Game: Finale

Thread: Re: Variant

Leonidas01994 — 2008-06-28T04:55:06+00:00

tonyfung1205 wrote:
sdiberar wrote:
gamemark (#37657),

I have a deep suspicion this will throw out the point balance for many of the players. But then, I don't have a serious problem with the game as written.

Good point, and agree.

me too

Thread: Re: Attention Soccer Funs

NewTimer — 2008-06-24T18:31:44+00:00

Just an excelent game. Good review pal.

Thread: Attention Soccer Funs

Leonidas01994 — 2008-06-11T14:04:44+00:00

I always have been a soccer fun. I used to play with my schoolmates and friends since I was 6. And, now in the age of 35, I keep play soccer at least once per week.

Some years ago I saw this game in a Rio Grande Games leaflet. It was the same time as another soccer card game named Football Champions (a CCG by Wizards of the Coast) was in the shelves. So, I concentrated collecting the second one. I spend too much money to complete this collection and forgot that one. That was the main reason I did so many years to buy this game. And the second reason was that the hobby shops here in Greece sell only greek or english translated games.

But, time passed...

And, I discovered BoardGameGeek. And some time later I found that there was an english translation. So, I almost immediatly ordered the game.

This is the story. Now let's get in the game.

I HAD A B L A S T ! ! ! ! !

I couldn't believe that there is exist a so good soccer card game. I played so many games and the game goes perfectly well.

There are 120 cards in total (60 players and 60 tactics cards - 30 for each team) plus many counters including soccer balls, referee, yellow cards, trophies and of course dice. There is a timetable with time, score and more information available for both players.

Each coatch chooses 15 footballers with total value 50 or less. He/she puts 11 in the field and 4 in the bench. Then choosed 11 action (tactics) cards, shuffles them face down and adds the Finale card in the bottom of the deck. Then he takes 3 cards.

The coatches simultaneously reveal their teams and both play a card at the same time. The coatches compare their cards and the one with the highest strategy number become the attacker. He attackes as many times as the difference of the cards value.

He chooses his footballers and add their top numbers. The defender does the same after the attacker ends his selection. Then both roll their die. If the attacker has higher or equal total to the defenders, he has the chance to score a goal. If the defender won the duel he has the chance for a counterattack. He makes a shot by choosing players and do the same procedure as before. After the end of the attack the player are turned counter-clockwise and roll for possible injuries, free kicks or suspensions.

The time passed and the game will eventually end when the referee card goes to the end of the timetable. If there is no winner the game may continue to extra time or even penalty shootout.

Each game takes 30-40 minutes to end and it can be played with many players as a tournament or as a campaign.

This is a must for the soccer funs and I strongely suggest it for them.

I rate it with a 6 out of 10 (in the boardgamegeek rating system).

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fractaloon — 2008-05-10T10:09:22+00:00

Inside the box.

Thread: Re: Variant

tonyfung1205 — 2007-04-21T19:56:01+00:00

sdiberar wrote:
gamemark (#37657),

I have a deep suspicion this will throw out the point balance for many of the players. But then, I don't have a serious problem with the game as written.

Good point, and agree.

Image

ZiggyZambo — 2007-04-05T21:02:41+00:00

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T05:51:30+00:00

defensemen tactics

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T05:50:45+00:00

midfielder tactics

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T05:50:15+00:00

striker tactics

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T05:49:34+00:00

balanced tactics

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T05:48:58+00:00

mandatory tactics

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T05:47:36+00:00

game setup

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T02:06:12+00:00

team rosters

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cleonhard — 2007-02-07T02:05:25+00:00

box back

Thread: Review of the Tooor! edition

msaari — 2005-12-17T09:28:50+00:00

Tooor! is a fairly simple football game. Each coach fields a team of 11 players. Each player has a value from one to five, depicting the skill and the strength of the player. Actually, there's four values for each player, one on each side of the rectangular player tile. Whenever player is used, the tile is rotated 90 degrees, so the values of the players fluctuate during the game. Someone might lose their touch, someone will warm up later in the game.

