Welcome back Sports Fans,

At SteamCon UK last November we revealed to you the first of the Minor Guilds, the Ratcatchers. Since then we’ve been pretty quiet on the subject of the Ratcatcher’s Guild, but today that comes to an end. As the release of the first Minor Guild draws ever closer, it’s time to start talking to you about some of the new characters joining the Guild Ball universe and some of the awesome new things they can do! Today, we’re going to talk to you about the genesis of the idea of the ‘Minor Guilds’.

What is a ‘Minor Guild’?

Following the violent disbanding of the Union, many of the Guilds have become wary of the increased involvement of the Solthecian church in their politics, and their influence and power in the world of Guild Ball. Seeking to address this new threat, Obulus has discovered a loophole within the laws of the game, which allows for an established Guild to form alliances with smaller and less influential Guilds in the lower leagues. How long will it be until the other Guilds take note of the success of this arrangement though, and follow suit? Only time will tell…

If you want to read the story of the Union’s untimely end, you can find the link here.

The ‘Minor’ Guilds are Obulus’ answer to the rising aggression of the Church. The Church have systematically dismantled the Union, and in doing so removed a key resource that ‘Major’ Guilds like the Morticians had come to rely on. Obulus decided that he needed a new pool of resources from which to draw extra players and other minions when he needed them. So, fatefully, he formed an alliance with a previously lower league team, the Ratcatcher’s Guild.

In gaming terms, Minor Guilds are a whole new set of standalone teams that you can choose to play with. Each is a legal team in its own right. As an example, the Ratcatcher’s Guild box will include a Captain, a Mascot, and four other players, all you need to play a game of Guild Ball! All of the currently existing Guilds (like the Butchers, Fishermen etc) are now classed as ‘Major Guilds’. Every Major Guild can expect to eventually receive a Minor Guild.

Two players in each Minor Guild will be ‘dual Guild’, meaning that they can play for both the Minor Guild and the Major Guild. In the case of the Ratcatchers, Skulk and Pelage are the two dual Guild players, they can play for either the Ratcatchers or the Morticians. When playing for either Guild, both Skulk and Pelage will be friendly Guild models, in much the same way that Compound is a friendly Guild model to both the Alchemist’s Guild and the Engineer’s Guild.

Additionally, two existing players in each Major Guild will become dual Guild. In the case of the Morticians, Bonesaw and Veteran Graves are the two dual Guild players. This means that they can play for either the Morticians or the Ratcatchers, and they are friendly Guild models to both! For Ratcatcher’s Coaches, all this means that they will have eight models to choose from when they play each game; the six from the Ratcatcher’s box, plus Bonesaw and Veteran Graves. Don’t own Bonesaw or Veteran Graves? You need to make sure you attend a Ratcatcher’s Launch Event where two of the exclusive prizes are alternate sculpts of Bonesaw and Veteran Graves!