The Great War

[Dukasaur]

Launching tomorrow, a new tournament by McShanester29:

Artois

The second battle of Artois, 9 May-18 June 1915, was the most important part of the Allied spring offensive of 1915. It was hoped to capture Vimy Ridge, break through the German lines, and advance into the Douai plain. This would cut key German railway lines and perhaps force them to retreat from their great salient bulging out into France.

The British First Army, under General Haig, was allocated to the offensive, and was to attack Aubers Ridge, over the same ground attacked during the battle of Neuve Chapelle (10-13 March 1915). The French offensive would be launched by the Tenth Army, under General d’Urbal. It was supported by 1,200 guns with 200,000 shells, a huge amount for ammunition for 1915. The artillery bombardment began six days before the attack was due to go in.

The British attack at Aubers Ridge was a total failure. It cost the British army 10,000 casualties and was a failure from the beginning. In contrast, the French attack on 9 May opened with a dramatic success. Pétain’s XXXIII corps advanced 2.5 miles in the first hour and a half of the battle, and the 77th and Moroccan Divisions actually reached the crest of Vimy Ridge.

General d’Urbal had not expected such rapid successes, and his reserves were six miles behind the front line, preparing to move up over the next few days. The German reserves were much better placed, and by the end of the day the French had been pushed back off the top of the ridge.

Over the next five weeks the French and Germans engaged in a battle of attrition in the area immediately behind the old German front line. This was a maze of communications trenches and strong points, where progress was slow and costly. The Moroccan Division did manage to fight its way back onto Vimy Ridge on 16 June, but was once again pushed back.

The attack in Artois failed to achieve its original objectives. Vimy Ridge remained in German hands until it fell to the Canadians in 1917 (Battle of Vimy Ridge), while the battle of attrition favored the Germans. The French suffered 100,000 casualties, the Germans 75,000, and as the French were well aware there were more Germans than Frenchmen.

Start with 24 players

Round 1 - (3) - 6 player terminator games, esc, chained, fog on England

16 players advance

Round 2 - (5) - Polymorph 3 slot, ns, chained fog, trench, 20 rnd on France

8 players advance

Round 3 - (5) - 8 player Standard, esc, chained, sunny on France 2.1

4 players advance

Round 4 - (7) - 4 player standard, nuclear, chained, fog, trench, 20 rnd on Germany

-- MCS

[Dukasaur]

A few things to announce today.

First, the Capture of Amara tournament begins today:

capture of amara june 21st to 28th

Capture of Amara


"Meso-WW1-2" by created by the Department of Military Art and Engineering, at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). - available on the West Point web site at:http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/ ... Originally uploaded to EN Wikipedia by Cglassey 28 April 2006. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... -WW1-2.jpg

After their successes at Basra, Qurna, and Shaiba, the British were emboldened to proceed deeper into Mesopotamia than they had previously thought possible. Charles Townshend took over command of the 6th Division which had captured Basra and Qurna, and boldly proceeded up the Tigris to capture Amara.

Further reading:
firstworldwar.com, details of the Capture of Amara: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/amara.htm
wikipedia, general intro to the Mesopotamia Campaign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamian_campaign
the rise and fall of sir Charles Townshend: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/townshend.htm
the career of Sir John Nixon: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/nixon.htm

The tournament:

20 players start.
The first three rounds are 4-player Standard games, randomly Esc/Flat/NoSpoils, randomly Fog/Sun, Chained, No Trench.
Round 1: The High Command in London advised caution in Mesopotamia, but the Army of India favoured bold aggressive attacks.
5 games: London, Eastern Hemisphere, Indian Empire, Eurasia Mini, Middle East
Round 2: Sir John Nixon, a proponent of rapid advance, ordered the 6th Division up the Tigris.
5 games: Gilgamesh, Imperium Romanum, Alexander's Empire, WWI Ottoman, Battle for Iraq
Round 3: Despite a shortage of supply, the 6th rushed up the Tigris in flat-bottomed riverboats.
5 games: Gilgamesh, Labyrinth, Classic, Extreme Global Warming, High Seas
The top 12 players continue. There is no score reset at this point.

