04-05-2023, 01:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-09-2023, 09:53 PM by xenosthelegend. Edited 3 times in total.)
If you don’t know, Blood Bowl is a miniature tabletop spinoff from Warhammer that brings those factions into the completely related world of…. Football. And in that spirit, I decided to sit down and match up the teams of Blood Bowl to another completely related world, the ISFL! I’ve grouped the teams here in three categories based on how easy it was to corollate the teams or how much of a reach it took. Within each section there is no particular order, just the order I typed them up in!
Teams that were easy to match up:
New York Silverbacks
Black Orcs: Thunder Valley Greenskins
The black orcs in blood bowl are massive, hunched over beasts with an affinity for pounding things. Add in that in blood bowl their armor is black with silver, literally….. on their backs, and this was an easy call. I’d expect these guys to hold on to the ball just as firmly as a damsel in distress.
Yellowknife Wraiths
Necromantic Horrors: Wolfenburg Crypt Stealers
The fact that Necromantic Horrors could easily be a nickname for YKW made this choice a no brainer. Not only is the blood bowl team made up of the undead, but they even include two wraiths in their lineup. A few headstones are also included in the set, probably to mark where Yellowknife has been leaving their opponents these last few seasons.
Cape Town Crash
Elven Union: Elfheim Eagles
This one is color only reasoning. But instead of listing it lower with my teams that are more of a reach, I included it up here in the easy matches because of the uncommon nature of bright orange and bright purple as team colors- a perfect match between a blood bowl and ISFL team. And the Eagle… a call back to the patriotic days in Philly?
Austin Copperheads
Amazons: Kara Temple Harpies
They have green, they have copper, they have snakes. The fact that that sentence applies to either team on its own made this choice a given. If Austin gave up the ISFL to become an all female blood bowl team they would have to change zero percent of their branding to make the swap.
Arizona Outlaws
Khorne: Skull Tribe Slaughterers
This one took me a while because I could see a few different teams here waving Khorne’s banner and letting the blood flow (looking at you, butchers). But ultimately I decided Arizona bit the bill the best here. Their colors match up well to the Skull Tribe uniform, and something about the shape of the Khorne's sigil atop their helmets reminds me of the Outlaw mask. That, and a dominating culture on the field made me go with Arizona here.
Chicago Butchers
Orc: Gouged Eye
Don’t worry Chicago, I have another butcherous (that’s a word) team for you! A people who refer to most of their weapons as “choppas” and have selected red as their team’s armor color, the orcs are a solid reflection of the Butchers in the world of blood bowl. Their units are covered in blades and spikes, and that silver trim just puts the icing on the cake!
New Orleans Second Line
Dark Elves: Naggaroth Nightmares
A purple wearing team with local traditions of occultism and dark magics. It almost sounds like blood bowl designers used the Second Line as their inspiration! Sure the ISFL New Orleans team may lean more into the fun and celebratory nature of their city, but the flip side of that coin is their blood bowl equivalents, the dark elves!
Teams that were harder to match up:
Berlin Fire Salamanders
Chaos Chosen: The Doom Lords
Sure, a bunch of chaos cultists have nothing to do with salamanders….but the do have fire! And a lot of it! Even a few fire miniatures as part of the set. Red is also the primary color of this team, and while the secondary silver doesn’t necessarily match with Berlin, the fire connection more than made up for it.
Colorado Yeti
Ogres: The Fire Mountain Gut Busters
When you have a team called the Yeti and a team made up of ogres who’s models are at least a time and a half larger than anyone else’s, you have to make the connection here. Sure, the colors don’t really line up, and for some reason there are also goblins on the team, but every ISFL team has some fodder…. I mean, IA on it, right? The monstrous matchup was too much to overlook here.
