LONGBOMB - THE BLOOD BOWL NEWSLETTER by Andy Hall 
Issue 3 

Here we are again! Sorry the issue is a little late, I've got caught up in 
Inquisitor deadlines (the other game I manage). Anyway here it is. 

NEWS 
I spent Wednesday morning at the printers trying to get (with the help of 
the printer at the press) the 'Blood Bowl blue' just right on the next issue 
of BBmag. This issue focuses on the Necromantics. Zara the Slayer also makes 

her debut this issue. Here's the editorial: 

It's issue 9 and I'm in a very reminiscent mood today, so it's time for a 
bit of nostalgia! I first joined Fanatic at its inception in 2000 when 
Jervis plucked me from the depths of Mail Order. At the time, Blood Bowl was 
in a bit of a state. After a re-release in 1998, it had recently come out of 
the stores, the legacy of poor support for the hobby. 
The first thing we did was make the game available again. This was closely 
followed by BBMag1 which contained the now infamous 4th Edition rules. Now 
they bring back a lot of mixed feelings here in the Fanatic Office as well 
as in the BB Community at large. However, it did two things that have helped 
make Blood Bowl what it is today. Firstly, it got everybody talking about 
Blood Bowl again - Internet message boards and chat rooms flared up after 
months of dormancy. Secondly, it also set the wheels in motion for the BBRC, 
in effect we learnt from our mistakes in that springing a whole new rules 
set on an unsuspecting Blood Bowl community was a bad thing, so the BBRC 
represents the community in the evolution of the game. 
So where are we today? Well, Blood Bowl has never been more popular. The 
game is growing at a phenomenal rate, boxed sets and Handbooks are flying 
off the shelves, there's the living rulebook and an independent society in 
the NAF. The Tourney circuit gets bigger every year and soon there will be a 
Major in Europe, America and Canada. All in all, Blood Bowl has come a long 
way in the past three years. That's not to say everything's perfect - far 
from it! But it's never been a better time to be a Blood Bowl Coach. 

The Chaos Cup was hosted in Chicago at Games Day last weekend. I've been 
reliably informed that everybody had a great time. The special guest was 
Jervis Johnson (who's he! Why can't I go to these gigs!?). Jervis handed 
over the cup to Xavi Tomás of Spain. This means that Team Spain hold both of 
the Majors! Are Spanish players the best in the world? On current evidence, 
yes! Expect a full report in BBmag10. You can see pictures of the event at 
the GamesDay US website or by clicking the hyperlink here: 
http://us.games-workshop.com/news/us/events/GamesDay2003/Coverage/Chicago/Bl 
ood%20Bowl%20Tournament/Blood_Bowl_Tourney.htm 

(If this hasn't hyper linked simply cut and paste into your browser.) 

Another big Tournament held in America recently was at GenCon. Tom Anders 
did an excellent job of organising the largest Blood Bowl tournament to date 
on American shores. The GenCon Bowl was won by Wolfgang Eigl of Austria 
coaching the Undead team the Death Raiders. Wolfgang managed all this with 
no Star Players in his team! Expect to see a full report in BBmag and you 
can also check out Tom's website www.blood-bowl.net

While talking about Tourneys GW Canada will be holding one at this year's 
Canadian Games Day Jervis will also be attending (there's that name again, 
who is he?) and I'm sure it all be a good laugh. This year's tourney is a 
forerunner to the Spike! Being held in Canada next year. For more info 
follow this link: 
http://www.games-workshop.ca/news/cn/events/GamesDay2003-CA/announce.htm 

I've recently been contacted by the editor at Legions Realm Monthly: An 
Internet gaming magazine. They've become quite taken with Blood Bowl and 
have been giving some excellent coverage in their last few issues. The 
Magazine is free to download so it's well worth a look. Check out: 
www.legionsRealm.com. 

What's on My DEsk 
This section is called 'What's on my desk' because I simply talk about the 
models that currently grace it. 

Not too much this time. We've had the Minotaur in for a couple of weeks now 
you may have seen on the Picture of the Day at the Specialist Games Website, 
if not we'll pop him up again soon. 

Have I mentioned the Ogre Cheerleader before? She (it!) has made a few 
appearances at Games Days so I'm sure that there will be a few pics of her 
at on the web somewhere. For those of you who still haven't clapped eyes on 
this beauty she comes complete with a rather fetching thong, Squig pom-poms 
and large patches of under-arm hair - Britney, eat your heart out! 

EVENTS & TOURNEYS 
Ropecon 2503, 9th-10th of August, Finland, 
http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~ttokola/NAF/Ropecon2003/ 

Britcon, 15th-17th of August, UK, Email: richard.would@legalservices.gov.uk 

Morg's Mannheim Massaker, 30th-31st of August, Germany, 
http://bloodbowl.bei.t-online.de/mmm/ 

The Death Bowl 2003, 18th-19th October, Canada, www.house-rulez.com 

Well that's it for this issue. I can be contacted through our websites at 
www.specialist-games.com or www.BloodBowl.com. You can also email me at 
Fanatic@gamesworkshop.co.uk, see you in a few months. 

'Anything but a one' 
Andy.