Going for it with a ball and chain

[Stu]

I think I might have been playing this wrong. Do you treat them just like an ordinary player and move first, resolving the block if necessary, then roll the gfi? Or (as they might get to block) do you treat it like a blitz and roll the gfi first, then move them?

[Digger Goreman]

You'll find the answer in the skill description.... It's not the most obvious and I reprinted only the parts directly involved in your answer:

Ball & Chain (Extraordinary)

To move or Go For It, place the throw-in template over the player facing up ordown the pitch or towards either sideline. Then roll a D6 and move the player one square in the indicated direction....

If this movement....

Repeat this process until the player runs out of normal movement (you may GFI using the same process if you wish).

If during his Move Action he would move into an occupied square
then the player will throw a block

If the player is ever Knocked Down or Placed Prone roll immediately for injury (no Armour roll is required).

So it does look like he'll go careening into another player, blocking them, then falling down (assuming he missed the GFI)....

[DoubleSkulls]

I would have thought it ought to work the same as a blitz. Roll the GFI first, if you fall over you fall over in your own square without making the block.

[Grogmir]

Thats how I always played it Ian

[GalakStarscraper]

I would have thought it ought to work the same as a blitz. Roll the GFI first, if you fall over you fall over in your own square without making the block.

I agree with Ian.

Galak

[Darkson]

That's how I've been playing it (stupid B&C).

[Digger Goreman]

I would have thought it ought to work the same as a blitz. Roll the GFI first, if you fall over you fall over in your own square without making the block.

I agree with Ian.

Galak

I'm cool with that... but REALLY sounds like a re-write is needed....

[Joemanji]

I always played it as Ian said.

[Darkson]

Why would a rewrite be needed? Once you run out of normal movement, unless you GFI first to get another square of movement, you can't move into a square to throw a block.

[Digger Goreman]

It's the emboldened and enlarged parts of the rules I copied down.... On GFI or Dodges (Dodges don't apply to the ball and chain) you move into the square and, if failed, fall down in that square.... Ball and Chain allows you to GFI into an occupied square.... Therefore, when you move into an occupied square with ball and chain, you immediately throw a block (according to the skill description) and then you'd fall down....

That's the way it is written... not intended, apparently... but written so....

Again, I'm ok with the intentions....

Jiving with the other rules, GFI & Dodge came to mind, the Ball and Chain smacks the opponent, then you fall down in(to) the square vacated... unless you roll a Down/Both Down....

Therefore, a rewrite of the skill description is needed to indicate that the B&C will always go down in his square prior to the (failed) GFI....

[GalakStarscraper]

Therefore, a rewrite of the skill description is needed to indicate that the B&C will always go down in his square prior to the (failed) GFI....

See I don't agree ... you need to roll the GFI for the move and since you cannot "move" into an occupied square than it would seem a given that the rule works the same as a Blitz where you GFI to pay basically for the follow-up move that you are allowed.

Just my thoughts.

Galak

[Marlow]

The LRB5 says under GFI
Roll a D6 for the player after they have moved each extra square.

Since B&C Players can only take Move Actions the way they are written implies they get the Block first then roll to see if they fall over. If they need to roll the GFI first it should say that somewhere in the rules.

[GalakStarscraper]

This will surprise some folks. But I'm not sure this needs to be super spelled out in the rules.

An individual league should be able to decide if the B&C player should be able to Block first and then GFI or the other way around. Personally given how unreliable B&C players are ... I'm not that concerned if a league rules it the first way.

We did our best to clear up as many confusing rules in the book as we could ... but at the end of the day ... there will always be minor points like this of confusion that really are best left up to a league commission to decide instead of adding another 10 words plus to the rulebook to resolve.

Galak

[Marlow]

left up to a league commission to decide instead of adding another 10 words plus to the rulebook to resolve.

I would agree with that one, if you had to spell everything out exactly it would add another ten pages to the rule book!