Pickup rolls - bonus for ending your action with the roll

Joemanji · Post by **Joemanji** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:32 pm

I've seen several people mention their frustration at what seems to be the incredible difficulty professional BB players have in simply picking up the ball. I thought an interesting house rule might be:

Before making a roll to pick up the ball, a player may declare that his action will end in the attempt. In so doing, he may add an additional +1 to the roll. [edit]This bonus may not be used if the ball is in any opposing TZs.

So basically, a AG3 player could make a pickup on a 2+ should he decide not to move any further than turn or pass/hand off. I think this might be an interesting but balanced addition. Not moving on is a high price to pay in a lot of situations, so I can't see this being used all the time. On the other hand, it would cut down on those ridiculous drives where a team spends a whole half trying (and failing) to pickup the ball.

Thoughts?

Bucket-Head · Post by **Bucket-Head** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:45 pm

Yeah!
This rule make sense for me.

Or, what about paying 3 movement points to get the +1 bonus?

besters · Post by **besters** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:58 pm

I like this idea, having spent too many turns with my Orc Thower failing to pick the ball up. It would certainly give Khemri some extra help as well.

I would go with no further movement but must still have at least 3 squares of movement left.

Besters

Duke Jan · Post by **Duke Jan** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:04 pm

No no no, its a terrible idea. 3+ pick ups for khemri or black orcs, especially since a lot of AG3 players have sure hands as well, they would be better at picking up the ball than an elf. Surehands 2+ pick-up rolls on rookie players is too good.

stashman · Post by **stashman** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:59 pm

I am supporting Duke Jan on this: NO!!!!

We are talking about how dwarfs shall have a hard time getting the ball once there are only AG2 players, and now this!

No, it would be too easy to get the ball. Players don't even have to take mutations like Extra Arms and Big Hand and the Sure Hands kill will be less needed.

If you have problems picking up the ball, play elves.

This is one of the reasons why the Dark Elf Runner don't have Sure Hands, to easy to get turnovers.

Banelord · Post by **Banelord** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:12 pm

Also a big NO from me. I play dwarfs and always the last action on my first turn is to pick up the ball. A bonus for nothing, pardon: that's stupid.

IMO this rule favor all bashy teams but rearly the agility ones.

mattgslater · Post by **mattgslater** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:46 pm

Ditto.

Joemanji · Post by **Joemanji** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:23 am

Banelord wrote:Also a big NO from me. I play dwarfs and always the last action on my first turn is to pick up the ball. A bonus for nothing, pardon: that's stupid.

Did you read the suggestion?

It's not the if you pick up the ball with the last action on your team. It's if the player ends his own action on the pickup roll ... so he can't move any further. So often you'd need to leave your ball carrier somewhere you wouldn't want to.

Post by **Old Man Draco** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:59 am

What will more likely happen is that I buid a cage around the ball first and then pick up the ball. Come and get it says my Black Orc.

Sorry Joe, but I don't like this idea either.

Joemanji · Post by **Joemanji** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:04 am

Draco wrote:Sorry Joe, but I don't like this idea either.

Oh that's fine, just chewing the fat. I just wanted him to dislike the right one.

besters · Post by **besters** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:50 am

I happen to think the rules are fine as they are, and should stay that way for at least another couple of years. But I find it amazing that people are so adamant in their views.

Looking at other threads this can border on the aggressive.

I like the idea, I think it could add something, but I can accept that play balance may need it to be offset by other changes.

Besters

stormmaster1 · Post by **stormmaster1** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:57 am

nice idea, but not balanced.

plasmoid · Post by **plasmoid** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:06 pm

I friend of mine came up with a similar idea (nope - haven't tried it) - like you because he wondered just how often these professional athletes screw up the simplest tasks:

If a player blows a d6 roll, and is in no opposing TZs, he may use a team reroll to convert the roll into a success instead of just using it as a reroll.

Just passing this on....
Cheers
Martin

Jural · Post by **Jural** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:45 pm

Personally, if I am playing a Dark Elf team and can force the opponent to cage up 5 squares behind the midway mark, they can almost never score on me.

And if they don;t cage up, I can make life hell for them, maybe getting a turnover as often as 75% of the time.

So... I would be thrilled if an opponent used this ability! Once I got kick anyway.

It would be a fine rule to test in my opinion. I'm not sure if I would allow it in tackle zones, however. Seems like some players and stars (The count comes to mind) are too difficult to get the ball from once they have it, so allowing them to pick the ball up at a +1 in a cage may be a bit too much.

Joemanji · Post by **Joemanji** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:03 pm

Jural wrote:Personally, if I am playing a Dark Elf team and can force the opponent to cage up 5 squares behind the midway mark, they can almost never score on me.

And if they don;t cage up, I can make life hell for them, maybe getting a turnover as often as 75% of the time.

So... I would be thrilled if an opponent used this ability! Once I got kick anyway.

Yeah, that was my thinking. It would force your opponent to form a cage in their own half, at least 2 or 3 squares behind the LoS. Like you, I can usually defend out an entire half using the one-step defence, so if my opponent starts even further back then I'm laughing. Even better if the ball lands off centre, forcing him down one widezone.

Btw, I'd love my opponent to use this to pickup the ball with his Black Orc. A BOB in the middle of the cage is one less BOB at the front of the cage, which again to me seems like a result. Especially since with AG2 and MV4 he isn't going to be doing anything unexpected.