Git Tossing
by Avian
A not too serious mini-game for two to four players, inspired by the pages on Ogre Culture in the Ogre Kingdoms army book.
Background
The noble sport of git tossing is greatly enjoyed by Ogres everywhere. All that is needed is a handful of Gnoblars and a decently large, open field to throw them across. There are many ways to toss a Gnoblar and champion git tossers all have their own techinque. The most common is for the Ogre to spin a few times on the spot and then throw the Gnoblar like a discus, though some tribes practice more extreme variants. Examples include gluing fins or wings on the Gnoblar, giant slingshots or even using Leadbelcher cannons to fire the unlucky greenskins. The latter method often leads to scattered pieces of Gnoblar spread across a wide area and difficulties with measuring the exact length of the shot.
What you will need
- One Ogre model per player
- Three Gnoblar models per player
- A handful of dice
- Measuring tape
- Pen and a scrap of note paper
Setting up the game
Mark an area about 24 x 24" to be field of play. Gnoblars that end up
outside this playing field are eaten by the Ogre spectators and that toss
counts as 0". Each player then rolls a dice. Starting with the high
roller, the players then select one corner of the field each and place their
Ogre just outside it so that the Ogre's base is just touching the corner of the
field. The Ogres are traditionally strictly forbidden to enter the playing
field and only an "impartial" referee is allowed onto the pitch to
find the length of the toss by carefully measured strides.
One of the most infamous referees of all time was Gurund, nicknamed
'Shortstrider', since for a healthy bribe of fresh elf meat he would measure
your toss using very short steps indeed.
Ogres have the following basic stats which are considered important for this sport:
| Strength | Leadership |
|---|---|
| 4 | 7 |
Each Ogre also has three Gnoblars to toss, each of which have these vital statistics:
| Toughness | Leadership |
|---|---|
| 3 | 5 |
Advantages
Each Ogre also starts the competition with one advantage. To see which advantage you start with, roll a D6 on the table below.
- Strongarm
The Ogre has a Strength of 5, rather than 4. - Eagle eyes
After measuring the accuracy of a toss, you may roll a D6 and alter your guess up to that number of inches in either direction. You may not increase your guess beyond your maximum throwing range. - Luck Gnoblar
Your Ogre gains D3 re-rolls for each contest, each of which can be used on any single dice (including one of the dice that make up a 2D6 roll, etc.) made by the Ogre at any point during the match. You may not use this advantage to re-roll anyone else's dice and you may not re-roll a dice that has already been re-rolled. - Barbeque sauce
You have a handy jar of barbeque sauce nearby which you can dip a Gnoblar belonging to one other contestant in. Declare that you are using the barbeque sauce immediately before another Ogre is about to make a toss. That Ogre must pass a Leadership test to avoid eating the Gnoblar. If he eats the Gnoblar, the toss automatically counts as 0". - Bellower
When rolling to encourage a dazed Gnoblar (see step 6 below), you may roll 3D6 instead of 2D6 and pick which two dice you want to use. - Choose!
Choose any one of the advantages above.
Tossing procedure
The sport goes over three rounds, each Ogre taking turns to toss one of their Gnoblars as far as possible. Tossing order starts with the player who rolled highest for setup and then proceeds clockwise around the field. The first Ogre goes through the procedure below to find the distance of his toss, and then the next Ogre does the same. Gnoblars tossed should be left on the table face up if they survive the toss and face down if they die on impact.
Step 1 - Determine maximum tossing range
Roll a D6 for each point of Strength your Ogre has (i.e. 4D6 unless you have
the Strongarm advantage) and add them all together. This is the maximum range
you can toss the Gnoblar this turn.
Veteran Ogre throwers will make sure to warm up before they start tossing,
believing that this will make them toss the Gnoblar farther than normal. Ogres
do this by sitting in front of a nice, warm fire and eating lots of red meat.
Failing to warm up may be disastrous, as many a hungry Ogre has ended up having
to eat the Gnoblars he is meant to throw in order to satisfy his rumbling
belly.
Step 2 - Pick a target spot
Pick any spot on the playing field and guess the range to that spot from the Ogre making the toss. You cannot guess longer than your maximum range.
Step 3 - Check accuracy
Measure the distance from the tossing Ogre to the target spot.
If the distance to the spot is longer than the maximum range you can toss, the
Ogre strains himself and drops the gnobbo on the throwing plate. The toss
counts as 0" and all the other Ogres laugh at you.
If this distance is shorter than or equal to your guess, you hit that
spot.
If the distance is longer than your guess, the target spot is moved
towards the thrower D6" for each 3" you failed the guess by (rounding
fractions up).
Example: You guess that the target spot is 12" away, while in reality
it is 14" away, so you were 2" off. Rounded up to the nearest
3", this means the target spot is moved 1D6" towards the thrower. Had
you been off by more than 3", then the spot would have been moved
2D6" closer, etc.
Step 4 - See if the Gnoblar survives
After determining where the Gnoblar lands, you must see if he survives. The
Gnoblar takes a hit with a Strength equal to the Strength of the throwing Ogre
(5 for an Ogre with Strongarm, 4 for everyone else) as he hits the ground,
often nose first.
