Rules Questions

[Full_Block]

Okay, I’ve been playing Blood Bowl for some time now and the same questions keep cropping up. Opinions (at least in the two leagues I play in) are divided. Can anyone help answer some of these questions?

Q1. It says on page 34 of the Living Rulebook (v2.0): “All skills may be used once per action unless stated otherwise.” That’s perfectly clear to me. For example, if you have to dodge a player out of TZs more than once in any one move, you can only use that player’s Dodge skill once… except how does this work exactly? What about players who aren’t taking an action? Or in other words, the opposing team’s players? They are not taking any actions, so they shouldn’t be able to use any skills. Therefore, they don’t get to use Block or Dodge when you roll the block dice, right? Nor, say, could an opponent player use Guard defensively.

I assume that Block and Dodge always work but this part of the LR needs to be reworded to make it clearer (and you’d be surprised how many people argue otherwise).

Of course if this is true, there are some skills you’ll never be able to use, such as Dump Off.

And what about Frenzy? You attack once and use your Block skill, but only get a push-back result. You attack again but now you cannot use Block! (It’s your team turn but it’s only one action so you can only use Block once, right?)

Q2. What exactly can Team Re-Rolls be used for (and what can’t they be used for)? All the LR says (on page 15) is: “Team re-rolls may never be used to re-roll Armour rolls or Injury rolls.” Can they be used to re-roll the block dice? If so, mightn’t this involve rolling 2 or 3 dice and thus cost 2 or 3 (respectively) Re-Rolls and not one? And surely you can’t use Re-Rolls for anything like a Wizard or Apothecary (which so many people do) because it says in the LR: “A coach may use a team re-roll to re-roll a dice roll for an action carried out by a player in their own team during their own team turn.” Note that it says “player” and not coaching staff or whatever.

Q3. If Big Guys can’t use Team Re-Rolls, can Team Re-Rolls be used on them? For example, a Big Guy gets killed and the Apothecary rolls a 1 to heal him and fails. Can you use a Team Re-Roll or not?

Q4. Why can’t you use more than one Re-Roll per turn if you want to? As long as you don’t use it on the same die roll, what’s the problem? If you want to use up all your Team Re-Rolls in the first two turns, then go ahead.

Q5. How much do Re-Rolls contribute to Team Rating? What I mean by this is how many points do they add, relative to their cost? For example, the Coach of a Human team buys 2 RR when creating his team. Each Re-Roll costs 50,000 gp so his TR is increased by 10 (5 for each RR). Later in the season he has bought another 2 RR, this time for 100,000 gp each. Does he add 10 (5 for each RR, the original cost) to his TR or 20 (10 for each RR, the actual cost)? About ¾ of the people I talk to say the former is right but there is absolutely nothing in the LR to support either argument.

Q6. You can only use a Team Re-Roll during your turn, right? So if one of your players fails at action, then surely you can’t use a Team Re-Roll to change things? After all, a turnover has occurred and your turn is over. And what about Illegal Procedures? The rules say that you can spend a Team Re-Roll to overcome this but as you’re not spending it on any of your players, you can’t use it.

Q7. Leap versus Dodge. An Elf player is surrounded by four or five Orc players. If he dodges out, chances are he’ll have to make at least two dodge rolls (probably more) and the first will probably be at a –3 penalty (so he would have to roll 5+) while the second at –1 (so he’d have to roll 3+). Even with the Dodge skill there’s a good chance he won’t make it. However, if he has the Leap skill, it’s a completely different story: one roll (at 3+) and no penalties at all from all the TZs. Isn’t this way too powerful? Why bother dodging ever? And isn’t it ridiculous to have no penalties? After all, dodging past an enraged opponent is tough but leaping over a standing (probably 6’ plus) opponent from a standing start would be next to impossible!

Q8. Why can’t Mighty Blow be used when fouling? What, suddenly, the strong player gets sapped of his strength? This is ridiculous. Either he has a powerful punch or not. I’ve found that the easiest way to get around this is to rename the skill Targeted Blow or something similar.

Q9. Why can’t you add two skills together when rolling for Armour or Injury? For example, Mighty Blow can’t be added when using Dirty Player, which just seems strange to me. Punching someone in the stomach hurts more than punching him in the balls? Why, then, can you add other skills together (such as Accurate and Pass)? Why can you add two different player’s skills to the same action (Guard when blocking, for example, or Pass and Catch)? And can you add Mighty Blow to the Armour and then Claw to the Injury?