The game is played in six rounds. On each round, the coaches choose tactic cards. Higher tactic card gets to attack first. The tactic card shows a set of players by their position (forward, middle, defense). Coaches choose the players they'll use, total their values and roll dice (0-3) to give some randomness.

If the attacker has a higher total, the attack is succesful. One of the attacking players faces the goalie; success means a goal. If the attack fails, the defender gets to attack. After the possible return attack the round is over.

Players have some event symbols in the corners of their tiles. Those are checked when the tiles are rotated and might cause a player to get a red or yellow card or an injury. That adds to the decisionmaking - there's definitely some. Sometimes you must, for example, use your weaker players to make them better. Using a really good player helps score goals, but that player might become very weak afterwards - is it worth it?

Tooor! is a fairly simple game, but it offers some good decisionmaking. The die has a good role in the game: it creates uncertainty, as you can't be sure if your attack will succeed, but the luck isn't too strong. All in all, it's a pretty nifty little game. I just didn't like it. I found the game boring and not much fun. I'd definitely recommend it to a football-loving children, they might like it, but it's unlikely I'll play the game again.

Thread: Re:Variant

sdiberar — 2004-05-29T16:43:36+00:00

gamemark (#37657),

I have a deep suspicion this will throw out the point balance for many of the players. But then, I don't have a serious problem with the game as written.

Thread: Variant

gamemark — 2004-05-27T17:42:16+00:00

Because of the excessive number of injuries & fouls in a typical game of Finale, Alan How suggested in Counter #2 that you throw TWO dice and both must indicate the event for it to take place.

This variant most recently appeared on the Game Central Station website.

Thread: Re:General Comment

Leonardo — 2003-09-28T06:43:12+00:00

Clinton Randel Paris (#1878),

I agree. This game is fun, has some tactics and luck as in real soccer. Maybe most of the negative ratings are from players that dont know much about football (soccer).

Thread: Session Report

sdiberar — 2003-03-13T23:17:57+00:00

Though not an official BQE Gamer night, Wednesday is often a night I head up to Queens to watch some Japanese TV with Oliver and Kim. Kim had to work late, so Oly and I busted out a game I recently acquired by trade: Finale , from Kosmos' 2-player series.

Oly and Kim got into soccer during the most recent World Cup (they were in Japan at the time), so Oly was happy to give my new game a spin. It only took me a minute to bring him up to speed. I took the FC Acker team in a 2-4-4 alignment, and he went with the SV Stollen team and a 3-4-3 setup. We both used the recommended beginners' teams.

Overall, I think Oly managed his players better than I did; he never seemed to be hurting for players with decent strength to complement his tactic card. On the other hand, I frequently found myself picking 1-strength men just to get them rotated to better numbers.

End result? A 5-3 victory for SV Stollen, settled by some very strong attacks in the third period, and some excellent defense in the second half of the game.

Finale has drawn some polarized reviews; some seem to like it, many perceive a luck imbalance. I have to say, though, that I didn't find the luck factor nearly as important as others have suggested. Only two players on each team were ejected (not counting a meaningless final play), and although Oly managed to roll an inordinate number of 3s, I never felt like I was out of the game. A certain amount of gambling sense is helpful to approach this game, I think. Both Oly and I openly gauged each others' strength, and then tried to win contests on the cheap rather than through overwhelming force. I can't help but wonder if the game's detractors were playing some rules wrong (neither of the translations I have gotten my hands on are all that good.)

For the first half of the game, we did forget to add the Counterattack bonus to the counterattacking player'sSetup strength. Oliver says this would have changed his strategy, as he was generally happy to improve his position in exchange for letting me counterattack; this strategy is much less attractive if the counterattack is likely to get to the shooting stage.

The game played pleasingly fast, and had what I thought was a good balance between luck and skill, without too much brain-burning or trivial decisions. The soccer tactics feel appropriate, even if the details of the play require a little imagination sometimes.

Now, if only there were English versions of the tactic cards, I would be pretty well pleased with the whole package. And I look forward to trying my hand at building my own team. It would also be neat to try recording a little narrative of the game, describing the passes, steals, shots and saves. I have no doubt Oliver and I will give this one another try before too long.