Teams that are a bit of a reach, but there is still some semblance of reasoning for:
Orange County Otters
Dwarves: The Dwarf Giants
Yes, the team is blue. But their beards or bright orange! They’re small and adorable! Dwarves are basically otters strapped in armor and sent to play blood bowl. If you don’t agree, fight me irl. (Even more evidence- both otters and dwarves have five fingers)
San Jose Sabercats
Halflings: Greenfield Grasshuggers
Green and gold. Not really on anyone’s radar. Haflings or San Jose? Exactly. But on the upside, theirs is the only team that comes with food as part of its kit, so they have that going for them!
Baltimore Hawks
Skaven: Skavenblight
Ok, ok, before anyone immediately asks how I matched up hawks with rats whose colors don’t even match, hear me out. Mice with wings are bats. And bats with beaks are birds. So we are all in the same family here. Plus, the elite units on this team have big red capes. Red for Baltimore, and capes for…flying.
Honolulu Hahalua
Lizardmen: Gwaka’moli Crater Gators
Yep, its another animal team matched up with a different animal, I get it. But this one makes at least as much sense as Baltimore. The Lizardmen are blue and have yellow feathers. Now toss in that they also worship spirits, you can’t tell me a massive flying Hahalua wouldn’t become an object of importance to them.
Sarasota Sailfish
Norsca: Norsca Rampagers
Yes, sailfish aren’t Vikings. And no, they don’t wear fur on their shoulders. But what do they both do? Sail! The command of the seas is the connection here, and the shared blue color of their teams only solidifies that nautical bond. If sailfish developed legs, crawled on land, and evolved for millions more years, there is a nonzero chance they would become Vikings.
And now, to make that extra cash monies: (595 words)
Ironically- or perhaps it was destiny- as I sat down to write this media @Twenty6 reminded me that today is the one year anniversary of the day I joined the league. Hard to believe time has flown by that quickly. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I was first scouted by a multi, or claimed off waivers and subjected to @Sebster for a season and a half. And now here I sit, going into my fifth season as a DSFL GM. Hard to believe, indeed.
The league has become a big part of my life, honestly. I play some games online, but outside of a few irl friends I’m not part of any clans, guilds, communities, etc. Other, than the ISFL, that is. I joined initially because it looked like a kind of cool DnD/Fantasy Football hybrid that could be an interesting diversion. First part is true, but its become far more than just a diversion for me. Its become the first (and so far only) online community that I’ve really felt like I was part of, knew a lot of the people, and actively participated in.
Believe it or not, but I generally do not like talking on voice chats in games, at work, etc. And yet I’m always down for a team game night and even helped host the draft my first season as GM. I’m also not particularly comfortable in the spotlight, yet somehow the league has pulled the dobble, a chicken rap, and a diss track out of me. How? I’m still not totally sure. For what is effectively a bunch of strangers collaboratively pretending to be football league, I got so comfortable here, so fast.
Going through a quick history of my time here a lot of users have had an impact on my obsession with the league. @Sebster and @Gordon Bombay snapped me up out of the TDL pool when I had no idea what I was doing and gave me a locker room full of activity and veterans, yet still felt instantly accessible as a noob with zero understanding of league history or the inside jokes. That active and welcoming culture is something I appreciated day one and strive to keep alive now that I am using the GM braincell. I was also lucky enough to get claimed off waivers alongside, and then later redrafted with @Twenty6. We were London’s rookie safety duo and 26 quickly became one of my best friends in the league. Another rookie I grew up alongside was @Reedy0rNot who not only was a big locker room voice but also proved me there is actually country music I like. Have to give @negs and @Luciddreams702 big credit for brining me to Philly-Now-Capetown, which has been a great experience staying and growing with a team as opposed to the transient nature of the DSFL. And of course there is @lordcoolcats part time teammate, part time rap adversary, full time gif signature enjoyer who has made things fun on both side of the league as well! And now most recently, my new co GM @"LeSizz" who is unintentionally making me recheck everything I know about my job so that I don’t tell him the wrong information!
