“Oooooh the CLAW”

General Information

The event will be held on 20th June 2026 at Aigburth St Michaels Bowls Club, Southwood Road, Liverpool L17 7BG

Parking: there is a free car park at the venue.

Public transport: The venue is under 1 min walk from St Michael’s station served by Merseyrail trains. If coming by train, either alight at Liverpool Lime Street and transfer to Merseyrail at Central Station (5 min walk to the station, 2 stops on Merseyrail ~10 min) or alight at Liverpool South Parkway and transfer to Merseyrail.

Food and Drink: The bar at the club will open at 12. It has some snacks but no substantive food options. There is a Tesco 10 min walk away.

Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Cost and Payment

Registration costs £20. Any monies remaining after running costs will go to charity: the Whitechapel Centre; a homeless charity. The Whitechapel Centre this link will show you how the monies raised will be put to work.

Participants should be NAF registered. We will update here if someone is available to register on the day (£5).

Send payment by paypal to: clawbbl@gmail.com Please use Friends and Family option for payments and include your Name, NAF name and NAF number

We will not be able to issue refunds less than two months from the event. However, we will help to pass on your ticket if possible.

Schedule

Game timings will be as follows:

10.00 to 10:30 Registration (club opens at 10 am)
10:30 to 12:45 Game One
12:45 to 13:30 Lunch
13:30 to 15:45 Game Two
15:45 to 18:00 Game Three
18:00 Awards and close
Beers/Dinner at local restaurant within walking distance (Lark Lane) – if you are interested please let us know (Dave “Dusher” is organising, Dave is currently unbeaten at organising post tournament food after Liverpool tournaments).

Tourplay

This tournament will use Tourplay to input teams and record scores. Please bring a suitable device for use on the day. Link will go live at least 2 months prior to the tournament. Teams must be uploaded by June 1st 2025

This tournament will abide by the latest guidelines for all NAF tournaments

The event will follow Games Workshop’s Designer’s Commentary / FAQ and NAF FAQ from this latest release and Teams of Legend documents. Any team publications released by Games Workshop before March 31st, 2026 (such as a new Spike! Magazine or rules in miniature packs) are also eligible for use assuming they are made available on Tourplay. Rules pack will be updated when this happens.

Team Building – Tiers, Money and Skills

Skill Points

In addition to the starting skills, each team has additional skill points to spend on skills and/or star players. These skills must be chosen prior to the tournament and recorded within your roster. The additional skills remain constant for every match and cannot be altered after rosters are locked.

Tier Z – 5 skill points
Tier 1 – 6 Skill Points
Tier 2 – 7 Skill Points
Tier 3 – 8 Skill Points
Tier 4 – 9 Skill Points
Tier 5 – 10 Skill Points

Skill Stacking

Skill stacking is allowed on Tiers 3 to 5. A maximum of 2 skills may be placed on a player and these can only be primary skills. There is an additional cost of 1SP for this, therefore to have a player with 2 skills will cost 3 SP total (2 for skills + the 1 tax).

Tier 3 – Can stack 2 skills on one player
Tier 4 – Can stack 2 skills on two players
Tier 5 – Can stack 2 skills on three players

Star players on your roster may not be given an additional skill.

Skill Point Costs

Skills Points can be spent as followed:

Primary Skills – 1SP
Secondary Skills – 2SP
Star Players – variable cost, see below

Skill Limits

Primary Skills:

There is no limit on the number of primary skills that can be chosen by a team provided they can be afforded as part of the Skill Points allowance above. For example a Tier 1 team could spend all 6 SP on 6 primary skills and a Tier 5 team could spend all 10SP on 10 primary skills. In addition there is no limit on skill incidence, the same skill can be selected any amount of times.

Secondary Skills:

There is a limit on how many secondary skills that can be chosen by each tier as detailed below.

Tier Z – No Secondary Skills
Tier 1 – No Secondary Skills
Tier 2 – Max 1 Secondary Skill
Tier 3 – Max 1 Secondary Skill
Tier 4 – Max 2 Secondary Skills
Tier 5 – Max 3 Secondary Skills

Elite Skills:

There is no limit on the number of elite skills that can be chosen by a team provided they can be afforded as part of the Skill Points allowance above. In addition there is no Skill Point uplift for Elite Skills.

Allowed Inducements

The following inducements are allowed for teams in all tiers:

Blitzers’ Best Kegs: 0-2
Mortuary Assistant: 0-1
Part-time Assistant Coach: 0-3
Plague Doctor: 0-1
Temp Agency Cheerleader: 0-4
Wandering Apothecary: 0-1
Team Mascot: 0-1
Riotous Rookies: 0-1
Bribes: 0-3

The following inducements are only allowed for Tier 5 teams:

Biased Referee: 0-1
Halfling Master Chef: 0-1

Star Players Tax

Tier 4 teams are allowed to take up to 1 star player.
Tier 5 may take up to 2 star players.

