"American football : Miniatures and rules" Topic

I dont know where to post this. Really a sportsgame, not a wargame which is the focus of TMP.

I am looking for rules and miniatures along the lines of bloodbowl for non-fantasy American football.

Might write my own rules based on DBA.

Anyone able to help?

Thanks,

Al

Tabletop Games used to have a set I believe

You can sometimes find bags of plastic football figures in dollar stores or You could check ebay.

Obviously I am missing something but, why can't you just use the bloodbowl rules just using human teams?

After all they are a free download, you can get a pitch from several suppliers, the plastic human figures would be fine, or you can use other figs.

I think Blood Bowl plays more like a rugby game than American Football.

I hear Two Hour Wargames has American football miniatures rules in playtest, though.

Not sure where to find miniatures yet.

There was an S&T football game that played well (I liked it)--and individual counters are just flat minis :) Might try suppliers of back issues.

i have seen this made into a miniatures game. Looked pretty cool.

pizzaboxfootball.com

"I think Blood Bowl plays more like a rugby game than American Football."

Really? Doesn't look much like any rugby I have ever seen. :)

Mind you i'm no expert in either Rugby or American footy.

Blood Bowl is kind of a mix of rugby and American football, but would not be good "as is" for either. With some slight tinkering you could get an okay rugby game, but American football would need a lot of works. Email Ed at THW for an ETA on their football game, their boxing game was good and I expect this to be fun as well.

American football???

Naaawh and miss this? Rugby is the way to go!

YouTube link

Cheers,
Robert
18thcenturysojourn.blogspot.com

I can't see American Football working as a miniatures game – which is probably why Bloodbowl is based more on the look of American Football than the actual rules.
There are so many interactions going on during each play that you couldn't possibly work out the effects of each one using dice rolls, as it would take too long. But if you only want the overall results of each play, why use miniatures at all ? Which is why it can work as a boardgame (like Statis Pro Football), but would be pointless as a miniatures game.

There are some teams made by Mcfarlane

Have got some rules tucked away somewhere also there is a game called second season that plays well without any figures. Someone in the UK used to make figures back in the 90's but havent seen any around for ages

Use football cards instead of figures.

Stratomatic Football is the way to go for this.

strat-o-matic.com

I use painted figures for each of the defenses, and the game engine is great for simulating football.

American Football does not lend itself to table top play in general because of the game itself. Too many resets to make an effective minatures game. You will spend more time picking up figures and reseting them than you will actually playing a game.

As I previously stated, I am thinking about a DBA variant/style game. I have played an old S&T game (Scrimmage???) which has all the problems you guys mention. The game took 20 minutes to play a down :(.

DBA does in ancients what I would like in a football game. That is it does away with all the minute detail for an overall result. Think it might work?

Allen57,

I would think HOTT would be a better choice.

Cheerleaders as Lurkers,
Sportscasters as Clerics,
Club owners as Magicians,
Networks as Gods,
Fans as Hordes,
Stadium as Stronghold, empty parking lot for your opponent
Hail Marys as Flyers or Goodyear Blimp

Still, Rugby is the true sport and now voted back into the Olympics.

Cheers,
Robert
18thcenturysojourn.blogspot.com

These might work:

link

-B6

"DBA does in ancients what I would like in a football game. That is it does away with all the minute detail for an overall result. Think it might work?"

No !

write your own using dba.
I have tried it with the figures in the link above by bravo six. I mounted the figures on 2"x2" cardstock and gave each position a dba esque modifier.
If I recall the backs where fast like light horse. linemen more like pike etc.
I played it once at local hobby store and titled it:
DBFL
It did work but I haven't play tested more than once.
Ken

DBA is a set of wargames rules designed to simulate ancient and medieval battles between armies of thousands of men trying to kill each other with swords, spears and arrows. Why would you possibly think that you could use a variant of this to simulate a game between two teams of 11 men trying to move an oval ball the length of a field ?
You can certainly play DBA with American Football figures representing the different troops, but it will feel like a wargame, not American Football.

Google Miggle Toys all the stuff you need.

I have two teams from the old Tabletop range (25mm) from years ago. I painted them as the 1985 Bears and the late '80s 49rs. I don't have a copy of the rules I bought with them unfortunately. Haven't used them for years (obviously), I think I would be able to find them. Not sure you'd be interested in a "deal" of some sort :-)

maybe DBA actually looks more like a scrum than a thousand men trying to kill each other with pointy sticks.

I saw the OLD SPI magazine game converted for footbal several yaers ago. A very complicated game where the entire 'game' was only a series of about four plays. So I understand why is was no a big favorite.

The SPI counters had been rep[laced by minitures with the map hex grid. (I like the square grid system better myself.

link

Battleball could be used with less dramatic sci fi theme.

Slightly O/T, does anyone know if there are HO/OO scale Cheerleaders available? I have Subbuteo Rugby and was after some cheerleaders.

Many Thanks

Jeff

For HO scale cheerleaders, try a train store. They have a wide variety of figures covering all occupations, presumably cheerleaders, too.

Plenty of them around (and via mail order/internet, too), but here's a relatively local store in central NJ.

The Big Little Railroad Shop
63 West Main Street
Somerville, NJ 08876

(908) 685-8892
(908) 685-8894 fax

Tuesday – Friday 11 am to 7 pm
Saturday 11 am to 5 pm
Sunday 12 to 4 PM

Email Address: Jan@BigLittle.com

Miggle has cheerleaders, rah rah sis comb bah

link

We've got Battleball. It does somewhat like football, as if an entire half consisted of one long play, without stopping for tackles, fumbles or interceptions. Any figure can move the ball, throw the ball, hand off the ball, or tackle an opponent. When a tackle is made, the losing figure is removed from play (whether it is the defender or the ball carrier); if it is the ball carrier, the ball goes to the winner of the tackle. Each class of player (e.g., "tackle," "runningback," etc.) is assigned a different type of die: 2d6 (choose best), 1d6, d8, d10, d12, d20. The die roll is used for movement and passing (high rolls are better) and tackles (low roll wins). Only one player is moved per turn.

The key is setting your defense up and picking which player to move. Do you go with the fast running back and hope to out distance your opponent? Or do you move a big, slow, dangerous lineman up to jump up and down on the puny back with the ball, and risk opening a hole in your defensive set that a running back or pass can exploit.

Not a bad game, though it really isn't exactly like football.

Oddly enough, the game that I've found to be most like football is NFL Gamebreaker, a sports trivia game. No figures, just a ball on the field, but your opponent must select a defense (run, short pass, long pass, big play) and then you call your play from the same choices. A trivia question is then asked (longer plays have tougher questions); if you succeed you gain yardage, modified up or down by the defensive set. If you lose, you lose a down. Punts, kicks and returns are random (uses two spinners). A player on defense can choose "Gamebreaker" as a defense, in which case the trivia question is asked of the defending player rather than the offense. Get it right, steal the ball. Get it wrong and the offense gets maximum yardage. (Can only be used three times.) It does feel very much like real football in the strategy, and even with my limited NFL knowledge, I find myself able to answer more trivia questions than not. Fun board game; I expect there may be college variants.

Has anyone mentioned those guys from the classic "electronic football" ? As I remember, there were all sorts of poses… You could probably still find someone making this game, or at least find old teams on ebay perhaps

had to add in the hilarious vid I just found!
YouTube link