Game Machanics For a Football Game

I have not played the game but have you looked at PIzza Box football - It seems to have good reviews and might give you ideas.

I assume you are talking about what us Brits would term "American Football" as opposed to Soccer - what we call Football. Thus you are looking at mechanisms for resolving the plays etc?

Have you looked at Blood bowl . That is based on American football and uses figures .

One idea might be to use a kind of Paper/ Rock/ Scissors grid with offensive and defensive moves cross referenced to give modifers that the offensive player applies to a skill test. Maybe a 6+ on a d10 would suceeed but that can be ade harder or easier with that table. Both players choose a tactic/ play/ move secretly maybe from a stack of cards.

The RPG game Spycraft and Spycraft 2 uses deck of cards that players choose actions from- eg in a car chase. The chasing car has a list of possible moves as does the prey and they choose secretly and them you cross reference the moves on a grid.

Dont know if any of that helps or hinders.

Pizza Box Football is fun - but does not involve actual mini's. It simplifies the game by only allowing 3 offensive plays and 3 defensive sets (in the basic game). The selected plays are cross-referenced on a chart, and a die roll will indicate whether the defensive set hinders or helps the offensive play's success. Another roll gives you the play's result.

Blood Bowl is fun - but I'd have to say gameplay resembles rugby more than football. The action is continuous until the ball crosses a goal line - there are no 'plays' as such. Or you could look at it as a fantasy miniature version of 'kill the man with the ball'. I agree that the best thing about that was the team building idea.

An actual Am. football game with mini's would be cool - and being able to have control of team selection (drafts!) and development (hey, the quarterback finally knows the offense without looking at the plays on his wristband!) would be fun. You could even have some of the players basic stats on their base - like the clix games out there. Position information could be static (written on the base), and the individual players could be made unique by using the number painted on their back - the 'coach' could have a roster showing any bonuses the players have based on experience, or extra money you paid for him...etc. That way your opponent would not necessarily know who your stars were, just by looking at the mini's.

As for the gameplay, that will be tougher. You could simplfy things a bit by limiting the number of players on the field - much like flag-football (8 per side around these parts). You could also limit the types of positions to just a few - generic labels like 'receiver' - instead of all the "slot" "h-back" etc. It might help avoid any direct complaints from the actual football league too, unless maybe you already have a licensing thing going on...

Having a grid format somehow on the field might aid you too - if you can find a way to have it blend into the background. A playbook might have a play showing how many squares away the receiver will end up before the ball is thrown - if the defender's playbook has a linebacker stop his movement in the path of the pass...maybe he has a chance to knock it down, intercept, etc.

Anyway - keep us posted on how things are going - sounds interesting!

I'm starting to be a huge fan of abstract games. An abstract football game? Preposterous you say? Here's my take:

Offensive Units:
Offensive Line (1) x5
Running Back (2) x2
Wide Reciever (3) x3
Quarterback (4) x1

Defensive Units:
Defensive Line (1) x4
Linebacker (2) x3
End (3) x2
Safety (4) x2

The number after each position represents strength and speed.
Strength: Lower numbers tackle better.
Speed: On the field, this unit moves this number of spaces. A lineman moves 1 space. A wide reciever moves 4.

The x2, x3, etc. number represents how many of each piece a player gets. This is not set in stone... this is just a guideline. See play, below.

Gameboard: The gameboard is a hex grid. Rows are parallel to the endzone. Each hex represents 2.5 yards. There are 40 rows total.

Setup:
I've got a ton of rules to make up for kick offs, punting, field goals, extra points, etc... you won't find those here (yet). These rules are for general play.

Line up your linemen on the line of scrimmage. Then, place your quarterback and wide recievers in the next row. Your running backs go in the row behind. Defense should set up similarly (yes, I know this diagram ignores the hex-grid aspect - bear with me).

Linemen must be placed on the line of scrimmage. The offensive player may only have 1 quarterback. There are probably more rules that will go here governing setup.

Sample Setup:<br />
           4</p>
<p>  4      2   2     4<br />
      3 1 1 1 1 3       Defense<br />
         11111          Offense<br />
3   3      4       3<br />
           2<br />
           2

Play:
The defensive player decides if they are going to try and blitz. Doing so lets them go first, but puts them at risk of getting an offsides. If they make this decision, flip a coin, and call it. Heads, the defensive player goes first. Tails, an offsides is called: 5 yard penalty and repeat the down.

Otherwise, the offensvie player goes first. The quarterback simply starts with the ball.

On your turn, you move your pieces, pass the ball, and try to make it down the field and into the endzone. Standard football rules apply (that means, more rules go here).

Movement: Pieces move a number of spaces equal to their speed. You may push an enemy piece out of the way if your strength is equal to or greater than that piece's. You may not move a piece if another piece blocks the movement. To do this, you simply move your piece into that piece's hex, and move that piece in the opposite direction. Multiple pieces cannot occupy the same hex.

Hand-offs: You may hand the ball to another player on your team without penalty at any time the two pieces (the player with the ball and the player who is recieving it) are in adjacent squares. You cannot hand-off to a lineman.

Passes: Only the QB may pass. To pass, choose a recipient and flip a coin. Heads - the pass is successful, and the ball is moved to that reciever. Tails - pass incomplete. You may not pass to a lineman.

Interceptions: If the opposing player has a piece in contact with the recipient of a pass, and that pass fails, the pass is intercepted. Give the ball to that player. If there are more than one possible opposing pieces, the opposing player chooses which one. Interceptions are the only way a lineman can end up with the ball.

Note: I know interceptions shouldn't happen very often (based on the speed of a wide reciever, but I like that they are in the game.

Tackles: To tackle the ball carrier, you must move your piece into it's square. If the piece tackling yours has less strength than the ball carrier, there is a possibility of breaking the tackle. Flip a coin - heads, the tackle is broken and the tackling player cannot move into your space. Tails, the ball carrier is tackled.

What else? Not sure. More to come.

I think having the lines act as a unit is a good idea - but how will you decide which line succeeds? Will the line have an overall strength or skill value?

When it gets down to the more specific roles, such as QB or linebacker - how will you decide which move takes precedence, or for that matter, which player (the actual game players) goes first, offense or defense?

If you have to roll for everything (every time 2 opposing players come into contact) - I'm wondering if a single play will take too long to be fun...maybe you could describe how you envision a single play being resolved.