metro west boston subbuteo club

Subbuteo Across America 2011

2011-01-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

Subbuteo Across America is a charity event that raises money by having as many people play Subbuteo on the same weekend. The idea is for each player to make a donation and, obviously, the more people participate, the better for the charity. Donations are collected at the club level and then sent to "Super Simon" at the SoCal Subbuteo club.

You can play your part in this event on either Saturday April 30 or Sunday May 1, 2011.

For more info, visit Subbuteo Across America 2011

Team "Metro West Boston Subbuteo club" will be participating and we, at MWBSC, encourage all Subbuteo/table football clubs in America (North, South and Central) to join in.

Subbuteo Across America 2010

2010-06-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

The Metro West Boston Subbuteo Club took part in this historic event to benefit the Red Cross. For more info, visit the Southern California Subbuteo Club.

One match was played and it saw SCO Angers face Sweden. It was a tense game and the final score was... 0-0. Pure unaltered solo Subbuteo action by the one and only Ugo Capeto, numero uno Massachusetts Subbuteo player.

In case anybody is wondering, the club is alive and well (thanks). It is currently recruiting new players at an astonishing rate. Nah, not really.

Subbuteo on Nintendo DS

2008-09-21T15:12:00.001-07:00

Fellow Subbuteo afficionados, your prayers have been answered! Subbuteo on the Nintendo DS (NDS) is (finally) here for you to enjoy.

It looks like it was supposed to be released eons ago as it features the sidewinder and cobra Subbuteo bases of the photo-realistic era of Subbuteo Hasbro. This release has nothing to do with FISTF, the table football federation, so don't be surprised if the rules are a tad different from what you are used to. As a matter of fact, the rules are the ones that come with the Dream Stadium set and they can be found here if you really want to see them.

The game is alright although one would have liked to use the stylus on the touch screen to flick. Instead, you just use the directional pad to control flick power, curling and whether the ball will leave the ground. As you can see in the video, I only use the stylus to pick the player to flick (you could also press the X and Y buttons to cycle through players). You can play single games or a full World Cup (haven't been that far yet).

In the video above, Ugo Capeto, the MWBSC superstar, plays in yellow (Ecuador) against the computer in red (Tunisia). It took 10 minutes for the maestro to score on a chip shot. The level of play is "international master". No wait, it's just medium.

Final thought: if you think real Subbuteo is boring, wait until you play Subbuteo on NDS. Just kidding!

Subbuteo basic gear

2008-04-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

The video below shows the gear you need to play some Subbuteo:

A pitch, green if possible
Two goals
Two teams
One ball
Good knowledge of the rules

Not sure if it's mentioned in the video but it's better if you have some kind of fencing around the pitch.

Top 20 goalies

2008-04-12T09:07:00.001-07:00

Goal-keepers are often neglected in the very secretive world of Subbuteo painting. Why should they? Here's a little tribute to the top 20 goalies of all time, found on youtube.

Virtua Subbuteo

2008-04-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

Virtua Subbuteo is a Subbuteo computer game for pc windows. It's you against the computer with three levels of difficulty. The graphics are quite minimalist but it gets the job done, somehow. The game follows the FISTF rules as best as possible.
If you like the game and/or find problems with it, please visit the peaceful subbuteo forum and leave a message.
To download the game, please go to the virtua subbuteo page.

Rules of the game

2008-04-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

Subbuteo, when it was still just a game (now, it's kinda viewed as a sport) had two sets of rules: the elementary rules and the advanced rules. When FISTF (International Federation Sports Table Football) came along in the early 90s, it brought about a new set of rules (FISTF rules) based on the advanced rules but much more detailed (maybe too detailed). The problem is that FISTF completely forgot to produce a set of elementary rules, just like we had in the old days.
Most people that play Subbuteo or table football as it is known now use the FISTF rules so it is a good idea to look at those if you wanna play (with other people). Of course, if you used to play Subbuteo as a kid (and you already have somebody else to play with), the old Subbuteo rules may be more to your liking. They are not that much different in spirit from the FISTF rules.
You can find more information about FISTF rules in the Subbuteo tech page rules section. The Woodentop FISTF quick rules are simplified version of the full FISTF rules (a 70 page long document that few players have actually read). To this date, these simplified rules have not received the seal of approval from FISTF, which is a shame. They are tops though and highly recommended.
You can find more information about the old Subbuteo advanced rules in the Subbuteo tech page retro section. Note that the advanced rules have evolved over the years. For more information on the old Subbuteo rules and how they have changed, please visit the Peter Upton Subbuteo page on rules.

