I love Superclub. Working 8 hours a day staring at a screen then spending more time looking at a screen playing FIFA or Football Manager takes its toll on the eyes.
But there’s not always someone around who wants to play Superclub (and Champions Cup). All the whilst avoiding relegation and bankruptcy of course.
Superclub have said there will be no solo player mode. So I tried to make my own rules.
Making board game rules is super hard! I reckon I’ve played about 100 games with various rules, continually tweaking to find a delicate balance between the chances of winning and losing.
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Here’s how I play Superclub solo.
You’re a newly promoted side and have been given a three year contract to win the Super League and have been given 200 million.
Picking your team
Start by picking your promotion winning team of 16 players (a max total of 39 full stars). For every star you go over 39, there is a 50 million penalty. You can’t sell any of your players before the season starts.
Pick 16 players at random from the market and choose which go into your side. There’s a second draft of 16 players to choose from after you have selected, so you need to choose carefully (like fantasy football). First round players cannot be put back in the second round. Do you go for that 3 star striker or hope Garibaldi appears in the second draft?
If a keeper doesn’t appear in the 32 player draft, unfortunately you’re stuck with Given who counts as one of your 16 players.
Training, scouting and deadline day
From here, it’s the same set up as the normal rules; training, one scouted player and 2 investments. After this, draw 5 players from the market which you can buy at their full price.
Any stars gained from training and bought players bump your position in the league table.
Your opponents
To draw your opponents in the league, remove Madrid, Munich, Buonos Aires and Paris (as the are too good). These 4 opponents make up the Supercup (Champions League). Finish 1st or 2nd in the league to qualify. More details on how the Supercup works later.
Back to your league opponents. Draw 5 opponents at random. Total up each team’s stars on the card and mark them using the board markers.
Starting the season and playing games
Games are made up of three thirds; pre-match, midfield Vs midfield and attackers Vs strikers. A win equals 3 points and a draw equals 1 point in the league. You only play your opponent of once (no home or away games).
For pre-match, roll 2 dice for you and your opponent. If you roll a higher number than your opponent, you can roll 2 dice in the final 2 thirds. If your opponent rolls higher, you can only roll 1 dice in the final 2 thirds. This gives you a chance of causing an upset against established teams. Roll again if it’s a draw.
The next third is midfield Vs midfield. Roll your dice (or die, dependent on the 1st third. You don’t roll for your opponent). The number you roll gets added to your midfield star total. Whoever has the higher star total goes on to attack against their opponents defence. Roll again if it’s a draw.
Again roll your dice (or die) and add that number to your defence or attack and compare to your opponents. If attackers have more than the defence, the attacking team win the game and vice versa. If it’s a draw, the match ends in a draw.
January transfer window
After the 2nd game, the January transfer window opens where you can train, scout and look at 5 transfers. You can also sell players for the scouted rate (like transfer listing players). After this, co time to play against the last 3 teams.
Opponent points
After the 5 games are complete, it’s time to find out how your opponents fared. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a quick way to sim matches. The quickest way I’ve found is rolling 2 die for each opponent and that number is their points accrued.
Of course, all opponents may get 12 points each which is impossible, but I’d say it works out on average in practice (really we’re only concerned with the top team who we are chasing anyway).
End of season
After a season finishes, opponents roll 2 die and move that many in the league. The last team gets relegated and a new opponent is picked at random and starts where the relegated team left off.
Any players who have more stars than your finish in the table automatically go to the inactive pile but you get the transfer fee. You then get to draw 5 players from the market.
Champions Cup
If you finish in the top 2, you play the Champions Cup. If you win against all 4, you get a year extension on your contract. In true cup game drama, if its a draw, penalties take place with a roll of one dice, highest number wins.
Important to note you can only use your captain boost in one game per season, including cup games so use it wisely.
Here are the star ratings of each team when setting up the league table.
Beijing 40
Amsterdam 59
Sydney 44
Rio 52
Tokyo 43
Delhi 37
Mexico city 56
Milano 57
New York 45
Copenhagen 38
Lagos 41
London 58
Kairo 47
Moscow 55