Game: Football Strategy

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eevans24 — 2008-08-26T01:25:30+00:00

2-Segment Game Board

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eevans24 — 2008-08-26T01:24:41+00:00

What You Get

Thread: Re: Tao of Gaming Review

Bankler — 2008-08-20T01:58:21+00:00

I thought that it was somewhat dubiously applied to basketball (a much more fluid game, and I didn't they add dice to resolve each shot?) and baseball (which it does seem to apply to, but didn't really 'gell' well).

I just played another game of this with a new player, and won a blowout. Perhaps there is some strategy I have absorbed...

Thread: Re: FS league help.

promuso — 2008-06-09T03:11:21+00:00

Thanks for the help, guys.

Thread: Re: FS league help.

Phlegm — 2008-06-09T00:23:23+00:00

With 6 players have each player play each opponent twice. Then take the top 4 records and have the 1st place finisher play the 4th place and the 2nd play the 3rd. Winners of these games play for the championship.

In American football there are no points for wins as in Soccer leagues Winning records are all that matter. If two teams tie the best head to head record is the first tiebreaker then point differential.

Good luck and have fun.

Thread: Re: FS league help.

fermmoylle — 2008-06-09T00:01:40+00:00

I'm brazilian, so I may be wrong on some points, but here's what I know:

There are two Conferences, each one with Divisions and so. As I believe you won't gather more than enough players, I'll stick with the simple explanation...

It's a round-robin (each team plays against all the other teams) league. Each win awards 1.0 point, each tie awards 0.5 point.

If you have more than 6 teams playing, you could create two smaller Divisions and the winner of Division 1 plays against the winner of Division 2.

I hope this helps. If you need more info, I'll try to find some better way to explain...

Thread: Re: FS league help.

promuso — 2008-06-05T01:00:28+00:00

Forgive me for my dumb Aussie act, I've trawled the NFL & Wikipedia sites but for the life of me I can't find any info on how the league is structured as far as points & stats go.

Thread: Re: FS league help.

fermmoylle — 2008-06-03T17:01:50+00:00

Old advice: don't change what works. ;-)

Use the current NFL method and everything will be fine.

Thread: FS league help.

promuso — 2008-06-03T06:18:23+00:00

I've just recently been introduced to this excellent game and am in the process of creating a league for about half a dozen of us, here downunder.

Since some of you guys have had experience in this, I thought I might solicit a few suggestions on how to award league points & which stats are worth recording. The League will be based on the current US NFC teams.

Thanks, in anticipation.

Thread: Re: Online play?

rootbeer — 2008-05-04T05:42:23+00:00

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/fermmoylle was working on one at one point. Not sure how far he got.

Thread: Online play?

instersting — 2008-05-03T19:03:12+00:00

Has anyone ever considered or worked on developing a real time (not PBEM) version of this? I wish I had the skills...

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

kenntak — 2008-05-01T20:08:50+00:00

I have the same problem with Pizza Box football. The game is too simplistic and the lack of your decisions having much effect for the most part, makes the game not that fun to play.

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

Dweeb — 2008-05-01T17:20:15+00:00

the worst that will happen is that there will a dice modifier of ‘+2’ and if you pick the right defence then the best that will happen will be a dice modifier of ‘-2’.

I've heard a lot of people make this complaint about Pizza Box Football, but I don't think it's really unrealistic. I've seen plenty of NFL plays in which everyone in the entire STADIUM knows who will be getting the ball (Like LaDainian Tomlinson so often in '06), and the defense is still unable to stop it. I agree that maybe the modifier should be greater, but the play should still have a chance to work no matter what defense is called.

Good review of Football Strategy, though.

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

rlfix — 2008-05-01T15:34:02+00:00

I enjoy the game and have run it countless times as a tournament at conventions. The only thing I do not like about the game is the punting; you have only 2 choices and, if it obvious you have to punt, that really narrows your possibilities, and this makes for a lot of 3rd down "quick kicks" or a lot of gambling on 4th down. I have used a modification where the offensive team can decide to call a punt on 4th down. I have 2 charts that the defensive team chooses from (a Return option and a Punt Block option), the card for the play is then randomly chosen. I know that some people do not like this as well, but I feel the game is more realistic in terms of punting with this option.