Round 4 is 1v1, Esc, foggy, random forts, no Trench.
Round 4: On June 3rd, General Townshend arrived in Amara with only his advance platoon.
Best-of-9 series on 9 maps randomly selected from the 14 maps used in the first 3 rounds.
The score resets, and the top 8 players go to what is effectively a 2-round final.

The last 2 rounds are 8-player Assassin, random spoils, randomly chained/parachute, random sun/fog, no trench
Round 5: Despite being outnumbered 20 to 1, Townshend bluffed and demanded the Turks surrender.
6 games: British Isles, Indian Empire, Eastern Hemisphere, WWI Ottoman, Battle for Iraq, Middle East
Round 6: The bluff worked and Townshend became famous.
7 games: Actium, WWII Gazala, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Austerlitz, Orient Express, Stalingrad


-- DK

Second, I did a bit of analysis today on what game types we've been using in these tourneys:

game type analysis

I decided to see what game types we've been using. I only looked at the 3rd quarter tournaments (from Lodz to Artois) and checked game types.

Assassin:

• was used in 4 of 26 tournaments
• was used in 4 of 124 tournament rounds (3%)

Terminator:

• was used in 13 of 26 tournaments
• was used in 25 of 124 tournament rounds (20%)

Polymorphic:

• was used in 17 of 26 tournaments
• was used in 32 of 124 tournament rounds (26%)

1v1:

• was used in 14 of 26 tournaments
• was used in 33 of 124 tournament rounds (27%)

Small Standard (3 or 4 players):

• was used in 4 of 26 tournament
• was used in 4 of 124 tournament rounds (3%)

Medium Standard (5 to 7 players):

• was used in 16 of 26 tournaments
• was used in 26 of 124 tournament rounds (21%)

Large Standard (8 to 12 players):

• was used in 4 of 26 tournaments
• was used in 4 of 26 tournament rounds (3%)

By comparison, I looked at Active, Public, Non-Team games on the site:
Assassin: 132 (2%)
Terminator: 278 (4%)
Poly: 560 (7%)
1v1: 1412 (17%)
Small Standard: 1906 (23%)
Medium Standard: 1928 (23%)
Large Standard: 2004 (24%)

It seems we're doing okay with the percentage of Assassin and Medium-sized Standards and 1v1s. We are probably overusing Terminator and Polymorph a little bit. We are grossly underusing Small- and Large- Standards. Accordingly, I'll be trying to work in more of those in upcoming tournaments. The Capture of Amara tournament today has 3 rounds of 4-player Standard, 1 round of 1v1, and 2 rounds of Assassin.

Third, today I was able to award a General Achievement medal to asimpson23 "For gathering the staggering number of 562 Great War Cannon tokens in the Great War mega-event, more than twice as many as any other player." Cannons don't actually have a point value, so asimpson has now fallen off the bottom of the Great War scoreboard, but I thought that his remarkeable achievement should be commemorated in some way, a GA medal has been issued.

Congratulations asimpson23!!!


Fourth, later tonight, if I manage to finish it, I should have another Great War autotournament, this time marking the Battle of Festubert. If not tonight, maybe tomorrow. Festubert will be a one-time only tournament. In other words, it will not re-iterate (launch multiple copies of itself.) You will have one chance only to join Festubert.

[Dukasaur]

The battle of Festubert is a single-instance tournament. In other words, it will not re-iterate (make a fresh copy of itself when it fills) like other autotournaments in the Great War event do. Thus, if you want to participate in the Festubert tournament, you must join this one-and-only iteration.

The special thing about this tournament is this: it is essentially a Part 2 to the battle of Artois, which we launched a few days ago. Festubert proceeds from Artois so directly that I wondered if it even should get its own tournament. In the end, I decided it should. Now, as a result of the intimate connection between them, there will be a special reward. If you make it to the final round of both Artois and Festubert, you will get a General Achievement medal in addition to any other prizes that you win as a result. That means, obviously, that you must play in both, so in addition to joining Festubert, make sure you have joined Artois. The latter is a regular re-iterating tournament that will re-iterate until June 24th, so you still have time.