Thread: Session Report

jstahl — 2002-12-11T22:15:49+00:00

I picked this game up at the Auction on Saturday night, so Eric and I game it a go. The art on the cards is truely disturbing. They show soccer players faces, but they are all distorted and warped. I figure it is a jab at soccer players vanity. The game seems quite customizable as you have a deck of 30 players each and choose 15 players for your team and then put 11 on the field and 4 on the bench in reserve. The action cards also are customizable as they come in 4 different sets, each with varying attack and defence strengths. From our play it looked like there was some luck involved, but this could be easily overcome by multiple plays and understanding the customizable parts of the game. Eric was off to an early lead with 3 goals in the first half of the game. I was became seriously handicapped as I lost 2 players to red cards. The game ended early as I took another player off for misbehaviour and did not have enough on the field to continue. By the way... we played for the World Cup Trophy.
Results: Eric, Jeph

Thread: Session Report

Deleted User 1 — 2002-02-26T17:01:36+00:00

In my most recent purchase, I bought another two of the Kosmos two-player series of games - I’ve had good experiences with most of these games. One of the game I bought was Flowerpower (see the Session Report from February 22nd, 2002) and the other was Finale.

Finale is a soccer game (or football to you non-North Americans). After going over the rules – which are a bit more involved than the typical German game, we dove in. In the first fifteen minute period, William went on the attack and was able to score a goal right off the bat. At the 30 minute mark I evened up the score by counterattacking on a failed attack by William. With the score at 1-1, I again went on the attack and scored another goal. I was able to hold off William’s final attack to win the game 2-1.

Score:

*Rick* - 2
William – 1

We both liked the game. There’s a lot to it, but after the second attack we pretty much had the gist of it, and was able to better plan how to use our players and how to better plan our play. This is one we’ll be trying again soon.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

This is without doubt the weakest of the Kosmos 2-player series. It looks cool but the game isn't very exiting. Apart from having a bit of a say as the Manager (composing your deck) you have absolutely no influence over your destiny during the game: the dice are doing all the work. I want to like it but cannot recommend it with the published rules. (But it must be perfect for solitaire play! :-)

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

I would like to politely disagree with the previous comments regarding the overwhelming luck element of the game. In our playings, we have found that experienced players will often concede the setup of a play in order to guarantee it can be defended. That is, the total power of the defenders is often greater than the total power of the attackers even if they roll the largest roll possible. This game has a nice ebb and flow to it and does take 2-3 playings to figure out how to minimize the luck element through elegant play. In all, a very fun game that lends itself to easily to larger scale league play.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

All this talk about the luck involved in the game can be fixed *SO* easily! In our Finale league, we replaced the standard game dice with dice with the following faces: 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, and 2. These custom dice are used ONLY during plays and eliminate a LOT of the luck factor people complain about. Try it! You'll like it!!

Thread: Session Report

gamemark — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Kosmos (the people who published Settlers originally) have a line of small flat box games... card games for two players. (The first of these was Siedler Kartenspiel... now published in the U.S. as the Settlers of Catan Cardgame... more recently, Rio Grande published Lost Cities and Caesar & Cleopatra.) One of my personal favorites, though, is Finale, an enjoyable small game about coaching a soccer club.

One of the themes you'll notice throughout today's report is a style of game I call "the ride". In contrast to games where strategy or tactics are the key, these are games whose primary focus is giving you an enjoyable experience, regardless of who wins or loses. (Other games in this genre: Talisman, Dungeonquest, Escape from Atlantis, Diceball, etc. Any other suggestions?) Finale is very much a "ride" game... while you have some control over which tactics card you choose (from a hand of three) and which players you fulfill it with, there is a LOT of randomness here. Aside from a neat mechanism on the player cards (they are rated 1-5 soccer balls on each side, and rotate a 1/4 turn each time they are used... thus, McFire may have a 5 this time, but next time he'll only be worth 1!), the game is total up your points and add your die roll vs. your opponent doing the same. Then, more die rolls to figure out who got red & yellow cards or injured.

So, why play? Two people with an imagination can have a blast recreating a soccer game with this system... bawling out players for picking up a red card, setting up for a counter-attack, celebrating when a goalie makes an incredible block... and while the game has too many penalties for a real soccer game (our match last night saw 3 red cards and 4 players thrown out for their second yellow card), it produces soccer-like scores.