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

ibn_ul_khattab — 2008-05-01T11:38:51+00:00

This brings back memories I must have played this when I was about ten. Nice review.

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

da pyrate — 2008-05-01T06:36:09+00:00

Sphere wrote:
nycavri wrote:
Thanks for a well written review of a game I own and enjoy.

However, to continue with a variation on a theme, "Statis Pro Football is Sooooo Much Better Than Football Strategy."

All righty, then: NFL Strategy is soooo much better than Statis Pro Football.

Who's next?

I be next!

tic-tac-toe is sooo much better than...let me think awhiles, there must be something that it is better than.

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

Sphere — 2008-05-01T06:23:12+00:00

nycavri wrote:
Thanks for a well written review of a game I own and enjoy.

However, to continue with a variation on a theme, "Statis Pro Football is Sooooo Much Better Than Football Strategy."

All righty, then: NFL Strategy is soooo much better than Statis Pro Football.

Who's next?

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

da pyrate — 2008-05-01T06:04:37+00:00

Psektos wrote:
I would love to find a copy of this game! I played it a lot in Highschool and I really loved the originality of not being tied
down to a specific team's gameplan.

Do either of you know anyone who remade it or where one could
find a copy that would not break my leg, arm, and of course
see my spleen/kidney/liver lobes sold on EBay?

Thanks in advance for a great memory, and review!

Cheers,
Psektos.

At this point in time good copies are selling on eBay for around the $25 mark. I know because I bought myself a mint copy last week for $24.95 plus postage.

Aaaarrrhh!

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

Psektos — 2008-05-01T05:22:47+00:00

I would love to find a copy of this game! I played it a lot in Highschool and I really loved the originality of not being tied
down to a specific team's gameplan.

Do either of you know anyone who remade it or where one could
find a copy that would not break my leg, arm, and of course
see my spleen/kidney/liver lobes sold on EBay?

Thanks in advance for a great memory, and review!

Cheers,
Psektos.

Thread: Re: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

nycavri — 2008-05-01T01:36:54+00:00

Thanks for a well written review of a game I own and enjoy.

However, to continue with a variation on a theme, "Statis Pro Football is Sooooo Much Better Than Football Strategy."

Thread: Sooooo Much Better Than Pizza Box Football.

da pyrate — 2008-05-01T00:54:22+00:00

Football Strategy

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Two-player Game of Professional Football
Designed by Tom Shaw
Published by Sports Illustrated (1959)

I played my first game of Football Strategy in 1988. I remember it well. I had been involved in an Empires in Arms campaign that was being played on Saturdays. On one occasion, after we had finished EiA, Ian Trout suggested that he and I finish off with a game of Football Strategy. Being an Australian I had no knowledge of Gridiron. Consequently the game was a flogging, but my interest in the game had been piqued. The ABC were showing an American Football game of the week late on Tuesday nights and I started to watch the game and learn how it was played. I was stunned by what a fabulous game it was to watch and how skilful the players were.

I suspect that the Football Strategy boardgame replicates Gridiron rather nicely – at least, as my knowledge and understanding of the real game increased so did my performance in the boardgame improve.

I still have every scoreboard from every game of Football Strategy that I have played. It is very quick and simple to play and very easy to teach to new people, even those who are not familiar with many boardgames. For this reason I suspect that I have probably played Football Strategy against more people than any other game that I own.

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How Does It Work

The defending player will select one of 10 different Defence Cards and indicate that he is ready for the offensive player to make a play. The offensive player will select from one of 20 different attacking plays. The two plays are then correlated on a matrix which has 200 different results and the ball is moved accordingly. That is basically all that there is to the game.

There are some fine points to the game such as the long plays (17, 18, 19 and 20) can not be selected if the ball is in the defender’s 20 yard zone and the medium plays (13, 14, 15 and 16) can not be selected if the ball is in the defender’s 10 yard zone.

Each play is rated for the time it takes to execute. Each half of the game is made up of one hundred and twenty 15-second segments. When all one hundred and twenty have been marked off the half is over.

Players may elect to kick the ball rather than play it.

