Welcome, sports fans! Blitz Bowl is a fast-paced sports game that pits two teams against each other in a battle to achieve touchdowns, complete challenges, and score the most points through a mixture of skill, luck and aggression!
The teams are smaller and the games are faster than in Blood Bowl, but the action is just as intense as each player seeks to distinguish themselves in the eyes of Nuffle in the infamous Crush recruitment rituals.
The game features a number of elements that will be familiar to fans of Blood Bowl, meaning that the two games are ideal companions to each other. Players should expect to complete a game of Blitz Bowl within an hour and considerably less once they have a good grasp of the rules, making for a thrilling quick-play experience.
- Quick to play (~30 minutes)
- More accessible than Blood Bowl
- Retains the fun and silliness of Blood Bowl
- Smaller teams and cheaper package
- Excellent production quality
- Limited availability in UK
- Hard to get to the table compared to original Blood Bowl
- American exclusive (limited regions)
- Sports
- Western
- Blood Bowl
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- i'm looking for games which really connect with me and i have an emotional sort of reaction to
- you're going to find it much easier to get it to the table
- the rule set was so simple
- i'm very very impressed by the designer of this one
- it takes everything that's good from puerto rico and does away with all the sort of extra stuff
- essentially it's just one big toy box i absolutely love it
- you're really doing what it says you're doing
- this really was the the first of the sort of european style modern games that was introduced to me
- there's not many games that give me that sense of i've set a trap
- anything they create just is fantastic
- it just feels right for that style of game
- you don't have to think playing talisman
- you've got to like the other people
References (from this video)
- Simplified Blood Bowl
- Beautiful miniatures
- Easy to assemble
- Appealing to football fans
- Miniature sports combat
- American football
- Blood Bowl
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Miniature movement — Moving miniatures to score touchdowns
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Gamers are very proud of their hobby
- These will enhance any board game
References (from this video)
- Accessible, quick to learn
- Limited model variety vs Blood Bowl
- Sports-themed fantasy skirmish
- Football-esque board game with fantasy teams
- Casual, fast-paced play
- Blood Bowl
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- team-based skirmish — Fewer players than Blood Bowl; faster play
- Turn-based scoring — Turns and scoring moves on a small board
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- zona alpha is a game by osprey it's a little moderny sort of skirmish style game but it is based lightly off of the concepts from games like stalker on the video games metro 2033
- no swords and wizards and junk like that it's all ak-47s
- vanilla kill team is good clean fun on its own
- the only constant is change
- start with troops
References (from this video)
- Ultra fast-paced two-player experience
- Three actions per player keeps turns short
- Challenge cards add variety and bonus plays
- Accessible and forgiving compared to Blood Bowl
- No solo mode
- Limited availability worldwide
- Not a deep, heavy simulation
- Sports/fantasy hybrid with lighthearted, turbocharged play
- Fantasy football arena with a chaotic, action-forward style; spiritual successor within the Blood Bowl universe
- Fast-paced, humorous, accessible
- Blood Bowl
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Actions per turn — Each player takes three actions per turn, with the constraint that actions must be distinct.
- Block — Hit an adjacent player; roll one die to determine success.
- Challenge cards — Three challenge cards are available each turn; provide bonus points and bonus plays; refresh if not claimed.
- Dugout ball handling — Knocked-down players may require armor saves; if failed, they are removed; ball can scatter when throws fail.
- Mark — Move two spaces but must end turn adjacent to an opponent.
- Move — Move a number of spaces; entering the ball position affects play; cannot move adjacent to opponent when picking up the ball.
- Reserve — Dugout reserves can move to your end zone and re-enter play.
- Scoring and play flow — Touchdowns score three points; scoring player returns to dugout and a new ball is launched into play.
- Throw — Move the ball quickly; throw requires meeting a throw score, with penalties for long range and blockers.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- obviously blitz bowl is a re-imagining of the classic blood bowl
- but despite having the same theme they are incredibly different games
- blood bowl is a risk management game where every failure is punished harshly
- blitz bowl on the other hand is far more forgiving and actively encourages you to do different things with the challenge cards
- the three actions per player keep the turn short and it's an ultra fast paced two player game
- it's probably the most accessible and fun games workshop game i've played in years
- this game is a fast version of blood bowl
- blitzbowl: it's basically rugby sevens
References (from this video)
- Stepping stone to Blood Bowl and miniature games
- Family-friendly with quick, approachable play
- May feel lean for seasoned players
- sports and skirmish
- fantasy football on a pitch
- arcade-style, quick play
- Blood Bowl
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice-driven outcomes — dice determine actions and outcomes
- simplified management — reduced resource/roster management
- turn-based football tactics — fast-paced, simplified Blood Bowl-inspired play
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "gateway to a gateway because really in my mind Blood Bowl itself the big version is kind of a gateway game getting into miniature games in general through the lens of sports"
- "there are bunches one of the biggest suggestions I saw straight through patreon was people saying if you can find the right gateway game"
- "it's a gateway to a gateway"
- "giving your children this kind of example this sort of taste of this kind of thing should help you to then gauge whether or not they want to do it again"
References (from this video)
- Best Warhammer game the host has played
- Fixes all problems of full Blood Bowl
- Quick to play at 45 minutes
- Really funny and satisfying
- Tells a good story through gameplay
- Minimal dice rolls
- Simple and streamlined rules
- Intuitive to play
- Clever objective card system
- Great catch-up mechanism
- Great miniatures
- Expandable with Blood Bowl figures
- Not available outside America and Germany
- Limited distribution
- Violent fantasy football with power moves
- Warhammer fantasy football
- Action-based miniatures game
- Blood Bowl
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action points — Three actions per turn shared among team
- Catch-Up Mechanic — Powerful cards benefit underdog player
- Dice combat — Single dice roll for combat resolution
- Objective Cards — Players claim openly visible objectives for points
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I haven't had that many games that have sort of left out to me and I'm sort of screamed for my attention
- It's hugely satisfying to see those magnets moving around the board as if by magic
- High society is a classic it's a modern classic
- I think Skylands is flying under the radar and I think it deserves more buzz
- After a couple of games once you get into that flow it's really satisfying
- This is a real gateway level game it's so much simpler than those other games
- Blitz Bowl fixes everything about Blood Bowl
- You're not gonna find deep strategy in this box this is simple simple stuff really
- I cannot beat my partner at Bunny Kingdom I constantly try and get close but it's difficult