The Great San Marino Challenge

[kandersson]

After last years success (...) http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/fm-challenges/59384-great-san-marino-challenge-discussion-thread.html is back for 2012!

Always had a soft spot for this classic challenge since the older versions of the game, credit to fellow San Marino specialist Ubernisation for inspiring - obsessing? - me again in FM11 with his story

The challenge: take control of San Marino - the club - competing in Italian Serie C2 (4th tier) and lead them all the way to Serie A championship and international success. At the same time your goal is to take San Marino - the national team - from being virtually the worst member amongst FIFA affiliates to become a respectable football country, and hopefully a European powerhouse someday.

Things will look like this at the start of the game:

View attachment 199437View attachment 199438View attachment 199439View attachment 199440View attachment 199441View attachment 199442

The key part of this challenge is using the club's progress to improve the quality of the national team: improve training & youth facilities, expand recruitment network, hire quality staff, climb up the leagues and build an international reputation. Do as much as you can in order to produce a new generation of local talent and dramatically improve the atrocious standard of Sammarinese footballers.

Of course San Marino the club needs money to get things started and help San Marino the country, and trust me you're not getting much as long as you're stuck in the Italian lower leagues. Needless to say first thing on your to-do list is to escape from Serie C misery and reach Serie A as soon as possible to get that vital cash from league, sponsorhips, TV deals etc

Long story short: the future of the whole country depends on you and your club!

Obviously this is an open challenge without limits of time or specific goals to achieve, it requires some kind of long term commitment though. You're welcome to post your progress with both club or country, results, unusual screens, signings, tactics, best 11, promising prospects from your academy etc. Whatever you like!

This year I'll add some extra achievements just to bring some novelty and freshness to the challenge. I had accomplished some of them - the easier ones tbh - in FM11, wonder if anyone can complete the most extreme! No points awarded or rankings this is just for fun, anyway those who complete at least one of the "extras" will be inducted in the San Marino Hall of Fame which will be added in OP

Club:

- LLM Treble: win Serie C2 (or C1), Serie C Cup and Serie C Super Cup in one season
- Giant Killer: beat a Serie A team in the Italian Cup while playing in a lower division
- The Great Escape: back to back promotions to Serie B
- Lower Leagues Legend (aka "Alessandro Cesarini Award"): win Top Scorer of Serie C2, Serie C1 and Serie B with the same player
- Straight A's: three consecutive promotions to Serie A
- Local Hero: have a Sammarinese player winning Fans' Player Of The Year
- Local Superhero: have a Sammarinese player winning a national or international award (Serie A POY, World POY etc)
- Cantera Policy: avoid relegation from Serie A playing only Sammarinese players (dual nationality allowed)
- Remember The Titans: win Serie A or a continental competition playing only Sammarinese players

Country:

- First Time Ever: win a competitive match for the first time in San Marino history (EURO or World Cup qualifier)
- The Big Upset: win or draw a match against a top 50 ranked national team within 5 years (competitive match or friendly)
- Beat The King: beat Andy Selva's amazing record of 8 international goals (and still counting...)
- Top 100: climb FIFA rankings to become a top 100 NT within 2020
- Major Honour: qualify for a major international tournament (EURO or World Cup)
- Titanic Effort: win a major international tournament (EURO, World Cup or Olympics)

and of course,

The Great San Marino Double: win FIFA Club World Cup with the club and World Cup with the national team


RULES & INSTRUCTIONS

You need to load all players of San Marino nationality at the start of the game, otherwise the NT won't be available.

You can start the challenge as club manager, NT manager or both.

Do not use external database, genie scout, FMRTE or any other editor. Not only this goes against the spirit of the challenge, it simply makes it meaningless. Also do not manage multiple clubs at the same time, as this would give you an unfair advantage with transfers, scouting, knowledge etc. The only exception allowed would be managing a Sammarinese club and using a custom database with Sammarinese League, as this is very much in the spirit of the challenge.

Obviously this is your game and you can play the way you like but please respect these simple rules if you want to join this particular challenge.