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How Does It Feel

The offensive player has 8 options that are basically running plays – the large majority of these will gain ground, but not very much. There are four offensive options for short-type passes, four for mid-range passes and four for long-range passes. In general, the greater the potential gain, then the greater the potential risk.

If the defensive player picks the right options there are the possibilities of interceptions, fumbles, penalties, quarter-back loss and incomplete passes.

The game is exciting to play as you try to work out what the other player is hoping to achieve and how they hope to do it.

The game is full of opportunities to try to trick your opponent. For example, as the attacker there are some games that I will use Option #1 (Power Up the Middle) as my offensive play on the First Down perhaps five or six times in a row. I want the defender to expect me to use Power Up the Middle. If he picks me (by selecting Defence A) the worst thing that will happen is that I will lose 2 yards. Once he is willing to play Defence A (which is an excellent defence against a running play but a lousy defence against a passing play) I now will consider using a passing play and perhaps gaining up to 50 yards in one fell swoop.

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My Opinion

I love the game. That is why I have rated it as an ‘8’ on ‘The Geek’. There is no dice in the plays (there is dice when using the kick-off tables and goal kicking tables). The plays from scrimmage have no luck involved – it really is a case of trying to ‘psych-out’ your opposing coach. You look at the Play Option Matrix and try to work out what the other coach is thinking. Every defensive play chosen will have a massive impact on the result of the play.

I recently had a game of Pizza Box Football – I had been expecting so much and yet it delivered so little when compared to Football Strategy. In Pizza Box Football if you are the defender and you pick the wrong defence then the worst that will happen is that there will a dice modifier of ‘+2’ and if you pick the right defence then the best that will happen will be a dice modifier of ‘-2’. As the offensive player in Pizza Box Football rolls three dice to see what happens a plus or minus of two on the dice doesn’t really make much difference on the PBF matrix – but more on that in a later review.

What I really like about the game is that luck is not a significant factor. You have a mighty large matrix with a plethora of potentially pleasing possibilities. The game plays fast and takes less than two hours to complete. It is incredibly interactive. It seems to me a good simulation of football. Both teams have equal opportunity to win and it all comes down to the decisions made by the coaches.

Excuse me - I have to go – I can hear the crowd roaring and my team needs me!

“Dead Men Tell No Tales!”

Thread: Description of play

deltarn — 2008-03-31T13:01:40+00:00

Where can I find a descrription of plays, possibly with small overhead diagramm like in players play book.

Thanks.

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

fermmoylle — 2008-02-18T18:07:33+00:00

The Escrow process used on the website we were using is great, but a single game may take more than a month to complete... That turned away some potential gamers.

Ok, I know PBeM'ers won't complain, but we lost a lot of good people because of this...

Anyway, let's try to really start this second season soon. I'm open to any comments or advice.

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

patriot1963 — 2008-02-18T17:32:41+00:00

Count me in if a game (or season play) starts up in 2008!!
Cheers!
Mark G

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

TheCollector — 2008-02-18T16:36:26+00:00

I saw this and thought, wow, even freebie programmers should be able to get something by next September... oh, it was last September

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

fermmoylle — 2008-02-18T15:34:30+00:00

No, the Season didn't start because we didn't have enough members...

But thanks for sharing the info about your Y!Group: I've just joined. Maybe the folks out there would like to participate in GFL? What do you think?

Regards,

Marcelo Paschoalin

Thread: Re: User Review: Football-themed

Cantatta — 2008-02-06T22:43:37+00:00

Good review, accurate on many counts and an honest assesment. This happens to be one my favorite board games, as I am also a great fan of NFL football. Fun, relatively fast play and a sense of reward when you call a spectacular play in a tough situation and it works!

It's worth the price if you can find a copy for sale. I think mine is a 12th edition printing from SI, so things like the scoreboard card are no longer part of the game, being replaced by a pad of score sheets where time and score are kept, along with a few other things, like what quarter it is, what down it is, etc. Still, it has a mounted board with a few charts on it, the cards are fairly rugged, and the rules are short and sweet, easy to learn and remember.

Glad to see some interest here on the Geek for this one.

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

mikebrn — 2008-02-06T13:29:24+00:00

Hi - Just found this thread. Did Season 2 commence? Got enough members?

