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Asking not because I had a recent game that went sideways pretty fast: What do you do to make sure everyone still has a fun time when you show up for a pickup game with a stranger and don't realize until the game starts that you're poorly matched?

In the recent game I played, my opponent had said he was playtesting a tournament list. I hadn't brought anything super competitive, but I had a list I thought was reasonably strong and would put up a fight.

In practice, my opponent's list had some major holes, and he wasn't playing to the mission. (Which was the Servo Skull one where you have to move an objective into your opponent's deployment zone.) Some of his trouble came from bad luck - the mission didn't suit his army, (a static gunline,) well, but more generally, he just didn't try, hoping he could just win by tabling me.

By the end of turn one, the game was all but decided, and by turn two I had an insurmountable lead.

We still had a fine time - after a certain point, we just started ignoring the victory and threw a few units at each other for fun narrative melee battles and to just see how well some units performed with DPS, but if there's a way to identify these issues earlier, we could have come into it with better expectations and I could have toned down my tactics.

Talking is generally the best way.
But people aren't perfect judges of their own forces, as seen by your example.

Honestly, what you did with just having fun with it at the end sounds like the best way to handle it. I'd rather a game where all parties have a good time than one that's more evenly matched and no one has fun.

Well, if it's against someone I don't know & it turns out mismatched? Then I'm the one who'll likely be playing the weaker force.
That's because I'll intentionally bring one of my "medium" forces.
My bog standard Dark Angels, mediocre Deathguard, & pure Khorne Demons (minus the Bloodthirser) see alot of such play.

Whatever the mission, vs whatever they've brought? I'm game. I'll give it my best shot without ever batting an eye.

If they're playing the obviously weaker force?
We'll adjust the mission, the terrain, the deployment zones, maybe I'll put something in reserve (or outright cut it)....
Well work it out so that fun is had.

And once I have a feel for what they've got, & how they play I'll have a better idea of what caliber of force to bring the next time we play.

Unless they claim they want to test thier tourney list.
Ok, they asked for it.
Afterall, the point is to see how the list does...

 JNAProductions wrote:
Talking is generally the best way.
But people aren't perfect judges of their own forces, as seen by your example.

Honestly, what you did with just having fun with it at the end sounds like the best way to handle it. I'd rather a game where all parties have a good time than one that's more evenly matched and no one has fun.

This. Or, if I realize my opponent is kind of new/getting the hang of things, I might change up my playstyle to be a little less difficult to play against. Maybe I wander off of an objective in favor of trying a cool-but-risky charge. Maybe I play a little more defensively to give them room to breathe. Maybe I decide that my warlord *really* wants to duel the enemy warlord even though that isn't tactically sound.

When I have enough time to prep and get my stuff together, I also sometimes bring a second army. Not necessarily a "stronger" or "weaker" one, but something with a different playstyle that might make for a better game. Opponent's list is short on anti-tank? Let's swap out some serpents and nightspinners for some jetbikes and scorpions.(When doing this, I generally ask my opponent which type of list they're in the mood to face or roll a die to decide which list I use so as not to effectively be list tailoring.)

Waaaghpower wrote:

We still had a fine time - after a certain point, we just started ignoring the victory and threw a few units at each other for fun narrative melee battles and to just see how well some units performed with DPS, but if there's a way to identify these issues earlier, we could have come into it with better expectations and I could have toned down my tactics.

It sounds like you handled it just fine. Shift the fun away from who wins and onto what happens. I think what obviously helps is that your opponent clearly stated their intentions. Toning down your tactics in this instance wouldn't have given them the feedback they were looking for. Identifying secondary objectives like "how does this play out" is a great way to continue to learn even after the main question has been answered.

If it looks like victory is all but assured, I would retreat my supporting units and starting sending my big guys in on suicide attacks, just for the fun of it.

But if you're looking to keep the game even and reduce a big lead from opening up, I think all you can do is call out that hole in their strategy, that those objectives are in your hands and if he doesn't go for them then you'll win by points.