How do you use Swedish Comp for casual play?

[Brother Glacius]

I've looked over the doc a little and even ran a test army through it. However, what are its practical uses for daily/casual play? Do they recommend a set number and you stick close to that?

[ClassicFlava]

I have only used it in casual play when preparing for a tournament.  Range is usually 8-14 using active swedish (higher comp score gets vp bonus)

[Peanut]

I don't often use it in casual play because I don't want to make my opponent tally their stuff, but I think Warhammer would benefit from everyone using it always, it does a great job. I think it should be done just like a tournament - for every point off your army is from your opponents, you get or lose 100 victory points. So a 17 army versus a 14 army automatically gives up 300 points. Or 100 if you want to say anything beyond a 2 point difference.

 

It can be a little time consuming looking up Swedish but I would prefer to do it if someone wanted to play me a game.

 

Oh, you could set a range band - 10 to 20. Or just say "shoot for a 15" and keep it loose.

[Don't Panic]

eh i think swedish defeats the purpose of what is a 'casual' game.  its for tournaments.  personally, i dont like making a list to fit a mold for casual fun. i like bringing what i want to bring.  also i rarely actually tally for who wins LOL.  just think of it like handicaps in golf.  when you go out and play do you always put your handicap up against your buddies to make it 'fair' or do you just swing clubs, talk and drink beer?  guess thats my analogy hahaha.  obviously comes down to preference and i doubt you'll have a consensus on it lol

[rudra34]

For casual games I usually just look at swedish to see how the list stacks up.  Rarely does it have any sway over my list making, but I barely make anything harder than a 10 to begin with.  I do think it's fun to check casual lists and see where they stand according to the system.

[Sylvos]

Swedish Composition was never intended for casual play.  The system was designed using tournament data from dozens of events to determine applicable difficulty ratings per unit and to provide variety in list building.  The need for such a system arose when the principle of "netlisting" was rampant through the tournament scene, this system provides a tangible method of ensuring even match ups in a competitive and varied environment.

 

To use Swedish in Casual play would be like putting on an entire suit of Nike running clothes and shoes to take a walk around the block.  Yes, the super lightweight clothing and footwear will keep you cool but it is entirely unnecessary as a leisurely stroll should not result in you encased in body drenching sweat.

 

Best Analogies ever i know.

 

In closing, you may use Swedish to initially determine the difficulty of your list but when playing against friends or clubmates it's going to be a non-issue for the most part.

 

I personally was against Swedish 2 years ago.  I hated composition systems as I found them subjective and imbalanced by local (invalid) perceptions of list/unit/model efficiency.  That is not the fault of the people performing the composition but rather a negative aspect of trying to ensure a fair and balanced environment but only using local knowledge.  Swedish provided a 3rd party balancing system that the community begged for after OFCC 2014 and then in OFCC 2015 loved the results.  As a result, having worked with and administered a Swedish based event (OFCC used a modified system based on community and End Times) I am a fan of 3rd party composition systems like Swedish as I feel they provide an excellent tool for the semblance of balance.    

[rudra34]

For once, I am in complete agreement with Sylvos.

[valourunbound]

Remember that one time when a Slyvos post made sense?

 

Quick, look outside for flying pigs.

[McNathanson]

Sylvos' post makes sense at the end when he FINALLY admits that SC is actually great ;)

 

The GW points system is not even close to sufficient to create remotely fair armies; we all know that.

 

SC brings us much closer to fair armies; we all know that, too.

 

Therefore, the only rational reason not to use SC for all games is because it takes some time to calculate.  If you can live with that, it makes the game much more likely to be fun, by virtue of being closely-contested.  

 

I suppose if you really don't care about having a closer-to-fair game (e.g. because closely-contested battles aren't any more interesting to you than lopsided battles) then I guess the time isn't worthwhile.  Otherwise though, it's a no-brainer.

 

Edit: to the original question, just create a VP handicap based on SC delta.  I personally think [sC delta] * 100 VPs is good.  So 12.2 SC vs. 10.1 SC is a 210 VP starting handicap.  No reason to use whole-point thresholds.