What is the Old World Challenge Cup?
The Old World Challenge Cup is a repeating league that offers a slightly different format from usual. The OWCC consists of two conferences of 10 teams each (the Albion Conference and the Bretonnia Conference), and a feeder conference of 8 teams (the Kislev Conference). A single season is made up of three stages. Changes from last season are
highlight in red.
The Conferences
Teams start their season by playing a series of games in the national conferences. Teams will travel across Albion, Bretonnia, Kislev or Norsca, battling to get into the top spots and earn a place at the Old World Challenge Cup. Occasionally, teams from the Albion or Bretonnia Conferences will have to drop out (sometimes for financial irregularities, sometimes for a perceived indiscretion by the nobility running the tournament, and sometimes, as in the famous case of the Mousillon Blood Knights, because all the team’s players are hunted down and staked by a mob of angry locals). When this happens, the most star-studded team (or sometimes just the team with the most resources available to “influence” the selection committee) from Kislev or Norsca are given a shot at the big time.
How does it work? The Conferences are a five round Swiss tournament. The first round is seeded by TV. Wins are worth 2 points, draws are worth 1 point. Future rounds are seeded according to teams' current points total. At the end of the season, ties are broken by standard Swiss procedure (TD Difference + (CAS Difference / 2); and then TD For + (CAS For / 2)), and then by head-to-head record if applicable, and then by a coin toss.
(At the moment, the league page shows an incorrect tie-breaker score, placing too much importance on CAS difference. Unfortunately, this can't be changed, so fixtures will be decided using this incorrect tie-breaker, although the end of season results will use the correct one.)
The Kislev and Norsca Conferences are feeder conferences, and are run slightly differently. This season, they will be run as a single "Central" division, with a 5 round Swiss tournament. Scoring is the same as for the main divisions. If a team from the Albion or Bretonnia Conferences drops out for any reason, the team(s) with the highest TW from the Kislev or Norsca Conference will be automatically promoted to take their place. Their current points total will be transferred with them, but capped at the maximum they could have achieved up to that point in the conference they are entering.
What is the prize? The winners of the Albion and Bretonnia Conferences are declared the Conference Champions, and will get to draft teams into each Conference next season. They also receive a bye into the second round of the Challenge Cup. The top two teams in the Kislev Conferences will be promoted automatically. The winner of the conference gets to pick which of the two conferences they enter – see The Draft, below.
Teams placed 2nd and 3rd in the Albion and Bretonnia Conferences enter the first round of the Challenge Cup.
The two 7th placed teams in the Albion and Bretonnia Conference will enter a Playoff Tournament with the teams finishing 3rd and 4th in the Kislev Conference, to see which two teams will compete in the top tier next season.
The 8th placed teams in the Albion and Bretonnia Conferences are automatically relegated to the Kislev Conferences.
The Giant-Killer Award: During the Conference season, teams will also gain points towards the Official Giant-Killer Award. Teams gain (and lose) points for the following achievements:
+Winning against a team with higher TV: +100% of the TV difference
+Drawing against a team with higher TV: +50% of the TV difference
+Losing against a team with higher TV: No points
+Losing to a team with lower TV: -10% of the TV difference
At the end of the Conferences, the team with the highest points total is awarded the Giant-Killer Award.
The Cups
After the national conferences have determined internal rankings, and more importantly who will be the nation’s champion in next season’s draft, a series of cup competitions are held simultaneously in a city chosen by the current holders of the Inter-Conference Shield.
The Challenge Cup
The elite teams from Albion and Bretonnia compete for the ultimate honour – the Old World Challenge Cup itself. Tickets for the final are often sold out before the beginning of the season! The prize money is attractive to teams and players alike, but the real draw is the once-in-a-lifetime experience (for most players!) of winning in the final.
How does it work? The Challenge Cup is a straight knockout tournament. The Conference Champions each receive a bye into the second round. In the first round, the 2nd placed team will play the 3rd placed team from the opposite conference.
What is the prize? The winner gets one extra MVP and a random amount of gold, up to 90k.
The Inter-Conference Shield
Teams finishing mid-table in Albion and Bretonnia compete in the Inter-Conference Shield, a competition to determine which conference is superior. These games often include grudge matches between teams of the same race, adding an extra spice that has made them popular with commoners and the nobility alike. For this reason, teams that win their game sometimes also gain a patron who will look after them in future drafts. The nation that wins the Shield gets the advantage of hosting the cup competitions the following season, as well as getting the first pick in the draft.
How does it work? Teams finishing 4th-8th in the Albion and Bretonnia Conferences form a Conference Squad. First, teams are scheduled against each other according to their finishing position (4th plays 4th, 5th plays 5th, etc.). The second round and third round of games are chosen by the two conference squads in turn, with the first set of choices going to the conference with the better overall record. The squad that didn't choose the games for each round may allocate two bonus points to games in that round (either 1 point to two different games, or 2 points to one game). The conference with the most wins at the end of it all are declared the victors. Games include overtime, so there are no draws.
