We kick of the weekend with a showcase of some of Ali’s converted Blood Bowl Teams….
A long time ago I realised that I would never been the most gifted painter, with a short attention span a shaky hand, and a lack of artistic talent, I decided that I was a least a tabletop painter, but what could I do to make think think ‘that’s cool’ when they played me. So I decided to convert my own teams. This was of course a long time ago when the Bloodbowl scene was shy of multi pose players and 3rd party miniatures. The range is much better now, with more plastic and a veritable plethora of companies now producing amazing figures to take to the pitch, like the Rolljordon kickstarter for Khorne Demons (on now! Check it out)
I’ve converted so many teams over the years, I’m not really sure where I started, but I do find the 40k range full of ideas and so I have delved into their miniatures quite a lot as you’ll see.
So here are some of my most recent builds. I have over 30 teams currently, so I’ve just selected a handful, and that doesn’t include the ones I have half built or in the design stage.
The Cleveland Bounds – Skitarii Slann Team
When I thought about Slann, I really wanted a team with long legs and long limbs, originally I looked at the mantic Judwan as an early idea, but with only a few poses they didn’t really have the impact I wanted, and when the Skitarii were released I knew they were the team. The only issue was the size of the bases, they were not going to fit on a 25mm base, but when the new Bloodbowl pitch was released with bigger squares I had to make this team. Using different heads, and features such as cloaks helps identify different positions, and being plastic it was very easy to work with.
Wrath Rovers – Khorne themed Chaos Team
I have several Chaos teams, as I find them one of the easiest to convert, with just two main positional players and the Minotaur it’s very easy to theme. I had used beastmen before but the plastic beastigor look so much better, and the bigger base size makes them fit nicely onto 32mm. The Wrathmongers were also born to play Bloodbowl, with lots of different bits to play with, it meant I could really customise each Chaos warrior, although they started out as a Norse team, with Bloodletters for werewolves it didn’t really work, and so they became my latest Chaos team.
Notinthe Forest – Sylvaneth Darkelves/Woodelves
The name came long before this team, it was from a treeman only team I built back in Bloodbowl 2nd edition, it was just for fun and was terrible! I built this team to be a dark elf team, mainly to throw people when they looked and though woodelves, but trees can go bad too right. So I painted them darker and grim colours, and with all the different bits in the tree revenant box meant I could also build extra to use them as a woodelf team too, to keep the fluff moaners happy 
it did mean I also had to get a Kurnoth Hunter to use as a treeman, but he is currently sat on a painting table.
it did mean I also had to get a Kurnoth Hunter to use as a treeman, but he is currently sat on a painting table.
Quinn’s Park Strangers – Harlequin Elf Team
This team was one I really enjoyed building, as soon as the Harlequins plastics cam out I knew I wanted to make them into elves. I’ve used these as Woodelves first, and also Elven Union/High Elves. They were a lot of fun to built and paint as you can really go wild and I know several people that have used these miniatures as elves. The characters make great star players too, and I used the Solitaire as a generic star elf as it fits in so well. They have had several names, depending on the race and I’ve considered making a Darkelf team with these, but painting them as Harley Quinn colours, and they will be aptly named Harleypool United, so watch this space (I also plan on making a Deadpool miniature to use as Horkon Heartripper)
(I also plan on making a Deadpool miniature to use as Horkon Heartripper)Baalcelona – Bloodangel Vampires
I really enjoy converting space marines, they just look good on the pitch, with the shoulder pads looking the part and they are easy to convert and paint. I did have an idea long ago about doing a different team for each chapter, and Blood Angels were always going to be my vampires, with the Sanguinary Guard as the Vampires and Death Company as the Thralls, the Sanguinary Priest makes a lovely Count Luther too, fitting into the team perfectly.
Breast Homage Albion – Sisters of Silence Amazons
I always wanted to make an amazon team that was a bit different, it was going to be with Slaaneshi demons, as I want to have a team based on each God, but I’ve seen a few and it’s kept them on the back burner. I considered the sisters of silence long before I saw the spru, so I picked up 5 and thought “why not” and they stayed as 5 models for a long time. I then saw the Inquisitor Greyfax and thought it would make a great Zara the Slayer and so the team was restarted, the sisters sprus have very little options and it wasn’t the easiest conversion, but I did manage to make a couple of stars, making a female Helmut Wulf and a Roxanna Darknail, before making a ‘Female’ ogre to be Bertha Bigfist, I based her on the ugly sister from Shrek 2, but as my sculpting skills are very limited, she didn’t get the black bob I wanted and ended up with a pony tail.
Tzan Diego Changers – Tzeentch Demon Skaven
This is a team I always wanted to do, because of all the mutations I felt it really suited the Tzeentch Horrors. I have started making a Rat Ogre out of an Exalted Flamer, but I’m not quite happy with the arms yet. The blue Horrors make great gutter runners, being that little bit smaller and the flamers became blitzers. This is a team that I built with a lot of spare models I had, but was a pleasure to paint and I loved the blue scheme that was based on the NFL team they are named after, it was just a shame that the NFL team changed its name, but I prefer the Tzan Diego Changers.
MK Crons – Necron Khemri
Another race I have always wanted to convert into a team, but they were going to be an undead team. I planned to use flayed ones as Ghouls, and I still might in the future as I like to have the option of using my converted teams for a couple of different races, I just have to decide on what I want to use for Zombies! This wasn’t my first idea for Khemri though, and I still might use The Thousand Sons space marines to make another, but for the moment the Crons look very good on the pitch. Due to the great range of miniatures and poses I was able to also make all the star players too, which gives a great bit of extra value to a converted team.
Covenantry City – Alien Lizardmen
This team pretty much made itself. I got the the AvP Kickstarter and was very disappointed (after it finally arrived 3 years late) that I struggled to want to use the miniatures of the game. Then I decided they would make great Lizardmen, it’s not a true conversion as there was no converting involved, but it does look good on the table, and I’ve had a lot of fun with them.
Future teams?
I have a couple in the pipeline, and a few more after that! But I have nearly finished Bad Guiesly, and Chaos Renegade team, using a great range of miniatures, and then I plan on make Death Guarsenal, a Nurgle team using the very nice new Death Guard Space Marines, I just have to finalise a decision on which miniatures I will use for each position, but I am likely to use pox walkers as Rotters, and a Death Shroud Terminator as the beast, with greenstuff tentacles, I might use the characters as the Warriors, or maybe basic marines and then characters as stars, but it’s the pestigors that I am yet to decide on, I am currently thinking of Plague bearers, but we will see.
