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Poll
Best Squig Usage?
Blitzing
31%
 31%  [ 11 ]
Road Block
11%
 11%  [ 4 ]
Ball
20%
 20%  [ 7 ]
Squig Pie
37%
 37%  [ 13 ]
Total Votes : 35


mekutata



Joined: May 03, 2015

Post 16 Posted: Jul 04, 2020 - 14:50 Reply with quote Back to top

Hello,

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Researching for a custom Goblin league including past Star Players I stumbled over every Goblin's favorite mushrooms, the Squigs.
And despite a high popularity among Goblins and a long history of House Rules published by GW it took very long until the current rule set of Blood Bowl would get an official Squig to play with.
Madcap Miggz is still a kinda fresh Star Player for the Goblins (and Underworld) but hardly talked about. I was curious about the different approaches to such a player.

Here's an overview of Goblins that ride on Squigs when playing Blood Bowl (inventing an early version of Polo).

GET THE SQUIGS!

Squig 0-3 D6 4 3 7 50K Frenzy, Razor Sharp Fans, Thick Skull, moves like B&C
(Razor Sharp Fans was a skill in previous editions comparable to nowaday's Claw)

Citadel Journal #11 published the first special rules. Not only was handling Squigs dangerous, but also getting them was a complex dicey process.
Coaches had first to hire a group of Squig Hunters for 50K. Between matchdays Coaches could order these experts for stinking wildlife to head out for an expedition, trying to get new Squigs.
Coaches would roll a 1d6, with 1 being traditionally a big fail: resulting in an injured Squig Hunter (and all rostered Squigs would run off), 2-3 being without result, and 4-6 bringing in a fresh Squig.
Playing the Squigs was also special.

First, Squigs had to be moved before any other player at the beginning of a turn, unless the team featured a Fanatic (at this time of BB rules included a move order for some player types).
And they had to move like a rampaging Ball & Chain player but without the negative consequence of being automatically knocked out when getting grounded.
And to make this more random Squigs had no stable Movement, instead Coaches rolled a 1d6 to see how many squares their players could actually go. So a mobile Squig could suddenly become an immobile burden (that can bite) or a grounded Squig may not be able to get up.
And if a Squig should somehow get in contact with the actual ball they would not simply pick up the ball with an agility roll but instead roll another special 1d6!
1-2 leading to the Squig eating the ball (Squig gets banned and end of the drive leading to a Kickoff with a new ball!), at a 3-4 the Squig would kick the ball 1d6 squares away and 5-6 picking up the ball with the mouth (losing Block ability and again rolling each turn to see if the Squig doesn't eat it). A Squig could not do anything with the ball but act like a mad dog that doesn't let go.

ENTER THE SQUIG WHISPERER

The same CJ issue presented the concept of a Squig Hopper in form of the Star Player Fuggit and Biter.

Fuggit and Biter (Star Player) D6 4 3 7 100K Frenzy, Leap, Razor Sharp Fangs, Thick Skull
Fumbbl's Forgotten Star Player List adapted him:
Fuggit and Biter (Star Player) 6 4 3 7 100K Loner, Very Long Legs, Claws, Thick Skull, Frenzy, Leap

Biggest difference to an unridden Squig was the option to leap instead of blocking in case of player contact when moving (Slann Coaches know how reliable this is at AG3). This would also take 2 squares of the (dicerolled) Movement. After each turn Squig Hoppers had also to roll a 1d6 to see if they don't fall off their Squig (1 meaning the Goblin falls off and Coaches had to roll the Injury Table).
The only advantage to an unridden Squig was that the Goblin on the Squig could attempt to pick up or catch a ball with regular rules before the Squig.

A FAT SQUIG

The Specialist Games Fanatic Magazine #93 introduced another Squig Star Player.

Kappa and the Brawler 0-1 D6 5 2 8 180K Disturbing Presence, Frenzy, Stand Firm, Leap, Fan Favorite

A stronger Squig but also addicted to Fungus Ale making the Leap option even less usable, but certainly a strong Road Block.

You can find a pdf about these early Squigs at Specialist Games

CRP COMPUTER TIMES

Dedicated Coaches in Fumbbl created an alternatie Division based on the stunty teams Goblins and Halflings. The resulting Stuntee Leeg would feature teams with low armor values and Kamikazelike attitude, matches would often see a pitch cleared of any players before turn 16!
The Stunty Leeg introduced a couple of Goblin teams and two of them could field new Squig interpretations in CRP times and within the limitations of a computer program dictating the rules.

Squigs 0-4 5 4 4 8 40K Bloodlust, Claw, Leap, Mighty Blow, No Hands, Really Stupid, Sprint, Very Long Legs A,S
Squig Hoopers 0-2 6 4 3 7 110K Bloodlust, Claw, Leap, Mighty Blow, Pro, Sprint A,S

Chompa & Stompa (Star Player) 4 7 1 9 270K Loner, Ball & Chain, Claw, Mighty Blow

Obviously in a ST2 environment these guys can cause havoc. While regular Squig's Negatraits (the Ball&Chain movement, the urge to bite a ball) where reinterpreted with Bloodlust (Goblins acting as Thralls) and Really Stupid, the fast Star Player Chompa & Stompa (two Squigs chained together) kept the Ball & Movement, but sadly including the auto KO rule. At least Chompa & Stompa could perhaps roll back to consciousness instead of being banned and the ST7 should make it really hard to bring them down first place. So still a valuable player.

You can check the Stuntee Rosters at Stuntee Roster page, they also made a nice handbook..