BTW, I have a Yahoo group for the game if anyone interested.
-
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/footballstrategy/message...

Mike

Thread: Re: Tao of Gaming Review

nordclan — 2008-02-04T11:51:20+00:00

This theory is also applied in Baseball and Basketball Strategy. The think/counter-think is fun!

Thread: User Review: Football-themed

wargamer55 — 2007-10-17T06:27:29+00:00

A true gaming classic, Football Strategy has been around for almost half a century now. It was one of my neighborhood gaming group's staples back when I was a teen and has never disappeared entirely from the table in the years since.
On the other hand the game, unlike the actual NFL version, hasn't really evolved over time, so it doesn't bear as close a resemblance to the current pro game as it used to. The 1980s addition of the "Aerial" and "Ball Control" charts merely fiddled with the edges.
For those who don't know the game, the essential game mechanic is this: The Defensive player secretly selects one of 10 defense cards labeled A through J. The Offensive player then selects one of 20 offensive plays numbered 1 through 20 listed on a chart and announces it. The Defense reveals its card and the two are cross-referenced on the chart to determine the result.
For example, on a 1st Down and 10 on the Offense 40 yard line the Defense player picks "E" (a 4-3 defense). The Offense announces "4" a Slant. Cross-referencing we find that the result is a gain of 4 yards. Continuing our example, the Offense, now on the 44 yard line, calls a pass play, "14" a pop pass. The Defense reveals card "I" which the cross-referenced result shows to be an incomplete pass. And so on.
The main conceit of Football Strategy is that it is a game of pure strategy revolving around play-calling. As such, it isn't really a simulation in the same way as a wargame might be, despite the fact it was published by the well-know wargame company Avalon Hill. The game takes the approach that play-calling is the central strategic decision in football, all things being equal. There's no Tom Brady throwing the ball, nor any T.O. catching it. All player talent and most luck is stripped out of the game.
Of course, in real life all things are never equal, so the Statis-Pro style football games using actual game statistics were better simulations than Football Strategy. On the other hand, Football Strategy was in many ways more satisfying to play because the player had control over his fate. Aside from some luck in the kicking game and the long gain table there wasn't any chance in the game, and better play-calling would prevail, especially in league play.
Wargames are set in situations that are always (and deliberately) unfair, so game designers usually need to attempt to balance the players' chances of winning to a certain degree, often by redefining game victory away from its military counterpart. Its not uncommon for a player to win a "game victory" in a wargame that would still have been an actual military defeat. Few Battle of the Bulge games, for example, require German players to actually win anything like a true military victory in order to claim a game win. Usually just doing better than the historical result is enough.
Sports games, on the other hand, are set in situations that are always "fair." So differences between teams can make playing a statistically based game frustrating for players. Unless one resorts to creating a gambling-style "spread" to play against, its hard to balance it. Hence the attraction of Football Strategy. Its not a simulation because both teams have an exactly equal talent pool and precisely even chances of winning. The end result is completely up to the players, except for a small chance element.
Taken on those terms, Football Strategy, as a sports-themed game of wits, is a timeless classic.

For more reviews check out my blog at: http://pawnderings.blogspot.com

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

fermmoylle — 2007-10-02T02:04:01+00:00

We were waiting for a re-writing of the last season website's engine, but today they told us they won't be able to finish the changes we needed.
So...
Now I'm on a hurry. I'll talk to some programmers I know that could write a script or two. Season 2 will have to wait a little more, but I hope the kickoff will be seen until the end of the month.

I'll post any news I receive here.

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

NeilPat1952 — 2007-09-28T03:24:14+00:00

Is Season 2 moving forward? No posts in quite a while. Thanks.

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BDReiff — 2007-09-09T02:27:54+00:00

Everything in Original 1959 tube game.

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BDReiff — 2007-09-09T02:25:11+00:00

Original scoreboard, clear 10 yd marker and football

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BDReiff — 2007-09-09T02:24:16+00:00

Original 1959 Football Strategy "board" - a vinyl mat

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BDReiff — 2007-09-09T02:21:25+00:00

Original 1959 Football Strategy Cards

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BDReiff — 2007-09-09T02:20:37+00:00

Original 1959 Football Strategy

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

fermmoylle — 2007-06-07T12:30:31+00:00

We'll have as many conferences as we need to allow 5 teams per conference at most - so each player has to deal with only 4 games at once.