Because of its special status, Festubert costs 4 tokens to enter plus 20 drab stars.

festubert launch june 22 one iteration only

Festubert

We have told in Artois how the joint British-French offensive in Artois went awry. The French actually made a breakthrough in their sector, but the British failed. With no progress in the British sector, it was obvious that the Germans would be able to refocus their reserves against the French sector only. To prevent this, the British hastily prepared a new attack.

The British quickly changed their tactics from what they had used a week earlier. In the initial Artois battles, they had attempted a quick rolling artillery barrage directly in front of the infantry advance. This proved totally inadequate against the advanced German trench system. At Festubert, the British adopted the French model of a long and involved artillery barrage before the attack.

This is one of the things you learn when you begin to study the Great War in depth. The popular myth is of stupid British generals who used the same failed tactics day after day after day, costing millions of lives with their lack of creativity. In fact, the truth is almost the opposite. The British were rapid innovators, constantly experimenting with new strategies, new tactics, new technology. The human cost remained horrendous, that much is true, but that was true for all participants in this enormous war. The British forces, more than any other nation's, were remarkable in their zeal to find new methods of winning battles that would cost fewer lives. The truth is almost diametrically opposite to the popular myth.

Nonetheless, only one kilometer of ground was gained around Festubert village before this offensive also ground to a halt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

45 players begin

• The Allies were determined to try to dislodge the heavily-entrenched German Army from France and Belgium. The Artois offensive, and especially the operations against the Ypres salient, were hoped to be the beginning of a grand offensive to break the stalemate.

Phase 1: The Allies hoped to dislodge the heavily-entrenched Germans from France and Belgium.
Seven 5-player Standard Flat Rate games, Sunny, Trench, on Europe1914, Benelux, Germany, British Isles, France, Trench Warfare, and Flanders1302.
36 players advance, score resets

• Only the French sector in the Artois offensive was making any progress, and it was obvious that the Germans would be able to refocus their reserves and bring that to a halt.

Phase 2: The French alone were advancing, and the Germans would soon be able to contain the limited breakthrough.
Five 12-player Escalating Terminator games, randomly sun/fog, no Trench, on France 2.1
30 players advance, score resets

• A new British offensive was prepared. Following the French model, it began with an enormous 60-hour artillery barrage that threw 100,000 artillery shells at the German lines.

Phase 3: A stupendous artillery barrage preceded the British attack
Nine Polymorphic Dubs games, randomized Spoils, Foggy, Trench, on maps randomly chosen from a long list of CC maps with a strong bombardment component: Feudal War, Arms Race, New World, WWII Poland, AOR3, Conquer Rome, Pearl Harbour, WWII Western Front, Duck and Cover, King's Court, Das Schloss, Castle Lands, All Your Base, Monsters, Baseball, Rorke's Drift, WWII Europe, WWII Gazala, Poison Rome, Labyrinth, WWI Gallipoli, Conquer 500, Cuban Missile Crisis, Steamworks, and Trafalgar.
21 players advance, score resets

• The Indian divisions were the first infantry sent in.

Phase 4: The Indian divisions were the first infantry sent in
Seven 3-player Nuclear Assassin games on Indian Empire.
14 players advance, score resets

• Next were the Canadians.

Phase 5: Next were the Canadians
Seven 1v1 games, randomly escalating and nuclear, randomly foggy/sunny, no trench, on Montreal, Vancouver, Golfe Du Saint-Laurent, Northwest Passage, Great Lakes, First Nations North America, North America.
11 players advance, score resets

• Finally the British, with a disproportionate share of the casualties falling on the Scots.

Phase 6: When the regular British Army went in, the lyon's share of the casualties fell on the Scots
Seven 11-player Standard Flat Rate games, Sunny, No Trench, on Scotland.

Further reading:
wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Festubert
firstworldwar.com: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/festubert.htm
1914-1918.net: http://www.1914-1918.net/bat11A.html

NOTA BENE: This tournament is listed as starting on June 22nd, but it might not launch until tomorrow. I am racing to finish coding it and get it launched before midnight, but I could still fail.

[Dukasaur]

REAL-TIME DAY





PLEASE CELEBRATE WITH US!