For those who want to try the infamous San Marino Triple, or just have a taste of the SM League, check sammyt's thread and download the mighty Campionato Sammarinese there: http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/tran...ues-editing/86603-campionato-sammarinese.html (all credit to sammyt)

TV Contract Bug

There is a bug with TV contracts that will become evident when you reach Serie A. Because of this bug (confirmed by SI) San Marino will never be able to receive any money from TV. You are allowed to use FMRTE to correct this bug, and if you do I recommend you use the instructions posted here in this thread (post 652): http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/chal...reat-san-marino-challenge-66.html#post1377371




SAN MARINO HALL OF FAME

Golden Wonder: The Great Escape, Straight A's
PlaysWSquirrels: The Great Escape, Beat The King, First Time Ever, Top 100
Atleticano: The Great Escape
birkirhrafn: The Great Escape, Giant Killer, Straight A's
Brian: LLM Treble, The Great Escape
wkdsoul: LLM Treble, Giant Killer, The Great Escape, Straight A's, First Time Ever
Antonio28: Giant Killer, The Great Escape, First Time Ever
kandersson: LLM Treble, Giant Killer, The Great Escape, Lower Leagues Legend (with Enzo Scorza), Straight A's, First Time Ever, The Big Upset, Top 100, Beat the King, Major Honour, Local Hero, Local Superhero, Titanic Effort, Cantera Policy, Remember The Titans
I7IDanny: Local Hero, The Great Escape
cinred: LLM Treble
Ubernisation: Honoris Causa, The Great Escape, Straight A's
stothy862: The Great Escape, Straight A's
iamauser: The Great Escape, Giant Killer, Straight A's
David Walker: LLM Treble, The Great Escape, Straight A's
Aannddyy: The Great Escape, Straight A's
Ketz: The Great Escape
seanbutcherafc: The Great Escape, LLM Treble, Straight A's
dhk999: LLM Treble, Giant Killer, The Great Escape, Straight A's
NiallC14: LLM Treble
choices: The Great Escape, Straight A's, First Time Ever, Top 100, The Big Upset, Beat The King, Cantera Policy, Local Hero, Major Honour, Remember The Titans, Titanic Effort, The Great San Marino Double
jordymakin: Giant Killer, The Great Escape, Straight A's, Beat the King
Safc-mad-scotty: The Great Escape, Giant Killer, Straight A's, First Time Ever, Top 100, Local Hero
commando101st: The Great Escape, Straight A's
Tacos: LLM Treble; Giant Killer
gregers1990: LLM Treble
Lucky450: LLM Treble, First Time Ever, Giant Killer, The Great Escape, Straight A's


PS: Please use this thread only to show your progress with the challenge including your signings, tactics, best 11, success etc

For any other help or advice you're more than welcome to check my other thread http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...-san-marino-guide-kandersson.html#post1349200

I've also started a proper story thread of my SM career, with more detailed info and regular updates, feel free to have a look if you can't get enough of San Marino http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2012-stories/87029-not-another-san-marino-story.html

Hope to see your progress soon, good luck to all my fellow Titani managers!

 

[Brian]

Great to see it started. My researcher copy still hasnt arrived but when It does i will start on with this.

 

[Grenwald]

Will defo have another go at this!!! and whats a researher copy out of interest brian?

 

[maxy67]

Awsome! Enjoyed this so much last time! Also the extra challenges look so hard especially the national team ones.

 

[Brian]

Will defo have another go at this!!! and whats a researher copy out of interest brian?

I research Shelbourne FC for SI and get a free copy of the game which usually arrives by release date. Post is messed up this year though so mine hasnt arrived yet.

 

[PlaysWSquirrels]

Yay.

Just wrapped up my first season already (don't judge me ) and am in October of season 2. Finished top of the table but am in a poor financial situation. I'm usually VERY good with the financials and keeping a balanced budget (even with LLM's) but the payroll budget you are given at the start is incredibly deceptive. I was ~$10,000 below weekly allowance and was still $1,500,000 in the red by the end of the season. I ended up selling off almost everyone outside of my first team and reserves, but I'm still losing money. Oh well, just more motivation for promotion!

Also, I decided not to start the game with any national jobs with San Marino. This is most likely going to be my only save I ever play on FM 12 so I wanted to make it as long and as challenging as possible. I figure I'll spend around 10 years until I get my shot at it. And speaking of the national team, a promising young Sammarinese defender already appeared in my youth intake after my first season . Here are some screenies:

Here's the promising regen. Great aerial ability (6'8"!).
View attachment 199480

Key free transfers before the first season and still going strong.
View attachment 199481View attachment 199482View attachment 199483

First season table.
View attachment 199484


Definitely enjoying it so far and and hoping for another promotion this season. Also, does anyone know how to delete uploaded attachments? It's starting to get annoying to sort through them XD

EDIT: Why are some players in the NT grayed out? I loaded all Sammarinese players when creating the save and there were no gray people in the national squad when I first started. Hoping my game isn't bugged and I'll never be able to manage them... Here's a pic:

View attachment 199487

 

[sammyt]

so glad this thread is back although i think i might wait until the san marinese league has been made so i can attempt the triple or atleast have more players to choose from for the national team.