Q10. If a player with Frenzy and Diving Tackle makes a Diving Tackle against an opponent, and pushes that opponent back, does the Frenzied player get to follow up and continue blocking until the opponent is knocked down?

Q11. Can a player with Pass Block try to intercept a kicked ball? What about the kick-off? Can any player intercept the kick?

Q12. Can you assist a Blitzing action? The rules refer to blocking only but this could mean a blitz too. And you can make as many assists per turn as you like? And still take an action! Say what? You’re holding and punching a goblin to your left, an Orc to your right, and you still get a chance to punch the Ogre in front of you? Surely assisting a block should count as an action?

Q13. How much does Thrud the Barbarian cost to hire? I’ve spoken to a lot of people and it’s a 50/50 split. His card lists his price at 50,000 gp, which some people agree with. However, as a freebooter he should cost half that price, or in other words, 25,000 gp. Nothing in the rules makes this clear.

Q14. Do Big Guys take up one square or four on the playing field? The figures all come with large bases that cover four squares but there’s no rules to explain this.

Q15. Do teams with Chainsaws get an extra Blitzing action? The LR says: “He can move normally, however, and attack with the chainsaw instead of making a block.” Or in other words, is does this mean a Block-block or a move-and-block?

Q16. Example of play: one of your Throwers has the ball, moves up-field and throws it to a waiting Catcher. The die roll is good and the pass is accurate but the Catcher fumbles and the ball scatters. However, you sent a Blitzer up to protect the Catcher and the ball scatters into his square and he manages to catch it. Is it a turnover or not? I have always thought that it was, as the Catcher failed to catch the ball (which causes a turnover) and the Blitzer has caught the ball on the bounce, after it has tumbled out of the Catcher’s hands. But several people I know argue that because the Blitzer gathers up the ball it is not a turnover. Either way, this problem has come up once or twice and never been settled. The LR says: “The ball is passed and not caught by a player from the moving team” but this doesn’t make it clear. Of course, if the pass had not been accurate and scattered into the Blitzer’s square and the Blitzer had successfully caught it, that wouldn’t be a turnover... I think...

[Darkson]

Q.1 "Once per action", so when it's not your action you can use your skills (ie, if I'm blocked 5 times in my opponents turn, I can use Block 5 times).
And if you take the pushback result, you haven't used the block skill, so yes you can use it on the 2nd block.

Q.2 Yes, TRR can be used to re-roll the block dice. And no, they can be used on Wizards or Apothecarys.

Q.3 Nope, TRR can only be used for on the pitch actions, so it can't be used on a sending off either.

Q.4 Cos that's what the rules say. It's a game mechanic, and it follows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" maxim.

Q.5 TRR bought after inital team selection cost double, but only add the basic cost to the TR, so it's a good way of bringing down your TR.

Q.6 A TO only ocurs at the end of an action, and a RR re-rolls the action, so it isn't over. And a RR can be used on an IP cos it says it can.

Q.7 That's why it's a good skill for high AG players. But you have to use a TRR if you blow it, there isn't an applicable skill re-roll.

Q.8 It used to be, along with Claw and Razor Sharp Fangs, and it was to powerful. This is the same reason is was toned down from +1AV/+1 INJ to +1 to either/or.

[Darkson]

Phew!!

Q.9 See Q.8 And no, but you could add Claw to the AV and MB to the Inj. Basically, only one "damage" skill can be used on AV, and only one on Inj, but yes, if you have 2 you can use one on one, and one on the other.

Q.10 No, as Diving Tackle is used when your opponent moves, not when you block. And if you use DT, you go prone anyway.
[Edit]Actually, having read your question again, I think you may be mis-reading the skill, or reading the old version. Check the LRB, DT is now used when someone dodges out of the players TZ.

Q.11 No.

Q.12 Yes. And no, assisting does not count as an action. Think of it as more as an distraction (the guyskeeping half an eye on you will your mate hits him). Though remeber, unless you have guard, you can't assist if you in someone elses TZ (apart from the player being blocked).

Q.13 50k to freeboot. Should be cleared up in the text by the BBRC this rules review.

Q.14 All players take 1 square.

