Blood Bowl's creator is back on the pitch. Jervis Johnson, the designer behind Games Workshop's legendary fantasy football game, has teamed up with Mantic Games and Alessio Cavatore (Kings of War, Bolt Action) to rebuild DreadBall from the ground up as a fast-paced sci-fi sports board game, now live on Kickstarter.
The original DreadBall launched on Kickstarter in 2012 (designed by Jake Thornton) and ran for several editions, building a dedicated fanbase without quite breaking into the mainstream. All Stars is a fresh start. Seven teams of pre-assembled miniatures come in the box, so there's no painting required to get playing (though nobody's going to stop you). Games run about 60 minutes, a far cry from the multi-hour affairs that tabletop sports games sometimes demand.
Three arena boards cover standard two-player matches, while a fourth Battle Royale arena supports up to six players, making this one of the few sports-themed board games that works at a full table. Championship play with legacy-style cards adds longer-term stakes between sessions.
Johnson describes the difference from his earlier work: "If Blood Bowl is like American Football, then All Stars is like a full-contact version of NBA Basketball, with lots of opportunities to score, and just as many opportunities to flatten the opposition." Each of the seven teams plays differently, from the hard-hitting Juggernauts to the nimble Jets.
The campaign funded within 25 minutes of launching on 17 March and runs until around 10 April. If you've been waiting for a tabletop sports game fast enough to fit into a regular game night, the pitch is on.
Sources: Kickstarter | Mantic Games | Bell of Lost Souls