Written by Steve Robbins
Welcome to my first ever blog post for WeStreamFM, first and foremost I want to thank Chris (Curty) and Joe (FridayNightFM) for the opportunity and taking a punt on me.
When thinking about what should be my inaugural written piece for the site I felt there was only one place to start, something I’m renowned for in the FM Community and that is Challenges (yes I know some love them, some hate them but I’m definitely the first of those options).
Over the past 2 versions of FM I’ve created my own challenges for my main saves, these were spawned from my love for interesting, tough, long saves with a set achievement to gain at the end of it.
I won’t go into my own challenges on here, instead I’m going to show you my three favourite challenges from around the FM Community, maybe one of them might give you an idea for a save if you’re struggling.
Pentagon Challenge
The Pentagon Challenge in my eyes is probably the most famous challenge about. I tried it (and completed it) on FM15 and have tried and failed a couple of times since. This challenge for me has it all, you travel the world, see new places and you get to play (and hopefully win) the big competitions along the way.
So what is the premise of this challenge?
There is one main aim and that’s to win the 5 Continental Champions Leagues from around the globe which are available within the base FM package (no edited/added leagues)
The 5 are:
European Champions League
African Champions League
Asian Champions League
North American Champions League
Copa Libertadores
Now there are some rules embedded within the challenge to make it just that little bit harder, these are:
You must start unemployed
You must start with Sunday League Reputation
You must start with no coaching badges
Start the save, load the leagues and you’re ready to roll! Win all 5 and you will end up as one of the FM gods because this challenge isn’t easy and not for the faint hearted.
So what tips can I give you for this challenge?
Start in Africa or Asia, starting with no badges or rep means you will struggle to get jobs anywhere else, you could start low low down in Europe but obviously you have a long way to go to win that Champions League, starting in Asia/Africa means getting a job easier in a higher tiered league, it is also the easiest 2 Champions League to win, whilst there you can build up your rep and badges to then move onto bigger things.
Keep badgering the board to go on those coaching courses. More than likely they will agree unless the finances are in a state. The quicker you get those badges the quicker you will get better jobs.
Want to make it harder? Then you could keep attribute masking ON, this means making more use of your scouting network.
Want to add extra edited leagues? Then you could add the New Zealand leagues and make it a “Hexagon Challenge” by adding the Oceania Champions League.
British/Irish Steel Challenge
If you thought the Pentagon Challenge was tough then this one is off the scale! The British/Irish Steel Challenge has been around a while and I’ve only ever seen one person complete it!
This challenge is one for people who like very VERY long saves, so what do you have to achieve?
Obviously looking at the title you need to load ALL of the British and Irish Leagues up, the aim then is to win EVERY single competition available to you within those Nations. Yes it’s tough!
So let’s have a look at what competitions you have to win?
England (12)
Premiership
Championship
League 1
League 2
National League
National North
National South
FA Cup
Carabao Cup
Checkatrade Trophy
Community Shield
FA Trophy
Scotland (7)
Premiership
Championship
League 1
League 2
Scottish Cup
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Challenge Cup
Ireland (7)
Premier Division
First Division
Senior Challenge Cup
League Cup
Munster Cup
Leinster Senior Cup
Presidents Cup
N Ireland (9)
Danske Bank Premiership
Bluefin Sport Championship
Bluefin Sport Premier Intermediate League
Northern Irish Cup
League Cup
County Antrim Shield
Steel and Sons Cup
Intermediate Cup
Mid Ulster Cup
Wales (3)
Premier League
Welsh Cup
Nathaniel MG Cup
There sure is a lot! 38 in total.
The one thing that has always confused me with this challenge is what happened if you go up without winning the league? Now some people have said you HAVE to win the league as part of the challenge but I know most people (and the person who completed it) said being promoted was OK to tick off a competition. For me this would be the way to go or you be here for about 10 years trying to win every one!
So what are the rules for the challenge?
Well a bit like the Pentagon Challenge you must:
Start Unemployed
No Coaching Badges
Sunday League Reputation
But there are a couple more
Attribute masking must be ON
You can only sign players who are English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish
This is probably one of the toughest challenge you can take on but it is one of the most enjoyable especially when you starting ticking those competition off!
The Dafuge Challenge
Named after the person who created it, this challenge has been around for a good few years over on the SI Forums. This is a challenge for those people who like to stick to just one club.
The aim of this challenge is to take over a club which was previously unplayable and take them all the way to Premier League and Champions League glory.
When I talk about “Unplayable” this means taking over a club which wins promotion to the lowest possible league at the end of the first season in-game.
The Dafuge challenge solely bases itself around the English leagues so you would need to sim a season and when the league resets itself for the new season (Usually June 24th/25th) you take over a team which has won promotion to the National League North/South.
This is a really tough challenge but a really fun one for those that like to build up a team.
The easiest way to find out those clubs which have been promoted is to click on the Globe Icon on the top toolbar in-game.
From there select Nations and England from the drop-down
Then on the left hand side select “Season Summary”
Once in here scroll down to below the National League North/South and it will tell you the teams who have been promoted.
Now this challenge is based on England but there is no reason why you can’t do this in any nation you wish. The more obscure the nation the tougher it will be to win the Champions League!
I hope you enjoyed the read. I really really enjoy challenges in FM although I know not everyone feels the same as me. This is why FM is such a brilliant game, we all play in so many different way.
So have any of you played any of the challenges above? How did it go? Has anyone completed any of them?
I’d love to hear how you have done.
Thanks for reading
Steve