Gnomes frankly have a tough time winning a game of Blood Bowl – but bringing along a Treeman is a great way to close the height gap. And the strength gap. And the skill gap. These mighty arboreal players give the Gnomes half a shot against most serious teams.
Gnomes are something of an enigma in the world of Blood Bowl, with many fans having dismissed their existence almost entirely. While their tactics, and woodland creatures, are somewhat unorthodox, Gnomes are quite fond of the game. While individual players are hardly paragons of athleticism, their mastery of magical illusions and the befriending of forest beasts gives them certain advantages not enjoyed by less gloriously bearded teams.
Gnome teams play Blood Bowl on pitches deep within their mysterious forests, in clearings between the trees. These aren't just your regular run-of-the-mill forests, though – magic hangs in the air, and all manner of creatures, both fey and mundane, come out of hiding to watch their Gnome friends play Blood Bowl!
Even with their magical illusions, Gnome teams will need all the luck they can get in games of Blood Bowl, which is where these themed dice come in.
Deep in the dank heart of the old forests, mischievous woodland creatures frolic, prance, and beat each other to a pulp playing the age-old game of Blood Bowl. This issue's guest editor, Davide Mirrorfoot, reveals just a few of the secrets of Gnome teams.
Imotekh is a sublimely skilled Necron strategist, wielding his armies with hyperlogical skill and deadly strategic insight. In battle, the Stormlord incinerates enemies with his Gauntlet of Fire, blasts them with pan-dimensional energies from the Staff of the Destroyer, and humbles them in punishing one-on-one duels. As phaeron of the Sautekh Dynasty, with over eighty tomb worlds under his command, Imotekh marches to expand his deathless empire.
The Adeptus Mechanicus march to war as a disturbing fusion of flesh and machine, ruling Tech-Priests and fanatical cyborg followers raising modified voices in binharic praise of the Machine God. Purge Corps Deltic-9 are equipped to scour the contamination of enemy presence from locations of strategic or exploratory importance, employing cybernetic speed and terrifying weapons. Cavalry and winged Pteraxii unleash gouts of purging flame, before radioactive Skitarii bring up the rear to reclaim whatever remains.
A Sydonian Skatros is a sinister cybernetic sentinel, stoic and unmoving until the moment an enemy strays into range of their huge rifle. Mechanical, stilt-like limbs allow them to traverse hazardous terrain and survey the environment, shrouded by a smog of incense-exhaust. With protocol-driven precision and an advanced scanner known as the achillan eye, they lock on to their foes’ weakpoints and unleash pinpoint fire that sows panic and agony – all the better for eroding enemy morale.
The Necrons rise across the galaxy, android legions emerging from stasis-crypts after millions of years in deathless slumber. Amonhotekh's Guard stalk the worlds that once belonged to their master, the Overlord Amonhotekh, to cleanse the flesh-vermin and lesser civilisations that now infest his ancient territories. He will stop at nothing to eradicate these pests, calling upon mighty Canoptek constructs, mindless warrior phalanxes, and even the raving Destroyer Cults to eliminate all trespassers.
Overlords lead the Necron dynasties into battle. Their android minds are tremendously swift, their bodies are implacably resilient, but their indomitable wills are perhaps most fearsome of all. Furnished with a translocation shroud drawn from the dynastic vaults, an Overlord can phase through nether-dimensions, passing through rigid defences and even the flesh of mortal guardians to reach whatever prey or prize they demand.
Orikan is a master astromancer, a Necron Cryptek who uses his knowledge of astral conjunctions to predict the tides of battle and empower himself with cosmic energies. He supplements these skills with chronomantic abilities that allow him to see events before they happen and alter the patterns of the past, helping him evade harm and aim his blows to devastating effect. Through careful study and scrutiny, the Diviner has meddled in monumental events and insignificant occurences throughout history, guiding the Necrons toward a future of his choosing.
The Necrons are a deathless race of alien androids, rulers of the galaxy in a long-forgotten era once known as the Necrontyr. Now, having slumbered in stasis for millennia, they are rising to conquer it once more. Clad in self-repairing bodies of living metal and wielding weapons that harness the most devastating energies of the cosmos, the Necrons are a terrifying enemy.