Blood Bowl Spike Journal 18 First Look - Fire Breathing Little Freaks

For many a Blood Bowl fan, half the fun of the game is waiting to see what new armies will be brought out onto the pitch in a new issue of Spike Journal. And this time around, Spike Journal 18 is truly playing to the crowd with the inclusion of Chaos Dwarfs into the game! Games Workshop provided us with a copy of Blood Bowl Spike Journal 18 to check out ahead of its release, so read on for our quick-look preview!

Chaos Dwarfs Shine Like Hot Rocks

Let's jump right in and talk about the Chaos Dwarfs, and the role they'll be playing in Blood Bowl. Fresh from the forges of Zharr-Naggrund, the Chaos Dwarfs erupt onto the field ready for some serious carnage. In fact, they're so good at duking it out with their opponents that they often forget to move the ball around. Luckily, a Chaos Dwarfs team can also field Hobgoblins, who do a lot of the ball carrying.

A Chaos Dwarfs team can employ the following units:

• 0 - 16 Hobgoblin Lineman
• 0-2 Hobgoblin Sneaky Stabba
• 0-4 Chaos Dwarf Blocker
• 0-2 Chaos Dwarf Flamesmith
• 0-2 Bull Centaur Blitzer
• 0-1 Minotaur

They also feature a brand new trait, "Breathe Fire (trait)," which states that Once per activation, instead of performing a Block action (either on its own or as part of a Blitz action), this player may perform a Breathe Fire Special action. When you do so, you choose one Standing opposition player and roll a D6, with a good enough roll, you can light them on fire and knock them down!

They also have an Updated Skill, "Iron Hard Skin (Mutation)," which reads: "Opposing players cannot modify any Armour rolls made against this player. In addition, the Claws skill cannot be used when making an Armour roll against this player."

I really love the flavor seen throughout the Journal, as we get a ton of lore and history around Chaos Dwarfs in the world of Blood Bowl. As always, the Journal is full of that classic wit and good sense of humor that adds some levity to this wonderfully ridiculous game.

Star Players Make The Grade

Contained within the pages of Blood Bowl Spike Journal 18 are three Star Players from the world of the Chaos Dwarfs! They each bring something unique to the game. Let's start with Zzharg Madeye, a Thrower who's a master of tinkering with the blunderbuss. His special ability, "Then I Started Blastin'!", gives him the opportunity to try and take a shot at an opposing player.

There's also H'thark the Unstoppable, a Bull Centaur Blitzer with the "Unstoppable Momentum" special ability that allows him to re-roll a single block die when he blitzes. I really like the look of this player, and love how the Chaos Dwarfs let you get some Bull Centaurs onto the field.

Finally for the star players, there's Rashnak Backstabber, "The Hobgoblin Hitman." Rashnak is a Sneaky Stabba who's special ability allows him to add to his injury roll if he successfully breaks armor with a Stab action, because he's bringing poison onto the field. Each of these three Star Players of course also feature great stats, and a range of impressive Skills and Traits. All in all I think Zzharg Madeye is likely the most exciting of the group, but each plays a great role on the field.  

Pro Playbook Helps You Score

Also of note is the very helpful Pro Playbook toward the back of the book, which helps you get to know the Chaos Dwarf crew and is useful in thinking about how to field your team. This is especially appreciated as, and even the Journal itself admits this, Chaos Dwarf teams can be tricky to field at first because of all the different moving parts.

Because some of the players on a Chaos Dwarf team will invariably be slow (aka Dwarfs) while others are quite fast (like Centaurs and Hobgoblins), keeping your group more or less together will be key to success. With advice for how to field on offense (crunch the defense and then have your speedier players gain forward momentum) and defense (let none pass your little shield wall of stocky dudes), the Pro Playbook is extremely helpful.

Blood Bowl Spike Journal 18 also features rules for Dungeon Bowl, tons of lore, and a classic comic strip. If you're interested in building up a Chaos Dwarf team, Spike Journal 18 is a must!

The digital copy of Spike Journal 18 used in the creation of this review was provided by Games Workshop.