Blood Bowl 7s

[Wulfyn]

Jip wrote a great article about Blood Bowl 7s. He's played it a fair amount before and some guys at ECBBL have just started to get into it. Thought some people here might find it interesting!

http://thetacklezone.net/blood-bowl-7s/


We're working on another article for 7s which is a "how to" on making a 7s board. Will reply below when that is up too.

[faust_33]

Nice post!

[howlinggriffon]

I'm sold on 7s after playing in the Albion Coast tourney. I think the next tournament I run will be in 7s format.

[Jip]

We're working on another article for 7s which is a "how to" on making a 7s board. Will reply below when that is up too.

I just got one of the technicians in my school’s design technology dept. to carve up an old 3rd edition board, for mine.

[Wulfyn]

That's a great idea Jip, but what if you wanted one with a TackleZone logo?

http://thetacklezone.net/how-to-make-a-sevens-board/

[ooarrtracter]

You can't post that without an image to show it off...

[Digger Goreman]

Jip's field just needed to be mildly embellished:

[cornixt]

I printed mine on the office printer. Three pages of ledger paper.

[Digger Goreman]

As someone else posted, I've also envisioned 7s as a BB farm system.... Following are a first draft of house rules for a simple system to dovetail into regular BB:

1. Before a match in which a BB player is missing a game, or in which a journeyman could be used, or a rostered BB player has died, a qualified player from a 7s farm team may be brought in. In addition to his skills, he will have Loner for this game. If he is a Coach, i.e., has the Leader skill, or part of the 7s team staff, he loses those benefits (with a reduction in price) in the "Big Leagues". If consequently returned to the farm team, the benefits would have to be reacquired. Upon return of the Big Leaguer, the former farm league player must be rerostered (legally) on a BB7s team, or permanently retired.

2. (As an alternative reroll rule): The Leader skill is the ONLY way to gain a reroll on a BB7s roster. Only one player may do so AND he becomes the player COACH! As long as he is unstunned on field, or in the reserves, he may argue the call.

3. Just as BB 7s teams can't afford a separate Coach, players must also fill in as Assistant Coaches and Career Liasons (CLs)/Motivational Speakers. A player may only be one or the other and not the coach. There may be no more than 5 of each on a team. Write in the designation on the player roster and increase the player value by 10,000; of course the cost must be paid from your team's treasury. The AC/CL must be on field, unstunned, or in reserves for his team to use his benefits. BB 7s team ACs are not penalized for losing the Coach due to rolling a one on "arguing the call".

4. It is STRONGLY recommended that regular BB players NOT be allowed "reassignment" to a BB 7s team.

Constructive comments welcome....

[Digger Goreman]

How is everyone playing the kick skill and is it having a disproportionate effect on the game?

[EastCoast]

As someone else posted, I've also envisioned 7s as a BB farm system.... Following are a first draft of house rules for a simple system to dovetail into regular BB:

1. Before a match in which a BB player is missing a game, or in which a journeyman could be used, or a rostered BB player has died, a qualified player from a 7s farm team may be brought in. In addition to his skills, he will have Loner for this game. If he is a Coach, i.e., has the Leader skill, or part of the 7s team staff, he loses those benefits (with a reduction in price) in the "Big Leagues". If consequently returned to the farm team, the benefits would have to be reacquired. Upon return of the Big Leaguer, the former farm league player must be rerostered (legally) on a BB7s team, or permanently retired.

2. (As an alternative reroll rule): The Leader skill is the ONLY way to gain a reroll on a BB7s roster. Only one player may do so AND he becomes the player COACH! As long as he is unstunned on field, or in the reserves, he may argue the call.

3. Just as BB 7s teams can't afford a separate Coach, players must also fill in as Assistant Coaches and Career Liasons (CLs)/Motivational Speakers. A player may only be one or the other and not the coach. There may be no more than 5 of each on a team. Write in the designation on the player roster and increase the player value by 10,000; of course the cost must be paid from your team's treasury. The AC/CL must be on field, unstunned, or in reserves for his team to use his benefits. BB 7s team ACs are not penalized for losing the Coach due to rolling a one on "arguing the call".

4. It is STRONGLY recommended that regular BB players NOT be allowed "reassignment" to a BB 7s team.

Constructive comments welcome....

In general the idea is a good one. In practice this looks like a whole lot of effort for very little benefit. I'm not seeing the incentive.

I think if you allowed BB 7s to serve as a farm league, you could certainly incentivize coaches that are on the fence about playing in the league. The Blood Bowl ruleset is robust enough that I don't see any need to tack a loner skill, nor do I see a reason to shitcan their Leader skill. A Blood Bowl match up isn't going to be broken because a single Leader thrower replaced a MNG one for cost. So why not allow Leader, ditch Loner, and give coaches a reason to run 7s?

Furthermore, why not allow coaches to hire from their farm team? If a coach gets a particularly tasty skill up on a positional, why not allow them to hire the player off their 7s team for cost? I would think a lot of coaches would be interested in running a 7s team if it meant extra bites at the skillup table for their roster. Sports leagues have drafts every year, it seems popular, win/win right?

If you were worried about stat farming, you could certainly add a reasonable "stat tax" to keep it at bay. I really like your general idea, I could see it giving a lot of depth, character, and color to a league. I just don't see why I personally would bother as described. I think your proposal is way too conservative.

[Digger Goreman]

Perhaps just poorly explained, or fleshed out, as I do want it to be much as you mentioned: a reservoir for talent. No reason not to be able to hire from the minors.

The other "rules" past the first were a, perhaps lame, attempt to run with the untrained, minors vibe....

Thank you for the honesty! I would be more than happy if you took the idea and ran with it, as a true, workable farm system appeals to me more than the current use of journeymen.

[EastCoast]

OK, I got you now. I thought you were trying to throttle the players back for balance purposes, and I just couldn't see how they'd really impact a match up one way or the other. I think the farm league option could be a really good way to get a few regular league coaches to fill in your 7s league. I'm not sure that internship vibe would really be worth it, but its fluffier than picking up a journeyman.

I don't know enough about 7s (never played it) to completely understand the balance, but maybe even if you could send a MNG player down for a "recovery" match with the 7s team that may generate a cool narrative. That may be a bridge too far.

Regardless, like I said before I do think it's a good idea.

[Darkson]

Blocknroll got some vinyl pitches made for his league/tournament and kindly got a couple made for me with the ARBBL logo.

(Pic to follow when I can remember where I put the pitch!)

Iirc it worked out about £8 (including p&p) as he ordered 10 in one go.

[Darkson]

Blocknroll got some vinyl pitches made for his league/tournament and kindly got a couple made for me with the ARBBL logo.

(Pic to follow when I can remember where I put the pitch!)

Iirc it worked out about £8 (including p&p) as he ordered 10 in one go.