## Playbook

### Overall Strategy:

The 2002 strategy provides multiple offensive plays so as to allow for various approaches against various opposing teams, several defensive plays dictated by the position of the ball, and a new robot position, the special op, which is dedicated to helping any of the other robots at any time. Unlike past approaches in which robots would have to deal with each other in a haphazard manner, the special op always acts as a slave, never deciding where to go himself, always allowing one of the other robots to control him.

At all times there exist four robot positions on the field: Blocker, Defender, Aggressor, and Creator. The fifth robot position, the special op, can take on one of three varieties: special op defender, special op aggressor, or special op creator. The name is essentially irrelovent since the special op always takes on one of these roles, but by using one of three names, the other positions on the field can utilize this position if it becomes available. A simple example is if a defensive play is being called, the defender can "look" to see if a special op defender exists. If so the defender can control himself and the special op defender to work in tandem, and if not the defender can act alone. By creating this special op position our system can quickly and easily scale down to a four robot system, if we ever were to receive a red card or were to suffer massive electro-mechanical failure. Further removal of positions is also quite possible.

From a plays perspective, there are ten plays which cover offensive and defensive situations. These plays take advantage of our improved control, passing and quick shooting capabilities, and the chip kick the blocker will have this year. Below follows a diagram of the field, which is split up into a series of zone and sectors, a list of the robot positions and what these positions generally do, and a list of plays and overall outline of the play strategy. By clicking on the plays in the playbook you can visit each play and position in detail.

### Field Divisions:

### Positions:

Blocker: The blocker is essentially the goalie with a new name. We are intentionally changing the names of ALL plays and ALL positions this year to make it clear exactly what we are talking about when we speak about a certain play/positions/skill. The Blocker remains in the defense zone the majority of the time, only venturing slightly outside of it at times (offensive plays and loose defense). The Blocker is the only position that will try to grab the ball, and only when inside of the goalie box.

Defender: The defender is a dedicated position to the defense. The defender always remains on our side of the field, almost entirely in the defense zone, and works with or supplements the actions of the blocker, stopping shots or closing holes whenever possible. The defender does not go after the ball, instead he acts to form a wall with the blocker at all times.

Aggressor: The aggressor is the most active player on the field. See a robot who has the ball, he's undoubtedly the aggressor. See a robot go up to an opponent who has the ball, either to screen him from our goal or strip the ball away, again, that is the aggressor.

Creator: The creator is our dedicated robot to "creating" opportunities, be they passing or dribbling. The creator spends the majority of his time far upfield, either in the kill zone, offensive zone, and sometimes as low but never lower than the upper middle zone. The creator is the man to pass to in a cross-crease pass, and also the man that helps in setting up a double pick.

Special Op Defender: The first of the special op positions, the special op defender acts as an auxiliary defender. When available, the special op defender may screen auxiliary opponents coming down field from getting near the ball. He may also help block passes or shots on goal. Usually the special op roams slightly in front of the defender, or on the opposite side of the field, allowing him to move upfield and become a special op aggressor or special op creator when the play changes.

Special Op Aggressor: The special op aggressor assists the aggressor. This means running screens to help the aggressor dribble up the field, setting up picks for quicker jukes by the aggressor, and also getting open for quick passes upfield when the aggressor gets bogged down.

Special Op Creator: The special op creator only comes up in a few scenarios, namely the creator assist offensive play. He helps the creator create opportunities by screening or various other blocking techniques. He also gets open for a pass under such scenarios.