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Cathay Teams

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Jade Linemen

Crane Runners

Celestial Dragon Guard

Foo Statue


Background
Cathay, also known as The Kingdom of the Dragon and The Empire of the Celestial Dragon, is a vast Kingdom ruled for centuries by the immortal Dragon Emperor.

The Kingdom of the Dragon borders the Chaos Wastes to the north and Hobgoblin Khanate to the east. The three nations have historically been at war with each other, but Cathay always remained strong, and their lands have flourished behind the Great Bastion to the north.

The population of Cathay is vast and varied, ranging from Humans, Celestial Dragon Monks and even Monkey Men found in remote jungles and mountainous regions. It is also thought that the immortal emperor is a Vampire; the sole survivor of a conflict in Lahmia who fled east. Though this has never been confirmed, and such is the emperor’s stranglehold on his people few men would dare talk of such things.

In the heart of Cathay lies the Mountains of Heaven. The mountains are home to the Celestial Dragon Monks, the emperor's elite warriors. Trained in seclusion to feel no pain and master the art of combat. Children as young as 5 are sent to the mountains to live and train as monks till they grow old, or their life is taken in battle. The great temples of this region are guarded by giant jade or jet lion statues known collectively as Foo Statues or Guardian Lions, which remain dormant until they are called upon, much like the Ushabti of Khemri.

Blood Bowl in Cathay originated from the trade routes; along the Old Silk Road primarily, though also trade ships from Estalia, Araby and Ulthuan. The traders brought news of the great tournaments that were held in the west. Upon hearing news of these grandiose tournaments the Emperor commanded his people to form teams to challenge the established teams of The Old World and Lustria, and show off Cathays great power to the West.

Teams were made up of the elite military from the region mixing the dexterity and sleight of hand of the Crane Runners, with the discipline and power of the Celestial Dragon Monks, the order and discipline of the Jade Warriors and the celestial power of the Foo Statues. To show off his newfound interest in the game the Emperor erected great stadiums, the finest in The World, and held a world tournament in Wei-Jin to world acclaim.

Rationale
Despite Cathay covering a huge section of the east in The World was fairly little background to go on when creating this roster, until Cathay received an official army in Warhammer Total War and later an army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Prior to this I had to use the information obtained in the following sources.

There is some old lore in a Black Library novel that talks of a Vampire that fled Lahmia after a conflict there and headed east. This is thought to be the immortal Emperor of Cathay.

Another story entitled - The Voyage of Yin-Tuan to Lustria, presented in White Dwarf 280 tells a story of a Cathayan expedition to the Southlands, this makes reference to multiple dynasties, it also makes reference to an elite guard of the emperor that sport tiger pelts. This informed the look of the Celestial Dragon Monks.

A book entitled - Beasts in Velvet and Silver Nails. Makes reference to the conflict between Chaos (specifically Tzeentch) and Cathay. It also makes multiple references to the 'Monkey King' of Cathay.

The Estragon's Island campaign (which was published in White Dwarf 297) set around Cathay includes a human character from Cathay known as Ty Chan'Cho.

The 6th edition Warhammer fantasy book is the only in the series to make any reference to Cathay (in terms of background), and talks of conflict between, Cathay the Hobgoblins and the Northmen of the Chaos Wastes.

Warhammer online confirms that Cathay are a human race, and again confirms the wars between Cathay, Chaos and the Hobgoblins. It also talks of the capital Wei-Jin. The mountains of heaven and the Foo Statues are also described here.

Finally Monkey Men were also referenced in a White Dwarf in a series of questions about the Dogs of War in 6th Ed, the interview made a throw away reference to Monkey Men existing in Cathay which is also supported by a novel. Though after the official Total War army came out I removed Monkey Men from the roster, in favour of a more human centric design. There is still lore around Monkey Men. But I will not include them in the roster until they get full official lore.

The Linemen are basically just skilled humans, so keep the standard human stats. Foo Statues are the teams Big Guys, they have Take Root as their nega-trait which represents their ability to turn from a stone (Jade or Jet) statue to a living creature. When failing this roll they essentially turn back into stone. Sure Feet was added because they usually move around on four legs, this is consistent throughout Secret League, as the standard was set by Bull Centaurs. Celestial Dragon Monks have the St access in the team, wearing only tiger pelts for armour their Av is naturally low, however they have trained to feel no pain, so their Av was increased to 9+ and they gained Thick Skull. It also seemed right to make them very defence orientated, basing this on their martial arts background. Side Step and Fend represents their ability to ward off blows and dodge attacks.

Crane Runners were added later in place of Monkey Warriors/Monkey Men. This was to make the roster more human centric in line with the Cathay Warhammer army that got an official release first in Total War then later in Old World. Crane Runners were based on Crane Gunners, they are an artillery unit working in teams of two. They are low armoured and the simple name swap made them feel suitable for the Thrower or Runner type positional in the team. I wanted them to feel different to the Throwers of the Empire though, so while they both start with Sure Hands the Crane Runners lose a point of Av and gain a point of Ma pushing them towards a running game. As Crane Gunners worked in pairs I also wanted this represented in a way on the Blood Bowl pitch. I decided to give them Fumblerooskie, which allows them to run, place the ball on the ground and their team mate to pick the ball up with Sure Hands and carrying on moving, working in tandem. I also liked that the game developed slightly differently in this part of The World and rather than trying to play a pass and catch style of play they developed an alternate way of moving the ball around the field.

Season 2 (2020 Edition) Changes
I introduced the Pa Stat in line with the design principles established in 2020 edition.

Team design, background and rationale by Garion
Player Pics drawn by Knut_Rockie and coloured by Garion
Icons by Cowhead