Good afternoon Blood Bowl fans!

It is an exciting time to be following Draft League Europe as Season XIII comes to a close. The Play-Off picture is becoming more clear; in the Karl Franz Conference, the top-ranked Classics, who won the regular season, will face the Marienburg Foxes. The Thunder versus the Razorbacks and the Scimitars versus the Cardinals must play out to determine the Division Finalists. In the Sigmar Heldenhammer Conference, the second-ranked Manticores take on the Wreckers in the first semi-final and the Avalanche will need to beat either the Knights or the Buccaneers to reach the Divisional Final.

The Manticores are the reigning champions so will fancy themselves to win back-to-back titles. The Cardinals are the only other team who took part in last season's semi-finals, and both the KFC champions, the Eagles, and SHC runners-up, the Vikings, failed to make the play-offs. The Buccaneers won the DLE Final is Season XI so shouldn't be counted out just yet.

The reason for all this focus on the pre-eminent, franchise-led, Blood Bowl league in the Old World?

Meet the new coach for the Übersreik Unicorns!

I'm very excited to be taking over one of the sleeping giants of the DLE and aim to help them climb back up the League after two consecutive seasons in dead last. The upside is that I get first pick in each of the four draft rounds. The downside is a heck of a lot of players who were not up to the standard had to be cleared out and so every pick will matter.

I have already recruited three new players so in these programme notes, I'd like to welcome Blitzer Carlos Torrosa, Lineman Rafaelle Brigante, and Catcher Tancred Montfort. These three new players arrive from very different locales to most of the rest of the squad so, from all of us, Hola Carlos, Buongiorno Rafaelle, and Bonjour Tancred. We hope you will be made to feel very welcome in cosmopolitan Übersreik.

Quarterback Ottmar Wirt has made himself a key part of the squad I am building and, as such, he has been named as Team Captain with leading wide receiver Bruno Giza and veteran Lineman Arthur Dent as Vice-Captains.

The season will be long, difficult, and sometimes frustrating. However, I am here for the long haul and I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to attend our upcoming matches. There will be a few warm-up games before the season starts and I hope to see you in the stands at The Tin Spur.

Go Horns!