Points vs power level

[randychaz]

Hello all,

As I said in a recent post I’m just getting back into tabletop gaming after 4 years. I remember power level being a new thing back then, but everyone generally still used points to make their lists. I’ve just bought the enhanced codex on the iPad, and my mate has the new necron codex, and everything is shown in power level, with points values being at the back as an afterthought. 

Power levels seem to give us more bang for our buck, e.g. 100 power is over 1000 points, or as I saw in one list on here, 1000 points was under 50 power. Yet most lists seem to be getting shown in points value. Also, from what I can tell, if you use the power level, you get all the upgrades and weapon options included, but if you go points you still have to pay for the upgrades. Given this, why wouldn’t you use power level instead of points?

I’ve probably got some of this wrong, I’m still awaiting the main core book for 9th to arrive, but to me it seems power level is the easier and better option for list building, so why are people still putting lists up in points?

I should add, we’re not looking to play competitively, just build lists to play against a few mates.

[piersonsmuppet]

Points are used for matched play, so that is why you see almost all lists using pts vice PL. PL makes building lists easier, but can become unbalanced since it doesn’t account for upgrades. PL main use is for beginners or Crusade, so feel free to use PL instead of pts.

[randychaz]

Ahhh, yeah, that’s what it was. Cool, thanks for the reminder/clarification.

[infornography]

You can look at as if you want a fairer more competitive game use points.
If you just want to roll dice and have fun and don't really care who wins/loses but want to get going more quickly, go power level.

[niiai]

1 power level equals between 11 and 20 points usually. And it does not account for upgrades.

So 1 powerlevel can means 11 points of models or 40, depending on the model. (usually models with lots up upgrades.)

So if one person is playing with 1000 points of models and the other one with 3000 points, but they have the same powerevel. You can see how this can be a problem for having fair and fun games.

However, power levels are for the mostly balanced. If you are doing napkin math it is great. If you are using an army builder app points are better.

[kazetanade]

Most armies I've list theoried for over 3 years 2k points tends to be 99PL, and at highest 110PL, so it's fairly consistent across different factions.

If you're playing casual games, I'd say just do PL and have fun with it. The upgrades aren't usually going to make or break a game anyway.

[niiai]

Ironically I think the biggest 'sinners' are units with a lot of. Optional bells and whistles. Tyranid warriors, and Genestealer Accolytes. Although something is to be said for space wolf Terminators and SM with jump packs.

[randychaz]

Thanks guys, I always used to deal with points, but wasn't sure if power level was the new main way to build lists. We'll stick with points as what we're used to.