Redressing The Balance

Tactics is the term used to describe the strategies and manoeuvres one uses to outwit an opponent to gain an advantage, we see this all the time in various things especially in sport. Obviously the tactics employed are constrained somewhat by the rules of the game. Picking up the ball and running like Usain Bolt might be a great tactic in rugby, but a referee may not quite agree with that sentiment if it occurred within the context of a football match.

As this blog is about solo play how do tactics play their part when in effect trying to outwit an opponent is basically saying you’re trying to outwit yourself, I’m sure you’ll agree that’s not an easy thing to accomplish.

As an afterthought if it was possible to split your brain in half, one half for each team would that make you a halfwit, or playing under floodlights make you a dimwit.

Seriously though, most solo players I know including myself include rules in solo play that try to redress the balance for the lack of a thinking opponent, by challenging our skills and balancing the play between attack and defence. Which in consequence has a bearing on the tactics we employ. I thought this month I’d briefly go through some of my rules and explain why I play the way I do, and how to me it addresses my lack of an opponent. 

Blocking Flicks

You can disagree with me entirely here it’s your prerogative, but blocking flicks help the defence but when do you take them. Continually, or maybe like the 60’s rules limited to blocks of 3 in your own half and replenished under certain circumstances, I’ve tried both and to me it didn’t work it just made the game slower, add to that I knew what the attack was doing so did the defence. Subbuteo wasn’t really meant to be an I go, you go game it was all dependent on how quick you could move the ball around. So to combat this I resorted to using a blocking flick before every shot but not allowing the defender to obstruct the player shooting, it’s then not constrained to how many blocking flicks a teams gets it’s dependent on how many shots the attack has. The only restraint to the blocking flick is an attacker shooting a moving ball, or what I term a free hit, generally though as long as the ball is stationary before a shot the defence are able to block.

The defence must be closer to the ball or regrouping is not allowed

 

The Free Hit

As soon as the attack play the ball into their opponents shooting area as long as the shooter is closer to the ball than the nearest defender it can shoot unopposed if not the defence can block. The free hit also applies to the second touch from a set piece in the area (the first being the taking of the set piece), and if the defence give the ball away in their own area the attack can shoot unopposed with their first touch. Similar to the “Call Shooting” rule but at least the defence can get involved at times.

Now because of this rule I made all free kicks indirect except penalties to make it a little more challenging for the attack and sort of addresses the balance of attack and defence in such a situation.

Offside

This was a rule I struggled with in solo play, as you know offside is pretty darn fluid especially in the real game when players actually move, in Subbuteo the only time that happens is when you’re flicking them in solo it literally is one at a time. So I simplified it for the solo game at least for the sake of my sanity and having to constantly monitor the play as well as do the actual playing. So a player is only offside once the ball comes past the last defender, if there are no offside attackers at that point that’s it, the only way an attacker can be offside after is if the ball is played outside of the shooting area which resets everything. To me it makes it simple to referee, and I like simple.

Set pieces in the shooting area aren’t subject to offsides whilst the ball remains inside the area and also the free hit rule comes into play again. An attacker can’t be offside from a throw outside of the shooting area and also gets a free hit. So defenders have to use their positional flick wisely here.

Onside flicks are allowed but this gives the defence a reciprocal blocking flick anywhere in the defensive half, one caveat here a defensive onside block is not allowed to make an attacker offside or in certain circumstances we could be here all day

Goal Kicks

In order to combat a 7-3 type of formation I’ve introduced a fairly stringent system when setting up from a goal kick it not only looks better but it goes a long way to making the games a little less of a series of attack and defence type scenarios. Also no attackers are allowed inside of their opponents shooting area, all attackers inside have to be moved outside and no closer than 90mm from the shooting line, I don’t want to make it too easy for them do I. If a goal kick travels from one shooting area to the other possession passes to the defence regardless of how it got there.

Fouls

Apart from the standard Subbuteo rules on fouls, I’ve determined that any blocking flick that touches an opponent is a foul, and if it touches the ball it’s handball, but the team deemed in possession can play an advantage if they or should I say, I want. Positional flick misdemeanors however result in a back as the ball is not in play

So What About Tactics

So far I just explained some of my rules, but I hope you can see that my tactics are fairly attack minded. I tend to defend high in the shooting area due to the ability to block before a shot. Care has to taken at corners and free kicks in the area when defending because keeping attackers offside is not an option, they need to be deep enough to be useful but not too deep as to give the attack too much room.

I find at times that players can be in no particular formation or order especially with extended periods of play without the ability to reset, but careful thinking, a fair amount of position or formation can be kept by trying to keep possession and position from playing the ball, it’s sometimes all too easy for a defender to come away with the ball into acres of space and use 3 flicks achieving nothing but still be in space, out of position, and not able to take the next flick.

Now bear in mind I play with heavyweights they don’t slide as good as modern bases but they do curl, because of this I don’t rely on players in a different post code challenging for the ball, but I will play into tighter spaces because of the curling ability.

My Free Hit rule takes some of the sting out of long ball tactics because the defence can always block unless the attacker is closer to the ball. When it comes off it’s impressive just as it is in the real game.

I find wing play a useful tactic of opening up the pitch making it a little harder to defend, but you have to remember here that a player only has 3 flicks so he needs friendly faces for it to be effective in play.

The main thing I try to do is keep position especially in defence the more holes you create the more space the attackers will have in front of goal.

I’m more likely to use the midfield to determine which direction the final attack will come from and that hasn’t changed since my competitive days. All this is achieved by me using my rules. At the end of the day I’m sure you could and will say the same about your own particular versions of rules, and tactics. It’s not an essay on tactics per se, it’s my rules which in turn govern the tactics I enjoy playing, and trying to simulate a level playing field at the same time. Hopefully I’ve made you aware to some extent that any rules we devise or use will have an impact on tactics and balance in our games.

Regrouping The Defence Update

Last month regular readers will have read about my proposed regrouping rule for the coming Bonfire Alliance season. I’ve now played a few friendlies incorporating the rule and decided to slightly alter it, the rule is the same, regrouping can only occur as soon as the defence play the ball out of the area from open play (not set pieces), the ball must be in their own half, and the flicking keeper must not be in play. But I’ve also added that the team regrouping must be nearer to the ball than an opponent in this situation or regrouping is not allowed. Ensuring I feel that a clearance that just falls short of an opponent is not going to be rewarded with 2 defensive regrouping flicks. This scenario has happened on a few occasions and realistically the teams ability to play the ball again was limited at best, so I made the blanket rule if you’re not closest to the ball you cannot regroup. That I felt made sense and maybe a little more lifelike.

I’ve now updated my League and Match rule book to incorporate this and can be found on the downloads page for anyone interested.

I hope I’ve given you some insight into the way I play solo, and maybe why some of my rules may be a little unconventional. But it’s not an easy thing to do with words alone, hopefully I’ve done it some form of justice. When all is said and done it’s all down to personal choice, you may not agree with my methods but you don’t have to, you need to devise methods that suit your style and sense of fair play. That to me is the beauty of solo play.

Keep On Flicking

Ian

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