Is BB popular still? Options

[Gop]

Is BB getting more popular or is it mainly online play nowadays?

[Mango]

very popular Eucbowl is the biggest tourney in the southern hemisphere and cancon isnt far behind it.

Aust has a pretty strong BB scene and it is pretty massive in europe as well.

I think the low entry cost and stable ruleset has attracted alot of new players and also seen alot of old school players return also.

[anc001]

4 tournaments and 3 leagues in Adelaide last year, Definately growing.
3rd party fantasy football companies have made it a breeze to get block dice, fields and cheap minis while the tournament have give aways like range rulers, dugouts and such that mean anyone. can get the gear they need easily.

[sangraal]

very popular Eucbowl is the biggest tourney in the southern hemisphere and cancon isnt far behind it.

Eucbowl is the biggest outside Europe, bigger than any in North America.

[D_Arquebus]

A whole lot of Table Top leagues can be found here.



Also I know a number of Clubs on here (Western Warriors/ QLD Northern Knights etc) are all regular Blood bowl players or runs leagues frequently.



Cheers

[Nayfan]

Yup Bloodbowl is massive and it is getting better & better!

[DarkHorse]

I would hate to be left out. All 3 "big" SA BB commissioners have now posted in this thread. (anc001 runs a league here in Adelaide too)

I would say that BB is the biggest it has ever been really. There are alot of folks getting exposure online but if they really like it, they tend to seek out a tabletop community. I know my league has recruited a few coaches that way.

This post has been edited by DarkHorse: Feb 22 2012, 04:03 PM

[the duke]

I was at Realm of Legends (Melb) last night and there were 5 Blood Bowl tables going most of the night.

[van der vaart]

Yep, Blood Bowl is pretty big down here too!

[bin5150]

I am very new to the game (no commish experience) but this is what I've noticed. Late last year I found the listing of a local gaming club so my son and I could learn to play 40k. So I grabbed my AoBR starter kit and headed to the Queensland Northern Knights. While watching a game of 40K, I couldn't help but notice a bunch of guys surrounding a number of tables and having the time of thier life. I was more interested in the laughes, cheers, whooping and hooting and the few cries that came from these tables. This my friends, is Blood Bowl.

In order to get into this fun, I started in a league a couple of monthes ago. The commish was gracous enough to loan me one of his teams till I got my own, and the guys I play are full of support and tips, and more than happy to help me along. In this short amount of time I've realised that its not just about a great game that a bald guy in his 40's can play. Its about community. It's about looking forward to your team building its skills for the next season, while already planning your next team for the season after that. Its about looking forward to playing in your first of many tornys, and helping the club prepare thier's. Its about giving up looking on ebay for pre-loved teams because no-one wants to let go of them.

So I may not have the gaming experience yet, but from where I look....."Yes! BB is still popular"

ps. My 40k starter kit hasn't come out since.

[anc001]

I am very new to the game (no commish experience) but this is what I've noticed. Late last year I found the listing of a local gaming club so my son and I could learn to play 40k. So I grabbed my AoBR starter kit and headed to the Queensland Northern Knights. While watching a game of 40K, I couldn't help but notice a bunch of guys surrounding a number of tables and having the time of thier life. I was more interested in the laughes, cheers, whooping and hooting and the few cries that came from these tables. This my friends, is Blood Bowl.

In order to get into this fun, I started in a league a couple of monthes ago. The commish was gracous enough to loan me one of his teams till I got my own, and the guys I play are full of support and tips, and more than happy to help me along. In this short amount of time I've realised that its not just about a great game that a bald guy in his 40's can play. Its about community. It's about looking forward to your team building its skills for the next season, while already planning your next team for the season after that. Its about looking forward to playing in your first of many tornys, and helping the club prepare thier's. Its about giving up looking on ebay for pre-loved teams because no-one wants to let go of them.

So I may not have the gaming experience yet, but from where I look....."Yes! BB is still popular"

ps. My 40k starter kit hasn't come out since.

a great description of why this game is so popular, most people can recount their bb origin to a story like this, sometimes that was decades ago!
I suspect it has moved from smaller groups at eachothers houses towards organized leagues a bit more over recent years due to interwebs and places like ausbowl.

[SinisterDexter]

Since about 2008 it has really exploded in Australia. There are, by my count, 15 formalized leagues in Australia with more than five consecutive seasons under their belts and at least six annual tournaments that have attracted more than 20 competitors (two that attract over 50) in recent years. Eucalyptus Bowl, the biggest tournament outside of Europe, is coming up in early July and may crack 70 or 80 coaches. The game has a large traveling group who attend interstate tourneys and there is even a sanctioned (by the NAF, a global management body) Nationals tournament and a State vs State tournament. It even has a national quarterly magazine called BL!TZ (shameless plug, I'm the editor) that runs over 100 pages an issue and is up to issue 5 in July.

BB is well supported globally by a very active European community, several niche product and miniature companies and three podcasts.

Suffice to say, it is big and getting bigger. Cyanide has grown the community more than reduced it. If you want to check out the local community, check out WAU's sister-site (they were both created by the same person), AusBowl.com