DreadBall

What is DreadBall

DreadBall is a sci-fi sports game from Mantic Games. Mantic calls it “the fast-paced futuristic sports board game.” The rulebook calls it “the Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere’s greatest sport”: a violent ball game played by humans and aliens from Mantic’s Warpath universe, the setting of Deadzone.

Jake Thornton designed it. It went to Kickstarter in September 2012 and was funded in two hours.

The current Second Edition reached Kickstarter backers at the end of 2017. Mantic rebalanced the teams, added a new fouling system, dropped random events and gave every team a captain. The Second Edition rulebook carries rules and stats for 29 teams, 67 MVPs and Team Captains, plus league play, Giants and multiplayer games.

Mantic no longer has the miniatures in stock. The only teams on its DreadBall page are listed as out of stock, and there’s no starter set for sale. The rules are still easy to get, though: the core rules and team stats are a free download, and the full rulebook is sold as a digital edition.

How it plays

Six a side. Each team puts six players on the pitch. Every player is a Guard, a Jack or a Striker. Guards hit hard and usually can’t handle the ball, Strikers score, and Jacks do a bit of both.
Rushes and actions. Each turn is a Rush. A team gets five Actions per Rush, spent on things like Run, Sprint, Throw, Catch, Steal and Slam.
Scoring Strikes. Each end of the pitch has three Strike Zones. A player holding the ball in one of them throws it into the Strike Hex. The two nearer zones are worth 1 point and the far one 3, and throwing from the Bonus Hex adds a point.
Track the gap, not the total. The score counter moves towards whoever scored, so it shows the difference. After 14 Rushes the leader wins, and anyone 7 points up wins by a landslide on the spot.
Six-sided dice and cards. Tests use D6s. DreadBall cards and Fan Checks earn Coaching Dice when your players pull off something showy.
A robot referee. The Ref punishes fouls, but a particularly successful one gets the crowd cheering.
Leagues. Teams earn experience and money between games, and you can hire MVPs and Giants.

How to start

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DreadBall Core Rules and Team Stats (free)

The core rules and team stats as a free download. Needs a free Mantic webstore account.

Read the rules for free. The core rules and team stats land in your Mantic downloads once you check out. Mantic also has a free FAQ and errata, captain cards and a team roster sheet on its DreadBall page.
Get the full rulebook. The Second Edition rulebook is £20 as a 210-page digital edition.
Find the teams. Mantic isn’t selling the miniatures right now, so you’ll need to track down a team elsewhere.
Or play online. A free fan-made Vassal module lets you play DreadBall on a computer.