Last Man Standing Tourney - ROUND ONE

[oldrocky]

Geeez...I never meant last man standing literally. Guys are dropping like flies.

I believe Greybeard and Old Rocky are either done or about there. I'll evaluate where the remaining two games are and set up for Round Two. If you've dropped out, are out of touch, or cannot continue-then you're out. We'll see who this leaves and start from there.

Hello Nick,

yes indeed.. We've been done for quite some time.. but the game just doesn't think so.. I have no units left on the map.. rocky owns all the real estate.. in truth I got so frustrated with the mass of artillery that hit me on pre-game bombardment (I was player 2, so Rocky's fire 1st), and since nearly all my infantry was either paralyzed from artillery fire or 'z' fire every round thereafter that I picked up the dregs and retreated off the map.. hoping to hand rocky an early decisive win.. alas.. not to be.. our trusty AI has not yet ended the game, and.. even more oddly.. with all of my troops off the map, rocky is taking casualties from ghosts.. for whatever reason my A0 unit (which is now off map and has been for 10+ turns) has racked up an impressive 10 unit kill count.. all happening off map.. each turn at the end of rocky's phase he is hearing 'artillery fire'.. again which is strange, as I had only 4 on-map mobile flame rocket units at start and they also are now all off-map.. and frequently at the begining of a turn rocky is finding some of his units that are still on-map have reverted to 'retreat or routed' and have taken losses to get them that way..

Something is screwy here.. this one might be difficult to get an accurate score with by the time the game ends.. 10 more turns from now if the AI lets it go that long..

As for suggestions.. reduce the artillery allowed.. severely reduce the artillery allowed, or give a much larger playing field.. the small map, while it makes it easy to find your opponent, is a boon to player 1.. all player 1 has to do is purchase enough artillery so that on round 1 nearly every hex on player 2 side can be affected by heavy artillery fire (with 10K points, and no limit - easily achieved) and the game at that point is largely done.. player 1's guns fire first in a pre-game bombardment.. and bingo.. player 2's side is virtually immobilzed, including the ability to reply in kind as virtually no unit in player 2's deployment area comes thru the barrage w/o damage or heavy supression.. and simply can't respond.. then player 1 just keeps up the artillery fire every turn and sets his ground troops off to mop up..

Thus.. my retreat off the map.. simply no hope for any sort of meaningful combat ability or survival after the pre-round-one artillery smash.. just scoop up the pieces and run away..

IMHO, this ought to be more of a search and destroy issue, not a smash and bag the shards.. suggestion for game 2.. only artillery allowed is light mortars that would be a part of a full infantry company purchase.. more like 1-2 mortar teams per infantry company.. and zip for ammo supply.. this would absolutely take artillery out of the picture for world domination of the tourney.. but would retain it's usefulness at a point of resistance that needs to be cracked..

cheers!
Greybeard

I agree with Greybeard RE: arty allocation. Arty can dominate a battle, especially on a map of this size. My initial arty bombardment set the tone for my game and allowed me a relentless unchecked momentum. I would however prefer a more skillful game of maneuver instead of this arty slugfest.
By the way Steve, I am not player 1 but instead player 2, but since both sides have pre bombard ability I was able to catch your forces flat footed and quickly follow up to exploit suppressed and routed enemy forces. An arty limit of some sort I would certainly recommend.

[Gila]

our trusty AI has not yet ended the game, and.. even more oddly.. with all of my troops off the map, rocky is taking casualties from ghosts.. for whatever reason my A0 unit (which is now off map and has been for 10+ turns) has racked up an impressive 10 unit kill count.. all happening off map.. each turn at the end of rocky's phase he is hearing 'artillery fire'.. again which is strange, as I had only 4 on-map mobile flame rocket units at start and they also are now all off-map.. and frequently at the begining of a turn rocky is finding some of his units that are still on-map have reverted to 'retreat or routed' and have taken losses to get them that way..

Ah,looks like the AI has taken over your forces and use off-map arty to pinch off a few more kills,who would of thunk that would happen?:rolleyes:

[Vesku]

I noticed the combo of small map and limitless arty too and we agreed not to use turn 0 arty, worked fine and gave a good battle mostly because both sides kept arty at about 10%. I have to agree with the two old, grey, bearded? ones, this type of battle just doesn't work, it needs larger map or limited arty.

[GUNSLNGR]

Ok, Ok...Message received. We will significantly reduce the amount, reload, and use of arty for round two. Clearly, the arty reduced the ability to manuver and tactics.

Those that wish to may go with the "I told you so's" now...:whis:

I'm sending out an email to all those players still involved and see where we are. The rule will be that if you forfeit, drop out, or for other reasons are unable to complete Round 1 - you are inilliegible for Round 2. The line-up for Round 2 will depend on the number left from Round 1...adjustments will be made to accomodate everyone as is possible.

Thanks,

Nick S.

[roman]

Do not leave me out ....:hissy:

[Vesku]

How do we report the battles? Are you using a shadow player or do we use the regular reporting? Without objectives the chart doesn't work that well.

[GUNSLNGR]

How do we report the battles? Are you using a shadow player or do we use the regular reporting? Without objectives the chart doesn't work that well.

Per the tournament rules (a copy is attached to the thread title "Last Man Standing Tourney Starting!"):

Two ways for a victory; knock-out (KO) or Technical Knock-out (TKO)

If you completely destory the enemy force or run it completely off the board, then it is a knock-out. A knock out is an overwhelming victory for reporting.

If neither player is destroyed or run off the board, then it is a TKO. The winner is determined by adding up the value of the remaining units on the board, not counting size 0 units. The closest player to 10,000 is the winner. A TKO is a medium victory for reporting.

If both players are in dispute about the point total, then then game with password should be sent to me. I'll score it independently and determine the outcome.

In the very rare chance of a tie, then the game is reported as a draw.

What was not anticpated was players bowing out, surrendering, or just unable to continue. In that case, the remaining player should claim a TKO (medium victory).

The original rules called for one wild card player to even up rounds 2 and 3. This may have to revised based on how many desire to continue into Round 2.

So far, it appears that Panama and 2ndLt_Fjun are definately out. I'll evaluate where the other games end up and make a determination on Round 2 from there.

Cheers,

Nick S.

[Vesku]

What was not anticpated was players bowing out, surrendering, or just unable to continue. In that case, the remaining player should claim a TKO (medium victory).

Blitz rules say that disappearing/surrendering gives automatic overwhelming victory if you want to keep in line with those.

[GUNSLNGR]

What was not anticpated was players bowing out, surrendering, or just unable to continue. In that case, the remaining player should claim a TKO (medium victory).

Blitz rules say that disappearing/surrendering gives automatic overwhelming victory if you want to keep in line with those.

Hmmm...it really doesn't skew anything for the purpose of the tourney what type of victory you claim. You'll still only get credit for a TKO if your opponent called it quits or disappeared - What a player claims here is up to them...as long as it is within the club rules.

Agreed?

[oldrocky]

When reporting do we use SHADOW PLAYER as opponent?