I decided to write this guide, to give you a better insight, into what to expect, when you play in a crew battle.By reading this and making sure you have learned all the rules regarding penalties, you should be fully prepared forwhen you play in a battle for real.

*For the purpose of this guide, we will assume we are playing in a 5v5 crew battle.

Objectives

MAIN OBJECTIVE:With 100 bonus points for the team that wins the league and 100 penalty points for the team that finishes bottom, our 2main objectives are to have one of our teams finish 1st and make sure the opposing crew has one of their teams finishingthe season in 10th position.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:To have another of our teams taking 2nd or 3rd place and to try to have our G9 finish 8th and 2 of the oppositons crewoccupying 10th and 9th.

Team Goals

G1:This is the team that will be expected to take first place in the league and make the final at least, in the cup competition.For the start of the season at least, whenever a crew mate plays against our G1, they will be expected to lose to our G1, tohelp push them towards the top of the table.

Pro’s - Obviously has a far superior team to most other teams (given the vast difference between all the teams in the smaller10 team leagues that we will be playing in) and so not only has a better squad to start with, they can easily make more moneyby selling their valuable unwanted players.

Con’s - With G1 being the main threat to stopping the other crew from winning the league, it is not uncommon for the G1 teamto be targeted as a team to use a training camp against. I have seen this done many times. Sometimes it just means theopposing crew waste a TC, as the difference in squad ratings, is still too much for the TC to be effective, but i have also seenbettter managers, use this tactic to great effect, making the G1 team face an impossible task.

G3:This team will be expected to make 3rd at least, but aim for 2nd if possible. If our G1 team is struggling, then G3 will beexpected to push up and try to secure 1st place instead. Reaching the semi finals in the cup is also expected.Will be expected to lose to team G1, but take pts when playing own crews G5, G7 & G9 to start with.

Pro’s: Having the 2nd best squad to start with, gives them nearly just as much opportunity not only to raise lots of money fromselling unwanted players, but also, with the aid of good tactics and a TC, take points from opposition G1 team.

Con’s: Widely considered by the opposition as a prime target to use a TC against, by all teams, including opp G9, wherepoints can be dropped, when facing a good manager.

G5 / G7:These teams are the “midfield” of our team. With little chance of making the top 3, but also relatively safe from finishing in the bottom 3, they may seem like they play aninsignificant role in the crew battle, but crew battles are all about team work and very much important in achieving ouroverall target.To start with, like previously, when G5 plays G7 or G9, they will be expected to be given the points and G7 expected to onlybe given the points from our G9 team.

Pro’s - With no glory to be chased and with it being relatively easy to avoid the bottom 3 places, these two teams are suit amanager who does not want to much pressure put upon them.

Con’s - G5 team is a prime target by all opposition teams to be camped, due to the chance of the G9 team being able totake pts from it and also the chance that the G5 team, could possibly have the ability to take points from opposition G1team.G7 has a relatively poor squad compared to most and if faced with a skilled opposition manager in charge of G9, there isalso the risk that the opposing G9 could over take them in the league standings.

G9:Often overlooked by many crews, who focus mainly on G1, but with 100 lost for finishing 10th, this team finishing higherthan 10th is just equally important as our G1 team finishing 1st, but with the joint worst squad to start with, will strugglewhen playing any other higher goal teams of the opposition.Expected to give pts whenever they play a crew member to start with.

Pro’s - Not many tbh, though if playing an over confident crew, it is possible to steal a few valuable points when playing theopposition, if they believe they can win against you, while not using a TC, so to save them against our other teams.

Con’s - With a low value squad to start with, which is vastly inferior to all other goal teams and the fact that you will beexpected for the first of the season at least, to lose to your team mates, means its a continued struggle throughout theseason, to gain enough points so you dont finish in 10th position.Not surprisingly, this team is the least favoured team to take, by most managers.

Notes:With the crews aim of training and assembling a crew battle team good enough to enter the next CCL, each battle you playin, you will be required to alternate your choice, so all managers take charge of all the different goal teams, in equalamounts.This is so you understand better the roles each goal team plays in a battle, which will give you a better understanding, whentactical choices are asked to be offered.Also, some managers just perform better with a particular team goal, compared to others and so it will show me, whichmanagers are better suited playing with which goal objective.

Remember:Which ever goal team you manage, all managers are expected to log in daily to the crew forum and acknowledge theinstructions given for the upcoming days match, as team tactics, especially in the 2nd half of the season, can change on adaily basis, depending on the latest results.

No matter how good or how bad you might be doing in a battle, crew battles are a team game and no matter what theindividually team results, as a crew, we will always win as a team and lose as a team and no-one should ever think ofthemselves as being solely responsible for the crew not winning an overall battle and like wise, no-one should specificallyblame another team mate for losing a battle. I repeat, we win as a team and we lose a team, but most of all, enjoying the battle and having fun playing in a battle, comesfirst before anything else. If we win, its a bonus, please dont ever forget that.

Starting the Battle

Whenever a new battle is starting, a new topic will be created on the crew forum and all communication regarding that battle,should take place there.Each crew has to nominate a “Team Captain”. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, the team captain should be the only one who contacts the other crew, to report anypenalties etc and be the only point of contact for the other crew.

The first job of the team captain, is to organise the other 4 members, so each has a specific job to do, during the battle. Thecaptain or another member might have more than one job to do if they so wish.