There was no scoring early, as I went on the offensive only to be stopped. At about the 30 minute mark, Jeremy's team pushed in for the first score. An ensuing shoving match resulted in a red card for players on both teams. I answered back with 2 quick points, followed by Jeremy's counter-attack for one. Again, Jeremy's team played a very physical game and picked up yet another ejection when one of my guys went off the field with an injury. At the 60 minute mark, I scored on a counter-attack to make the game 3-2... while picking up another red card and another injury. My team reduced in size, Jeremy struck back and pushed the ball in for a score... which left the game tied at 3-3. A final last ditch effort was blocked by my goalie and we went into extra time tied.

A flurry of subs, injuries and penalties marked the overtime period, with my offense unable to score. That let it all come down to the penalty kick, in which Jeremy's team scored 3 to my 1 for the win. Needless to say, no champagne for my players tonight!

Finale is not for everyone, but I find it a lot of fun with some tactical play. (And I'm not bothered by the computer-warped player faces... it's in the silly spirit of the game.)

Jeremy ? 6, Mark Jackson 4

Thread: Session Report

dougadamsau — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Doug writes:

David and I went into the kitchen to play this great little 2 player card game from Kosmos. I took the SV Stollen team, while David took FC Acker. We both went for 3-4-3 set-ups, leaving weaker players on the reserve bench.

David jumped right off into attack and scored the first goal 15 minutes into the game. Play from then on tightened up, with David losing 2 players, one to injury, and one being fouled off (red carded). This meant he was a man down, and I had to take advantage of it.

Trouble was, it's quite difficult! From the time David scored the first goal, I thought I had the stronger team (each time a player is used, his card is rotated to a different, often weaker, strength). However, it wasn't until the 60th minute that I scored the equalizer.

David immediately responded with a goal in the 75th minute and I was once again fighting uphill to take this game. The last turn was a classic, with David the attacker, but failing to set up the shot on goal. This lead to a counter attack opportunity which I managed to convert into a goal shot, but David kept it out and prevented the game going into extra time. A good effort as he was down to 9 men at this stage, while I still had 11 on the field.

FC Acker (David) 2 - SV Stollen (Doug) 1.

Doug's rating: 8

Thread: Session Report

dougadamsau — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

David Coutts writes:

Whilst the Lounge Table group set about "Qvo Vadis", Alan and I decided to give one of my recent arrivals a try. I must admit to being a bit of a soccer fan (France'98 - can't wait!), and I had read the rules and pawed the components for long enough. It was time for Finale by Kosmos, strictly a 2 player game.

The rules are fairly brief, so Alan and I got through those well inside half an hour. However, I think we had an "early" translation of the game, which took some debate, so I'll explain our interpretation of the rules as well as giving a game report.

For those not familar with game, it's a card game with square cards like those in Settlers The Card Game. There are two basic types of card, the player and tactic cards. Player cards may be rotated anti-clockwise, varying their strength (depicted by a number of soccer balls). Thus, individual players will have moments of brilliance during the game (and it's up to you to use that fact to best effect). There is also a small board to indicate the score, and how many rounds through the match you are (15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90- full time, 105, 120 - extra time if still tied, then a penalty spot!). Yellow card markers are provided, as well as "!" markers and "!!" markers (more on those later). Some football trophies are also provided, and two dice (0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3).

Normally, a game would start with players selecting teams, then selecting their squad of 11 players plus 4 substitutes. Each player is marked with a point value, and you can select up to 50 points for your squad. A default squad is available for each, however, so Alan and I used them. From your 15 players you must then decide who starts on the pitch, and who starts as a substitute. The usual division between Goalkeeper, Defence, Midfield and Attack applies with players being marked with grey, yellow, blue and red respectively.

There is a wide selection of tactics cards to choose from, marked in German, but the pictures speak a thousand words so linguistic skills are not really necessary. Again, a default selection of 12 tactics cards is possible (values range from 1 to 5), so that's what Alan and I chose. The bottom card in each deck is always the Schlusskarte (EndCard), a fairly feeble tactics card effectively reflecting the fatigue and lack of drive towards the end of a game. Players draw 3 cards to start the game.

