Argonor's Sports Extravaganzas

[Argonor]

Well, time for another thread, as I have now ventured into the madness that is Association Football simulation, in the guise of Striker.



The game plays like a wargame, with set movement rates, and rolling dice for any actions involving the ball.

I use an old Subbuteo set for the game, and I have played a bit today, making a lot of errors, but slowly getting to grips with the rules, and how to work them to get the ball into a scoring positon.

I think the rules are of medium complexity (by today's standards, compared to games like SAGA, God of Battles, Pulp Alley, Strange Aeons, DreadBall, and so on) - I shall need to play some games to fully get to grips with them. I solo played maybe half a half today, and made a lot of errors - the learning curve is somewhat steep, and the rules, obviously a labour of love by the author, himself a football coach, are not perfectly structured in this, their first incarnation, although reasonably digestible.

I would have liked tables showing available actions (I am making some myself), and flowcharts/schemes showing the possible outcomes and consequences of the various actions, instead of the 'prose' explanations, but I shall probably also make some of those myself... later.

As mentioned, I played a bit today



AAR with lots of pics of the test game on my blog.

[Fuzzywuzzieswiflasers]

Blog link?   

Cheers Fuzzy

[Argonor]

It's in the small globe (www-icon) under my avatar. 

Otherwise: http://argonor-wargames.blogspot.dk/

[Argonor]

Started a game with my youngest daughter earlier today.



More about this tense situation on my blog!

I like the rules better and better for each sequence played.

[von Lucky]

You're making it harder and harder to control my butterfly! Excellent stuff.

[Argonor]

You're making it harder and harder to control my butterfly! Excellent stuff.

This one was a no-brainer for me, as soon as I realized I could just use my old Subbuteo stuff, so absolutely no purchases (or painting, other than the ball, when I get around to it) needed, apart from the rules.

For those without one, starter sets with all you need (except the model ball) can be had for less than £40
( http://www.subbuteoworld.co.uk/subbuteo-sets/new-starter/ )

I think my daughter really enjoyed the game today, and I am getting her her favourite team for her birthday (March 28th - it should arrive just in time!), as an 'extra' present.

[Argonor]

Lea and I continued our first match today



A few pics and comments on my blog

[werekake]

Nice reports on the game - thankyou! Looks like the subbuteo set work nicely for the game - and it's especially nice that your daughter is enjoying the game as well. I have two kids who might be interested in playing this - a Subbuteo set/team each might be the go for them.

I like the idea of a sequence tracker... I wonder if there is an app on a phone that could work well for this?... maybe a fitness tracker or something (I used something similar to track my walk/run ratios years ago).

Part of the promo of the game from the designer is that he uses the game to teach kids about soccer - maybe positioning and passing? Do you reckon this is the case?

[ivor13]

Awesome!
Look at all the love footy is getting right now 

[Grimmnar]

You're making it harder and harder to control my butterfly! Excellent stuff.

You should look into obedience class for your butterfly then.:-)

Grimm

[von Lucky]

Well I have a tribe of Maori to paint. When I get them done, I think I'm going to get a team or two (the wife's Brazilian - maybe recreate the teams from 8 July 2014... I'm sure she'll love that).

[Argonor]

Nice reports on the game - thankyou! Looks like the subbuteo set work nicely for the game - and it's especially nice that your daughter is enjoying the game as well. I have two kids who might be interested in playing this - a Subbuteo set/team each might be the go for them.

Subbuteo is the easy (and probably cheapest) way to go - just make sure you get a set of extra unpainted players to divide between the two teams, to bring the teams up to recommended size (16, I think).

I like the idea of a sequence tracker... I wonder if there is an app on a phone that could work well for this?... maybe a fitness tracker or something (I used something similar to track my walk/run ratios years ago).

I just drew a table in Open Office Writer, 2 rows, one for 4:2 and one for 4:3 sequences, cells numbered from 1 to 30 (1 half), to tick off. I could laminate it and use a whiteboard marker for tracking.

Part of the promo of the game from the designer is that he uses the game to teach kids about soccer - maybe positioning and passing? Do you reckon this is the case?

You can learn a lot about real football from playing the game - how it is important that players keep their positions, how it is to important to 'mark' your opponents to make it difficult to pass the ball between them, why it is a good idea to make short passes instead of kick-and-run (the game even has a mechanic allowing you to draw opponents forward by good use of tiki-taka passing), why it is a good idea to have a 'sweeper' or 'libero' behind your defending line (if a defender looses a tackle challenge, he is moved behind the opponent, so that the striker may now have an opportunity to go for the goal), how to 'run in the space' to receive passes... Probably a lot more.

Well I have a tribe of Maori to paint. When I get them done, I think I'm going to get a team or two (the wife's Brazilian - maybe recreate the teams from 8 July 2014... I'm sure she'll love that).

Tribal? Or Maori Wars?

Awesome!
Look at all the love footy is getting right now 

The game is really lots of fun. Somewhat steep learning curve (you very quickly need to use most of the ruleset), but after a few games, the basics are easily remembered. So easy to learn, medium difficulty to master I think. And just like the real thing, no two games will ever be the same - when you have the full recommended number of players, you can adjust tactics by substituting players for other designated positions (a defender for a striker, for instance, if you want to defend a lead).