What is the prize? The Conference with the most wins gets the first draft pick next season. Individual teams who win their Inter-Conference Shield game are entered into a lottery, with the chance to win a Royal Pardon (see below).
The Playoffs
Every season, four teams who didn’t quite make it during the regular season compete to remain in, or to be promoted to, the top two conferences. For teams finishing near the bottom of the Albion or Bretonnia Conferences, these three games represent their last desperate chance to avoid exile to snowy Kislev; while for the other two teams, the Playoffs are their ticket to the much more glamorous upper conferences.
How does it work? The two teams who finished 9th in the Albion and Bretonnia Conferences, and the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Kislev Conference, play each other in a scheduled round robin tournament, with 5 points awarded for a win, 3 points for a draw, and 1 point for a loss. The tie-breaker, if necessary, is head to head record, followed by TD difference, followed by CAS difference. If required, the tie-breaker will then be TD scored, followed by CAS caused, followed by a coin flip.
What is the prize? The top two teams at the end of the mini-league will play in the top tier next season, while the bottom two will play in the Kislev Conference.
The Kislev Plate
The Kislev Plate was introduced for teams that aren’t involved in any of the other competitions going on during the busy schedule. For many fans, it represents the first real chance to see the potential stars of tomorrow, and nobles are usually quick to declare themselves long-time fans of whoever ends up winning. This can be a distinct advantage when they are next involved in the draft…
How does it work? The top two Kislev teams, plus the teams finishing below the Playoff spots are entered in to the Kislev Plate, along with the two teams finishing bottom of the Albion and Bretonnia Conferences. It is run as a straight knock-out competition, with the first round randomly seeded.
What is the prize? The winner of the Plate gets a Royal Pardon (see below).
Post-Season Tour
After the cups, teams travel across the Old World, playing in exhibition matches to train their players, raise money, gain new fans, and (most importantly) raise the profile of the league outside of its traditional heartlands. Previously called "friendlies", these games were renamed after it was pointed out that they were sometimes distinctly less than friendly. Teams of equal size tend to play each other regardless of conference, and after successful petitioning from the Union of Blood Bowl Players the number of these games that could be played between seasons was limited. Of course, young and inexperienced players are keen to play more than the older, wiser, players, so smaller teams tend to play more games. Most individual players see these games as little more than training matches, so they don’t tend to hit other professionals as hard as they normally would! Of course, there are always exceptions…
How does it work? Teams will be divided in to four groups based on their TW (Tournament Weight). The highest TW group will be allowed to play one match against another team in the same group; the next highest up to two matches; the third group up to four matches; and the lowest TW group up to 6 matches. Claw doesn't stack with mighty blow, and modifiers don't work with piling on for these games.
What is the prize? There is no prize!
The Draft
Before the next season can start, the senior teams must be divided up between the two conferences. This is done by a secret draft, carried out behind closed doors in the official Drafting Hall, between the two conference champions from last season. The champion of last season’s Kislev Conference is now also allowed to be present, to throw themselves in to the conference they most fancy. It is often a long, drawn-out affair, but when the teams have reached their decision, white smoke billows from the chimney signalling that the process is over and the new season can begin.
At the end of the season, there will be a draft to determine which teams from the draft pool end up in which conferences for the next season, with the Conference Champions taking turns to pick the teams. The conference that won the Inter-Conference Shield will get the first pick. The Conference Champions stay in their original conferences. The only other restriction is that there is a maximum limit of one team from each race in each conference.
The winner of the previous season's Kislev Conference can choose which conference to enter once all other teams have been chosen (barring one). The final remaining team will go in to the other conference.
Royal Pardons
After the draft has been published, teams that are unhappy with their position desperately scrabble around to find out if there is any way they can change the outcome. If they have any influence with any of the nobility currently supporting the league, they may be able to pull a few strings and get a last minute transfer…
After the conferences have been picked, anyone with a Royal Pardon may try to use it to swap conferences. Any team with a Royal Pardon may declare an interest in using it, but only two may be used in a single season. Priority is given to the newest Royal Pardons (so if someone with an older Pardon wants to switch, but two newer Pardons are used, they must stay where they are). For these purposes, Royal Pardons issued as prizes for winning the Kislev Plate are considered newer than ones issues for the winner of the Inter-Conference Shield in the same season. Starting with the most recent Royal Pardon, teams may select any other team from the other conference (not including teams that have already used a Royal Pardon this season, or the conference champions) and switch places with them. A Royal Pardon may be used to break the "Max of one team of each race per conference" rule. Any Royal Pardons not used carry over into the next season.