What would a hoop snakes hoop form (increased move) be?

[GasMan]

A hoop snake is a snake that has a stinger on its tail with which it attacks after rolling around very quickly the countryside in a "tail in mouth" ouroboros configuration.

I'm interested in the ramifications of the ouroboros configuration.

Is it an alternate form?
Give enhanced move (ground) a nuisance effect of "unable to attack" (other than slam, I suppose)?
A temporary advantage?

I suppose this topic could be extended to armadillos, hedgehogs, snails and turtles.
Sadly, Animalia seems to inconveniently lack entries on this subject.

[Dalillama]

The old Bestiary has those I think. Or maybe Fantasy Bestiary; I can take a look when I get home

[Anaraxes]

The primary purpose of taking on the hoop form is increased speed, so Enhanced Move seem reasonable. It's not an Alternate Form, any more than crawling or rolling sideways is for a human. However, given the stories, there's no reason for a "cannot attack" Nuisance Effect. Hoop snakes are perfectly capable of attacking out of hoop form.

It's been noted that they travel with their tail pointing forward in the circle, and strike directly out of hoop form to impale with the venomous tail. A hoop snake just lets go with its mouth just before its strike as the tail comes toward the top, continues to roll with the head end of its body, and converts that roll into a thrust by keeping the tail aimed at the target. If anything, it's a natural lunge (All-out Attack (Long)).

You might also consider having them use the Flying Lunge Technique from MA83, to allow them to attack straight out of their Move and Attack from the hoop shape. The jumping bit doesn't really fit, so I'd leave that out, but the lack of penalties, parry penalty, and damage bonus fit the historical documents. A successful "dive for cover" Dodge in an appropriate spot (say, behind a tree) could result in the snake hitting the cover instead -- in which case it should certainly have to check for getting stuck, as for swung impaling weapons.

[GasMan]

@Dalillama:
Thanks!
@Anaraxes:
Thanks~!
I do not have MA, but you are right, they do attack out of hoop form, I just didn't know how to marry that with the attack, as in, conservation of velocity and all that.
Maybe it could be treated as a flung spear, or something.

And yeah, hiding behind a tree is said to be the best way to escape it.

What about a scenario where, due to space constraints, a hoop snake would be forced to slither?
Would that just be a voluntary slowing down of enhanced move? Or a penalty?

I'm probably overthinking this for this single instance, but I'm mostly curious about this anyway because it might be applicable to other things.

Edit:
At least one version of the myth states that the hoop can only be used with the intent to attack and upon retreating the snake slithers like any other.
Would this be sufficient for some sort of limitation?