Waiting to score is Fair?/Unfair?

[Longshot]

Some of coaches believe that if a player can score ,he have to do it.
Playing clock is used in all the sports and games. (i dont talk about real tome but killing turn).

For me, it is a fair tactic as long as it is risky.
Staying one more turn and you can loose the ball. If the opponent can 't reach you, so he made a bad defence.

Some Teams have to kill turns to be sure to get a draw or a victory (against high speed teams) and i feel it fair.
In the same time, with speedy teams, loosing a turn is usefull in the same way (letting 2 turns for dwarves to score is not bad )

So do you really think it is unfair?

IMHO, it is a fair tactic (i wont pay for my opponent mistakes).

[Mestari]

If I'm playing against a team that has near 100% chance of scoring in 1 or two turns, I've knocked most of their players out and one of my players is standing next to the EZ I will wait until I've played enough time. Naturally only in the case where that benefits me.
But the point is:
the Glory rule and the like would mean that I would have to give an excellent chance to tie up or win the game for the opposing team. Something I would not voluntarily do (in most cases anyhow) if the game is tight.

If it's a "serious" game, I play to win. It's the fault of crappy defense or bad luck if I manage to clear the pitch in that way. In that case I feel I have the right to play time.
in non-serious friendly games it's an another matter, naturally.

[Zombie]

If they can't handle the bashing, they shouldn't be playing the game! Of course it's a fair strategy. If i play against dwarves, i expect them to kill time for most of the game. If they don't, it's probably a rookie coach and i'll teach him to do it the next time.

Like you said Longshot, it's not the dwarf coach's fault if the other coach can't play good defense and stop them or force them to score.

[Marcus]

I've seen this thread somewhere before...

Best comment I've heard regarding this tactic is:

"would you criticize elves for scoring in 2 turns so they can minimise damage and get another chance to score? No? Then don't criticize dwarves for scoring in 8 turns to maximise damage and take away your chance to score"

IMO the game is all about controlling the style of play to favour your team and hamper your opponent's

Longfang handed me my only loss of the T5 tournament by playing extremely tight clock control in the second half to ensure I never got a chance to reply. I don't think anyone who's played Longfang would call him a weak or beardy coach....

[christer]

Personally, I don't like it much and refrain from doing it myself. I'd much rather have an exciting game than a delayed TD victory.

That being said, I don't blame people for delaying TDs which ensure the game being won.. I do growl at people who delay for the sole reason of bashing you down though. Recently I was playing a game with my Khemri and my opponent delayed the 2-0 TD at turn 4 of the second half. Just to bash me down even more (I had taken loads of casualties and KOs already). I'm usually fairly cool about various tactics, but IMHO that's just pointless.

-- Christer

[Dangerous Dave]

Yeah this is a rehash of an old thread.

My view on this is that it is normally a valid tactic. However, if the team with the ball has already beaten the other team into pulp and is just delaying scoring to pulp them some more then I don't think that is in the spirit of the game. Obviously though this is difficult to make a rule for! The secret to stop the delay is to make sure that your opponent has some risky rolls to make by moving players close enough to him so that you have a shot at the ball carrier if he stalls some more.

As a footnote to this, I recently played against a Skaven team with my High Elves. It was 2-2 and both teams had 2 turns left - a Storm Vermin had the ball. My opponent ran his Storm Vermin as far away as possible and left him one short of the TD line (he could have easily scored without any rolls). I couldn't blitz him (out of range) but could get 2 players next to him. This I did - so with a reroll he had a 1 in 9 chance of failing the dodge (I got 2 players there so that if he blitzed he had a defenders choice). Of course I also made sure that I stood my guy up next to his Rat Ogre (who has block). OK first roll of the dice on his turn 8.... double skulls and the Rat Ogre is BH'd!!!

Joy - I won the game in O/T despite losing the toss - at the end he ran all his remaining players away to avoid taking more casualties!


Dave

[voyagers_uk]

no problem with it IMHO. I agree though that if you are doing it in a callous fashion you will soon find yourself alone at the gaming table.

[MickeX]

I'd say it's all in the spirit of the game - but it can be really boring. Sure, if you're playing a semi-final and it actually increases your chances of winning, go ahead.

[sean newboy]

I voted same as i did last time this came up, fair strategy.

[Zy-Nox]

I dont have a probem with it if its in the teams style of play,ie advancing slowly up the pitch then when your in scoring distance take the td,
I do however get annoyed at people who run the ball carrier up the pitch with a 1 or 2 player gaurd then stand next too the endzone for a couple of turns to wind down the clock, I think it was against dark elves somebody did this to me, the witch had the ball and for two turns ran along the line of the endzone,just to prevent me getting back into the game.

[Valen]

I completyly agree with Marcus here, how can you object too a valid tactic just because it does not suit your particular style of play.

We have a dwarf coach in our league who is doing very well by using this tactic, and I had no problems with the fact that in the second half of the game against my HE's, he ran up to the end zone and played out the clock for 4 turns to beat me 2-1. I would just put this down to playing to your teams strengths.

[martynq]

I agree, it's fair. Dull, but fair.

However, if you are 4-0 up, have caused enough casualties that at the next setup your opponent will only get to setup six players to your eleven, and there are only three turns to go, then you should score, just to be nice and give him a chance to have the ball.

If the situation is close then by all means use all tactics available.

Cheers,
Martyn

[Editted to correct my terrible grammar!]

[Ancalagon]

I use this tactic. I like it because is less risky than scoring fast. If you score fast, the the other team receives the ball and you have to leave three of your players onto the scrim line. A lot of coaches (specially elf coaches) hate it because negates their possiblity of scoring again. I think this is one way to play... is like saying you don't like dwarf cage...

Edit: I forgot:

[Balrog]

As most people know my league uses the Glory rule, which in our opinion is the best of both worlds. You can control the clock provided that the player with the ball is at least one gfi from the end zone. This does 2 things:
1- it gives the ball carrying team the option to run the clock down, and
2- it at leasts gives the defensive team a chance at the ball carrier.

In my experience teams that run the clock usually do it against a defense that is so pummeled that it couldn't get the ball even if the player was one gfi from the end zone. Also, this rule is a very sprotsmanlike affair. People who just want to win will never agree to it, it's good for leagues but bad for tournaments.

The way we view it is that the player who has the ball will want to score, despite his coach's plan. I have never seen a fooball player not score when he has a clear path to the endzone.

That said, running the clock is a valid tactic, and under this rule it just makes it a little more difficult. And trust me, it makes things a lot more fair for your opponent, try it and you will see.

-Balrog

[Ghost of Pariah]

It's fair. It pisses me off but it's fair. I don't think it's particularly nice to do it when you are up by 3 points already but so what?
If there are 2 turns left and you feel confident that the enemy can't reach then by all means run out the clock. I may forget about the ball the next time we play, though.