
Over 30 years ago, my Blood Bowl journey started with the second edition metal Skaven models and the above rat ogre that I converted from an old school metal BoneRipper model. That team has long passed on and the rat ogre as given to a good buddy and he’s owned it for a few decades. This fall, I’m hosting a Gutter Bowl event with an old school flair….pre-2016 edition of BB models only. For this, my buddy had sent me the rat ogre back, and with this model I’ve decided that as he was part of the Alpha Team…he’ll also be part of the Omega.

Over the past three decades, I’ve had three long stretches where I’ve been very active with the game, but they’ve been separated by periods where I got out…and sold all my teams. These periods were from about 1993-2004, then 2014-2017, and finally 2020-now. These three periods saw/see me attending many tournaments (to include travel) and running or participating in leagues. Despite ducking in and out, I’ve played more sessions of BB-flavored games than any other game (besides something like Boogle or Rummikub… wife favorites).

This past summer, I was reading a collected work of Alan Watts. In one of his pieces he gave his take on the Buddhist Parable of the Raft. This resonated, but as a nerd, it resonated with the twist of how I engage with my hobby projects. Some of my best friends came from being involved in Blood Bowl. I’ll probably never go sell off teams again, but at the same time… I don’t need any more. Like the raft is a burden to carry once used to cross the river… I no longer need to paint any more Blood Bowl teams. Painting more teams won’t get me involved in more Blood Bowl games and events. I currently have more painted Blood Bowl teams than I have had in any of my periods in the past. They cover a wide array of play styles. Some I have yet to even use and I’ve mastered none of them. I’m not out here winning leagues and tournaments. So, I really don’t need to keep down the path of painting more teams. I think I have like 10 or so. Painting more BB teams is what has slowed down many other projects I’ve wanted to do. So, the raft of Blood Bowl teams have done their job, I can participate in any sort of Blood Bowl event. I can play the game for decades. No need to paint more.

I have painted modern, plastic skaven BB models, but they are half a squad for Blitz Bowl and Dungeon Bowl Teams. I’ve never painted the 3rd edition metal team. So, as my first Blood Bowl team was a metal (2nd ed) skaven team, a (3rd ed) skaven metal team bookends my Blood Bowl journey. It’s possible I might paint another half team for Blitz Bowl here or there and certainly the occasional single Star Player model, but the era of painting full squads is over.