHIONER can use them or not as he sees fit. You should be warned that the rules can dramatically change the character of the teams in your league, and that some coaches may well get a bit upset when their favorite Star Player decides to retire or – even worse! – goes off and joins another team! Personally, however, I feel that the Crush rules are well worth using, and their inclusion in the Studio League has meant that Coaches are already referring nostalgically to great ‘old’ teams such as the ’93 Skavenblight Scramblers or the ’94 Grudge Bearers.

If you decide to have a Crush then it should be held in the two week period after your Blood Bowl final (you can hold it after a different final if you prefer). It is up to the League Commissioner to make sure that all of the coaches in the league roll to see if any of the players in their teams retire or leave, and to then get all of the Coaches together so that the Crush itself can be held.

Each coach must roll a D6 for each of the players in his team who has 25 or more Star Player points. If the D6 roll is 4, 5 or 6 the player is perfectly happy and will remain with the team. On a roll of 1, 2 or 3 the player has decided he either wants to retire or leave the team (gulp!). Roll the D6 again. If the D6 roll is greater than the number of Niggling Injuries the player has suffered, then he is thinking of leaving the team.

Retiring: A player who decides to retire cannot be stopped from doing so, although he may be kept on as an Assistant Coach as described in the Death Zone rulebook.

Leaving: A player who has decided to leave can be persuaded to stay by being paid a retainer. Roll a D6 and multiply the score by 10,000. The result is the number of gold pieces that must be paid out immediately from the team treasury in order to keep the player on the team. Players that leave a team may not be kept on as Assistant Coaches.

If a player retires or leaves the team, then their details should be crossed off the team roster. However, if the player is leaving rather than retiring, then his details should first be transferred to a blank Star Player Card, as there is a chance that he may be bought up by another team.

Fortunately for the Blood Bowl coach who finds that most of his players have retired or left the team, finding replacements at the Crush is extremely easy. Because of this any player that retires or leaves the team may be replaced for free with a new player of exactly the same type, but without any Star Player Points, extra skills or characteristic increases. For example, if your Star Blitzer decided to retire, he will be replaced with a free ‘rookie’ blitzer from your team list.

Star Players that were purchased for the team from Star Player Cards may also decide to leave or retire. Roll for them in exactly the same way as a player with 25 or more Star Player Points as described above. Obviously, if a Star Player decides to leave then you do not have to fill out a blank card for them, as they will have their own already!

Star players cannot be replaced unless they are of the same race as the team that they were playing for. For example, if Griff Oberwald retired from a Human team, then he could be replaced with a rookie human blitzer. If Morg N’Thorg was playing for the same team and also decided to retire, then he could not be replaced, as he is not a human player!

The Crush itself is split into two parts. In the first part the Coaches who have chosen to attend the Crush are allowed to try and sign up any players that have left their team and are looking for more lucrative offers of work elsewhere. In the second part of the Crush to Coaches get a chance to bid for exceptional new rookie players.

In order for the Crush to work properly it really needs all of the coaches in the league to be present. The League Commissioner should set a time and a place for the event, and make sure that all of the coaches in his league knows when and where it is happening well in advance. If any fail to turn up it is their own silly fault.

Once all of the Coaches in the league have been gathered together the Crush can take place using the following rules:

1. The League Commissioner should take all of the Star Player cards for players that have left their teams, and give them a shuffle.
2. The League Commissioner takes the top card from the deck and places it face-up where all of the coaches can see it. He then rolls a D6 and places it on the card. The D6 roll times 10,000 is the reserve price for the player (for example, a roll of 3 would mean that the player had a reserve price of 30,000 gold pieces).
3. The Coaches are allowed to bid for the player. A Coach can bid any amount, up to the total amount of gold pieces that have in their treasury, as long as their bid is greater than the reserve price for the player and is higher than the last bid placed. The player that bid the most gets the player and must deduct the amount he bid for him from his treasury immediately. If no one bids for the player, then the card is discarded. Note that a coach is allowed to bid for players that cant’ play for his team if he wants to do so, either to run up the price or to stop an opposing coach getting the player. However, if you end up buying a player that can’t play for your team then the cash you spend is effectively wasted and you must discard the Star Player card at the end of the Crush.
4. The next card in the deck is turned face-up, a reserve price is set, and the player may be bid for. This carries on until all of the players that left their teams have been bid for.
5. And finally we get to the fun bit, the Crush itself! Although the majority of players signed on at the Crush are fairly ordinary, each year there are a small handful of exceptional players whose raw natural ability makes them stand out. (The signing up of the more numerous ‘ordinary’ players is represented by allowing players to take free replacements for players that have left their team, as described above.) To see what raw talent is available, the League Commissioner should take all of the Star Player cards from Blood Bowl and Death Zone and shuffle them all together. He then turns over the top card on the deck, which represents the first player through the doors. St a reserve price and bid for the player as described above. Then turn over the next card and bid for that player, and so on. This carries on until the D6 roll to establish the reserve price is a ‘1’. A roll of 1 means that this is the last ‘exceptional’ player that will come through the door. The player the 1 was rolled for is bid for as normal, and then the Crush is over.