Martian Football

Martian Football is a team game played on a Red planet racecourse. Where a regular Red planet game is a race to see who can get the most points in a limited amount of time and each pilot is racing for him or herself, Martian Football takes players and puts them into two equally sized teams. Although all players can contribute to the team's score, only one of the players on each team races to each goal area to score points.

Each Team has the following positions on it: Runner, Blocker, and Crusher. The standard Martian Football team is made up of four pilots, although it can have as few as two on a team. Each team must have one, and only one, Runner on it. The remaining positions can be made up of any number of Blockers and Crushers. Typically, a Martian Football team will be made up of one Runner, two Crushers, and one Blocker, but this can change depending on the team's favored tactics or the course being played on.

The positions each have their own function on a team, and how each position contributes to a team's score will be outlined in the next few pages.

Runner

The Runner is arguably the most important position on a Martian Football team. The Runner's position is the one that most closely resembles a regular player in a normal Red Planet game. The Runner is responsible for running from end to end and scoring the points at each goal. For all intents and purposes, the Runner is the ball.

The Runner's most difficult task is to avoid the opposite team's Crushers who get points for colliding with the Runner. To do this the Runner most be skilled in flying the VTV and know the course well enough to hide and dodge while moving toward the goal.

Runners can use any Bug Class VTV and they start with four more Boosters (2 in each bank) than they usually have in a Red Planet game. Like a normal Red Planet game, once a Runner uses a Booster, it is gone and will not be replaced for the duration of a Martian Football game. A Runner will receive a score multiplier for every goal that he or she makes without being crushed or colliding into an object on the course and dying in the process. This multiplier is exponential - reaching the scoring zone is worth 500 points. If a Runner makes two-goal area consecutively, the 1st scoring zone is worth 500 points, and the second is worth 1000. From there bonuses go to 2000, then 4000, then 8000, and so on. This Multiplyer Bonus also applies to score obtained by normal movement down the course. Bonuses reset after a Runner's death. Any Runner deaths will be subtracted from the team's score.

Crusher

The Crusher's job on a Martian Football team is to destroy the opposing team's Runner. This is usually done by colliding with the Runner, preferably at high speed and preferably head-on. As is standard in a Red Planet game, if a VTV dies at high speed, it loses more points than it would if it were moving slowly. So, if a Crusher hits a Runner at high speed, the Runner's team will lose more points than if the Crusher killed the Runner at a lower speed.

Crushers can be any class VTV, although Bull Class VTVs are typically favored. Since collisions are the most effective way to kill a Runner, armed VTVs are not usually taken by Crushers. Unlike the Runner, a Crusher will receive a full complement of Boosters each time his VTV "morphs" in after it is destroyed. This leads to most Crushers flying around lighting one Booster after another to keep a high rate of speed up. Crusher deaths do not subtract from a team's score, HOWEVER, if a Crusher hits a Runner and then is destroyed within two seconds thereafter, all the points that were "lost" by the Crusher will go to the opposite team's score!

Blocker

The Blocker is both a defensive and offensive position depending on how it is played. Typically, a Blocker will attempt to destroy the opposing team's Crushers by flying up and down the course at a high rate of speed and hitting those Crushers who get in the way. Like Crushers, a Blocker's death will not subtract points from a team's score. However, (similar to Crushers) if a Blocker hits a Crusher and is then destroyed within two seconds of hitting the Crusher, the crusher's team will receive all the points "lost" by the destroyed Blocker. If the Blocker chooses to play a more defensive game, he or she will stay near the Runner and attempt to deflect oncoming Crushers or clear a path for the Runner.

Like Crushers, Blockers can be of any class VTV, but, also like Crushers, Bull class VTVs are used more often than not. After a Blocker's VTV is destroyed, it will remorph with a full load of Boosters.

Tips and Tactics

Martian Football is a fast paced, high-energy game. However, because it is so chaotic with VTVs flying in every direction and fully ¾ of the players not concerned with getting to the scoring zone, it can be difficult to learn. Once mastered, though, Martian Football is the most adrenaline producing excitement a Tesla cockpit can provide! Below are some tips to help players get up to speed and get their bearings in the Martian Football environment:


  • Martian Football teams have two colors

Crushers and Blockers will be one color, while the Runner will be a complimentary color to that of the other VTVs. Team colors are: Green/Yellow, Black/Purple, Red/Pink, and Blue/Aqua. Do not use Decals in Martian Football games; they make seeing a VTVs true colors more difficult.


  • Which Direction!!

VTVs morph in pointed in the direction they are supposed to go. Runners will morph in facing the goal area they need to reach. Crushers will morph in facing the direction that the opposing team's Runner is. Blockers will morph in facing the direction of its team's Runner. Be aware that although a Crusher morphs in facing towards the enemy Runner, the opposing Runner may be flying towards or away from the Crusher.


  • Use your radar!!!

This is the single best way to get your bearings on the racecourse. The enemy runner will appear as a glowing dot on the GPS. If the radar is scrolled out far enough, you may be able to see where the Runner is located as well, but this will give you less detail on the course itself so you may not be able to see what side of the canal the Runner is flying on.


  • Check your rearview!!

This is one of the best ways to stay alive - if you can't see what's going on behind you, you cannot react to it. Most often, the Runner will need to use this to stay alive, but it is a valuable tool for the Crusher or Blocker as well; not many pilots expect VTVs in front of them to pay attention enough to react to what's happening behind them. Reverse kills (getting in front of a Runner and slamming your own VTV into reverse and backing into the Runner) work wonders on demoralizing an opposing Runner.


  • Talk to your Teammates!

Although the radar will help you locate the opposition, your teammates will most likely be near them if you are not and this is invaluable in letting you know where the Runner is going. It is also useful to have to your Runner give you status reports - hitting your own Runner while on multiple Boosts is a sure way to lose many, many points!


  • Runners

Use the small size of your VTV to best advantage. This means going over, under, or through obstacles that are too small for the larger VTVs to follow. This will give you space between you and your opponents, and space = time, which allows you to react to enemy movement.


  • Crushers

Know where narrow, confined areas are and use them. You cannot maneuver as well as the smaller VTVs, but you can offset this advantage by catching the Runner in areas where he or she will not be able to use maneuverability to escape.


  • Know whether the doors are open or closed!

Not knowing can be fatal. If a Runner is sitting in front of the doors, waiting for them to open, they are tempting and ripe targets for opposing Crushers. Conversely, small VTVs will be able to squeeze through openings that larger ones cannot. If a door is closing at one end of the course, it is closing at the other. Use this knowledge to help gauge where the doors will be when you reach them.