And now here I am part of a group of local ISFLers looking to meet up in real life. Who would have thought? I’m past 500 words and now I’ll admit I’ve somewhat forgotten was the prompt for this was, so I will leave you graders with the last line from The Breakfast Club… “Does that answer your question?”
Teams that were easy to match up:
New York Silverbacks
Black Orcs: Thunder Valley Greenskins
The black orcs in blood bowl are massive, hunched over beasts with an affinity for pounding things. Add in that in blood bowl their armor is black with silver, literally….. on their backs, and this was an easy call. I’d expect these guys to hold on to the ball just as firmly as a damsel in distress.
Yellowknife Wraiths
Necromantic Horrors: Wolfenburg Crypt Stealers
The fact that Necromantic Horrors could easily be a nickname for YKW made this choice a no brainer. Not only is the blood bowl team made up of the undead, but they even include two wraiths in their lineup. A few headstones are also included in the set, probably to mark where Yellowknife has been leaving their opponents these last few seasons.
Cape Town Crash
Elven Union: Elfheim Eagles
This one is color only reasoning. But instead of listing it lower with my teams that are more of a reach, I included it up here in the easy matches because of the uncommon nature of bright orange and bright purple as team colors- a perfect match between a blood bowl and ISFL team. And the Eagle… a call back to the patriotic days in Philly?
Austin Copperheads
Amazons: Kara Temple Harpies
They have green, they have copper, they have snakes. The fact that that sentence applies to either team on its own made this choice a given. If Austin gave up the ISFL to become an all female blood bowl team they would have to change zero percent of their branding to make the swap.
Arizona Outlaws
Khorne: Skull Tribe Slaughterers
This one took me a while because I could see a few different teams here waving Khorne’s banner and letting the blood flow (looking at you, butchers). But ultimately I decided Arizona bit the bill the best here. Their colors match up well to the Skull Tribe uniform, and something about the shape of the Khorne's sigil atop their helmets reminds me of the Outlaw mask. That, and a dominating culture on the field made me go with Arizona here.
Chicago Butchers
Orc: Gouged Eye
Don’t worry Chicago, I have another butcherous (that’s a word) team for you! A people who refer to most of their weapons as “choppas” and have selected red as their team’s armor color, the orcs are a solid reflection of the Butchers in the world of blood bowl. Their units are covered in blades and spikes, and that silver trim just puts the icing on the cake!
New Orleans Second Line
Dark Elves: Naggaroth Nightmares
A purple wearing team with local traditions of occultism and dark magics. It almost sounds like blood bowl designers used the Second Line as their inspiration! Sure the ISFL New Orleans team may lean more into the fun and celebratory nature of their city, but the flip side of that coin is their blood bowl equivalents, the dark elves!
Teams that were harder to match up:
Berlin Fire Salamanders
Chaos Chosen: The Doom Lords
Sure, a bunch of chaos cultists have nothing to do with salamanders….but the do have fire! And a lot of it! Even a few fire miniatures as part of the set. Red is also the primary color of this team, and while the secondary silver doesn’t necessarily match with Berlin, the fire connection more than made up for it.
Colorado Yeti
Ogres: The Fire Mountain Gut Busters
When you have a team called the Yeti and a team made up of ogres who’s models are at least a time and a half larger than anyone else’s, you have to make the connection here. Sure, the colors don’t really line up, and for some reason there are also goblins on the team, but every ISFL team has some fodder…. I mean, IA on it, right? The monstrous matchup was too much to overlook here.
Teams that are a bit of a reach, but there is still some semblance of reasoning for:
Orange County Otters
Dwarves: The Dwarf Giants
Yes, the team is blue. But their beards or bright orange! They’re small and adorable! Dwarves are basically otters strapped in armor and sent to play blood bowl. If you don’t agree, fight me irl. (Even more evidence- both otters and dwarves have five fingers)
San Jose Sabercats
Halflings: Greenfield Grasshuggers
Green and gold. Not really on anyone’s radar. Haflings or San Jose? Exactly. But on the upside, theirs is the only team that comes with food as part of its kit, so they have that going for them!
