Following the opening kick-off pass, each turn of Counter Attack will feature the attacking manager choosing one of several actions to take, involving moving players, passing the ball and shooting, some of which allow the defending player to also move players. Why not ask in the Counter Attack forums or in the Counter Attack Facebook group for an online opponent?

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. Goalkeepers - The goalkeepers can be moved during a movement phase or any final third actions just like any outfield players. It doesn’t matter about the dice if you have moved past a defender and that defender is focused on stopping someone else or you manage to get through and put a ball right where you want it so that you can knock a goal in.

The first manager chooses one of the players to take for his squad, then the second manager takes a player, the first manager takes another player and the second manager takes the remaining player. You pick your players and then use your tactical know how to use them to the best of their abilities, to win the game. Following a heading challenge all players who were involved cannot move during the next movement phase. The game was designed in Scotland in 2019 by Webstar Games, and successfully funded on Kickstarter after just 10 days!

These are two spaces the other side of your player when facing the opposing goal, and a way to define these spaces is to say any repositioning from the hex would not take you any closer to the goal.

The Classic Game Set comes everything you need to play Counter Attack – the pitch, two teams, 46 player cards, a ball, dice and rule book. There are also snapshots, which will be shooting from a quick touch or on the run, and will be slightly less accurate, all snapshots will suffer a -1 penalty to the total value. Before the kick both players get to move one player 3 hexes, then you choose what type of kick to take, either continue with the high pass, which can go to any hex inside the penalty area without distance restriction, or a low pass which is treated as a first-time pass. For me, I think if you like football, if you enjoy strategy games, if you like board games, if you ever wanted to manage a team if you think card drafting is fun or if you just appreciate round counters you should own Counter Attack. A tackle from these spaces will be a foul if the defender rolls a 1 or a 2, and when performing the LENIENCY check a successful roll gives a yellow card, while a fail will result in a straight red.

Due to the real time aspect, most games of Counter Attack can be predicted to be the same sort of similar length, around the 2 hour mark. The throw in has a range of a header, it can either be thrown to a player’s head, where a header must follow, or it can be thrown to feet or an empty hex, treat it as a standard pass with the reduced range for interceptions and follow up actions.Other Bits - Lets go over a few other smaller parts for the essential rules, starting with the dreaded offside rule. You can also kick the ball, first perform the final third's action, then make a high pass using the regular rules, but after the 3 hex movement it can be to any hex on the board that is not in the opponent's final third.