DreadMill II – DreadBall Tournament

Infernal Fathers vs Mega City Judges

Aided by a couple of gaming cronies, I recently ran the DreadMill tournament, which went very well.  The follow up DreadBall tournament took place last weekend at the same venue.

The Electro Motive Force star striker executes a flip-six-three-hole play.

We had eight players, all of whom had taken part in the previous event.  Some of the players had not played the game since, while others had played quite a bit of DreadBall.  Everyone attending had a background in board and tabletop games and knew what to expect, so the environment was competitive but friendly.

“The lads done well and gave 110% at the end of the day” etc.

An Infernal Father jack caught between a ref and a hard place

The format was designed to give a little bit of the feeling of a league environment where the players and teams develop, but without getting too involved in the nitty gritty bookkeeping aspect (this time at least.  Baby steps).  A heavily-prescribed, league-lite, if you get what I mean.

Beard-pulling leads to high casualties in a Forge Father vs Forge Father game.

We did this by giving players a pair of “Team Advance” upgrade options to choose between before each game.  The aim here was to encourage players to get suitable coach/MVP/player models available for their games if they wanted to, but to also provide another option that didnt require extra expenditure or painting commitment.

Its rush 12 and the B.P.Oilers unbelievably form a cage to protect their one point lead from the powerful, but largely distant and slow Infernal Fathers.

The Team Advance choices made carried through each game until the end of the event, so that the teams in play by the end of the day had developed quite a bit from where they had started.    The Team Advances are below.

Rearour Ratmen collide with Mega City Judges

Team Advance A: Extra Training
At Tournament registration choose ONE of the following options:
1. A single normally generated skill must be applied to a single Striker or Guard. This skill applies to that player for the rest of the tournament.
2. Two normally generated skills must be applied to Jack players. Both skills may be applied to the same Jack if desired, but skill rolls are assigned to player before the results are generated. These skills apply to the player(s) concerned for the rest of the tournament.

Team Advance B: Extra Coaching
On completion of Game 1 choose ONE of the following options:
1. Add 1 x DreadBall Card to your team for the rest of the tournament.
2. Add 1 x Assistant Coach for the rest of the tournament. 

Team Advance C: All Star Transfer
On completion of Game 2 choose ONE of the following options:
1. Add any player from your team list to your roster for the rest of the tournament. 
2. Add the MVP assigned to your team type (see below list) to your roster for game 3 only. 

Team Advance D: Specialist Training
On completion of Game 3 apply the following advance
1. Choose a skill normally applicable to a player on your team and apply it to a player. N.B. Stat increases may not be chosen. 

The Halliburton Neo-Liberators take colour co-ordination (and corporate misconduct) seriously.

Regardless of casualties, each team started the next game with the team that they had chosen at the start of the day, plus the Team Advances that they had accrued to that point.

Oilers and Ratmen scrabble for a loose ball.

As is the case with all of the events that I run, painted models are a requirement.  As can be seen in the photos, this makes the games a lot more pleasing to the eye.  This time it did also mean that while a few of the players taking part own season 2 teams in varying states of production, none of the season 2 teams took to the field.  This time.

Gorim Ironstone gets ready to open the Mega City Judges account when playing the Wielser Dealers.

The day was fun, the weather was exceptional, the games were fantastic, the company was great and enthusiasm for a follow up event was high (again).  I wasnt sure that players would want to commit to a two-day event, but after the success of the last two DreadMill events, a number of players asked about the possibility of a two-day league plus play-offs thing.  Although its a bigger commitment, the payoff might be worth it, so I am looking into it.

His work here complete, the coach of the Mega City Judges quietly returns to the mothership.