Solo playing

2008-04-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

Solo (solitaire) playing is when you and yourself are playing against each other. Sounds pretty dumb (lame?) but ... yeah, it kinda is.
A question that is often asked (actually, not really): how (when) do you block when playing solo?
You don't ... unless the ball is in the shooting zone and has stopped. Very simple. Of course, you have to make it more interesting by playing fast and/or ... gasp ... without polish under the bases.
There are tons (actually, not really) of blocking variants out there, from the block every other attacking flick to the ... block when you think it's a good idea.
More on this fascinating activity at the subbuteo tech. page solo section.

The big block debate

2008-04-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

After having read the Subbuteo technical page snippet about tactics numerous times, I am still quite unsure about the proper approach concerning blocking. Let's look into this right here and see if we can give some answers to the old Should you block the ball or the figures? debate.
As you know, as soon as the attacking figurine touches the ball, the defender has the right to block. Now, do you try to impede the attacker's momentum by flicking a figurine as close as possible to the ball (to prevent the attacker from advancing the ball directly toward your goal) or by flicking a defender in the path to the ball of the figurine (that's likely to be flicked next by the attacker)?
Blocking the ball is probably the option used by most newcomers to the game since it is a pretty natural thing to do. Of course, it becomes debatable when the ball is in the shooting zone since a blocked ball will not prevent a shot from being made. Experimented players will usually tell beginners to block the ball when it is not shoot-able (or use the blocks to reposition players in the back wall) and then switch to the figurine block approach once there is grave danger (ball in shooting zone or close to it). In my opinion, blocking the ball is not that great unless you can block it with incredible accuracy. Sure, it slows the attacker's progress but it doesn't really accomplish much beside delaying what will come next.
Blocking a figurine is much more powerful since it has almost the same effect as temporarily removing it from the field of play, especially if the block is well placed (very close to the figurine). The downside is that it also has almost the same effect as temporarily removing one of your figurines since it would be a bad idea to unmark the blocked (opposing) figurine. Blocking a figurine becomes also debatable when curling is part of the equation, in other words, the attacker is able to curl a figurine past the blocking player to the ball. However, since in today's game, the last thing on the attacker's mind is curling, it is safe to say that this point is slightly moot.
To conclude, it is probably more fun to block the ball since you don't have to think too much about it. On the other hand, blocking figurines is more involved as you really have to be aware of the attacking figurines that have a clear path to the ball ... a more tactical aspect of the game, perhaps. Of course, in close quarters, blocking the ball or figurines doesn't really make that much of a difference in terms of game vision so you are more likely to see figure blocking than ball blocking when players and ball are clustered.
About the author: Ugo Capeto has been playing Subbuteo for many years and is the current Massachusetts table football champion. He has played in many tournaments all over the world.

No joke

2008-04-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

This club is no joke! It is run (rather, walked) by Ugo Capeto, who happens to be me. Even though there's just a single member (that would again be me), there's no feeling of urgency (maybe later in the day). Recruiting efforts are kept to a minimum. I believe in the if you build it, they will come concept. The Subbuteo table has been built many fortnights ago and the website is here (in its second incarnation I must say), so I think we're all set with the it whether it's one or the other. Voices should come next then (please post a comment anywhere on the blog to make yourself heard, thanks) but no rush.

The state of Subbuteo in Massachusetts

2008-03-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Massachusetts is indeed a state but there's no subbuteo (or table football for that matter) in it.