Q.15 No, it counts as the teams blitzing action.

Q.16 OK, it's a TO if the pass was either fumbled, or stops moving not in the hands of one of your team. This means the ball can bounce on the floor, bounce on players, be dropped, go into the crowd. Basically, if he ball stops moving from a sucessful pass (inaccurate or accurate) in the procession of one of your players, it's not a TO. Even if the thrower ends up back with the ball in his hands.
It's always a TO if the ball is fumbled on the pass roll however, even if it ends up in one of your players hands.

[Asmodan]

I will try to answer all your questions.

1. Yes as in your example he can only use his dodge skill once.
But in the opponents turn you can use your dodge skill as many times as you have to as you are not doing any action.
This goes for all skills.

2.As it says only rolls from a player action meaning no armour, injury, apothecary, wizard, kick-off etc....
But blocks, or other actions you can reroll.

3. No no, you can not use reroll on either Big Guys or apothecaries so this is not legal.

4.Because thats the rule. And since i did not make it i cant explain why it is so.

5.Buying a reroll later in the season costs you twice what its worth but you only get TR equal to its original cost.
(In your example he adds 10)

6.You can offcourse use rerolls to reroll a roll that led to a turnover.
You must think of it as getting another chance to roll the same dices and as the first result wont count it was never a turnover.

7.Its not overpowered as you cant get any skills to reroll it if you fail and have to use teamrerolls, while with dodge you have dodge reroll.

8. Because a) he is using his body and arms when blocking people while he uses his feet when fouling and b) the reason you only got 1 skill affecting fouling (Dirty Player) is so that it wont become to powerful.

9.Again it would be to powerful

10.i assume you mean 3.edition rules here and those i cant answer.

11.No

12.Blitz is a block except that you move before and after blocking so all normal blocking rules apply.

13.Sorry cant remember

14. 1 square.

15.If he blitzes he uses the teams blitz action for the turn.

16.Its not a turnover, cause as the rules say only if it does not end up at one of the movings teams players its a turnover.
Its not a turnover if you failed to catch it and if it was accurate or innaccurate has nothing to say except for completion award (in your example its no turnover and the thrower get a completion award and 1 SPP)

[Munkey]

Okay, I’ve been playing Blood Bowl for some time now and the same questions keep cropping up. Opinions (at least in the two leagues I play in) are divided. Can anyone help answer some of these questions?

Q1. It says on page 34 of the Living Rulebook (v2.0): “All skills may be used once per action unless stated otherwise.” That’s perfectly clear to me. For example, if you have to dodge a player out of TZs more than once in any one move, you can only use that player’s Dodge skill once… except how does this work exactly? What about players who aren’t taking an action? Or in other words, the opposing team’s players? They are not taking any actions, so they shouldn’t be able to use any skills. Therefore, they don’t get to use Block or Dodge when you roll the block dice, right? Nor, say, could an opponent player use Guard defensively.

I assume that Block and Dodge always work but this part of the LR needs to be reworded to make it clearer (and you’d be surprised how many people argue otherwise).

Of course if this is true, there are some skills you’ll never be able to use, such as Dump Off.

AFAIK, skills may be used as often as you like outside of an action, otherwise many of them wouldn't have an effect.

If you think about it you would never ba able to avoid a Knockdown with Dodge when being blocked otherwise.

And what about Frenzy? You attack once and use your Block skill, but only get a push-back result. You attack again but now you cannot use Block! (It’s your team turn but it’s only one action so you can only use Block once, right?)

I can see where you are going with this one, but if you use the push back you didn't need the Block skill the first time.

If you used the Block skill on the first result you didn't get a push to use frenzy with (and by your original logic the player would have gone down anyway as there would be no defensive use of Block )

Q2. What exactly can Team Re-Rolls be used for (and what can’t they be used for)? All the LR says (on page 15) is: “Team re-rolls may never be used to re-roll Armour rolls or Injury rolls.” Can they be used to re-roll the block dice? If so, mightn’t this involve rolling 2 or 3 dice and thus cost 2 or 3 (respectively) Re-Rolls and not one? And surely you can’t use Re-Rolls for anything like a Wizard or Apothecary (which so many people do) because it says in the LR: “A coach may use a team re-roll to re-roll a dice roll for an action carried out by a player in their own team during their own team turn.” Note that it says “player” and not coaching staff or whatever.

