Playing out a simulated match and having different players and attributes means every game is different and you plan accordingly depending on which players you have. I have no idea what these are for and can only assume they are to replace your tokens if you lose them. I will be separating the rules into all the normal rules here, and some more specific rules and advanced tactics in the next section.

These things are not down to luck, they are all about strategy and so I would say luck plays a very small part in the matches. There are enough of these teams to create your own World Cup tournament, and the rulebook does contain some extra tips at the back for running your own tournaments. Following a high pass the only action option is a header (unless it is inaccurate it falls out of any heading range, then it will be a movement phase). They have just launched a custom player set which allows tech savvy players to create their own player cards at home! Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site.

Following a heading challenge all players who were involved cannot move during the next movement phase. There are two transparent sticks for measuring if and how passes can be made, a box for holding the player cards and the player cards themselves, more on those shortly. Games are injected with real drama and nothing beats a successful dice roll resulting in a goal-saving tackle or the ball nestling in the back of your opponents net!

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 centre of the loose ball direction will always be from the centre of the incident, so the hex the pass was supposed to land on, or from a defender who has challenged for a tackle or header for example. Any player who suffers a second injury cannot continue and play must be stopped for a set piece so they can be substituted. You can never head the ball twice in a row, and can follow this action up with a movement phase (except for players involved in the heading challenge), a quick first-time pass, a 'hoof it' long pass, or a shot if within range.These moves happen while the ball is moving after the touch, so a player cannot move offside through it. If there is no opponent in range, or they do not commit to the challenge, then there is no roll required just take a free header. I then used a ‘ long ball ’ (different from a high pass – it can be played to anywhere on the pitch so long as it’s more than 5 hexes from any player) to bomb the ball up the other end of the pitch where my winger had been loitering.

it has healed before the next game, 4-5 the player will miss the next game through injury, on a 6 roll the dice a second time 1-3 means the player misses the next 2 games while 4-6 means they will miss the next 3 games. If I have one complaint, and this is likely only applicable to newbies, is that attacking moves can take a while to set-up while you flick back and forth in the rule book. I do not want to go into an explanation of the rules which I am very tempted to do as I still feel I need to refer to the manual when making some moves. If your player dribbles the ball into a defender's ZOI hex the defender must attempt to STEAL the ball, the defender rolls a TACKLING check with success on a 10+ or a 6. The game is turn based, but there is a real time element, there are two halves of football and each half will last for 45 minutes of real time, with the timer starting from the opening kick-off.

The rule book is comprehensive and has extremely helpful examples of play at the rear as well as some ideas for shorter games.

But remember: having good players alone will not be enough: it’s the decisions YOU take over the course of a match that will put you in a winning position! Any hexes on the board overlapping a line count as being both sides of the line, examples of this being a player can line up at kick-off on a hex containing the half way line or the centre circle and be considered to be a legal placement in their own half, a foul occurring on a hex containing the penalty area line will be considered in the box for a penalty, but players can line up on the hexes containing the line as they can also considered outside the penalty area. I was walking around the Tabletop Gaming Live convention in Manchester having a look around, upstairs in the back room there were a few games demos set up, one of them caught my eye and I went over. There is also a small sturdy box included for player cards, as good a quality as a regular board game box, and enabling us to hold all the cards neatly and protected in one place. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item.This can deviate slightly depending on how long managers take for drafting and set up, and if there are any extra time rules played, but other wise it makes a good benchmark, and once you become familiar with the set up and rules you should be able to get 2 hours every time, perfect for bringing to a game night where you know the exact limits on play time. It’s a two player board game that somehow manages to combine the tactical, analytical side of the sport with the chaos factor of a bouncing ball or a deflected shot. If a player is offside, but they do not get involved in play in any way, such as getting in an opponent’s way or touching the ball, then there is no penalty as long as they stay out of any influence of play.