Blood Bowl is once again getting an Almanac this year that collects the various 2024 releases into one handy book. In this feature we’re going to take a look at exactly what this volume contains, and go into a bit more of a detailed review of one element in particular: the new Star Players! Many thanks to Games Workshop for providing us with an advanced copy of the 2024 Almanac for review.
What’s Inside?
At its core, the Almanac is a straight reprint of this year’s three Spike! Journals, which contained the rules for the Vampire, Gnome, and Chaos Dwarf teams. That makes up about 75% of the Almanac’s content, so if you already own those, you might want to think carefully about parting with your hard-earned coin for the rest of the book.
We also have the rules and the lore for eight Star Players (six of which have not yet had rules published), while the rest of the book contains a bunch of custom rules for running the (in)famous Chaos Cup, and two pages of pics of models from GW staff teams.
The Chaos Cup
This a set of rules for running the Chaos Cup competition, long considered the second most important trophy in the Blood Bowl universe after the big one itself. The rules can be used for both progression and one-off play, and include suitably unpredictable and dramatic replacement tables for kick-offs and weather to reflect the gaze of the Chaos gods. For progression play, there is a cool feature that allows a player who gains an advancement to gain an additional mutation as a boon from the gods.
New Stars
The Almanac contains six stars that have not yet had models or full rules released. Two of those are completely new and un-previewed, so let’s start with them.
Maple Highgrove
Maple is a young Treeman, and has a slightly tweaked tree statline to reflect that. At ‘only’ Strength 5, Maple is far less of a force than your average tree, but has a whopping 3 MA to make up for it (crucially this means no rolls required to stand-up). Skill-wise, Maple has the usual Stand Firm and Mighty Blow skills, is not subject to Take Root, and also has Brawler, Grab, and Tentacles, making it a much more consistent and versatile player all round. Even better is Maple’s special ability: Vicious Vines lets him make a block, once per half, at a player 2 squares away! That opens up some rather insane potential, and at 210k, Maple seems very attractively priced to me. With availability to Halfling Thimble Cup, Elven Kingdoms, and Old World Classic teams, there are lots of potential team fits for him.
Swiftvine Glimmershard
A more diminutive forest denizen, Swiftvine is a ‘Spiteful Sprite’ with some appropriately dangerous skills, all available to Halfling Thimble Cup and Elven Kingdoms teams. Side Step, Disturbing Presence, Fend, and Stab, all seem to combine for a highly annoying experience for opponents. Unfortunately, with ST2, AV7+, Stunty, and no Dodge skill, she will be removed by the slightest of breezes. At 110k she looks like a major risk, but, wait a minute, what’s this special ability? Furious Outburst lets Swiftvine place herself, once per half, adjacent to an opposition player within 3 squares and make an immediate Stab action. She may then place herself again up to 3 squares away. This is another ability to get the imagination working, and could potentially be used both offensively and defensively. A very strange and tricky piece.
Anqi Panqi
BB20’s first Saurus star player is a solid all-rounder without any gimmicks. He has one extra MA over a normal Saurus, and comes with Block, Grab, and Stand Firm. His special skill, Savage Blow, lets him re-roll any number of Block dice once per game. At 190k, Anqi Panqi is fairly priced, and though he can play for any of the Lustrian Superleague teams he is probably only likely to be picked up by Lizardmen teams with injured Sauruses.
Guffle Pusmaw
Another player who brings one extra MA over his positional-equivalent statline, Pusmaw has a selection of skills that bely his Bloater origins. Monstrous Mouth, Nerves Of Steel, and On the Ball mean this is a blocker who wants to be a ball-carrier. Whether that’s what Chaos coaches want I’m not sure, but Pusmaw has another compelling feature in his special skill Quick Bite. Once per game, if an opposing player catches the ball in his Tackle Zone, Pusmaw may make an armour roll against that player; if he breaks armour, he automatically gains possession of the ball. It’s all a bit niche, and though at 180k, Pusmaw’s weird skill package doesn’t cost a lot of cash, he probably sits in the considerable shadow of the other Bloater star, Bilerot Vomitflesh, at the same price.
Jeremiah Kool
The Flashing Blade is one of the original Blood Bowl legends, and though nominally retired, he has been given a suitably legendary statline. With MA8, Ag1+, and PA2+ Kool can get anywhere and get the ball pretty much anywhere too. Add in a sprinkle of (deep breath]) Block, Dodge, Sidestep, Nerves Of Steel, On The Ball, Pass, Diving Catch, and Dump-Off and you have perhaps the elfiest elf who ever elfed. But just to remind everyone he is a Dark Elf, Kool’s special ability The Flashing Blade lets him, once per game, make a stab action against a player he is marking, followed by a move action. All of this hard elfing sees Kool come in at a hefty 320k, but if you can afford him you are unlikely to be disappointed.
Jordell Freshbreeze
Another one of the game’s perennial stars, Jordell has a super-wardancer statline, with AG1+ and PA3+ over a regular wardancer. Skill-wise he has the usual Wardancer set, plus Diving Catch and Sidestep. His special ability is Swift As The Breeze, and lets him make any dodge, leap, or rush, once per game, on an unmodified 2+. A little underwhelming after Kool perhaps, but Freshbreeze comes in at a much cheaper 250k, and that makes him arguably more efficient.
The final two Stars, Kiroth Krakeneye and Skitter Stab-Stab, were both released with their stats many months ago now, and in Skitter’s case at least became an instant part of the meta in both league and tourney play.
Final Thoughts
Without a wealth of extra features, it’s hard to recommend the Alamanac if you do already own this year’s Spikes. If you don’t, it’s a very convenient package and you’ll get plenty of value out of it, lots of lore to read and enjoy, and a reference point for some stars who are very likely to show up on a Blood Bowl table near you.
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