Like the rules say a re-roll can be used to re-roll the results of any 'action' a player performs in his own turn.

In this case an action is effectively any dice rolled by the player such as a dodge, block, pass etc.

All dice originally rolled are re-rolled so if it was a two or three dice block they must all be re-rolled.

Coaching staff are not players and cannot use team re-rolls

Q3. If Big Guys can’t use Team Re-Rolls, can Team Re-Rolls be used on them? For example, a Big Guy gets killed and the Apothecary rolls a 1 to heal him and fails. Can you use a Team Re-Roll or not?

No, apothecaries are not players so cannot be re-rolled, Big Guy or not it doesn't matter.

[/quote]Q4. Why can’t you use more than one Re-Roll per turn if you want to? As long as you don’t use it on the same die roll, what’s the problem? If you want to use up all your Team Re-Rolls in the first two turns, then go ahead.

It's a tactical restriction, if you waste your re-roll on something stupid then you can't go for the more risky play later, it forces coaches to plan their actions better.

It also means that players with huge amounts of re-rolls can't pull off completely outrageous plays without really trying.

Q5. How much do Re-Rolls contribute to Team Rating? What I mean by this is how many points do they add, relative to their cost? For example, the Coach of a Human team buys 2 RR when creating his team. Each Re-Roll costs 50,000 gp so his TR is increased by 10 (5 for each RR). Later in the season he has bought another 2 RR, this time for 100,000 gp each. Does he add 10 (5 for each RR, the original cost) to his TR or 20 (10 for each RR, the actual cost)? About ¾ of the people I talk to say the former is right but there is absolutely nothing in the LR to support either argument.

Re-rolls are recorded on the roster and counted for team rating at their original cost.

Q6. You can only use a Team Re-Roll during your turn, right? So if one of your players fails at action, then surely you can’t use a Team Re-Roll to change things? After all, a turnover has occurred and your turn is over. And what about Illegal Procedures? The rules say that you can spend a Team Re-Roll to overcome this but as you’re not spending it on any of your players, you can’t use it.

Until you have used the re-roll or not the action has not completed, therefore not failed so the turnover has not happened.

Using a re-roll on an IP is a specific exception in the rules as stated, and allows another use for a re-roll (or way to waste it). Note that this does count as your re-roll for the turn.

Q7. Leap versus Dodge. An Elf player is surrounded by four or five Orc players. If he dodges out, chances are he’ll have to make at least two dodge rolls (probably more) and the first will probably be at a –3 penalty (so he would have to roll 5+) while the second at –1 (so he’d have to roll 3+). Even with the Dodge skill there’s a good chance he won’t make it. However, if he has the Leap skill, it’s a completely different story: one roll (at 3+) and no penalties at all from all the TZs. Isn’t this way too powerful? Why bother dodging ever? And isn’t it ridiculous to have no penalties? After all, dodging past an enraged opponent is tough but leaping over a standing (probably 6’ plus) opponent from a standing start would be next to impossible!

Leap is a good skill but I wouldn't say it was overpowerful, you need re-rolls to ensure consistent sucess and then there's still a good chance of failure, and remember you only get one leap action per turn.

As for the reality of it, when was the last time you saw an elf, last one i saw could jump over an Ogre from a standing start no probs

Q8. Why can’t Mighty Blow be used when fouling? What, suddenly, the strong player gets sapped of his strength? This is ridiculous. Either he has a powerful punch or not. I’ve found that the easiest way to get around this is to rename the skill Targeted Blow or something similar.

We've got dirty player for fouling and MB for blocking, if you were around for the foul wars of third edition you'll know why it was changed and if you weren't then trust me it's not necessary.

Just think of it as a player who knows where to hit to cause the most pain, perhaps he's not so good at doing the same to players on the ground. (particularly when he's trying to not let the ref spot it).

Q9. Why can’t you add two skills together when rolling for Armour or Injury? For example, Mighty Blow can’t be added when using Dirty Player, which just seems strange to me. Punching someone in the stomach hurts more than punching him in the balls? Why, then, can you add other skills together (such as Accurate and Pass)? Why can you add two different player’s skills to the same action (Guard when blocking, for example, or Pass and Catch)? And can you add Mighty Blow to the Armour and then Claw to the Injury?