After the games are finished, the top teams in each conference face each other in a final group... As I don't belive will have more than 10 teams playing (but I really want to see that in the near future), the final group will probably a Super Bowl match between two teams.

Each game you play will use www.warfareproject.com interface. I'm in process of talking to the website creator in order to provide specific tools for GFL, but I don't know if they will be ready for September (it seems so, but I can't promise anything).
Warfare Project has a Escrow tool. You and your opponent input the play and when both are posted you two will receive an email telling the result. This way no one needs to be online at every possible situation.

Please tell me if you have any other questions.

Thread: Re: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

sourwyrm — 2007-06-07T05:47:20+00:00

what kind of schedule do you guys do?

Thread: Join GFL Season 2, starting September

fermmoylle — 2007-05-18T14:27:30+00:00

Greetings,

Our first season has ended (Kansas City Chiefs, under the management of Windopaene, is our first champion -- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1505121) and it's time to see how many teams will join us now!

I intend to start Season 2 by September. We'll have as many teams as we can handle, and we can handle a lot! Each team will play at most 4 games at once (5 was too much for some of us), so we may even split the league in two or more Conferences.

Everyone is invited. We just need your:
-BGG username
-City and team name
-Three-letter abreviation for your team

All team managers also need to register (free and quickly) at http://www.warfareproject.com/ The Warfare Project proved us to be of extreme help in adjucating our games and we won't change what's doing fine -- but we are open to suggestions. ;-)

So, to begin with it, here's my team:

fermmoylle, manager of the San Andreas Dicerollers, SAD

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Fenway5 — 2006-12-10T06:03:23+00:00

Jets field

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Fenway5 — 2006-12-10T05:13:28+00:00

offense/ defense/ yard markers for use with my uploaded fields

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Fenway5 — 2006-12-09T23:24:34+00:00

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGF

rootbeer — 2006-11-04T19:06:19+00:00

Just added this to the rules:

The team that posts the results in the thread then starts up the next turn in the Secret Keeper.

I thought it was in there already, but I guess I forgot. So I enter my play, and my opponent is notified that he needs to enter a play. He puts his in, post the results, and then enters his play for the next turn.

Doing it this way will make it run faster.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

rootbeer — 2006-11-03T21:24:24+00:00

All right, we are very close to starting up. I still need a couple questions answered, and everyone needs to be registered at www.warfareproject.com (one person mentioned problems logging in there -- is this happening to anyone else?). I do have some exciting news, though: our 8-team league is full, and a list of participants and scheduled games has been posted (see GFL News).

I've started a few new threads for GFL matters. Please subscribe to at least the News thread.

GFL News -- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1156256
GFL Scores and Standings -- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1156260
GFL Clubhouse -- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1156254
GFL Help -- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1156265
GFL R&D -- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1156267

Note that the first two threads are just for official announcements. I'd like to keep them uncluttered, with just the essential info. The other three threads are for open discussion.

Eventually I'd like to start two more threads: GFL Rules, and GFL Info (general description of the league, etc.). For now this main thread will do.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

rootbeer — 2006-11-03T18:10:32+00:00

Sounds interesting, Marcelo. Let's see how this tournament goes with just the base rules, and keep this variant in mind for inclusion in the future.

---

In other news, the GFL is full! We have 8 registered participants. I still have a bit more data to collect from a couple of you (emails already sent), and I have to put the schedule together -- but we'll be starting soon!

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

fermmoylle — 2006-11-02T01:04:41+00:00

rootbeer wrote:
I am inexperienced with this game, though, so if there are "essential" modified rules, I'm all ears.
This year our group tried a simple variant on onside-kicks. We all know the first onside-kick try during a game usually is a "surprise move", but rarely this works twice. The rules also state that the team ahead on the score has a diminished chance on onside-kicks, but this is not true when we talk about real-life matches. So...

The first time your team tries an onside-kick just roll a die and check the result, without modifiers.
The second time your team tries an onside-kick, roll 2 dice and pick the worst of them.
The third time, roll 3 dice and pick the worst... and so on.

