Subbuteo
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Subbuteo_deluxe_set.jpg
Deluxe Set, Circa 1990
Subbuteo is a set of board games simulating team sports such as football, Rugby and hockey, although many people associate the name Subbuteo exclusively with the football version. The name comes from Falco subbuteo, a bird of prey commonly known as the Eurasian Hobby, after a patent was not granted to call the game The Hobby.
Subbuteo is a physical simulation of the sport, involving dexterity and skill in flicking the playing pieces across the tabletop.
What makes the game different from most other tabletop sports games are the hundreds of team kits and acessories. While most games feature only two teams (usually "red vs blue" or "white vs black"), Subbuteo has several team designs, all for real teams. While some of them could obviously be used by different teams, there are several unique kits, such as Sampdoria or Soviet Union, and even unpainted models. There are also many additional accessories, such as new balls and goals, special figures for free kicks and throw-ins, stands and crowd, streakers and policemen, floodlights, and TV cameras.
Given the number of specialised components and optional accessories, Subbuteo can be expensive for a hobby, but not as much as other tabletop games like Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Some enthusiasts collect accessories, and older sets can achieve high prices.
There is a World International Federation of Subbuteo (FISTF), and a World Championship every year.
Football
The rules of Subbuteo table football correspond quite closely with the sport itself. Players maintain possession as long as the figure they flick makes contact with the ball and the ball does does not subsequently hit an opposing figure, although the same figure cannot be used for more than 3 consecutive flicks. Shots at goal can be taken once the ball is over the 'shooting line', a line is parallel to and equidistant between the goal line and half-way line.
See also
External links
- International Federation (http://www.fistf.com)
- Euro 2004 goals in Subbuteo (http://www.rainews24.rai.it/ran24/speciali/europei2004/moviolo.asp)
- Subbuteo Tribute Website (http://www.peter-upton.co.uk/sub1.htm)de:Subbuteo