If the Gnoblar is killed, place him face down on the spot where he landed. The
distance to the point of impact is then the length of your toss and it's the
next Ogre's turn to throw.
If the Gnoblar survives (not very likely!) then place him standing on the
landing spot and proceed to Step 5.
Step 5 - Staggering towards victory
Gnoblars used for tossing are "trained" (i.e. yelled at repeatedly
by the Ogre owner) to run forward after they land, thereby increasing the
length of the toss. In practice, however, most Gnoblars tend to land on their
head and even if not killed they are often so dazed that they don't know which
way to go. Most Gnoblars who survive a toss will stagger a few steps in some
random direction before collapsing in a heap and very few actually go the right
way.
When the Gnoblar lands, he must make a Stupidity test against his Leadership of
5.
If he passes this test, the owning player may move him D6" in any
direction before placing him face up. The distance from the Ogre to the Gnoblar
will then be the final length of the toss.
If the Stupidity test is failed, move on to step 6.
Step 6 - Encouraging a dazed Gnoblar
If the Stupidity test is failed, the thrower and all other Ogres nearby will
shout threats and encouragement to the Gnoblar, hoping to get him to move in
the right direction. Which direction this is depends on who they are betting
on.
Roll a D6 and a Scatter dice to determine which direction the Gnoblar moves in
and how far he goes (use the little arrow on the Hit symbol if you get that
result).
Each Ogre in the contest may then roll 2D6 and add the results together, to see
if he shouts the highest. The one who does this may choose to re-roll either
the D6 or the Scatter dice, though he must accept the second result. He
does not have to re-roll either dice if he does not want to and may choose to
keep the original result if this favours him.
If two or more Ogres are tied for the loudest then no player gets to make a
re-roll.
Move the Gnoblar in the indicated direction and then place him face up. The
distance to the place the Gnoblar ends up then becomes the final toss length.
Hitting other Gnoblars
If a Gnoblar lands on another living Gnoblar already on the field, he
will only take a Strength 3 hit, as he lands rather more softly than if he were
to hit the ground. The Gnoblar landed on, on the other hand, takes a Strength 4
hit and if killed by the hit this he is removed from the table and the throw
that got him there in the first place counts as 0". It is therefore
possible to knock out another player's Gnoblars, to cancel his throw.
Dead Gnoblars can not be knocked out in this manner, being already as out as
they can possibly be!
Winning the game
The Ogre who made the single longest toss is the winner. It is also considered improper if there is not a decent argument at this point, disputing the measure of the toss and accusations against other players that they had forced their Gnoblars to eat lead shots to make them go further, and similar.
The most-winning git tosser in Ogre history was Bron Farfling, who won three dozen championships until it was discovered that he was using a hunting eagle painted green and not a Gnoblar at all. The sham was exposed when the eagle attacked the Slaughtermaster of the Feastmaster tribe and ended up in the victory stew (along with its owner). Bron's record toss of two and a half miles was struck from the hall of fame and his name disgraced forever. It is now standard procedure for the local referee to inspect the Gnoblars that are to be tossed before the contest begins, in order to prevent such cheating.
Alternative rules
A few alterations you may like to use, once you have played a few games using the normal rules.
Playing a series of games
If you are playing a series of games, then the winner of each round keeps his advantage and gains another - make a second roll on the advantage table, re-rolling the dice if you get an advantage the Ogre already has. Players get new Gnobbos for each round.
Dwarf tossing
The players may agree to toss Dwarfs instead of Gnoblars. They have the following stats.
| Toughness | Leadership |
|---|---|
| 4 | 9 |
Dwarfs are rather heavier than Gnoblars, so when finding the maximum range they can toss, the players must roll one dice less than normal (i.e. normally 3D6 rather than 4D6).
Dwarfs are also more difficult to train than Gnoblars, and will attempt to get off the field as quickly as possible, given the change. Thus the Ogre thrower may only move the Dwarf as he wishes if the Dwarf fails his Stupidity test. If he passes the test, you proceed to step 6 but instead of rolling a D6 and the Scatter dice, roll only a D6 and place the Scatter dice so that it points from the Dwarf towards the closest table edge. The players may then shout encouragement or threats as normal and the high roller may choose to re-roll either dice.
Obstacles
Players may choose to use obstacles in their games. If they do so, then before rolling to see who sets up where, roll a D3 to see how many obstacles each player may place. Obstacles should be no larger than 40 mm in diameter (GW make a type of round base which is great for modeling obstacles on) and may be placed anywhere on the playing field that is not on top of other obstacles. Each obstacle may be of any of the following types:
- Pile of Rocks
When a Gnoblar lands on a pile of rocks, the hit he takes is Strength 5 for a normal Ogre and Strength 6 for an Ogre with Strongarm. - Gorger Pit
A Gnoblar that lands on or walks into a Gorger pit is immediately removed from the table and that toss counts as 0". - Briar patch
A Gnoblar that lands in a briar patch and survives rolls two D6 and selects the highest to see how far he moves.
Gnoblars will not move into a briar patch and will stop in front of it when they would otherwise have done so.
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