SECRET LEAGUE

One of Blood Bowl's biggest Custom House Rules environments, the Secret Leeg on Fumbbl introduced more serious teams than the Stuntees. This new division got their own unique Squig team featuring four new Squigs.

Cave Squig 0-2 6 4 3 7 80K Leap, Very Long Legs, Claw, Really Stupid, No Hands A,S
Squig Hopper 0-4 6 4 3 8 100K Bloodlust, Leap, Very Long Legs, Claw AS
Giant Cave Squig 0-1 4 5 1 9 110K Loner, Really Stupid, Claw, No Hands, Thick Skull S
Mangler Squig 0-1 3 7 1 8 Ball & Chain, Claw, No Hands 120K S
0-1 Squig Gobba 0-1 1 5 1 9 Bombardier, Secret Weapon, Claw, Hail Mary Pass, Really Stupid, No Hands 80K S

(Special shoutout to one of the most beautiful Fumbbl icons for the Star Player Squigg from CIBBL, a league based on Secret League:
Iron Moon Gublak (Star Player) 6 4 3 9 230K Loner, Leap, very Long Legs, Bloodlust, Claw, *BLOCK*, Thick Skull)


Regular Goblins are called Squig Herders and act as Thralls for the Squigs with Bloodlust.
Before the rule update for Pile On some of those Squigs featured Pile On instead of Claw. The Squig Hoppers appear also in the separate Night Goblin teams in the same division.
A closer look at this roster with a rationale by their creator can be found here

Basically we have a mix now of different Squig interpretations, the puking Squig Gobba even simulating the 1 roll of earliest Squigs. It's a bit of everything. But all well designed and working fluffwise.
After all the available Blood Bowl Negaskills can all represent different states of a Squig; they only start moving when driven by their Herders (Really Stupid), if enraged they become a danger for their own masters (Bloodlust) and the chained Mangler Squig resembles the chaotic movement of those wild animals...

GAMES WORKSHOP GONE MAD

Death Zone Season Two introduced in 2017 a new Squig Star Player for the current Blood Bowl ruleset with the following skills.

Madcap Miggz (Star Player) 6 4 3 8 170K Loner, Leap, Break Tackle, Claw, Very Long Legs, Loner, No Hands, Wild Animal

So finally a non-optional GW release, but Madcap Miggz with his Squig Toofy Terror are a much more "conservative" player than the earlier adaptions. No more dice to roll for movement or throwing a rider off, no special rules for movement or ball contact, just the combination of being a Longer, a Wild Animal and No Hands . Still this guy can act as a blitzer with a 30,9% chance to cage break.
To be honest I have hardly seen him fielded anywhere so far, Ripper and Bribes still being the two most common inducements for Goblins. Three Bribes in combination with Secret Weapons offers more destruction than a small minotaur. And if possible Gobs would rather hire Ripper. Underworld tends to have stronger Star Players aswell, so Madcap lives quite a dire existence. So it is no real surprise that there does not exist an official Madcap Miggz miniature. It's a somehow sad climax.

SQUIG BALLS AND OTHER MADNESS

Worth to mention are a few other occasions of Squigs featured in Blood Bowl.
There exist optional rules for team-specific balls.
These include a Limpin' Squig for Orcs. Different to a normal ball the Squig would always attempt to struggle for freedom and move around for 3 squares like a bouncing ball.
A similar concept for a Squig ball can be found in the SQUIG BOWL rules. You can read those at the NAF
There exist optional race-specific Match Events, including for Orcs. One of them includes a Wild Squig. The animal would jump from the audience on the pitch and wreck random players getting in its way
And some TT coaches might simply replace their Goblin positionals with Squig models (a jumping model for the Pogoer, any model for the Chainsaw or Fanatic, a puking Squig as a Bomma and with some creativity you also find models that fit the attributes of the Ooligan and Doom Diver), wouldn't it make sense if a Blood Bowl ref counts such monsters as Secret Weapons?

To end this some Squig photos, they are as popular among Goblins as cat photos among Humans.

I hope you enjoyed my little expedition and maybe you come up with ideas how to include these little (or big) fellas in your Blood Bowl universe.

(I wrote this actually for blood bowl's reddit as I suppose most dedicated Fumbbl Coaches will know already about the Stuntees and Secret League variations. But thought the earlier variations might be of interest here aswell.)

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Last edited by mekutata on Jul 09, 2020 - 18:47; edited 2 times in total
pokrjax



Joined: Dec 01, 2014

Post   Posted: Jul 05, 2020 - 16:10 Reply with quote Back to top

This was a great read, thanks! More convinced than ever that I'll apply to take part in your goblin league!
mekutata



Joined: May 03, 2015

Post   Posted: Jul 05, 2020 - 17:34 Reply with quote Back to top

Aaw mate thanks, appreciated! Hope to start with a Call for Coaches soon Smile

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panalukidis



Joined: Feb 23, 2018

Post   Posted: Apr 04, 2021 - 16:43 Reply with quote Back to top

squigs!
Apus



Joined: Dec 21, 2017

Post   Posted: Apr 04, 2021 - 21:01 Reply with quote Back to top

Well research and a great read.
kozak



Joined: Feb 25, 2017

Post   Posted: Jul 17, 2022 - 13:08 Reply with quote Back to top

It's a great article about our big favorite red fellas! I still think they need to be part of Blood Bowl as a new stunty team, GW should be able to gave them a new special trait for there movement, as it was in the past.

It's sad that HMP got nerfed, now the Squig Gobba is just a meme...
Nelphine



Joined: Apr 01, 2011

Post   Posted: Jul 17, 2022 - 14:42 Reply with quote Back to top

Fluffy, 199spp in 30 games, Squig Hopper

I too love the squigs!
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