Each round both players secretly select one of their tactics cards, which are revealed, and both players replenish back to 3 cards. The player with the higher card is considered the attacking team, with a number of attacking opportunities equal to the difference between the values of the two tactics cards. The first such attacking opportunity will then use the attacking team's tactic card for the first attacking opportunity.

Tactics cards are divided into the preparation phase (top half) and goal phase (bottom half), with a depiction of how many of each type of player must be used for that tactic(attacking team on the left, defending team on the right). So, one attacking opportunity comprises the preparation phase, followed by the goal phase. Each attacking opportunity requires the attacker to select a new tactic card.

After the player controlling the attacking team has selected the required players for that tactic, then the defending team chooses his players for the defending team's tactic. The defender has the advantage of knowing the attacking player's basic strength. All player's used in this preparation phase are marked with a "!". A die-roll is added to each team's strength for this attack. If the attacker's score is equal or higher, then he gets a shot at goal. Otherwise, the defender gets to counter-attack (but only a max of one per round regardless of the number of attacking opportunities). A counter-attack goes straight to the goal phase using the defending team's tactic card, adding the difference in value between his tactic card and the attacking team's tactic card.

Player's used in the preparation phase are then checked for injury (roll a 2), yellow (roll a 0 or 1) card and red card (roll a 3) - but only if the appropriate symbol appears in the players top-right corner of their card. Then, all players used in the preparation phase are rotated.

In the goal phase, the attacking team again selects players for their tactic first (this time using the bottom-half of their tactic card), then the defending team. These players are marked with a "!!", and neither team can (normally) select a player marked with a "!". Again a die roll is added. In the goal phase the attacking team must score higher than the defending team to score a goal, otherwise no goal.

Again, check for injuries, yellow cards and red cards BUT, do not rotate players. This makes defensive play a viable option, as strong players can remain strong. However, Alan and I usually "went for it" with every attack and ended up rotating our best players. Throwing the prep phase when in defence, thus rotating weak players to becomes tronger, was also a widely used tactic (provided you felt you could win the goal phase). Effectively, this felt like soaking up the attack, hoping for a counter-attack. A typical soccer tactic, in fact.

After each attacking opportunity (prep then goal phase), all "!" and"!!" are removed.

Each round (representing 15 minutes) took about 5 minutes to actually play, with plenty of decisions in every attack and defence. So, how did our game go?

For the first 15 minutes Alan put the pressure on, gaining one attacking opportunity, but I managed to counter-attack. My counter-attack equalled the defence, not enough for a goal.

15-30 minutes I attacked (two chances, I think), and scored a goal! I got a yellow card and Alan may have got an injury.

30-45 minutes and Alan attacked, two chances, and scored. 1-1. My goalie was injured (and substituted), Alan had a player sent off!

45-60 minutes and I went ahead again. 2-1. More yellow cards, resulting in another of Alan's players (his goalie) being sent off.

60-75 minutes, Alan still manages to equalise. 2-2. I think Alan was down to 8 men!

75-90 minutes, no score. Extra time required, just as we both were out of tactics cards! You get 6 tactics cards back in your deck (schlusskarte at the bottom again, anddraw 3), and play 2 more rounds.

90-105 minutes. I score a goal. I got the better of the random draw, using a 4 against a 2 tactic card. It helps. 3-2.

105-120 minutes. I use a 3 against a 2, still on the attack. Alan's only hope is to counter-attack to equalise. He fails to do so, but I also fail to score.

I win 3-2 in a very tight, and enjoyable, game. I was glad not to have to face the penalty shoot-out!

My main critisism (after one game) is that there were too many injuries, red cards, and double yellow-cards, resulting in Alan's team being down to 6 or 7, mine on 9. Silly. Perhaps we played it wrong. Certainly, we realised later, that it would be sensible to substitute a player on 1 yellow card to avoid him being sent off with a second. Especially early in the game.

I'd rate it 7 (until I see an offical translation!). Good chrome, lots of decisions, fairly high replay value.

See Doug Adam's Finale translation for more information.