Blitz Bowl: Ultimate Edition review - "Boils the game down to its purest essentials"

If you've been around Warhammer long enough, you've almost certainly heard of Blood Bowl - even if you've never played it. The self-proclaimed "game of fantasy football" has been knocking around in various forms since 1986 and has developed a devoted fanbase. It has a very different tone to the likes of Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar; more light-hearted and silly than grimdark, while also packing what's become a fairly fearsome ruleset. The current edition rulebook runs to a not-inconsiderable 140 pages and includes everything from different sorts of player injuries to hiring and firing players and the behaviour of your team's fans. Enter Blitz Bowl – the game's slimmed-down, more budget-friendly cousin.

First issued in 2018, this Barnes & Noble exclusive set offers a smaller-scale twist on the same principles. And while some of Games Workshop's entry-level titles (like Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack!) primarily exist as a primer to the hobby, Blitz Bowl is actually a very solid and playable game in its own right.

Features & design

• Two teams included – Orcs and Dwarves
• Excellent production values on the board and cards
• Full rules for 23 different Blitz Bowl teams adds extra playability

At its heart, Blitz Bowl is basically a fantasy version of what we Brits refer to as "American Football" – albeit with more violence. The two teams tackle, shove, and batter each other senseless while trying to gain control of the ball in order to score Touchdowns in their opponent's End Zone. It's a tried-and-true system, and one that makes it a legitimate contender for lists of the best board games.

While we've seen previous sets before (featuring Humans vs. Orcs, or Humans vs. Skaven), this Ultimate Edition pits Orcs against Dwarves and packs in more advanced rules than before. The nice and sturdy game board is also different from prior versions... though anyone who has seen the old sets will find this familiar.

Each of the teams has access to a range of different player types. In Blood Bowl, teams can sprawl to 11 players on the pitch at any given time, but in Blitz Bowl the squad size – at least in this box – is restricted to six models. Both teams have multiple Linemen (your bog-standard, good-for-most-things workhorse), plus a Blitzer (who is tougher and faster), a Thrower (good for lobbing the ball), and some sort of heavy – in the case of the Orcs, a "Big Un Blocker," and a Troll Slayer for the Dwarves.

Don't get too excited about new models, mind: these are the same Orc and Dwarf Blood Bowl models that have been on offer for ages. They're good little kits – chunky, with some really nice character and detail, but they're not original to this set.

Alongside these warriors, you're getting that aforementioned board, the Challenge cards needed for the game, plus a set of Random Event cards for more advanced players, which includes things like -1 armor modifiers due to the crumbling Astrogranite pitch, and monsters bursting out of the trapdoor that usually disgorges the ball.

In a really nice touch, the set also includes a full set of Team Cards, not just for the Orcs and Dwarves, but for a total of 23 different teams, including Warhammer favorites like Khorne, Skaven, and Lizardmen, as well as more esoteric squads like Gnomes, Amazons, and Chaos Chosen. It's a canny move on Games Workshop's part; not only does it extend the life of this box considerably, it's a gentle nudge for players to invest in more teams.

Gameplay

• Players fight to control the ball and score touchdowns
• Punching and maiming is encouraged
• There's lots of advanced rules and room to expand this set

Blitz Bowl runs for an indeterminate number of turns – basically until one team has effectively lapped the other and taken a 10-point lead (earned through touchdowns and by fulfilling Challenge cards), or by getting to a point where there are no Challenge cards left in the deck.

Each player (known as a Coach in-game) gets three actions per turn, which must be divvied up between the friendly models in play. These actions are pretty much as you might expect: you can run, throw the ball, strike your opponents, or mark them – basically getting in their way and bogging them down on the pitch. Crucially, models can't repeat actions in a turn. You couldn't, for instance, have an Orc Lineman simply stand and punch someone three times, or run more than once per turn. The limited nature of the actions also means that you have to consider each move carefully. Despite this, the game tends to play fast and furious, especially when you're familiar with the rules.

The teams here are evenly matched, both well-armored and punchy. That does sometimes mean that the game, straight out the box, can occasionally get locked into a long, repetitive cycle of: an Orcs belts a Dwarf, who falls over. The Dwarf gets back up, belts the Orc, who falls over – and so on, round and round and round.

There's also no doubt that Blitz Bowl is a much simpler game than its older sibling. There are no post-match options or League rules here, and the core principles are all streamlined. Injured players, for example, are taken off the board and placed back in their own Dugout until they are called back into play. In Blood Bowl, by contrast, there are different types of injuries that can drastically change the flow of the game.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, however. Blitz Bowl boils the game down to its purest essentials and while veteran Blood Bowl players may find the lack of granularity off-putting, there's still a fair bit of depth here. Once you've learned the basics, you can apply the Advanced rules, bring in other teams, play with different arena conditions, and start having fun fouling your opponents and throwing friendly players across the pitch.

Crucially, for new or younger gamers coming to the game fresh, Blitz Bowl strikes the balance between being really easy to learn, while also being fun and rich enough to keep coming back to.

Should you buy Blitz Bowl: Ultimate Edition?

Blitz Bowl is really fun and tremendously good value for money. It's faster and easier to pick up than Blood Bowl and makes a great step up for new players wanting something that's more advanced than a traditional board game but perhaps not as complex as its bigger brother, or as potentially endless and time-consuming as Warhammer 40,000 or Age of Sigmar.

The models, too, are very nice. I hoped to get both teams painted in time for this review, but only managed the Dwarves (I painted a couple in a really horrible dark red before changing course and going with a light blue and gold scheme that felt like it fitted the vibe of the game better). I'll come back to the Orcs in due course, though – I love how chunky and jagged they are. Indeed, my only gripe with the miniatures is that the little hole on the base where you're supposed to slot the ball in is functionally useless. The game plays so fast and the ball changes player so often you'll more-than-likely end up resting it on the base instead.

Is it the best version on this family of games? No. Blood Bowl is the bigger, richer experience. There's also Dungeon Bowl, a lesser-spotted spinoff that goes deeper (literally) and weirder. But it is the fastest and friendliest of the three games and it's the one that's most likely to appeal to kids and younger siblings – or anyone who just wants to play a quick game of fantasy football.

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Blitz Bowl: Ultimate Edition

Our reviewer tested this game multiple times to get a better feel for the teams. They also painted one team from the boxset for the full experience.

For more details on our process, check our guide to how we test board games, or the general 12DOVE reviews policy page.

For more recommendations, check out these essential board games for adults or the best 2-player board games.