Counter Attack: the football board game

Product Information

This is the most strategic part of the game, can you get a player within shooting distance and then get him away from a defender so that you get a clear shot on goal whilst making your opponent think you are going to strike with another player altogether?

One of my favorite things about the board gaming hobby is the way games explore such a wide array of concepts, themes, and genres. The constraint of abstraction that is necessary to reduce a situation into something that can be clearly articulated on the table breeds a fascinating array of results. For longtime tabletop enthusiasts, much of the joy of a new game is discovering the way the designers and artists have crafted something that "feels" like the concept or activity the game presents, whether that idea is Lovecraftian monsters or bird-watching. A tie results in a loose ball as normal, however you still need to roll for it as normal even if the direction is behind the goalkeeper, the ball may still go out of play but there is a chance it could result in a goal!The draft is fun and is the start of the game though not a part of the 90 minutes of match time. You deal four keeper cards face down and select one each. Next, you deal 4 player cards face up and taking it in turns you take one until they are gone, then you deal four more, switch the player who chooses first and continue until you have 15 outfield players each. Any Other Scenario - This is the list of actions available for situations that crop up such as a defender recovering a loose ball. You can start a movement phase, play a long ball, take a snapshot if in range, or take a modified first-time pass, for this first-time pass there are no 1 hex movements from either side and it counts as a standard pass for follow up actions. In Season 3, 27% of Cup matches saw teams of lower divisions advancing over stronger opponents. The final featured a team from the 5th league!! That felt like a bad way to solve the issue and that a better way should be implemented however, when a similar situation happened in reverse I do remember thinking it was a good and just system.

Then we divide this ranked list of players to divisions. Each team plays all teams in the same division. A big thank you to Matthew Kato for stepping up to bring his sports expertise to this week's column. Following the movement phase you may now choose to take another movement phase or take a pass or shoot action. There is no included timer for match length but its pretty simple nowadays to use a phone or connected device to time 90 minutes and once you have something set up you begin by drafting your team. The immediate 6 hexes are their danger zone where rolling a 6 sees them steal the ball. There may only be a 16.5% (yes I know the actual odds are 16.66667% but it’s close enough) chance of this happening but it genuinely feels like it’s 50/50.

Popular Content

Throw-in - Choose a player to take the throw and place them on the edge hex where the ball went out of play. Take a movement phase, then you may take a second movement phase if you want. The throw in has a range of a header, it can either be thrown to a player’s head, where a header must follow, or it can be thrown to feet or an empty hex, treat it as a standard pass with the reduced range for interceptions and follow up actions. The rule book is comprehensive and has extremely helpful examples of play at the rear as well as some ideas for shorter games. We found the rule book to be excellent but there are also an awful lot of youtube videos from Colin explaining how you should interpret the rules. When you link passes and moves together and outwit an opponent to get a shot off you do want to jump up and shout and I find my heart rate rising as I am about to pull off a ruse, casually chatting about nothing in particular when my mind is screaming “PLEASE DON’T NOTICE, PLEASE DON’T NOTICE”. Longevity P.s: the game is for 2 players, but is great also in more, everyone will have fun, because everyone has a football coach inside his soul! Further movement phase situations explained later are dribbling around the goalkeeper, and nutmegs on the defender.

We also tried to secure and play players with pace, pace was king, but have found that whilst it’s important for movement, especially on the wing, accurate passing is the true ruler. A good High Pass will get the ball where you want it avoiding other players’ zones of influence. This is an area around each player. Whilst there isn’t a great deal of weight to the player counters and balls they are very good quality with high-quality printing. This is important as you will be relying on the numbers printed on each counter to link to your drafted team. Player Cards

There are so many variables that no game will ever be the same and even though this is “football the board game” even my wife has played it a couple of times because it appeals to the strategist in her. Now that you've got enough down to play the game lets add all the little gritty bits that cover specific situations or rules that don't come up much.

The goalkeeper can attempt to save the shot if it is in his saving range, this is his current hex or diving up to three hexes away parallel to the goal line. It will be on the hex closest to his hex. Calculate any penalties for either player as follows, there is a maximum penalty of -2 for either side: Snapshot only - Declare your snapshot action, the defending team may move any one player 2 hexes, even if they have already moved in the phase. When defending your mind races “is he trying to make me think he is going to strike from there or is he actually going to strike from here and make me think he is trying to strike from there or is it a bluff and really he is….. “ It’s such a great feeling, trying to work out what your opponent is planning whilst you are trying to get a defender in position to steal a ball and have to second guess what may happen all while keeping your goal protected. Now you need to assign your players to their position. This can take some time and is also an excellent part of the game which, when I read the rules, felt could be frustrating however, I am yet to be in a position where I cannot put together a team with players in appropriate positions.

Stay Informed

You can always practice by asking our friendly community for a friendly match, in the #looking-for-a-game channel. We have changed how we play a little since we first received the game. Firstly, we started playing by laying out a 4-4-2 or 4-3-2-1 or any other formation we wanted to try and instead we now keep our formations but keep a flatter line than a traditional football match because we feel we can get players where we need them faster this way. Goalkeepers - The goalkeepers can be moved during a movement phase or any final third actions just like any outfield players. The goalkeeper also gets some free movements, if the ball enters the penalty area from an opposing player's action, such as a high pass which has a destination in the box, or a player dribbling into the area, then you may move 1 space, this move happens as soon as the ball enters the box, so if it is due to an opponent dribbling you move 1 space as soon as they move onto a hex for the penalty area, then they finish their move. If your opponent dribbles in and out from the box several times during one move you get to move one hex every time they do. There is a free move of your PACE any time after your opponent has played a long pass action. There is also a free move of one space if your opponent shoots from outside the penalty area. If a high pass into the box will be within range for your goalkeeper to challenge in the air, and the goalkeeper has not already had the 3-hex move, you may take a free move of 3 hexes for your goalkeeper but he must then challenge for the ball, with a -1 penalty if it is two hexes away as usual. After an aerial challenge your goalkeeper cannot move in the following movement phase, but he can still take any free movements for the ball entering the penalty area of for snapshots. Even though he considers Caledonian Thistle a football team, Colin has managed to take a football match and break it down into its fundamental parts and put it on the table. Tactical Highs When you are haring down the wing with a fast player who has a poor dribbling stat and a defender is closing you down but there is no obvious cross yet because you were slow getting forward is so frustrating and exciting, that feeling you get when you watch your favourite team closing in on goal, it’s that, but it could last minutes while the play is working itself out as you are waiting to see where the other player is positioning his players and you are trying to figure out what to do now.