Today is a day we have worked long and hard to reach. Since the beginning of this event, it was our intention that each autotournament commemorating a Great War battle should come out on the 100th anniversary of the battle. Since we are living out the 100th anniversary of the Great War, this is an ongoing process. Almost every day for the last 11 months and for the next 39 months is the 100th anniversary of some event significant in unfolding of World War I, some battle, or treaty, or political upheaval, or technological development.

Still, in the early going we found it was difficult to keep to the schedule. First off, due to the planning uncertainties, we started this event six weeks late. More importantly, though, the first year of the war was just SO INCREDIBLY EVENTFUL! There were just so many battles and significant events that we just couldn't keep up. We kept trying to make up time, but instead of getting ahead we fell further behind. Then, through the winter, I was buried with work in R/L and didn't have the time to keep this event going at the pace that I should have, and starting from 6 weeks behind, by March we were 10 weeks behind.

Then, in April, we finally started to gain ground. With Worldwide Warfare Week, seven new tournaments in seven days, we finally began our grand assault on the backlog of battles. Since Worldwide Warfare Week, we have kept our nose to the grindstone, cranking out two or three new tournaments every week, and finally, we are here. REAL-TIME DAY. It is here. Today, we launched a tournament commemorating the First Battle of Isonzo on the actual 100th anniversary of the First Battle of Isonzo.

First Battle of Isonzo june 23 to 30

First Battle of Isonzo, 23rd of june 1915
Luigi Cadorna, the Italian chief of staff, peered at his map as it lay on the table. His heart raced at a horse's pace despite the absence of any action. About a month ago Italy had formally delcared its intentions, join the 'Triple Entente' against the 'central powers'. The plan filled him with anticipation. He retraced their offensive plan gently brushing the map with the top of his finger. Objectif was to surprise the Austro-Hungarians across the river Isonzo and to disable enemy mobility on the frontline. Little did he know he was making the same disastrous mistakes as the western front in Flanders and France.

players: 20
requirements: all

Anticipating a vain Italian surpise attack, the Austro-Hungarians prepared mountain defences:
random draw, 1 game, 20 move on, games: 5 players, standard, flat rate, unlimited, Unification Italy, fog, no trench, round limit 30

An Italian force, double the size of their enemy, sets itself up for a series of mistakes:
random draw, 1 game, 20 move on, games: 5 players, standard, escalating, unlimited, Unification Italy, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

A week of bombardment, 200 barrage artillery fire across the river:
random draw, 1 game, 16 move on, games: 5 players, assassin, nuclear, chained, Stalingrad, fog, trench, round limit 30

A foolish frontal assault followed the rain of artillery, uncovered and in the open:
random draw, 1 game, 12 move on, games: 6 players, terminator, flat rate, chained, Stalingrad, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

Tactically irrational split attacks on Trentino and Gorizia:
random draw, 1 game, 9 move on, games: 4 players, terminator, flat rate, chained, Italy, fog, no trench, round limit 30

Two additional divisions reinforce Austro-Hungarian auspicious positioning, victory is secured:
random draw, score resets, 1 game, 3 move on, games: 3 players, terminator, flat rate, parachute, Austro-Hungarian Empire, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

Cadorna calls off attack, mere minor gains were made:
random draw, score resets, 1 game, assassin, nuclear, no reinforcements, Unification Italy, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

-- W

The great backlog is behind us now. That wild and crazy first year of the war is over. The War will go on for another 39 months, but from here on in new battles are not so frequent. More of the front remains stable, and the Great Powers gather their strength slowly and methodically for each new challenge. From here on in, all our new autotournaments will come out, as originally planned, on the 100th anniversary of the battle or event they commemorate.

Please raise a glass and help us celebrate this moment!

Now, some thank-you's. First of all, bigWham. Over 200 iterations of 65 unique tournament templates, something close to 6000 total player entries, including something in the neighbourhood of 1000 unique players. And we're not even one full year in yet! This is a logistical task that would be utterly impossible with manual tournaments. It is often-maligned autotournament engine that makes a massive event like this possible. Throughout this event bigWham has been tireless in supporting us, helping with the coding of tournaments, and fixing mistakes in the ones that I screwed up the coding on. Even when I would send a panicky message saying, "I screwed up the code in tournament x and you have to fix it right now!" he would just cheerfully go in and fix it and not demand that I commit seppuku for my stupidity!

