'Antioch Rules'

[Lodid]

It was the second day of the tournament being held on the Antioch College Magick Fields of Ys when the local Lord of the lands paid a visit to see how the festivities were faring… Also, truthfully, to see how much the tradesmen was raking in to see if he was getting enough of the cut…

But such that it were, the Lord of Ys was unfamiliar with the game, and, as he was watching from a private booth overlooking the assembled masses and the field of play, there were many questions being directed towards the Tournament Organizer, Bloodworth, who was indeed the local expert…

“Bloodworth, those Chaos Warriors that are surrounding that minotaur carrying the ball…?’
‘Yes, m’lud…?’
‘Why have those elves been bouncing off them for the past minute?’
‘That’s called a ‘cage’, m’lud.’
‘Uh-huh. But the minotaur is but a pace away from the end line…?’
‘…Yes, m’lud?’
‘Well, that mino and that ‘cage’ hasn’t moved for awhile now. Are they stuck?’
‘No, m’lud. They don’t want to score too quickly. Referred to as the ‘2-1 Grind’, your Exalted.’
‘Too quickly? They’re standing perfectly still.’
‘Yes, m’lud. Time management and ball-control is a big part of the game, your Lordship.’
‘I see. You –do- realize it’s as exciting to watch as mud drying to watch them just stand there for the entire half?’
‘Yes, m’lud. But it’s the rules.’
‘Hmmm. I have dominion over these games held on my lands, do I not?’
‘You do, m’lud.’
‘Tell the teams to send a representative to meet me here in the morning, and we will discuss how the rest of the games will proceed…’
‘Beg pardon, m’lud?’
‘Do it, Bloodworth, or I’ll find someone I will… and I’ll see you later tonight to discuss… changes.’

And so the Lord of Ys retired to his manor, and with Bloodworth, and some of the local mages from the College, and reviewed how to speed up the game over the course of that night…

And so the morning came, and the assembled appeared, and Bloodworth spoke to them about the ‘changes’, which he referred to as the ‘Antioch’ rules:

- No team will have possession of the ball for more than four consecutive turns. Upon possession of the ball, you will have two turns to cross the midfield line, and having crossed that line, an additional two turns to cross the end line with the ball.
- If a player has possession of the ball, and has not crossed the half-line after the second turn of possession, or has not crossed the end-line line at the end of the fourth turn of consecutive possession, a wizard will strike the ball carrier with a lightning bolt. Scatter rules will then apply.

The representative wizard from Antioch, Grymwynd, stood up briefly from the chair provided him. The cold smile that was on his lips was broken briefly by his words:
‘And I don’t miss.’
The dwarven representatives were the loudest to immediately grumble.
Bloodworth quickly responded to their protestations… ‘Look… we know this is going to favor the quicker teams… quite honestly, it’s supposed to. But, we have not forgotten you… Look over on the playing fields, you see those large poles freshly erected on either end of the fields?’
The dwarves and halflings nodded. The Skaven snickered.
Bloodworth continued, ‘You kick a ball through there, you get points. And we know you like kicking things…’

- Scoring changes are as follows: Touchdowns are now 5 points. A field goal (a ball that either flies or bounces (scatters) through the posts that is about two squares wide) is worth two points. Once scored, the scoring team then kicks off.
- A ball that comes into rest in the opposing endzone after being kicked is worth one point, but is considered live, still in play, and can be recovered by either teams.
- Once a ball is kicked, and location of the ball is subsequently resolved either scoring or not, it is considered a turnover/end of turn action.
Also…
- Since there is anticipated a lot more action, scoring and kickoffs, the halfs are extended to be ten turns, instead of the normal eight.
?
Questions?
‘What if it’s kicked off to us, and we don’t decide to pick the ball up? Does the possession counter start?’
- No. However, if the ball is not picked up or at least attempted to be picked up after two of the receiver’s turns, the wizard will scatter the ball 6 rolls worth. So, don’t think you can start caging the ball now…
"What if we gain possession of the ball on their half of the field?'
- Then you have two turns to score.
"I crosses the midfield line with the ball in just one turn... how many turns I have left?"
- Congratulations. But you have just two more turns to score.



Optional
Grimwynd’s Fickle Finger of Fate
The timekeeping that the officiating wizard uses is… well, capricious at best. On the third consecutive possession, roll a die. On a 6, the wizard jumps the gun a touch and zaps the ball carrier with a lightning bolt. On a fourth consecutive possession, roll a die. On a 6, the wizard is asleep at the wheel, and does not zap the ball carrier, allowing a fifth possession…

Thoughts?

[MKL]

Hi Lodid.

I find the idea of a Wizard-as-timer highly entertaining (a bit old, wacko, Blood Bowl)...
But have you playtested this "2+2 turns possession" houserule? Maybe some “slow match” like orcs vs dwarves? I admit I haven't... still, this rule seems simply unfeasible

[Lodid]

Unfeasible how? Admittedly, this is to speed play up, to generate more activity than to watch one side or the other go through a laborious 8-turn drive that involves but little movement and strategy... and yes, it benefits the speedier teams.

But... that's by design. Reward speed and moving towards a goal in a timely manner. Penalize stagnation and stalling.

The original idea was four turns total, but we found that a team with the lead could still just camp at their end of the pitch with the ball at the end of the match, and that seemed just as anti-climactic. Forcing a team, regardless of speed, to gain ground to maintain possession led to the '2+2' rule...

I know the comparison to American footy to gain 'first downs' can be made, but I think it's closer to Australian Rules football to keep the action moving and providing a kicking game with two poles to kick a ball towards to score as well, shortening the field for slower teams... in either game, you -never- see any player with the ball lingering about. Nor should it be in Blood Bowl.

With 'slow' teams, such as if it were between the Dwarves and Orcs, it becomes more of land acquisition game battling for field position and trying to score either by kicking or punching through the line than watching soldiers peering over at each other across the Maginot Line in their entrenched positions...

Defensive struggle between them, heavens yes... Does it cause issues for them, absolutely... but I think this makes far more sense than seeing a player surrounded by his mates a foot away from scoring just standing there for several turns doing nothing.

[MKL]

Unfeasible how?
(...)
...but I think this makes far more sense than seeing a player surrounded by his mates a foot away from scoring just standing there for several turns doing nothing.

You're preaching to the converted. I just have some doubts that 2+2 turns is time enough to score for a slow team.
If you have tried it and found it satisfying... well, then you are right and my fears are unjustified

[PlanetTJ]

Was there rules for kicking a ball in the game in previous versions? Or is a "kick" just a "pass action"?

[Corvidius]

I actually like these rules although they actually favour defensive play over offensive which could be equally frustrating. Wood Elves v Dwarves would be very counter attack based on the Wood Elf side.