You can add one skill to armour and one to injury (but not Claw thats +2 to armour). There were some horrific combinations before and this rule has been introduced to tone them down somewhat.

Get a Minotaur with Piling On and Razor Sharp Fangs and you'll see what i mean, too many players like this in the league can be bad news for some teams survivability/playability.

Q10. If a player with Frenzy and Diving Tackle makes a Diving Tackle against an opponent, and pushes that opponent back, does the Frenzied player get to follow up and continue blocking until the opponent is knocked down?

If you check the latest LRB version of the rulebook available from thr GW site I think you'll find Diving Tackle has changed substationally.

Q11. Can a player with Pass Block try to intercept a kicked ball? What about the kick-off? Can any player intercept the kick?

No

Q12. Can you assist a Blitzing action? The rules refer to blocking only but this could mean a blitz too. And you can make as many assists per turn as you like? And still take an action! Say what? You’re holding and punching a goblin to your left, an Orc to your right, and you still get a chance to punch the Ogre in front of you? Surely assisting a block should count as an action?

Yes, the attack at the end of the move is worked out using the basic blocking rules, ie. it's a Block.

Assisting a block does not count as an action, you're not punching anyone, just distracting the opponent a bit whilst the Blocking player does.

Q13. How much does Thrud the Barbarian cost to hire? I’ve spoken to a lot of people and it’s a 50/50 split. His card lists his price at 50,000 gp, which some people agree with. However, as a freebooter he should cost half that price, or in other words, 25,000 gp. Nothing in the rules makes this clear.

I've got no idea someone else will have to anwer this one.

Q14. Do Big Guys take up one square or four on the playing field? The figures all come with large bases that cover four squares but there’s no rules to explain this.

Big guys only take up one square.

Q15. Do teams with Chainsaws get an extra Blitzing action? The LR says: “He can move normally, however, and attack with the chainsaw instead of making a block.” Or in other words, is does this mean a Block-block or a move-and-block?

AFAIK this means a Block action, Chainsaw is instead of a Block so a move and Chainsaw action is your Blitz for the turn.

Q16. Example of play: one of your Throwers has the ball, moves up-field and throws it to a waiting Catcher. The die roll is good and the pass is accurate but the Catcher fumbles and the ball scatters. However, you sent a Blitzer up to protect the Catcher and the ball scatters into his square and he manages to catch it. Is it a turnover or not? I have always thought that it was, as the Catcher failed to catch the ball (which causes a turnover) and the Blitzer has caught the ball on the bounce, after it has tumbled out of the Catcher’s hands. But several people I know argue that because the Blitzer gathers up the ball it is not a turnover. Either way, this problem has come up once or twice and never been settled. The LR says: “The ball is passed and not caught by a player from the moving team” but this doesn’t make it clear. Of course, if the pass had not been accurate and scattered into the Blitzer’s square and the Blitzer had successfully caught it, that wouldn’t be a turnover... I think...

If a pass that you throw ends up caught by one of your players at the end of the action (even if it scattered off the pitch and is caught by the original thrower!) it is not a turnover.

It is not an accurate pass for SPPs either.

Last point, a fumble is always a turnover even if you do manage to catch it.

[Munkey]

Damn, you guys are fast

[madhobbit]

how does this work exactly? What about players who aren’t taking an action? Or in other words, the opposing team’s players? They are not taking any actions, so they shouldn’t be able to use any skills. Therefore, they don’t get to use Block or Dodge when you roll the block dice, right? Nor, say, could an opponent player use Guard defensively.

If a player is not in an action he can use his skills. The rules just state the situation if a player is in his action.

And what about Frenzy?

You can use block twice for as far as I know, but you got me in doubt a little.

Q2. What exactly can Team Re-Rolls be used for (and what can’t they be used for)?

Everything a player does which is not a armour or injury roll. A re-roll is for a roll, not for a single die. So you can re-roll 3 block dice if there 3 skulls looking at you. You can't use them for apothecaries or other coaching staff rolls.

Q3. If Big Guys can’t use Team Re-Rolls, can Team Re-Rolls be used on them? For example, a Big Guy gets killed and the Apothecary rolls a 1 to heal him and fails. Can you use a Team Re-Roll or not?

As stated under Q3: no. But not because of the Big Guy, but because of the apothecary.

Q4. Why can’t you use more than one Re-Roll per turn if you want to?

