Solo Leagues, Is Bigger Better?
From a personal point of view Solo Play should be just that. One sets things up, then play out the games in real time. No simulation every result is decided on the baize. For me that is Solo play. You may disagree here, and at the end of the day you will always go the route that makes you feel most comfortable. To me any form of simulation should be a last resort not the main focus of the league, Simulation is a tool in my toolbox, that is there for those times when no other tool will do. But that’s me, and what I think shouldn’t have any influence on any of you wishing to do such things. At the end of the day as long as we get what we want from any system we use is all that matters.
Considerations
So now you know where I stand on this topic, and I’ll now share with you, my method of managing my own particular league so you can see why I’ve set it up the way I have, and the considerations I had to address to get to this point.
I’m probably luckier than some I have a permanent set up. Well as permanent as my Wife allows, if she needs the “Boot Room” she gets the “Boot Room” and she has a point I have taken over a room, and it just happens to be the spare bedroom. I also have a fair amount of free time due to my shift pattern, So the real consideration for me was how much of that free time would I set aside for playing the game, and the length of time it would take to complete.
Begin at the End
Once you know what time kind of timescale you can manage you can then work out how many games you can comfortably fit in, this should then give you an idea of how many teams will contest your solo venture.
My Bonfire Alliance League consists of 2 Divisions of 8 teams playing home and away, it also includes a non league competition which gives 4 lucky teams the opportunity to play in the Bonfire Alliance cup, as well as play for a Non League Trophy. All in all the whole season consists of 141 games which include promotion, relegation, play-offs, 2 cup competitions, and runs it course during the actual English Football season.
Big or Small
It’s really up to you, if you have the time to play a league of 20 teams you have my utmost respect playing 380 games to complete a league, I can just hear my back beginning to protest at the thought. But the point I’m trying to make here is think about how much time you can or want to put in and make your plans around that factor.
Sometimes starting small can be just as pleasurable as having a go big or go home attitude. Some players have bigger leagues and teams only play each other once that would obviously cut the games in half, and some only play 10min games which again would get more games in, compared to my 20 minute games. it’s all subjective. “Big” can be beautiful, just as “Small” can be beautifully packaged. You’ll probably know when you get the balance right.
A friend of mine plays 3, 10 team Divisions plus a Non League trophy, probably over 300 games in around 6 months. He’s been known to play 2 seasons in a calender year, and every game is played at 12 minutes each way, none are simulated. Now that’s a lot of play in 12 months, but he has the time to do this. Most of us are not that lucky, and for us mere mortals we have to cut our cloth accordingly.
Simulation
I touched on this earlier, some players have big leagues and suddenly realise that they may have bitten off more than they can chew, so they simulate results. Which is OK up to a point, let me explain. By the way if you’re happy rolling dice, and playing the odd game of Subbuteo, you can skip this section.
If you have a method of simulation in your back pocket it’s your get out of jail free card, unforeseen things happen in our lives and things get put on hold for a while. With a simulation back up you can still keep things ticking along. I had to simulate a few games last season, due to personal circumstances, and I did it to make sure the season finished before a new one was due, I think I simulated around 20 of my games which equated to about 4 weeks, which got me back on track to finish my season on time or thereabouts.
Now how you simulate matches if needed is entirely up to you. My method is to throw 2 coloured dice, one for home the other for the away team. I had 2 blank dice for this purpose. (So every game was 0-0, then I realised if I put numbers on them it may help).
The Home Dice is numbered: 0,1,1,2,3,4
The Away Dice is numbered: 0,1,1,2,2,3
So there’s a little bias towards the home team, and it does the job if I need to use them. At present they sit in a glass case with a sign underneath “Break in case of Emergency”.
Possible Changes for Next Season
Even though I can get through my 141 games without too much hassle, I’m looking to reduce it a little further maybe next season. The reason being I’ve entered into a project with an old friend to start a solo league which will be played throughout the season, so we’re trying to recruit players who can commit to playing 20 games in around 40 weeks, and that includes a cup competition. It’s in the draft stage at the moment, so if anyone’s interested leave a comment below.
Anyway lets get back on track, because I don’t want to play 20 more games, I’ve come up with a revised Bonfire Alliance proposal so I can fit in the possible extra games. It’s simply reduce my League to 7 teams per division, and a revised Non league competition, which would equate to 116 games, it means losing 2 of the non leaguers but that will be decided by a pre season tournament.
For those of you looking puzzled yes 7 is an odd number, but it reduces the games from 56 with 8 teams, to 42 with 7. the BA Cup would also be reduced from 19 games to 15, but the Non league Trophy would increase to 17 games from the current 9. So I would still have promotion relegation, 2 cups, and a 2 leg play-off between the bottom Championship team, and the winner of the Non League Trophy, for the right to play in the Championship the next season.
In Summary
I hope I’ve given players a decent insight in respect of what you need to consider when setting up a Solo League. Time is and will always be the main consideration, If you want something over quickly start small, you can make it bigger as you see fit if all goes well. Also give yourself more time than you may need, you never know you may need to take a break from playing at times, I know I do, and I’m under no illusions that I’m in any way unique in that respect.
Keep On Flicking
Ian
Great blog post Ian and gives people a blue print of how to work out what is a realistic size for any leagues you are planning. The post in the group has been a great discussion and very insightful into what many solo players are doing. Especially surprising how little Subbuteo actually plays in many peoples leagues they play out and instead dice simulation to generate results is the main game being used to play them out.
ReplyDeleteHope you get your solo league you plan to play out with others off the ground and people stick with it.
I'm afraid Logacta passed me by, although I'm sure I would have enjoyed reproducing the drama of waiting for each result to appear on the teleprinter.
ReplyDeleteSubbuteo, of course, also produces incidents and drama as they happen during the matches.
Personally, I can't imagine myself ever wanting to combine the two games within the same league system. Playing all the games within smaller leagues will always be my preference.
All credit, however, to the creativity of those who have done so, and continue to enjoy the fruits of their efforts.
Hi Ralph, I admire anyone who plays and completes big leagues in a realistic time frame, I personally had to cut my cloth accordingly, due to available free time. I can manage my 143 games during the actual football season, and the balance between free time and the time frame I want to complete a season. But like you have commented each to their own, you just have to be realistic. What matters is that we keep flicking not dice throwing or any other form of simulation to complete the project.
ReplyDeleteYou could probably get away with, at maximum, three 8-team divisions in a 20-24 game schedule. More than that and your hobby becomes a daily chore and that just sucks all the fun out of it. Another alternative is to do nothing but tournaments: association cups, international confederations cups, World Cup. You don't have to worry about managing multiple divisions and the scheduling is fairly straightforward, and you can have your internationals on a rotating basis from year to year if you like.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, any solo tournament or league considered needs to be manageable and be balanced with the time a player is willing to put in, too many players have gone big from the start and find completing it takes far too long. Whether it's a league or a cup competition, I totally agree with your sentiment set it up to suit the time you have or wish to make available so the project can be completed. I myself find the 143 games I play each season, just about right, I play 3 or 4 times a week which equates to a couple of hours for around 9 months of the year, some people have more time, some have less, we just have to cut our cloth accordingly, and most of all be realistic.
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