"How Would Your Play ROLLERBALL (1975) With 15mm Figures?" Topic

A) TERRAIN
How big an area? Would it be curved up and magnetized?

B) MINIATURES
What figures? Close to the film, or more of a Post-Apocalyptic style?

C) RULES
What rules?

D) PRECEDENT
Has someone already tried it? If so, any pictures? Any tutorials?

Inquiring minds want to know. :)

Dan
link

Years ago one of the Sheffield club ran a rollerball game which used an old domestic satellite dish as the basis for the arena.

I found some rules for RollerBall, once, a long time ago. I'll dig through my archives and see if I can find it again. I think it was a flat track marked with concentric lanes and equal sized rectangles in each lane.

Since I'm a Two Hour Wargames fanboy: Machinas or Wire to Wire (the horse racing game) could be adapted. The idea is that everyone rolls around the ring in a pack, so the whole race track / rollerball ring is not represented, only the section where the pack is.

Pictures, but it looks like the rules are no longer available: link

This one looks like it's hex based: link

1st I wouldn't use 15mm I'd use 28mm. That aside I experimented a number of years ago using a rectangular track with oval ends marked with squares for movement. I based it on Bloodbowl for the attack and defence. I intended to develop it into a proper arena with a banked track at either end but other projects got in the way. I used the Rollergirl figure by Reaper as that was the only skating figure I could find at the time. The board was 2 foot by 3 foot. One day I will get back to it.

I have done this project some time in the late 90's early 2000's. I even ran it at Little Wars outside of Chicago. I downloaded a track, it was squares I think, glued it to foamcore then cut the bottom into sections so it could be angled up into the bowl shape. I used electric football players and heavily converted Ghost Rider figures from the clicks world. There was a site with rules and tracks to down load the rules where hopelessly complicated so I did my own thing. I even had a guy make decals for the figures so the player numbers and logos matched the movie. I sold it all off shortly after I finally got it all done. It was a fun project loved the old movie.

I also ran an electric football tournament at Little Wars a few years before that. I had a staduim that the field was in. I cant believe they let me do that at a Historical convention it was very nice of them. It was very well received! Just shows you how much help I truly need.

I was in a RollerBall type game a few years ago at Southern Front.

The game used a curved bowl.

Home rules, I think.

I saw a game at Little Wars a number of years ago. THe guy modified football player cake decorations for the skaters. Im not sure what he used for bikes.

I would prefer 28s. The old eyes are getting less capable of differentiating the little guys unless they are en masse.

Jon-a-than!
Jon-a-than!
Jon-a-than!
Jon-a-than!

You could look at adapting a chariot racing game or Car-wars style game, in fact Machinas (sp) post-apocalypse combat/race system could work well for this.

For figs there must be some Bloodbowl figs that are close to what you want, probably in 25mm.

There was a 28mm Roller Derby kickstarter a few years back. I don't know how it went or if anything became of it. Here is a link to the page:
link

Here's a BoardGameGeek link with info:
link

While looking for the above kickstarter, I came across this link to the actual sport.
link
rules.wftda.com

Edit:
Duh! If I would have kept looking…
Here's the Impact City Miniatures site where the game comes from.
link

Old electronic football game figures wouldn't be to bad to use

Chuck05 that was me and they were just plain old electric football players that at the time you could still buy. Probably still can.

Really need 40mm or 54mm figures.

Oh and there is only one rule in Rollerball.

Win

You know that is the really only rule in War as well.

Mithmee: "You know that is the really only rule in War as well."

Is that still really the case? :)

Dan

Drop bowling balls from a 6 foot height,then shoot lighter fluid at them and fling lit matches. Any survivors are eligible for playoff games of which have no time limits.

I was really interested in that Kickstarter until I found out that ship[ping to the UK cost more than the game.

Stryderg the game is now on Wargames Vault.

link

>Jon-a-than!
Jon-a-than!
Jon-a-than!
Jon-a-than!

Came to post this.

Man, I loved that. Becoming a hero in a game created by The Man to crush individuality.

Machinas or Charioteer game model where the players are in a pack and the pack goes around the track. Easy to do if there was any interest.

We have played similar types of games using QILS rules and the Troll Ball supplement. The differences between this and other "ball in the goal" games are (1) arena shape, and (2) units used for players.

Game! This isn't a game!

An all time favorite movie. But the re-make like so many stunk!

Terry

15mm figures? That is just silly. You need a solid steel ball motorcycles and a bunch of roller skates, but I don't see any use for 15mm figures!

I saw a game at Salute,or its precursor, 35 years ago. They were using the large WW2 figures ?1:32? German converted.

Can't believe I didn't see this post until now… oh well, what's another year for a 44-year-old movie.

Yes — there are rules to the game, and a game for the rules. There was a complete set of official rules for the sport that were included in the press kit for the movie in 1975. I managed to track down a copy and have posted them online verbatim. They also include the exact dimensions for the track:

speedrally.net/?p=1204

Then about 20 years ago, I created my own set of miniatures rules based on watching the movie too many times. These almost became an official licensed release a decade ago, and, after that fell through, I released it as "Rulerball." You can still find it for sale over at Wargame Vault.

link

It is designed as both a large scale miniatures game —in 40mm— using cake decorations and matchbox motorcycles; and as a print-n-play flat boardgame, playable with chits, paper standups, or electric football figures.

In case you're wondering, we did once play the final game from the film: No penalties, no substitution, no time limit. It was a blast.

Upvoting this posting, because some of the old links are now dead.

You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about Rollerball here: link

Yea, I'd play the game, but would prefer larger 28mm minis too, since not too many figs are needed, unless you want to go the full team, deathmatch route, without "substitutions".

Ah yes, Rulerball.

I had those rules, as well as the other one too(?), eons ago, but they were lost with the hard-drive crash, sadly.

I'd even go with the 15mm/18mm now minis, if someone were to produce those too. Could be fun.

I know a guy who's currently prepping a 15mm-ish game of Rollerball for the upcoming 2023 GaryCon using the old electric football figures (which are probably closer to 20mm but still…)

Will see if he has any photos of his setup.

If Jape77 is the guy who ran the game at Historicon several years ago, I can attest to how amazing it looked!

It is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I can't recommend it and efforts to game it enough!

Someday…!

Oh, and one thought I had was perhaps a roulette wheel would work as the track – altho there are little ridges in it, those can be held to be "hexes" or perhaps grids, and there may be a used wheel at any flea market, or a plastic one available on line….

Not 'my' bag, but think that height of any metal figres would make them unballanced… at scales larger than 15mm?
You could drill lots of small holes in a curved surface and have little 'pegs'or 'pins' in figure base?
Just a thought.

28mm plus would be preferred by me, but I'd play any scale if the figs were available, and I could get the rules again, and a rink.