Because it will give you more changes to save actions. The game is about controlling the risks you take by rolling the dice. "Unlimited" re-rolls would change the way the game goes a lot.

Q5. How much do Re-Rolls contribute to Team Rating?

Always as much as a re-roll costs when creating the team. Even if you paid twice the amount, they still count with their normal price.

Q6. You can only use a Team Re-Roll during your turn, right? So if one of your players fails at action, then surely you can’t use a Team Re-Roll to change things? After all, a turnover has occurred and your turn is over.

You're turn is over when the action fails, but the action isn't over yet until you make it so. You can still re-roll to save the action.

And what about Illegal Procedures?

The re-roll is wasted on the point of re-rolling something. You spend the re-roll making sure your turn doesn't end early.

Q7. Leap versus Dodge. Isn’t this way too powerful?

No, it isn't. Sure it's a great way to get out of a cage of opponents, but it can be used once per turn. You can dodge as much as you like. Dodge has a +1 for being relatively easy, leap hasn't. For dodging you can have a re-roll by getting dodge, for leap a team re-roll is required.

After all, dodging past an enraged opponent is tough but leaping over a standing (probably 6’ plus) opponent from a standing start would be next to impossible!

You'd be amazed how great a BOB works as a staircase....

Q8. Why can’t Mighty Blow be used when fouling?

To keep fouling from being the main tactics. Somebody might even have a fluff-reason, but I don't mind that not everything is backed up by logic. It's also game mechanics.

Q9. Why can’t you add two skills together when rolling for Armour or Injury?

To make sure total destruction machines arise. Adding skills together can make a rat ogre with mutations and PO and MB very bad for your team (being the opponent of the mouse).

Q10. If a player with Frenzy and Diving Tackle makes a Diving Tackle against an opponent, and pushes that opponent back, does the Frenzied player get to follow up and continue blocking until the opponent is knocked down?

I can't really understand your point since I don't get the situation. My point on the skills: they don't work together. Frenzy is used when blocking/blitzing your opponent. Diving tackle is used in your oppenents turn when the player dodges out of your tackle zone.

Q11. Can a player with Pass Block try to intercept a kicked ball? What about the kick-off? Can any player intercept the kick?

No, no, no. If you refer to the kicking rules with your first question it might be yes, since I don't know those rules.

Q12. Can you assist a Blitzing action? The rules refer to blocking only but this could mean a blitz too. And you can make as many assists per turn as you like? And still take an action! Say what?

Yes, you can. A blitz is considered a move, a block and another move combined into 1 action. You can make as many assists as you like with a player, because it isn't an action.

You’re holding and punching a goblin to your left, an Orc to your right, and you still get a chance to punch the Ogre in front of you? Surely assisting a block should count as an action?

When you're in between 2 players you can't assist against either of them. The other player is withholding you from the assist.

Q13. How much does Thrud the Barbarian cost to hire?

He's a freebooter, not a star player. For star players you pay 50% to freeboot them, for a freebooter you pay his freebooting price.

Q14. Do Big Guys take up one square or four on the playing field? The figures all come with large bases that cover four squares but there’s no rules to explain this.

A player always takes up 1 square. A fallen treeman for example also takes up 1 square.

Q15. Do teams with Chainsaws get an extra Blitzing action?

No, the chainsaw attack while moving counts as the teams blitz.

Q16. Example of play: one of your Throwers has the ball, moves up-field and throws it to a waiting Catcher. The die roll is good and the pass is accurate but the Catcher fumbles and the ball scatters. However, you sent a Blitzer up to protect the Catcher and the ball scatters into his square and he manages to catch it. Is it a turnover or not?

No, it's no turnover. If a pass is not fubled and ends up in the hands of your team, it's no turnover. The ball can even end up in the hands of the thrower.


I hope this helps, otherwise: keep asking.

Greetings.

[Asmodan]

Yeah we have learnt from grumbledook

[madhobbit]

Damn, you guys are fast

My point as well.

[Alesdair]

Q10. If a player with Frenzy and Diving Tackle makes a Diving Tackle against an opponent, and pushes that opponent back, does the Frenzied player get to follow up and continue blocking until the opponent is knocked down?

Since this is the only one that's not been answered from a 3rd ed perspective...