 

[PlaysWSquirrels]

Okay my game is definitely bugged. San Marino NT manager just got fired and there's not even an option to apply. I clicked 'New Game' to check my database and I have all Sammarinese and Italian players loaded. XD

*sigh*

 

[Golden Wonder]

Love this challenge!
Already started it and finished my first season. I'll upload photos later.
One thing though, if you need a goalscoring striker then sign Enzo Scorza. He was amazing in my first season scoring 30 in 31!

 

[kandersson]

Okay my game is definitely bugged. San Marino NT manager just got fired and there's not even an option to apply. I clicked 'New Game' to check my database and I have all Sammarinese and Italian players loaded. XD

*sigh*

that's a shame, especially after a great season like that. I have not started the challenge myself so can't check right now, anyone can tell something about any issue with the NT?

I remember something similar happened to me with liechtnestein: after one season the NT kind of "disappeared" from the game even if it was available in first place. Was the San Marino national team available at the start of the game?

 

[sammyt]

the only reason that i can think of for that happening is some san marinese players retired and weren't replaced by enough san marinese regens. they might have been replaced by regens from other countries instead.

 

[Delije7]

Forza Titani! (6)

 

[___]

Gonna give this another go in 2012, hopefully I can keep at it a bit longer and give up when it got a bit hard.

 

[becheren]

I think I'll give this a go! What players did you guys sign in pre season and how did they turn out?

 

[Golden Wonder]

I think I'll give this a go! What players did you guys sign in pre season and how did they turn out?

Mohammed Gulraiz, Enzo Scorza. Both very good players. But you have D'Antoni who is also good for C2 standard.

 

[___]

I think I'll give this a go! What players did you guys sign in pre season and how did they turn out?

A few decent players I'm looking at rite now are;

Diego Centurion - ST
Mauro Aldave - ST
Lucas Alessandria - CB
Leandro Alvarez (maybe) - DM
Mathias Cardacio - CM
Erixon Danso - AMR
Pablo Difiori - ST
Sebastian Flores - LB
Gaston Gamboa - ST
Claudio Herrera - DM
Miguel Lapolla - LB
Sebastian Masoni - RB
Mauricio Alves - ST
Nicolas Rotundo - DM
Mathias Saavedra - ST

Most of these players are Uruguayan, so you will probably have to load the Uruguayan league or add players from South America when you start the game.

 

[becheren]

A few decent players I'm looking at rite now are;

Diego Centurion - ST
Mauro Aldave - ST
Lucas Alessandria - CB
Leandro Alvarez (maybe) - DM
Mathias Cardacio - CM
Erixon Danso - AMR
Pablo Difiori - ST
Sebastian Flores - LB
Gaston Gamboa - ST
Claudio Herrera - DM
Miguel Lapolla - LB
Sebastian Masoni - RB
Mauricio Alves - ST
Nicolas Rotundo - DM
Mathias Saavedra - ST

Most of these players are Uruguayan, so you will probably have to load the Uruguayan league or add players from South America when you start the game.

Great! I think that's about enough to get me started. But how about your tactics? Do you guys play with or without wingers? I remember a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 was very effective in 11'

 

[kandersson]

Great! I think that's about enough to get me started. But how about your tactics? Do you guys play with or without wingers? I remember a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 was very effective in 11'

you can have success with different tactics so I suggest you choose one you trust AND like, then stick with it as tactical consistency is crucial in FM. Quality wingers are hard to find in lower leagues so a narrow tactic could be easier to implement.

with the way I like to play atm (4-3-2-1 with inside forwards) I reckon that guy Gulraiz is a perfect poacher, and fellow freebies Sodinha and old buddy Daniele Conti will probably complete my attacking trio. Too bad Cesarini is on loan at the start and cannot buy him

Havent started the challenge yet as I want to make a little testing before, seems to me that average quality of sammarinese players is slightly better than before?

 

[Benandorf]

So glad to see this thread! I started the challenge right after getting FM12. Question: if I forgot to load all the SM players, do I need to restart, or is there some way to get the national team/load them after the game started?

 

[PlaysWSquirrels]

that's a shame, especially after a great season like that. I have not started the challenge myself so can't check right now, anyone can tell something about any issue with the NT?

I remember something similar happened to me with liechtnestein: after one season the NT kind of "disappeared" from the game even if it was available in first place. Was the San Marino national team available at the start of the game?

A shame indeed. From what I (vaguely) remember, I did check at the very start to make sure the NT was fully loaded, and it was as far as I remember. I started a new game with the same database just to compare and there were no gray players. Unsure what to do at the moment. Either start over and risk it happening again or continue and hope the grayed out players get replaced by real ones.

EDIT:
****FOUND A SOLUTION****

In case anyone else runs into the problem simply add a new head coach, make him manager of the NT, and then retire him. This forces gray players to be removed and now the option to apply is back. So relieved .