Feudball

It all started at my first (official) Blood Bowl tournament way back in 2005. I picked up a BB fantasy fiction book (written by Matt Forbeck) as my prize for winning the Sportsmanship award. After myself and co-author Steven Babbage read it, we decided that we could do better.

Naturally, if you haven't read any of the series, then the following descriptions will give away a few spoilers.



Feudball: Feudal Football	Feudball II: Super League	Feudball III: On the Road

The first book, Feudball: Feudal Football, is mostly about the trials and tribulations of Alexander Bathgate, an accountant for a logging company at one of the more distant outposts of the Brython empire (think 19th Century England). He has become rather bored with his life and for a bit of excitement decides to fiddle the books for a bit of extra money. Naturally this sees him wind up in prison and eventually transported back to Brython, where he winds up playing for The Flagstaff Jailbirds, the prison's feudball side, which is captained and coached by disgraced veteran Gordon Tanner. Alex quickly discovers just how brutal the game can be even in the local district competition. Along the way, opportunities arise for the side to compete in two long-running tournaments, the Grentham Gauntlet and the prestigious Brython Cup, with the possibility of an early release tempting the players along the way.

The second part of the trilogy, Feudball II: Super League, sees the side progress into a unified national competition, which incorporates dwarven, elven and undead teams, though is mostly made up of human franchises. Though Alex still features heavily in this volume, the story doesn't completely revolve around him (after all, there's no 'i' in 'team') with Gordon and Duke Swimmer, the team's manager, sharing the bulk of the narrative with him. The games and off-field events are viewed through multiple sets of eyes, so one can get to know the rest of the team as well. During the year, opportunities again present themselves for the team to play in tournaments, including THE event of the feudball calender – The Imperial Championships.

Trouble seems to follow the side everywhere they go and there's no exception in the third part of the trilogy, Feudball III: On the Road. The Imperial States has descended into anarchy and somehow the group has to try and find a way out. It's either a jailbreak and the perilous road to freedom or a long stay in a prison camp. (Not hard to figure out which one that they choose.) Once again, the games and off-field events are seen through multiple sets of eyes, with a scrye commentary team doing their bit as well. This book also includes a colour map of the Feudball world, which will eventually find it's way into the other volumes. though currently it is only in this third volume (PDF version) of the series.

The Feudball trilogy is currently available online on all Amazon Kindle country sites and at DriveThruFiction.com (in PDF format) for $3.00AU. To keep up-to-date, either check out my non-gaming blog, or go to the book's Facebook page.

I have also uploaded a few additional associated files:

Be slaves no more - Lyrics to the Jailbirds' anthem which I wrote in May 2016. (PDF)
Feudball Map - The original sketch I made of the Feudball playing world. (JPG)
Updated Feudball Map - A vastly upgraded version of the world map. (JPG)
The Game - How the game is played, managed and enjoyed by tens of thousands of fans across the world. (PDF)
History - How the game developed over the centuries. (PDF)
An interview for the arts program on Coast FM, recorded in November 2011, where I talk about Feudball, Blood Bowl, playing soccer and my mental health. (WMA)
Jailbirds' Jersey - A rather simplified design of the Jailbirds' jersey in the first book. (JPG)
Jailbirds' Logo - The original sketch of the Jailbirds' emblem, the 'jailed' bird, that features in the original paperback edition. Drawn by Mal van Drempt. (JPG)
Updated Jailbirds' Logos versions one and two. (JPG)
Penalties - A seperate file about what the players and teams can get in trouble for on and off the pitch. (PDF)
Races & Countries - A guide to the races featured and the countries involved in the book. (PDF)

1 May 2023