Hidden skills?

[MattShepherd]

One of the things that bugs me a bit about trying to make a team with a different approach (developing a Dwarf team with a passing game, or a bashy Skaven team, or what have you) is that you still can't surprise your opponents, because team sheets are "transparent." It's not explicitly stated in the LRB that team sheets have to be publicly viewable, but they always are... in our league, on FUMBBL, etc.

So just a passing thought: what if sheets were secret, and skills were revealed only as necessary? Obviously this would require a very involved league manager to confirm that yes, Wally the Weasel does have Mighty Blow and Piling On.

But it would add a lot of mystery to play, too... not knowing what skills have been added to the opponents team since last time you played. Also might encourage a lot more unconventional play, because you'd be putting a premium on surprising your opponents.

Thoughts?

[Mad Jackal]

Of course with honest coaches and decent friends playing that might work out ok. (Pass block might become monster. Diving tackle interesting, Foul appearance. ECT.)

It seems to me though, you'd almost want a neutral 3rd party there to handle the skills "announcement".

Give each coach a copy of the opponents blank skills roster and him (the official) a skilled version. Then he can follow along and prompt (or verify) skill useage.

It would be almost like playing double blind.

[MattShepherd]

That's where the "involved league manager" comes in. I've been trying to think of a foolproof "reveal system..." maybe involving a secure Web site? The Web version of the teams is the "master" and players can consult it player by player to see what skills are there.

99.9% of players are honest anyway, so just doing it straight would probably be fine.

I'm liking this idea more and more...

[Joemanji]

That system would only work in the situation where you know all your opponents really well, and trust them totally. If even one person in the league doesn't fit that description, then it would become very difficult to do.

[narkotic]

That concept would lead to anti-social behaviour, especially in leagues when you aren't allowed to watch another matches during the league night as you may glimpse what skills your future opponent has distributed among his players.

Coach: "Huh, we're playing against Brazil tonight. They have a new player called "Ronaldo". Do we know anything about him? He seems to be a star over there"

Assistant Coach: "No, I actually never watch football on television or in a stadium, or even am interested in sports coverage. It's against the rules."

Coach: "Well said. Don't forget to switch on the brainwashing machine after the match. We are meant to forget everything we might get to know about the opponent during the match."

[MattShepherd]

LOL! I see your point. But I was thinking of it (and not explaining it very well, admittedly) as it being kind of a "keep track of it yourself, but I'm under no obligation to tell you until I use it" thing.

Practically it only makes a difference when your opponent has ADDED skills since the last time you saw him play. If I saw Josh play Bob and Josh had a +ST +AG blodge Wardancer, Bob may very well talk about it the next day, and I would expect him to. But the Wardancer just hit X SPP... what has Josh added? MYSTERY!

It also provides a certain incentive to pay attention to other tables during league matches ...

[Mo]

That's what sports pages and cabal vision are for... I could see the entertainment of keeping *new* skills secret until the first time you use them. But once a Dwarf team starts passing, the news will be all over the place.

Hiding new skills could work easily enough at a tourney. The ref(s) verify your new roster for this round, but you show the *last* roster to your next opponent before the game. So if you're adding a skill between rounds, everyone always has 1 surprise after the first match.

And even for the first tourney match, if you are allowed to add any skills to the starting team, those extra skills could be secret in the first round.

[MattShepherd]

Information could become a hot commodity too. FALSE information could become a devastating metagame feature.

[Tritex]

I think it over complicates things and slows the game a bit(writing down skills of those you know etc) ...With the write ref it could be plausible but whats the point?

[DoubleSkulls]

Working out your turn is bad enough without having to try and work out which of your opponent's long beards has guard...

[duff]

As league co-ordinnater I made up a novelty team to be played against as a finale to the 1st tournament (the winner of the tournament got to play this team to go t=for the big prize).

As the player of the team that did worst I also got to play them. I handed my opponent a team list with descriptions, rumours stories and the odd wild exaggeration, then revealed skills and stats as they became relevant. In a later novelty tourney we all got to do something similar. It's fun as a variant, but I think once the novelty wore off it would be a pain