Dear Mantic Games… DreadBall Needs Fixing!

Playing at Mantic’s Open Day DreadBall tournament this weekend reminded me once again of what a fantastic game DreadBall really is. DreadBall is fun, fast, furious and (almost) always exciting up to the very last turn (or “Rush“, as DreadBall calls them).

If you haven’t yet, you should definitely give DreadBall a shot. It’s an awesome game!

I had a blast at Mantic’s Open Day.

That said, there are some oddities and quirks hidden in the rules, and one of them has taken a turn for the ugly with the release of DreadBall Season 2: The potential for scattering the ball (and thus ending your Rush) at the start-of-a-rush launching of the ball.

Let me brief you on the rule(ing) in question for those not (yet) familiar with DreadBall.

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#1 – The Rule: Launching the Ball and Failing to Catch it

DreadBall plays fast, not least because the miniatures are not “re-set” after scoring points (a “Strike“). Players of both teams simply stay were they are and the ball launches back unto to pitch, just as it does at the beginning of the game, at the start of the next players’ rush.

Because the miniatures are not re-set into a starting line-up, it is entirely possible that a new ball will be launched through or into a “hex” occupied by a player.

If that happens, according to p. 30 of the DreadBall rules, this player must try to catch the ball if he or she would normally be allowed to (e.g. they are not a Guard and not facing the wrong direction).

The picture below gives you an idea of the “worst-possible-scenario” that could result from this.

A DreadBall “Worst-Case” Scenario:

1. The Orx & Goblin team here is playing “up” as the home team (the way Goblin 06 is pointing)
2. They have just taken a Strike by their opponents (a Human Trontek 29er team, for example).
3. As a Strike automatically ends a rush, it is now the Orx & Goblin-Team’s turn.
4. The turn starts with the ball being launched from the left by the roll of a D6. The result determines how far the ball launches along the centre-hexes marked with the DreadBall logo. A roll of 3, for example, would launch the ball up to the hex marked “3″ in the picture above.

This is a “worst-case-scenario” because a Goblin Jack is in the first field (marked “1″) the ball must pass through, no matter the roll (it’s clearly impossible to roll less than a 1).

This means the Goblin must try to catch the ball. However, the number of dice* for “catching” in DreadBall depend on the number of success rolled while “throwing”. A newly ball launched is treated as an “inaccurate pass”, DreadBall’s term for a pass or throw with zero successes.

As a result, the poor Jack above has zero dice to roll for the catch, automatically failing the catch. In turn, failing a catch and losing the ball automatically ends a rush in DreadBall.

In the case above, the Orx & Goblins team thus just “lost” their turn without rolling a single dice. The opposing team effectively gets two consecutive turns in DreadBall’s IGO-UGO system.

The FAQ in the Season 2 DreadBall rulebook (p. 59) confirms that this is indeed how it is played.

Q: If a ball scatters onto a Jack during his Rush then does he have to try to catch it (with zero dice because it is inaccurate)? [...] will his Rush end if he fails to catch the ball?

A: Yes, yes and yes.

D: Some people seem to find this harsh. I don’t. To me this is just one of many ways to end your Rush by being unlucky. [...] I use the same explanation when asked about the Jack who has the ball launched at him and then drops it. You know where the ball is launched and in which direction. If a Coach’s model is standing in the wrong place then the problem is entirely foreseeable and could have been avoided.

The same ruling would presumably also apply to a Striker standing in the way of a launching ball, who is also threatened by a nearby opponent (thus losing his Striker +1 bonus).

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#2 – A Harsh Rule or a Broken Rule?

Harsh! Clearly. But is it broken?

I am not a fan of rules that can stop you from actually playing in the game. This isn’t Warhammer 40K though, and “lose-a-turn-for-failing-hard” is not unheard of in board games.

As much as it might hurt to lose a match over this, if it is the result of a coaches (i.e. the physical player playing DreadBall) stupidity and the rule applies to all DreadBall teams equally, it should balance out in the long run. It would simply be the “Law of the Land“, so to speak.

But what if it isn’t?

What if your Jack (or an embattled Striker) could end up in this unfortunate, turn-costing place not by any (bad) choice of their coach, but as result of deliberate actions taken by the opposing team? What if, despite being “entirely foreseeable and could have been avoided“, your opponent could force you into losing your turn, against your will?

That would suck, wouldn’t it?

Enter the Judwan…

The fun thing about the Judwan is that they get a nifty little ability called Misdirect, which allows Judwan players to move players from the opposing team around and decide their facing. Other teams can buy this ability, but the Judwan all start with it. They are also frigging good at it.

It’s not difficult for a Judwan team to move an opposing player 2 or 3 hexes in their turn, set their facing, and still have enough actions left to score a Strike (something Judwan also excel at).

Indeed, if a Judwan team starts the match as home team, they could Misdirect an opponent set-up near the starting line in turn one. If they also score a Strike, the opponent will lose their turn and will continue to lose turns as long as the Judwan team can keep on scoring.

This only becomes easier for them each turn as their opponent doesn’t get to play at all!

You could end up “playing” an entire match of DreadBall without ever.. well.. playing.

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#3 – Dear Mantic Games… Please Fix it!

Of course, as many people will likely point out, there are still ways to prevent this from happening. Simply keep your Jacks at least 3 hexes or so away from the launching line, for example.

But is that truly a satisfying solution?

The result completely transforms the game, effectively turning the middle third of the pitch into a near-no-go-zone for Jacks and Strikers going up against Judwan. The whole game suddenly revolves around avoiding the bug in the system, and not around playing DreadBall.

That can’t be right.

Personally, I would love to see some sort of “you-cannot-lose-a-turn-ever-without-rolling-at-least-one-dice” rule of last resort, not just for playing against Judwan, but in general (yes, even for stupid coaches that have gotten themselves into the mess).

Perhaps, the ball-launch could count as a three-success throw (it’s fairly predictable after all), and not as zero-success “inaccurate” throw. This would give even a Jack beset by two opponents a bare minimum of 1 dice to catch it.

Veteran Game Designers out there may have more elegant solutions.

One thing I greatly admire about Mantic is their straight-forward way of addressing mistakes. The DreadBall Season 2 nerf of Number 88 is a good example (p. 56). He/She/It was overpowered.

They admitted it and fixed it. Awesome.

Many game companies out there should learn from that!

Yet no single miniature for the game, no matter how obscenely overpowered and/or under-costed it might be, could be remotely as disruptive as the possibility of spending an entire game doing nothing at no fault of your own.

Dear Mantic Games…

… please fix this.

Thank you!

Z.

* As done in the DreadBall rulebook, I use “dice” instead of “die” even for the singular to avoid possible confusion with players biting the dust.