Yes you do keep blocking, in fact you MUST if you are playing 3rd ed. If you are playing LRB then you need to reread that skill.

[Grumbledook]

indeed sounds like you are using the old out of date rules

go to www.bloodbowl.com and download the living rulebook its free

its at version 2 at the moment and version 3 will be out in november some time

[Full_Block]

Well, sorry it’s taken me so long to reply (I’ve been on vakay) but first let me say thanks to everyone who replied and tried to answer my long list of questions. Thank you, I really appreciate the time and effort.

Thanks to you all I’ve understood some more things but there are still things on which I am not clear. So, I’ve divided the questions into “answered” (those I now understand) and “unanswered” (those I’m still not sure about and am going to write at length about again!).

ANSWERED…

Q2. What TRR can be used for… (although see Q6 below! )
Q3. Big Guys and TRR…
Q7. Is Leap too powerful… (which I still strongly believe it is but I’ll agree to disagree! )
Q8. Why can’t Mighty Blow be used when fouling… (again, we’ll agree to disagree… especially when Leap is considered okay but a MB combo isn’t! )
Q9. Why can’t you add two skills together when rolling for Armour or Injury…
Q10. Frenzy and Diving Tackle… (sorry, misreading rules and listening to a Coach who was referring to older version of the rules! )
Q11. Can a player with Pass Block try to intercept a kicked ball?

UNANSWERED…

Q1. Using a skill only once per action…
[quote]"Once per action", so when it's not your action you can use your skills (ie, if I'm blocked 5 times in my opponents turn, I can use Block 5 times).[/quote]

Where does it say this in the LRB? Where does it say that you can use a skill when not performing an action? Admittedly it does refer to Dodge and Block in the Blocking section, but that’s all. And even then, imagine this scenario: Human Player A blocks Orc Player A and gets nothing but only because the Orc Coach uses that player’s Block skill. Human Player B does blitzes Orc Player A and rolls well enough to knock the Orc Player A down unless he has the Block skill. But he has already used his Block skill in his action of defending from the first Block, so he should go down, right?

Defending yourself from a block should be considered an action, just as assisting a block should. Am I the only one who thinks this? Probably…

So as the rules stand when you actively do something you can only use a skill once but when you’re standing around doing nothing you can use it as many times as you want? That just doesn’t make sense to me. Or in other words, why do you to get to use Block only once offensively but as many times as you like defensively?

We can assume that both coaches’ turns are meant to be simultaneous, right? I mean, no one really believes that one team runs and throws and blocks while the other stands around, right? It’s just broken into turns for the convenience of the game. So, the blocks thrown actually happen at roughly the same time. Therefore, would the defending team have already used some skills by the time their turn comes around? Do you see what I mean or am I making this murky?

Q1a. The Frenzy trait and Block skill…
In both the leagues I play in (using the LRBv2.0, by the way) the rule is that, with the exception of skills that allow you to re-roll dice, you have to declare you are using the skill before you attempt anything. We assume that skills are not natural talents (traits, in other words) but abilities you have to “switch on.” Thus if a Trollslayer (or any player with Frenzy) attacks and uses his Block skill but gets a Push Back result, surely he cannot use his Block skill on the follow-up block?

Q4. Using more than one TRR per turn…
[quote]Cos that's what the rules say. It's a game mechanic, and it follows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" maxim.[/quote]
Well, that didn’t really answer my question but thanks anyway. I don’t understand the problem. If a team uses up all it’s TRR in one turn, then it’s going to suffer later. It’s a matter of choice. And while I’m against allowing a player to re-roll any one action more than once, I don’t see the problem with allowing that player to re-roll several different dice (i.e. he dodges, fails, re-rolls and succeeds, has to dodge again, fails, re-rolls, and so on…). Yes, it isn’t broke, but allowing this won’t fix it or break it, to continue the metaphor (or analogy or whatever).

Q5. How much do TRR add to TR…
[quote]TRR bought after inital team selection cost double, but only add the basic cost to the TR, so it's a good way of bringing down your TR.[/quote]
No, sorry. I’m not saying you’re wrong about this but you’re not right either. Where in the LRB does it say this? I’ve searched everywhere and can’t find it. So, logically therefore, if a TRR bought later cost (for example) 100,000 gp, then it should add 10 to your TR and not 5 as most people assume.