What do you think?

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

rootbeer — 2006-11-01T15:36:34+00:00

Windopaene wrote:
Just a note on starting this weekend. I'm travelling on Thursday, at my home office on Friday and Saturday, and travelling back Saturday night. Sunday is going to be hellish as well. So if you don't hear from me, whomever my first opponent is, don't panic.

No problem. Thanks for the notice.

I want to take this seriously enough that it doesn't fall apart, but obviously real life is far more important.

Oh, and just to make sure you're aware, Brad: We're doing a simultaneous round robin. So everyone is your first opponent!

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGF

Windopaene — 2006-11-01T00:25:21+00:00

Just a note on starting this weekend. I'm travelling on Thursday, at my home office on Friday and Saturday, and travelling back Saturday night. Sunday is going to be hellish as well. So if you don't hear from me, whomever my first opponent is, don't panic.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

rootbeer — 2006-10-31T19:35:45+00:00

I've converted the charts to PDF and emailed them to all confirmed participants. Please let me know of any issues there.

By the way, we have five confirmed so far (including myself), and two more that have shown interest but I haven't heard from lately. I'm fairly confident that at least one of them will join, but even now we have enough for a small tournament.

checkallday, my rulebook doesn't mention any changes. Leo sent me the '81 rules, which mention that they should be used with the '79 charts. I'm still not certain of what the exact changes are, though. Probably tweaks to some play results, as you've mentioned.

Marcelo, my plan is to start basic, with the rules at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo.php?fileid=17605. The less complicated the better, especially for our first round. After the first tournament we can discuss weak areas that may need rule changes.

I am inexperienced with this game, though, so if there are "essential" modified rules, I'm all ears.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

fermmoylle — 2006-10-31T16:27:06+00:00

I think we should list all the house rules and interpretations we are used to in order to run this league using "the best rules" we can get it. We could even "re-write" the rulebook using GFL rules.

What do you think?

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGF

Checkallday — 2006-10-30T21:47:57+00:00

Most of the changes were minor. I just wonder if they ran into some problems with them. I believe they were all to the pro-set offense and some kickoff stuff. Does the 1972 book mention these rule changes? They may have only been changed from the old version or something. Once you get yours out I can compare and then send you the changes so you can decide whether it would be worth implementing them or not.

I don't have excel on my computer, would I need it to view these files? If so, I'd prefer pdf.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

rootbeer — 2006-10-30T18:28:10+00:00

Checkallday wrote:
Will we be using the charts from the 1979 version or one of the earlier ones? There were a few minor changes in that version.

The version I have (which I typed the charts up from) is 1972, I believe. (I don't have it with me right now.) What are the '79 changes? Do you think they should be implemented? I don't know anything about them.

I have to pretty up the charts that I typed up, and then I'll email them to everyone. (They'll be uploaded to the Geek too, but it might take a while to pass through the moderating queue.) They're in Excel (.XLS) format right now. Does that work for everyone, or should I convert them to PDF?

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGF

Checkallday — 2006-10-30T18:20:18+00:00

Will we be using the charts from the 1979 version or one of the earlier ones? There were a few minor changes in that version.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

rootbeer — 2006-10-30T15:44:34+00:00

fermmoylle wrote:
Just a quick note: if we are talking about Delay of Game, let's keep the penalty 5yd only. 15yd is too harsh...

15 might be too harsh. But is 5 enough in this case? Should it be 10? Anyone else have thoughts on this?

fermmoylle wrote:
Besides, there's a house rule we use in our games: choosing an inappropriate play (a long pass inside the 10yd line, for example) results in a 5yd-penalty Delay of Game.
The reason is: once both managers should select another play (due to the action of one of them), it's clearly a delay of game. So, check twice your play-calling before submiting to the league.

I hadn't thought of the possibility for this. I think this is a good rule; we'll use it.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

fermmoylle — 2006-10-30T11:16:53+00:00

rootbeer wrote:
TARDINESS

If a manager doesn't respond for a week, they are penalized 15 yards. This can be avoided if the manager notifies the league that he will be away or unavailable.

