Publisher Steamforged Games has made Guild Ball, the competitive wargame that launched the company, available once again. The UK-based firm has put the complete miniature line back into production on a made-to-order basis, with a free downloadable starter set containing the STLs necessary to 3D print two starter teams.
Steamforged announced the return of Guild Ball via YouTube on Thursday, in a presentation for the firm’s 10th anniversary. Guild Ball was the first miniature wargame that Steamforged ever published, which sees members of opposing fantasy guilds playing raucous ‘mob football’. The game has been out of production since August 2020.
In the video, co-founder Mat Hart says: “We can’t leave Guild Ball where it is, it’s still a game we talk about almost daily”. The firm had previously stated that Guild Ball was not economical to produce, but Hart says “the advancement of print on demand” technology for miniatures now makes the game a going concern: “every mini for guild ball is now available for anyone who wants to play”.
The Kick Off! starter set is available to download from the Steamforged Games website, though you’ll need a 3D printer to make all the components, including the Brewers and Masons starter teams. You can’t beat a price like “free”, and they’re nice sculpts that make for interesting DnD miniatures.
Hart acknowledges the role that the game’s long standing community has played in maintaining the game and bringing changes to the rules; the new starter set incorporates some of these changes into a “quintessential” Guild Ball rulebook.
Hart and co-founder Rich Loxam were active organisers in the vibrant Warmachine tournament scene of the 2010s, and refined many ideas from that game into the design of Guild Ball. It was designed with tournament play in mind from the start, and had a very successful tournament circuit for much of its lifespan.
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