Q6. Using TRRs when you’ve failed an action and your turn is over…
[quote]A TO only ocurs at the end of an action, and a RR re-rolls the action, so it isn't over. And a RR can be used on an IP cos it says it can.[/quote]
Yes, fine but…

The LRB (v2.0) says: “A coach that suffers a turnover must end his turn immediately – even if part way through a player’s action.” Note the word “immediately.” It doesn’t say: “A coach that suffers a turnover must end his turn unless he can re-roll the failed action with a Team Re-Roll or a Skill Re-Roll.” You try to catch the ball, you fail, it’s a turnover. You don’t get a chance to use any re-rolls because it’s now the opposing team’s turn.

Q12. Assisting a Blitzing action?
[quote]Yes. And no, assisting does not count as an action. Think of it as more as an distraction (the guyskeeping half an eye on you will your mate hits him). Though remeber, unless you have guard, you can't assist if you in someone elses TZ (apart from the player being blocked).[/quote]
Okay, I get that, although I really think that assisting should be an action (and not a distraction ). But can you move and assist? Isn’t this a Blitz action, which only one player can do per turn?

Q13. Thrud’s cost…
[quote]50k to freeboot. Should be cleared up in the text by the BBRC this rules review.[/quote]
As I said the text strongly indicates his cost should be 25,000 gp and yet nearly everyone replied that he cost 50,000 gp. And the Rules Review has not apparently cleared this up. Aaaaaargh!

Q14. Big Guys coverage…
[quote]All players take 1 square.[/quote]
Then why do they make them with bases that won’t fit on one square! Aaaargh!

Q15. Do teams with Chainsaws get an extra Blitzing action…
[quote]No, it counts as the teams blitzing action.[/quote]
But the LRB doesn’t say that. It says (sorry to repeat myself): “He can move normally, however, and attack with the chainsaw instead of making a block.” A block. Not a blitz. Instead of making a block he may move and attack with the chainsaw. So, a second blitz, right?

Q16. Catching a fumble…
[quote]OK, it's a TO if the pass was either fumbled, or stops moving not in the hands of one of your team. This means the ball can bounce on the floor, bounce on players, be dropped, go into the crowd. Basically, if he ball stops moving from a sucessful pass (inaccurate or accurate) in the procession of one of your players, it's not a TO. Even if the thrower ends up back with the ball in his hands. It's always a TO if the ball is fumbled on the pass roll however, even if it ends up in one of your players hands.[/quote]
But… In that example the ball was caught but the pass was not. The catch was fumbled and the ball bounced out of the Catcher’s hands into the arms of another of your players. You’re still in possession but because the pass was not caught (the fumbled catch rebound/bounce was) it’s a turnover. Yes? No? Should I just give up and go play HeroClix?

Thanks again to everyone who replied and tried to answer my questions. Thanks especially to Darkson, who’s comments I used most of all as quoted examples of answers.

[slup]

Q1
Block can only be used once per action because you can only make one block per action.
You can only use frenzy if you pushes someone back, and both down pushes noone.
When you roll more than one blocking dice you select one and ignore the rest.
Talking reality in game mekanics makes no sence.
I would like to see a bunch of crased orcs wait for the opponent to get the first blow.
And whether you like it or not defending is not an action.

Q1a
You can houserule all you like but officially you declare using a skill after you roll the dice.
LRB Page 15 covers all skills, not just rerollskills.

Q4
You know the answer, but does not like it. Nothing to say about that.

Q5
A tricky part that needs clarification.
But i will go with the rest on this one.
Teamrating is meant to compare teamstrength and a reroll works the same no matter when it was bougth.

Q6
You are allowed to use skills and teamrerolls on dicerolls that would otherwise cause a turnover.
Sure feet would not be worth much if this was not the case.

Q12
Assisting a block is a free thing.
You can do it before or after you have taken an action or even in the opposite turn.
This means that if you move a player to a position for him to assist an upcomming block then it does not use your blitzaction.

Q13
Rewriting that misprint would clear things up a bit.

Q14
Otherwise they would tip over to easily.

Q15
During a blitz you are allowed to make a block at an opposite player.(LRB page 10)
This block can be substituted with a chainsaw or dagger attack or a multiple block.
A blitz is a combination of a move action and a block action.

Q16
Fumbling the ball is a TO no matter what happens to the ball (LRB page 22).