Safe Throw (Passing)
This player is an expert at throwing the ball in a way so as to make it even more difficult for any opponent to intercept it. If a pass made by this player is ever intercepted then the Safe Throw player may make an unmodified Agility roll. If this is successful then the interception is cancelled out and the passing sequence continues as normal. In addition if this player fumbles a pass on any roll other than a natural 1 then he manages to keep hold of the ball instead of suffering a fumble and the team does not suffer a turnover.
Overview:
Safe Throw has changed from being a straight 2+ roll to an agility roll, mostly this is because the old version negated nearly all interceptions, especially if you used a reroll which was saved for such occasions. While it obviously makes the skill less effective I believe it was a good change. The knock on from it though was to give something back to the skill in the guise of decreasing the chance of fumbles for longer range throws.
That isn’t to say that it isn’t worth taking for the chance to negate successful interceptions, it is still a valuable asset to have and will still work 50% of the time for an AG3 player without a reroll. Sometimes your plans don’t work out and you can’t always make passes that avoid interception attempts, especially against a team with Pass Block players.
The new ability of avoiding some fumbles is a great addition and offers up some new tactical options. The most obvious time this will come into use in when making the longer throws that have a negative modifier. Whilst previously you may have had to chance the throw as your last action in case of a turnover, you can now gamble a bit and leave players to move after attempting the pass. Of course you can still fumble the ball on the roll of a 1 but the chances are a lot lower, especially if you have Pass or a Reroll to use. This is tactically very useful as you can then move your remaining players based on either the success of the pass to protect the receiver, or the failed pass to protect the passer who is still holding the ball. Without Safe Throw you will have to decide how you are going utilise your players with less information, effectively having to gamble more.
Safe Throw also comes in useful for less fumbles when playing in the rain and also can let you attempt a pass if you are bogged down in tackle zones. Assuming you can’t get the thrower out in the open, the fact you can just try and pass the ball out even if you need to get a 6, Safe Throw lets you attempt that with you still keeping hold of the ball should you not get lucky. This is a very situational and rare thing you will probably see in a game but it is worth pointing out.
Benefits:
- Negates successful interceptions
- Lowers chances of turnover
- More tactical flexability for team mates
Useful to:
As a passing skill there is some limitation about who is likely to take it, I can’t see many players selecting it on a double roll as there will usually be a lot of more useful skills to take. That means it will only likely be selected on players with normal access to passing skills. Clearly it is of most use to players who are going to be passing the ball, so anyone built as an attacking thrower who will be making long passes. It is also useful for defensive throwers as well as they will usually be in around lots of traffic and if passing the ball away there is a higher likelihood of an interception attempt. Any of the Elven Throwers and Dark Elf Runner, Human, Orc, Norse, Amazon, Skaven and Underworld Throwers. A Chaos Pact Marauder built as a Thrower is also a likely candidate.
Are you talking about the skill in LRB6 ? Because in LRB 5 the skill hasn’t the fumble safe you are refering to. And where can you download the LRB 6? I just cant find it…
thx
You can get it from the Games Workshop site, go to Blood Bowl Resources and get the Competition Rules Pack, this is the latest rules.
Good article on the new LRB6 safe throw changes.
You made a comment about avoidning interception attempts all together. Not the case. Remember, interception rolls come before rolling the pass dice. So passing out of tackle zones with defenders in the path to the reciever still get their chance to intercept (usually on a 6), but you can negate on the agility roll from the safe pass skill, before you get a chance to throw, possiblly needing a 6 as stated.
Reading that part back again now it doesn’t make sense to me so I’ve just removed it from the article as I can’t even figure out what it actually would have been to make sense! Thanks for pointing it out.
When would you think of taking it for a dark elf runner? If you are planning one as a “real” thrower, pass is first, then accurate/sure hands followed by safe throw? Or do you value it higher than any of the other skills?
Don’t think I would take it at all on a Dark Elf Runner personally. If I wanted a passing Elf I’d play one of the other teams.
That being said though, Pass and Accurate then probably Safe Throw. I wouldn’t take Sure Hands preferring to pick it up with a team mate who needs a completion who then passes to the Thrower (Runner in this case). That is also a build that I don’t see getting blitzed at all as they should be out of blitzing range, so Strip Ball shouldn’t be of great concern.
I think it can be very useful on a dark elf runner at some stage, as it should also combine well in dump-off situations where the opponent manages to position players to intercept the dump off.
Also dark elves main strength is their flexibility. Having a runner with good passing skills doesn’t mean that you have to play a long passing game at all, but it gives you a lot of options for suddenly shifting your running offense from one side of the field to the other with a medium / long pass and flat-footing your opponent in the process.
Hi Coach,
I just wanted to clarify a few things about passing and intercepting:
1. Can you use a team Re-roll for Safe Throw?
2. Can you use a team Re-roll to Intercept?
3. Can you use a player’s Catch skill to re-roll an Intercept?
Thanks.
You can only use team rerolls during your own turn, so because of that:
1. You can reroll Safe Throw
2. You can’t reroll interception attempts as they don’t happen in your own turn
3. You can use the Catch skill to reroll an interception attempt as it counts as a catch roll and you can use skills during your opponents turn
I just reread Safe Throw and maybe I am missing something but I don’t see the “In addition if the player fumbles….” Was that dropped? It stops after the “interception is canceled.” The first part is word-for-word and I just downloaded it from the GW site to double check that I have the correct version.
First I’ve ever heard about that. I don’t believe it has been dropped and the latest rules should have the use of Safe Throw on non natural 1 fumbles. That text is in the version of the Competition Rules Pack that I have which I downloaded from the Games Workshop website.
OK, I found the one you were referring to.
Does Safe Throw work with Throw Team-Mate, negating the -1 modifier causing Fumble on 1 and 2 rolls? If yes, would it make throwing a team-mate from within 4 tackle zones only fumble on a natural 1?
No the skill description specifically mentions throwing the Ball so it doesn’t work with Throw Team Mate.
2016: clarified this ‘a pass of a ball (not a bomb or thrown team-mate)’ looks like your having a positive influence on the new rules 😉
The rules say a player can’t continue moving after throwing the ball. If I try to throw and use Safe Throw to cancel the fumble (I.e. not pass the ball) can I then continue moving with the player?
No, attempting the pass ends your movement.
What happen if the pass is inaccurate?
Then the usual rules for an inaccurate pass are used. Opponent gets a chance to intercept, if that succeeds your Safe Throw player gets a chance to cancel it. Then roll the D8 scatter dice three times to find the target square and then either attempt a catch or it will bounce if landing in an empty square.