If a manager is continually tardy, he may be removed from the league, or not invited back for the following season.

Just a quick note: if we are talking about Delay of Game, let's keep the penalty 5yd only. 15yd is too harsh...

Besides, there's a house rule we use in our games: choosing an inappropriate play (a long pass inside the 10yd line, for example) results in a 5yd-penalty Delay of Game.
The reason is: once both managers should select another play (due to the action of one of them), it's clearly a delay of game. So, check twice your play-calling before submiting to the league.

What do you think?

PS: By the way, I'm sending my team data in a few minutes.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGF

rootbeer — 2006-10-29T23:23:12+00:00

Here are my proposed rules. Please read all of the following:

LEAGUE RULES AND REQUIREMENTS

The GFL (Geek Football League) is a league for online play of Avalon Hill's Football Strategy.

Managers should be registered at www.boardgamegeek.com and www.warfareproject.com with the exact same username. Managers are expected to input at least 5 turns per game per week, and will play from 3 to 7 games simultaneously (depending on the current league format). One round of games is expected to last 4 to 6 months.

To register for the GFL, please message me with your team name (city name, team nickname, three-letter abbreviation; e.g., New York Giants NYG) and team play style: Aerial Game (stronger passing), Ball Control (stronger running), or Pro Style (balanced) offense. Your team style will remain the same for the duration of the season or tournament.

For now, games will be played with standard rules (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo.php?fileid=17605) and standard charts (which I am preparing and will email to all participants).

GAMEPLAY METHOD

Each game will have its own forum thread, with a specific title assigned. Example: "GFL Game 101 -- NYG at PHI". The home team manager starts the forum thread and notifies the away team and the Commissioner of its URL. As the first post of the thread, the home team manager notes the play style of each team for future reference.

The home team starts with possession in the first half and sudden death overtime (if necessary). The away team starts with possession in the second half.

Games will be auto-moderated using the Secret Keeper at www.warfareproject.com. The home team manager starts the first turn of the game in the Secret Keeper. The "Name" field of the Secret Keeper should be filled out properly so that managers can have their emails easily sorted by game. "Name" will be in the format "GFL 101 x" where 101 is the game number and x is the turn number. Two usernames will be pasted in, e.g. "rootbeer, desertfox2004".

Once both managers have entered their play into the Secret Keeper, the manager who entered their play second (e.g., the away manager, on the first turn) posts the results and game status under the forum thread in this exact format:

Team1 calls 1
Team2 calls E

Result: +1

Team1 15 - Team2 8
9:15 3rd quarter
Team1 2nd and 9 on Team2 31

Time Outs remaining: Team1 3, Team2 2

("Team1" and "Team2" will be replaced with three-letter abbreviations, e.g. NYG, PHI.)

Please be sure that you are reading the correct chart (Aerial Game, Ball
Control, or Pro Style) before you post the results. Use the chart appropriate to the team on offense.

The team that posts the results in the thread then starts up the next turn in the Secret Keeper.

TIME OUTS

Time outs are called after a play is resolved -- they happen in between two plays. If it is your turn to post results, you may of course call a time out before starting the next round of play.

If it was the opposing manager's turn to post results, please notify him that you wish to call a time out; he will edit the results post to reflect the time adjustment. Note that he will have already entered his play-call for the next turn. Do not respond to this yet. This play was entered before he knew of the time out call. When the opposing manager adjusts the time clock, he will either notify you that

a) his play-call stands and you may respond to it, or

b) he has deleted his original play and entered a new one (with the knowledge of the time out).

DICE ROLLS

For plays that require a roll of dice, the Dice Roller at www.warfareproject.com will be used. Whichever manager is due to start the next turn will process the die roll. Both managers must be included in the "mail to" list for the result to be valid.

TARDINESS

If a manager doesn't respond for a week, they are penalized (edit: ) 10 yards. This can be avoided if the manager notifies the league that he will be away or unavailable.

If a manager is continually tardy, he may be removed from the league, or not invited back for the following season.

BLOWOUTS

If a team is down by 25 or more points at any time in the 4th quarter, they must concede. (The managers may choose to finish the game, but the game will still count as conceded -- this is necessary for purposes of tiebreaking.) In case of a concession, the victorious team is credited with the win as normal, plus one Blowout.