Star players may only be taken after at least 11 non-stars are rostered. Stars that come as a pair count as 1 star for this calculation but occupy two roster slots as usual.

Taking a star costs a tax in skills 3 SP for standard stars, 5 SP for mega stars.

Mega Stars:

Hthark the Unstoppable, Bomber Dribblesnot, Cindy Piewhistle, Deeproot Strongbranch, Dribl and Drull, Estelle La Veneaux, Griff Oberwald, Hakflem Skuttlespike, Ivan ‘the Animal’ Deathshroud, Kreek ‘the Verminator’ Rustgouger, Morg ’n’ Thorg, Skitter Stab Stab, Varag Ghoulchewer, Grak and Crumbleberry, Skrorg Snowpelt

The CLAW!!! Special Rule.

“I have been chosen, I go on to a better place”

Every team in the tournament gets to use the CLAW special rule.

This is a once-per-game action that you can choose to use at the end of your opponent’s turn.

A magical claw descends from the stadium roof targeting a player on either your or your opponent’s team. However, the CLAW never gets exactly the prize you aimed for, therefore the CLAW action could affect any piece (friend or foe) between the target and any other pieces in the surrounding 8 squares from the target. The CLAW will always hit one player – therefore randomly determine which player is affected from the eligible targets, then roll a D6.

Roll a dice:

1-2, – Missed! Nothing happens.
3-5 – Loose Grip. The CLAWED piece is moved 1 square in a random (D8) direction. They then wriggle free and are put down again (Ag roll with TZ modifiers to land). If the piece is moved onto a square containing another piece then that player is knocked down (make an armour/injury roll) and the clawed player bounces onward and is knocked down when they reach an empty square (same as for TTM landing).
6 – Winner Winner! Oooooh the CLAW. The CLAWed player is moved D3+1 squares in the direction selected using the throw-in template. They cannot attempt to escape during this movement and will always be knocked over when released. Make an armour roll with a +1 modifier for the drop from height. An piece under the dropped player is knocked down and make an armour roll with +1 modifier owing to having a piece dropped on their head.

A piece carried by the claw can be activated as normal during their team turn if they survive the fall.

Tournament Scoring

First round draw will be random, thereafter Swiss pairing will be used.

After each round, tournament points will be awarded as follows: Win: 3 points, Draw: 1 point, Loss: 0 points.

Only record casualties that would give Star Player Points, casualties caused by fouls, crowd pushes, failed dodges, bombs, stabs, chainsaws etc. do not count.

When your game is complete please check Tourplay with your opponent that the right number of touchdowns and casualties have been entered. Both coaches are responsible for checking the results and then finishing the match on tourplay.

Tiebreakers

Players on the same points will be separated by the following tiebreakers:
1. Submitted roster in Tourplay on time
2. Opponent Score – the sum of all opponent’s tournament points, also known as strength of schedule. (tourplay records this as BHZ or Buchholz score)
3. Net Touchdowns + Net Casualties
4. Tiebreaker Bowl Off (1 end of crown green bowling).

Awards

Subject to sufficient sign ups, we aim to give awards in the following categories. We also aim to have a small tournament souvenir. We will operate a “highlander” policy where you can only win one award with the exception of best painted, which will not exclude you from winning something else.
• Overall Winner
• Most CAS
• Most TDs
• Stunty Cup (highest placing stunty team)
• Best painted
• Wooden Spoon (last place)

Things to bring with you

• A painted team.
• A blood bowl pitch if possible.
• Dice.
• Templates.
• A device on which to run Tourplay and record your results.

Etiquette

Blood bowl is a battle of skill and luck between you and your opponent. RULES quick reference guides are useful and encouraged. Play books that tell you HOW to set up, attempt a one turn touchdown etc., are not!

Please don’t distract the top table(s) whilst they are playing the game, especially if you have a vested interest in a particular outcome!

It is the responsibility of both the coaches to check that both teams have set up the correct number of players in a legal formation at the beginning of each drive. Ideally errors should be corrected before any dice are rolled. However, if it is later realised that a coach had set up too many players then random player(s) should be placed back in reserves until the excess has been addressed.

Should you have any concerns or questions during your game, or between rounds, please speak to a referee. If they are asked to make a decision or judgement on a rule, remember that their decision is final.

Time management: If a game is called by a referee after the allowed time for the round has expired, the game will end immediately with no further actions taken. As such it is in your interest to ensure you keep an eye on your and your opponent’s game time. Use of a chess clock/App is encouraged and may be requested by either player or referees if required

Dice etiquette: The sharing of dice is encouraged, and is mandatory if requested by one of the coaches at any point in the game. Establishing dice etiquette before the game starts is encouraged; it is important to clarify your respective interpretation of acceptably rolled dice, cocked dice, etc. before any important rolls are made. Agree on an approach and stick to it throughout!

Handling miniatures: Always ask your opponent before handling their figures, and respect them if they prefer you not to.