Responisiblities Needed To Be Covered:There are multiple things that need to be carefully looked out for, which is why, ideally, each playing manager will take aspecific job, so each manager only has to concentrate on one thing, which minimises the chances of penalties being missedand reported in time.As whenever the opposing crew commits a penalty, if it is not noticed by the other crew and reported correctly and within48hrs, then the penalty is classed as invalid and will not be counted.

1) Keeping track of scores: Using an Excel template (downloaded from the games main “Crew” forum), the daily league table points and positions have tobe entered, so we know how well we are doing, as tactical choices need to be made depending on the overall scores.

2) Checking oppositions team line ups:Whenever a crew mate plays another member of his crew, both teams must field the right type of player, in their proper role(i.e It is ilegal to play an attacker in defence or a midfielder in attack etc)So whenever the opposition play eachother, the person nominated, must vigilantly check the line ups of both teams and makesure they both played with the right players, in the right positions.If you spot that the opposing crew have played a player out of position, all details must be passed to the captain asap, for thepenalty to be logged.

3) Checking opposing “crew to crew” transfers:With various penalties given regarding transfers between the same crew mates, someone has to double check all transfersmade between 2 opposing crew mates.First of all, any transfers made by the opposition to another team mate, must be checked that the transfers went through at ex-actly 1.5x the players value. Any transfers, that happened at even just £1 above or below the required amount, earn a penaltyand you should notify your captain asap.Also, if a crew mate buys a player from another crew mate, the player transferred cannot then be sold for at least 7 days andanyone doing so, risk a penalty if this noticed and so all transfers made by the opposing crew, again need to be monitored andreported to your captain asap.

4) Daily summary:This will be a brief summary first outling the previous nights results and also giving the next games fixtures with instructionsdepending on if you are playing a team mate.From time to time, we will be in the situation where deciding who should get the points between 2 crew mates, will have bothgood points and bad points and a straight forward decision, hard to decide. When this happens, all managers taking part areexpected to give their thoughts on the situation, so a decision can be made jointly by all those involved.

During a Battle

How you use your TC’s and ST’s can be pivotal in achieving success or not, which is why it is preferred,though not essential, that anyone taking part, has Preminum Ticket days, as these give you extra TC’sand ST’s.

Some crews prefer to have the captain state when a manager uses a TC or ST, however i disagree withthat as i believe all managers involved, should have full control of their own resources and manage theteam as they see fit, like they would with any team they manage.

A general rule of thumb, for camping is usually as follows...

G1: Will camp rival G1 home and away and G3 & G5 both at home.

G3: Will camp Rival G1, G3, G5 and G7 at home.

G5: Will camp Rival G1, G3, G5 and G7 at home.

G7:Will camp G3, G5, G7 & G9 at home.

G9:Will camp G5, G7 & G9 at home and G9 away.

Please remember though that these are only a rough guide and if a manager thinks he has better to usea TC elsewhere, he is free to do as he pleases.

What makes a good crew battle manager?

Squad Building:

The short season length, given that there are only 18 league games to play overall, means a manager who can quickly andeffectively build and improve his squad, will have a great advantage over his competitors.

Constantly wheeling and dealing and continously improving your squad, is not only a vital aspect to master when playing increw battles, but is also something that you can bring into your own game, on your other accounts, improving your overallability as a manager on this game.

Look at all the top managers out there and you will see that being able to improve their squad to extreme levels, is a trait all of them possess and is a valuable attribute for any aspiring manager to have.

Always take a look at what players your team mates are trying to sell and where possible, buy your players from managersfrom your own crew.

This gives the lower goal teams better players at a cheaper price (1.5x the value) and enables our higher goal teams to quickly

sell on their unwanted players, meaning although they will get slightly less for their players sold, they will get the money alot

quicker than if they tried to sell them at a higher price, to the cpu, as previously stated, time is of the essence and if a team is

holding out for the cpu to buy their players at maximum value, by the time they are sold, if they are, it can be too late in the

season to make any difference.

Look at your Match Calender before the season begins:

This is important, as it helps you decide how best you should approach and prepare for the battle.

If you notice that your first few games are at home against the rival crew, then the “Pitch” stadium upgrade should be your

priority, as it will give you a better chance when you play the rival crew at home,

However, if you notice your first games are away from home or you are playing a fellow team mate (where the result will be

engineered to suit) then the pitch upgrade wont be as important as say upgrading the training complex, as you will have time

to upgrade the pitch, before you play the rival crew at home and so training your players better, will be more benficial to start

with.

I myself personally, do not bother with the stadium expansion upgrade, the fact that it takes 5 weeks to complete each one,

does not make it a viable upgrade imo, as its more important to improve the pitch and training sections first and foremost and

by the time all those are complete, there isnt enough weeks left in the season to see the benefit of upgrading the stadium

capacity.

Losing Tactics

Everyone at some point will be expected to lose to a team mate.

From my experience, when needing to do this, setting up with these tactics, using a 4-4-2 formation, work best....

So Remember...

All players have to be played in their correct positions

All transfers between crew mates have to be at exactly 1.5x the players value

You cannot sell a player who you brought from a team mate, within 7 days from when you brought him

Always constantly look to buy and sell to improve your squad and its value

Where possible, look to your crew mates to buy players

Log in daily to the forum and make sure if you are asked to lose to a team mate, you follow instructions to do so

Never blame yourself if you lose an important game and never blame a team mate who may do the same

Have fun and enjoy the battle, its just a game and not life or death

But above all else...

Never forget....

We win as a team and we lose as a team and no result will ever change that!

Any questions, feel free to ask me,

Ade