Question: Announcing actions

[bradw71]

Greetings fellow BloodBowlers I have been lurking for a little while and am impressed with what I see, so I thought I would throw what I think is a "newbie" question out and see what response I get.

The LRB states that a player must declare his actions prior to commencing any movement etc. What I don't understand is why this is in place? I find it completely illogical and struggle with the concept. It has caused me (IMHO) to lose more than my fair share of games. I'll give you an example.

I am playing High Elves. Here's a scenario. One of the Line-elves is on the line of scrimmage. The ball is in the open three squares away from him. I want to dodge away, pick up the ball, move a bit further and throw it to a received down the field. According to the rules, I MUST STATE that I am going to throw the ball prior to moving.

My brain doesn't like this! To me, there is no point in stating I am going to throw the ball, if I haven't even picked it up yet! And if it is designed to limit teams to one pass, why is this? What is the logic, it doesn't represent any portion of the game at all?!?!?

It's a real pity because from my experience to date, the game mechanics are great and represent a "fantasy football match" very well, much more than (IMHO) any other GW game to date represents it's chosen field.

What my opponents do is tell me I am not allowed to throw the ball because I didn't state I was going to prior to moving. Is this how everyone plays and do I need to simply stop whining and eventually get better at remembering, or is this a valid issue?

Thanks,
Brad.

[Valen]

I agree with you on this point, but I am sure I will probably get told off by one of the more experienced BB coaches.

In our league the only action that we stick to which has to be declared before moving, is Blitz. The others are just as and when you decide to do them.

Therefore in your example you would declare the dodge, do this, then declare the pick up, do this, and if you have done this successfully, then you declare the pass.

It seems fairer and gives for a more entertaining game.

[martynq]

Sorry to disagree with you both, but I believe you do have to declare such actions. The reason is little to do with the high elf example - there is little reason why it would matter since most of the time the reason why you would fail to pass is because you suffer a turnover. (Although there was a situation where I was going to bail out once when a whole load of dodges were needed and I would stop if I'd used the Dodge skill and a team re-roll.)

However, the major reason is to limit Big Guys effectiveness. If declare a pass or blitz with an ogre for example and fail your Bonehead roll, then the pass or blitz is used up. It is built into the Bonehead negative skill that this sort of thing can happen. (Without it you are making ogres better players.)

Just my opinion of course!

Cheers,
Martyn

[Valen]

I agree with the bonehaed thing on blitz, as I did state in my original post by saying we do declare the blitz action, but I still do not see any reason as to why you have to declare the dodge, pick up, pass actions as stated above.

[Dangerous Dave]

The answer is simple. It adds to the strategy of the game. Declaring all actions is a good thing. OK if you have to dodge and fail the dodge but stay up with Stand Firm then whatever action that player was going to take, Blitz, Pass or Hand Off is lost. Make sure you use the right players and take your actions in the right order (ie blitz off a TZ before passing).


Dave

[DoubleSkulls]

Remember that even if you declare a pass action you don't have to pass the ball, you just can't pass with anyone else.

So in practice it doesn't make too much difference but occassionally means that you decide not to complete an action and waste it.

Ian

[Valen]

Are you guys playing for money, I don't see why someone can't change their mind and hand-off to another player, then pass with them. If you play be your strict rigid rules, all I will see that will happen is that turns will take longer as you will have to think, chack and double check.

[martynq]

Are you guys playing for money,

Nope... though several of us play in Galak's leagues which are PBEM and the declaration rules are enforced. If you do start to declare all actions, then you do get used to it and it doesn't seem so much of a burden.

As Dave points out, the problem occurs when there are lots of skills around to confuse the issue. Rookie teams won't have much of a problem (except if they have ogres attempting to pass the ball ) but once things get more complicated issues arise.

Cheers,
Martyn

[GalakStarscraper]

BTW, Valen ... Pick-up is NOT a declared action.

The declared actions in the MBBL2 are:
Pass
Blitz
Foul
Handoff
Cast

The MBBL list is the same except delete Cast

I strictly enforce this rule. You have to declare the actions before the move starts. If I'm playing elves maybe I have two players with Pro that both need a dodge roll to go pick up the ball in 2 TZs, dodge out and pass the ball. ... if I don't declare the pass then I could try and dodge out the first elf and if he needs to use Pro on the dodge then I just move him adjacent to the ball. Then I dodge the next elf and he succeeds so I know I declare that he's the thrower since he has Pro left.

Failed bonehead rolls, Stand Firm dodging, using skills like Dodge and Pro before getting to the ball or the opponent. All of these are reason why a declared action might not be finished.

Bottom line to me: declared actions for a valuable part of the game ... and I only play for the fun of it.

Galak

[Valen]

Sorry guys,

I misunderstood, with the new list Galak put up, I now realise that only selected actions are compulsary to declare. It is still a change to how we play, but it is not too bad.

[Darkson]

Are you guys playing for money, I don't see why someone can't change their mind and hand-off to another player, then pass with them. If you play be your strict rigid rules, all I will see that will happen is that turns will take longer as you will have to think, chack and double check.

Turns shouldn't take longer, as you only get 4 minutes anyway.

[bradw71]

Firstly, thanks for all your replies guys.

I strictly enforce this rule. You have to declare the actions before the move starts. If I'm playing elves maybe I have two players with Pro <SNIP>... if I don't declare the pass then I could try and dodge out the first elf <SNIP> then I just move him adjacent to the ball. Then I dodge the next elf and he succeeds so I know I declare that he's the thrower since he has Pro left.

I understand what you are saying, but firstly if you don't pass with the first guy because of the decision you made, if the second guy does or doesn't make his rolls/or uses up his pro skill in your example, it doesn't matter. If he doesn't pass the ball, it's not like the first guy can have another go!?!?!

I appreciate it is a part of the rules, I guess I was just hoping that maybe, just maybe it was something that may "evolve it's way out" of the game. I mean, I have played 2 official games in our league and missed out on 4 "sure thing" touchdowns due to failing to declare that I was going to pass, prior to moving the player. No dodges, no GFI, just forgot because I forgot, IMHO because it's not a "natural" part of the game.

But as you stated, it's a part of the game and I guess I'd better get used to it

Thanks again for all your help guys.
Brad.

[GalakStarscraper]

You get used to it ... been playing with declared actions for 2 years ... its 2nd nature now.

Galak

[Rustycan]

Ummm Galak??? Im an idiot sometimes but what the heck is Cast??? Is it in that damn Mag #3 that is out in the UK but not in our area??

[sean newboy]

Cast as in cast a spell , for on pitch spell casters.