Blood Bowl – Old World Alliance & Underworld Denizens Pitch

Since a few weeks the Blood Bowl setting has been expanded with a revised Underworld roster and a new Old World Alliance roster. As with almost every team release, special play cards, dice and a pitch come along too. In this review we take a closer look at the latter.

The product costs, depending on the retailer you order it from, about 30,- € and comes in a sturdy packaging. The contents are the typical cardboard for dugouts, the field itself, a foam inlay that prevents the longer dugout from snapping, and the packaging that can be used as a practical slipcase.

The pitch is printed on both sides, nearly 3mm thick and has received a layer of matt varnish in the last printing step. Just like the original field from the core box set, it gives a robust first impression.

The first pitch represents thematically a market place, which has been repurposed as a playground. This is not the ideal place for a Blood Bowl team to play a match, but a large amount of spectators is guaranteed and therefore each team gains +1 to its fame.

However, such a large crowd can also have a detrimental effect on the health of the players and so they each suffer +1 on their Injury Roll when they are pushed off the field. The small details on the field nicely show that this is a hastily cleared space and so you can find smaller details on the edge, such as the gully tops that replace the classic trapdoors and leftover bottles and plates with food. The reserve bench also matches the style.

The Underworld field, on the other hand, unsurprisingly represents a stadium beneath the surface. Veins of warpstone and the colorful mushroom flora make sure that all players who show up here lose some brain power during the game and gain the Bonehead trait. Players who already have this trait will gain Really Stupid instead. The team that will probably suffer most from that, are Vampires, who then have to take a test for Bloodlust and Bonehead as well.

Details are not sparse here either. The trademark of the pitches, the flat goblin, can be found here as well as the puking night goblin.

What becomes clear on closer inspection is that both dugouts and pitches seem to have been created predominantly on the computer. The pitch of the core box was actually constructed and then digitalized, which is not the case here. On the Old World side this is noticeable, but does not disrupt the overall picture. On the Underworld side, on the other hand, the stalagmites in particular seem somewhat dull.

Conclusion
For about 30,- € the Old World Underworld field does not need to fear comparison with other pitches or the playing mats from third party manufacturers. Overall, the product leaves a good impression. How well it holds up once it is used a little more often will only become apparent over time.

A big plus is the matt finish, which largely prevents light reflections, making the pitch suitable for match reports. One flaw, however, is the moiré effect that can be seen on the Underworld side. My apprenticeship as an offset printer was a good two decades ago, but back then that was actually a reason not to sell the product on the market. On the Old World side, I discovered a so-called pull strip. This usually happens when a printed sheet is pulled from the finished stack during the production process to measure the ink density.

The fact that the rules for the two fields are printed on the packaging and are not additionally included as an additional card is a little bit annoying, but no biggi in the end. Overall, I like the fact that the field offers two different stadium variants on both sides. Since I've been playing Blood Bowl more like a role-playing game for a long time now, together with the field in the core box, this allows you to represent four different locations for your team.

So is the Old World Underworld pitch a good product? The answer here, as so often, is "it depends". If you have the core box, it's probably not necessary, but it's a nice addition to bring more flair and atmosphere to your games. So from my side I'm satisfied. As long as the product is new on the market, it is also quite decently priced. So if you feel tempted to buy it, you shouldn't wait until the next hard-to-understand price increase, or hope that the field can be auctioned on eBay at a sane price.

Greetings from the Chaosbunker

Dino

Blood Bowl is a brand by Games Workshop.

The reviewed product item was bought by the author.