Baltimore Hawks
Skaven: Skavenblight
Ok, ok, before anyone immediately asks how I matched up hawks with rats whose colors don’t even match, hear me out. Mice with wings are bats. And bats with beaks are birds. So we are all in the same family here. Plus, the elite units on this team have big red capes. Red for Baltimore, and capes for…flying.
Honolulu Hahalua
Lizardmen: Gwaka’moli Crater Gators
Yep, its another animal team matched up with a different animal, I get it. But this one makes at least as much sense as Baltimore. The Lizardmen are blue and have yellow feathers. Now toss in that they also worship spirits, you can’t tell me a massive flying Hahalua wouldn’t become an object of importance to them.
Sarasota Sailfish
Norsca: Norsca Rampagers
Yes, sailfish aren’t Vikings. And no, they don’t wear fur on their shoulders. But what do they both do? Sail! The command of the seas is the connection here, and the shared blue color of their teams only solidifies that nautical bond. If sailfish developed legs, crawled on land, and evolved for millions more years, there is a nonzero chance they would become Vikings.
And now, to make that extra cash monies: (595 words)
Ironically- or perhaps it was destiny- as I sat down to write this media @Twenty6 reminded me that today is the one year anniversary of the day I joined the league. Hard to believe time has flown by that quickly. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I was first scouted by a multi, or claimed off waivers and subjected to @Sebster for a season and a half. And now here I sit, going into my fifth season as a DSFL GM. Hard to believe, indeed.
The league has become a big part of my life, honestly. I play some games online, but outside of a few irl friends I’m not part of any clans, guilds, communities, etc. Other, than the ISFL, that is. I joined initially because it looked like a kind of cool DnD/Fantasy Football hybrid that could be an interesting diversion. First part is true, but its become far more than just a diversion for me. Its become the first (and so far only) online community that I’ve really felt like I was part of, knew a lot of the people, and actively participated in.
Believe it or not, but I generally do not like talking on voice chats in games, at work, etc. And yet I’m always down for a team game night and even helped host the draft my first season as GM. I’m also not particularly comfortable in the spotlight, yet somehow the league has pulled the dobble, a chicken rap, and a diss track out of me. How? I’m still not totally sure. For what is effectively a bunch of strangers collaboratively pretending to be football league, I got so comfortable here, so fast.
Going through a quick history of my time here a lot of users have had an impact on my obsession with the league. @Sebster and @Gordon Bombay snapped me up out of the TDL pool when I had no idea what I was doing and gave me a locker room full of activity and veterans, yet still felt instantly accessible as a noob with zero understanding of league history or the inside jokes. That active and welcoming culture is something I appreciated day one and strive to keep alive now that I am using the GM braincell. I was also lucky enough to get claimed off waivers alongside, and then later redrafted with @Twenty6. We were London’s rookie safety duo and 26 quickly became one of my best friends in the league. Another rookie I grew up alongside was @Reedy0rNot who not only was a big locker room voice but also proved me there is actually country music I like. Have to give @negs and @Luciddreams702 big credit for brining me to Philly-Now-Capetown, which has been a great experience staying and growing with a team as opposed to the transient nature of the DSFL. And of course there is @lordcoolcats part time teammate, part time rap adversary, full time gif signature enjoyer who has made things fun on both side of the league as well! And now most recently, my new co GM @"LeSizz" who is unintentionally making me recheck everything I know about my job so that I don’t tell him the wrong information!
And now here I am part of a group of local ISFLers looking to meet up in real life. Who would have thought? I’m past 500 words and now I’ll admit I’ve somewhat forgotten was the prompt for this was, so I will leave you graders with the last line from The Breakfast Club… “Does that answer your question?”