Inside the Karnage: Behind the Coastal Karnage Dice
Greetings, sports fans! The first Coastal Karnage Bloodbowl 11’s Tournament is on our doorsteps, with coaches from across New South Wales kitting up for one of the last tournaments for the 2025 Waratah Series.
If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time to get your list up onto TourPlay and join in the action, with registrations extended until the 23rd of November.
As one of the proud event sponsors, NMD Hoard wanted to create something truly memorable for the occasion. Our master crafter has designed a set of “fish-tastic” custom block dice (brought to life by 216 Designs Young’s Customs), inspired by the Central Coast and reflecting the coastal theme, tournament spirit, and the wild energy that defines Blood Bowl at its best.
Grass routes – Where it all started
The Central Coast Blood Bowl community has a strong league scene. Made up of residents from both ends of the coast, the league is a tight-knit and inclusive group with players who carpool to tournaments, show up at Waratah Series fixtures together, and proudly represent their corner of NSW wherever they go.
As the league grew more connected, the desire for a shared identity did too, something to rally behind and represent their local pride and their collective personality at events.
After plenty of banter, brainstorming, and community input, the Coastie Karnage name was born. It pays homage to past tabletop groups in the region while embracing the bloodthirsty enthusiasm that makes the Central Coast scene so lively and so much fun.
But Why Fish?
The Central Coast is an incredible part of the NSW East Coast, located between Sydney and Newcastle. An 80km sweep of beaches, ocean cliffs, bays, and national parks. Stunning? Absolutely. Unique? Yes… but also no.
Because here’s the design challenge: every coastal region has beaches.
Queensland tournament organisers already have the beach theme locked down. Melbourne has its iconic lifesaver aesthetic. Anything too generic risks blending into the broader East Coast identity.
Blood Bowl, however, thrives on the absurd. The less seriously you take it, the more joyful it becomes. The satire, the irony, the dad-joke energy — it’s baked into the game’s DNA.
The energy reminded me of the ‘flying hellfish’ from The Simpsons (Season 7, Ep. 22 ‘The Curse of the Flying Hellfish’). A tough fish. Not a shark, not a kraken, just a fish with attitude.
The juxtaposition of the grim dark, blood thirsty, murder, death, kill, aesthetic of Bloodbowl to a fish in powder blue and magenta was playful, unexpected, and just irreverent enough to match the league’s sense of humour.
The Coastal Karnage identity weaves in the Coast’s shipbuilding roots with its rope-work framing, while the two-headed fish cheekily unites the region’s north and south — a mascot as quirky and tough as its Blood Bowl community.
Reimagining the Classic Block Dice Symbols for tournament dice
Designing custom tournament dice – or league dice – is always a balance between creativity, clarity, and respect for the game’s heritage. For the Coastal Karnage set, the goal was simple: honour the classic block dice symbols while giving them a distinctly Central Coast twist.
The inspiration for the symbols came from the league’s new identity — bold, nautical, and a little bit cheeky. Each face of the dice was reworked to incorporate fish iconography in keeping with the modern Central Coast identity (North and south ends, fishing from bridges and piers, tough but also relaxed), without straying too far from the universally recognisable block symbols.
To keep the dice practical for rapid tabletop play, the design followed key standards around readability, silhouette consistency, and symbol fidelity. That meant any artistic flourishes needed to support clarity, not fight it.
Balance was created between not just with fill colour and outline, but also the expectation of terms, in an attempt to bridge the levels of experience within the community.
There was a lot of discussion around symbols for stumble, with ‘Push Pow’ being part of the vernacular for some, as well as ‘Both down’ causing translation confusion for rookie coaches, with a half-pow and a skull, sometimes being read as a skull.
The final block dice design represents the culmination of feedback from the Coastie Karnage league, ensuring maximum readability and playability. These dice are the Central Coast Blood Bowl community’s contribution to the wider Australian Blood Bowl scene, allowing players to carry a piece of their passion, spirit, and local identity with them wherever they take the game.
FAQ – Do you want to know more..?
The tournament dice will ONLY be available to tournament participants.
If you haven’t registered yet, head over to the TourPlay link and get yourself a spot. The tournament only has places for 50 coaches.
For more information, check the Coastal Karnage Event page and social media pages.
These fish-tastic dice were designed exclusively by NMD Hoard for the Central Coast Blood Bowl League – Coastie Karnage, and printed for the Coastal Karnage Blood Bowl 11’s Tournament.
The dice are compatible with fantasy football miniature games such as Blood Bowl, but are not endorsed by, or associated with, official Blood Bowl merchandise.
NMD Hoard designs a range of block dice to fit the fun and whimsy themes that the community brings to the game, from Necrotic Pumpkin dice, to graffiti style, and novelty skill dice.
Check out our range of dice on the NMD Hoard shop, or sign up to the newsletter to stay up to date with new drops.
NMD Hoard