Greetings:
Recently I was able to purchase the Soccer boardgame, Fastcard Soccer. As I was waiting to receive it from a gentleman from the UK, I did a few searches and found your review of the game. This made me all the more anxious to receive it. A little background... I own Lambourne Games soccer efforts, Full Time, Soccer Replay and Final Score. These are all fine games, but since receiving and evaluating Fastcard, I have to put it above the others.
My question for you, Sir... Is Ellis Simpson still around? Upon reading his manual, I became curious as about something he mentioned about a prior version of the game. He described it as being much more detailed but less player friendly - meaning, much longer to play.
The reason I'm asking, is that I have taken his "dreamteam" variation and taken it a bit further. Instead of merely using individual player ratings to recreate team ratings, I've instead developed a way to use actual player ratings to play the game... totally doing away with "team ratings". Each player has an A-F rating along with a -1/+2 shooting rating. In addition, Keepers have a more active role in that they too have a -1/+2 rating that better utilize their abilities.
Basically, the game is played normally except that for each aspect of the buildup is actually a player vs player battle. The midfield action is determined by rolling two dice and using the two players A-F ratings to determine the team who controls the ball. Then the dice is rolled again to determine the Attacker vs defender etc. I've also added another feature that analyzes each player's match rating. Basically, each player begins the game with a (5) rating... as each player wins or loses a battle, the number is modified up or down... thus determining the man of the match.
Anyway, I would welcome an opportunity to share my ideas with Mr. Simpson (or anyone who plays this game), but more than that, I would enjoy hearing about his more detailed version.
If you'd be so kind as to put me in touch with other Fastcard enthusiasts, I'd appreciate it. And of course ultimately, I'd welcome an opportunity to correspond with Ellis Simpson.
Thank you for time...
Jeff Drought
Wisconsin, USA
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 20:29:05 EST
From: Mike Siggins (MSiggins@aol.com)
Subject: Re: Fastcard Soccer
Hi Jeff
Glad to hear you are enjoying Fastcard Soccer. I too rate it very highly, and certainly above the others you mention.
Ellis Simpson most certainly is still around, but rather less active in the game world than he was. He is a busy lawyer in Scotland, and I still see him once or twice a year when he is in England. So what i have done is forwarded your email to him, and my guess (knowing Ellis) he will be in touch as soon as he finds the time. Your reaction is exactly what he was hoping for when he designed the game, and I am sure he will be interested in the variant.
Meanwhile, a large number of the sports game fans worldwide are on the Sports Game Digest circulation list - contact jgordon@library.berkeley.edu if you'd like to join. There you can discuss these games with like minded people.
Hope that helps,
Mike Siggins