As a kid, I loved Strat-o-matic Baseball. With the World Cup in full swing, I thought that would be fun to do with soccer! However, despite there being a Strat-o-matic hockey, there is no Strat-o-matic soccer. So, I started looking around.
It seems like the UK equivalent to Strat-o-matic is Lambourne Games, "the Home of British Sports Replay Gaming." They have several systems, primarily Full Time, but it would be pretty pricey to order to try out-- I'm estimating about $60-70.00 USD with shipping. Maybe eventually-- the demo of Stats Soccer Replay certainly looks intriguing.
Looking around, there are a few free versions at tabletop-sports.com. I downloaded Fast Dice Soccer, an Excel/Visual Basic system, and fooled around with it a bit. Fun, but everything is under the hood there, and it was a little unsatisfying in the end. Right now, I'm printing out the Fast Action Cards (it took me a while to find out what FAC stood for) for Fastcard Soccer, favorably reviewed by Mike Siggins of Wargamer's Notebook/WI fame.
In the end, though, it may be worth buying Full Time and their decent collection of seasons (although not much Bundesliga).
The Fastcard game on Tabletop Sports.com is a modified from the original game by Ellis Simpson. The original game was closer to Full Time in that it had team ratings and shot ratings for individuals. It was simple and very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteWhat you see on Tabletop Sports.com is a half baked version created by some guy named Jeff Draught. He took the game, added some silly rules, and included stats based on the Championship Manager game. Sadly, it is neither a good version of ChampMan or a good revision of Mr. Simpson's creation. It's another sad attempt by a game designer who does not know how to design games. His desire for realism (header ratings, free kick ratings, etc.) ruins the game. You'll spend more time finding and comparing individual ratings rather than enjoying the game.
Take a look at Goal Pro Soccer, another version that is on the site. It's easier to enjoy because it uses team and shot ratings. You might enjoy it more.
I think Jeff Draught is behind both Fast Card and Fast Dice Soccer. I played Fast Dice soccer manually and enjoyed it, but I'm not too hard to please. I did see that he just ripped the stats from ChampMan, but if you want detail at that level, I wouldn't want to stat them all up from scratch.
ReplyDeleteI have heard lots of good things about Goal Pro, but I haven't tried it yet.