STANDINGS

A win is worth 2 points, a loss is worth 0. Once all games have been decided, the team with the most points in the standings wins. If two or more teams are tied for first place in the standings, the following tiebreakers will be applied in order until the tie is broken:

1) The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neustadtl_score method -- a sort of "strength of schedule" tiebreaker.

2) The winner of the game(s) between the two tied teams.

3) Blowouts won.

4) Points scored.

5) Coin flip.

CURRENT FORMAT

The GFL will start with an inaugural round-robin tournament (each team will play each other team once). We will start with 4 to 8 teams. If we have an even number of teams, some teams (selected randomly) will play more home games than others. Home advantage is minimal; this shouldn't be a problem.

TIME FRAME

I hope to have enough confirmed participants that we can start the tournament in one week (~Nov. 5). If we have a full 8 teams and I'm ready sooner, we can start sooner.

THE FUTURE OF THE GFL

After the inaugural tournament is completed we will discuss what worked and what didn't. Changes may be made, and we may expand to include more teams.

APPLY TO JOIN

The 6 people that have already posted in this thread are invited to join the GFL and have a spot reserved for them -- please email me to confirm your participation. Anyone else interested in joining may apply through GeekMail.

----

This is a preliminary draft, and is flexible. Discuss here if you think
anything should be changed, and please email me with your team name/confirmation of participation.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGF

rootbeer — 2006-10-29T23:20:10+00:00

Oh, and as for conceding: I know it never happens in the NFL, but that's where games are played in a matter of hours. It seems unreasonable to demand that a player continue a hopeless game for another month or more. And if games are only conceded sometimes in applicable situations, it throws off the balance for everyone.

Conceding probably won't happen often anyway. Let's try a round and see what happens.

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGF

rootbeer — 2006-10-29T23:08:56+00:00

Marcelo,

I think 2 months is too optimistic -- but let's try it and see what happens.

I want to make the time-commitment necessary to play in this league fairly low. This is my preference personally, but I also think that this will make it more accessible, leading to more participants. If we have 8 teams join the league, we'll certainly run 7 games simultaneously for each team, but I think this will be about the maximum load. (If we eventually move to an 18-game NFL-ish schedule, I envision 3 rounds of 6 games.)

For the same reason, I'm quite hesitant to require stat-keeping of anyone. Also, it seems more efficient to compile the stats once a game is complete, rather than one turn at a time. What if we just wait and see how that goes?

Drop-outs: I'm hoping that we have more people interested than we can include for the first tournament. Perhaps we'll have one or two alternates in case of drop-outs. (Or in case of long vacation. I'm off for ~3 weeks in January -- I'd be all right with someone filling in for me there, rather than leaving my opponents hanging for so long.)

Long delays: Life is complicated. We might have to be patient with people sometimes, but hopefully with a bit of communication this won't be a big problem. Still, we have to plan for it. The problem with a preset or random play as punishment for a delay is it might end up hurting the non-delaying team. How about a yardage penalty?

Say, if a manager doesn't respond for a week, it's a 15-yard penalty. Of course, this wouldn't apply if the manager had previously notified the league that he was away for a week, etc.

If a manager is continually tardy, he may be removed from the league, or not invited back for the following season.

I know this is kinda fuzzy, but for some stuff I think we're just going to have to play and see what works. Some decisions will just have to be made as problems arise.

FSL just doesn't sound right to me. I think it has to end with "FL." How about GFL?

Thread: Re: OK, let's start a league. Discuss the birth of the BGGFL!

Unitplayer36 — 2006-10-29T14:57:23+00:00

Hi Everyone,
I just thought I would say that I find the idea of starting a Pbem game of Football strategy very interesting. As an Englishman, American Football is not my national sport, but nevertheless it has interested me for a long time. Before I ramble on too much, I just want to say that i would like to "lurk" on the forum, learn the game, (I can download the rules, charts etc), and generally ask questions of the "experts" if thats ok?
I will re-read the posts, and try to digest whats being proposed and make sense out of it all .(Hey, I'm a Brit after all!!)
I have played Paydirt before, though Im not very good.

I wish the league success

John