The autotournament engine continues to evolve. It is not perfect. Is anything? But bigWham continues to improve it, one little tweak at a time, and with each passing month we find new things that can be done to make autotournaments more interesting despite the inherent limitations. It is still a blunt instrument, but with each pass over the grindstone it gets a little sharper, and one day this cudgel will be a katana! For the autotournament engine and it's continual evolution, thank you BW!

Second, and at the risk of sounding sycophantic, I simply must say it, is bigWham again. I asked him to provide some extra prizes for the Isonzo tournament to help celebrate this moment, and look what he put in! A blue star and 500 creds for the winner, plus yellow stars for 2nd and 3rd. Far more than what I would have dared to suggest! I was stupefied when I saw that! Thank you a second time, BW!

Next, a big thank-you to DoomYoshi, who started this event with me, is the second-most prolific writer of new tournaments, and provides a lot of general guidance and wisdom. DoomYoshi continues to evolve as a tournament writer, and if you take time to read the Angola tournament or especially Dogger Bank, in detail, you'll see what I mean. Thank you Doom for all you do!

I would like to thank the other tournament writers who have contributed tournaments to the collection: JamesKer1, mcShanester29, Gabriel13, takman2k, robellis00 who produced the winning entry in the Bolimov contest, and last but certainly not least the newest member of our team, waauw who may be a recent addition but has already written six tournaments in the Great War series! A special thank-you to sempaispellcheck for proofreading and general commentary. Finally, I need to thank Razorvich, who suggested the ANZAC DAY tournament, and ran the live-chat event marking Anzac Day on the site.

I would like to thank people who have spoken up in this thread, both with compliments and with criticisms, because both are helpful. In this category certainly Shoop76 and Stealth99 are the standouts, but there are many others. Even ConfederateSS, whose stinging criticism helped me push the team along in the beginning when it seemed the preliminary planning would take forever.

Above all, I need to thank the players, who have made this tournament series into the massive success that it is!

A big, massive, STUPENDOUS 'THANK YOU!' to all of you.



This is already the biggest event CC has ever run, and there is much, much more to come!

This Saturday, June 27th, will be the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Nasiriyeh. We will mark this by for the first time attempting to run a group of speed tournaments in this series. Stay tuned for more details, and try to set aside some time on Saturday for some speed games!

Sunday, June 28th, will be the 100th anniversary of the bloodbath in Gallipoli's Gully Ravine. This will be waauw's seventh tournament, and he promised to make it something really special. Stay tuned!

Also on Sunday, I will be making an announcement about some prizes! Oh, yeah, wait for it....

And then, the guns will go strangely quiet for a while. It will be All Quiet on the Western Front, and on the Eastern Front, and on the Mesopotamian Front, and in fact everywhere except Gallipoli and Italy. July 1915 was a really quiet month in World War I, and those of you who have been struggling with a massive game load as a result of trying to keep up with all these tournaments will finally get some relief. There may only be two or three new tournaments in July. In August things will pick up a bit once again, but never again will you see the frenetic pace that we have been keeping up from April to June. We are in Real Time now, well, Real Time +100 Years, anyway, and I am very relieved to finally be here!

[stealth99]

Wow, very well written dk; it was a nice read. Holy crap, too much stuff to comment on. Where do i start.

Thanks guys (all the people dk said). Cause it's a lot of fun. I keep running into the same ugly repeat faces too, so i'm not the only one having fun.

CONGRATULATIONS CC; freaking awesome

Just one suggestion - come up with a tourney that will enable me to bomb shoops war medals. He got too many.

[waauw]

Great job so far dukkie!

[shoop76]

I agree, its been a great event and I appreciate all the hard work being put in. I have been critical at times and even threatened to quit, especially when my game count got to 250, but this is one of the best organized events that I have seen on cc in a while.

Stealth, I skipped quite a few of the recent tournaments in order to save my sanity, so there is a chance to do some catch up, though I will gain a very cheap medal here, http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... y_id=12351. In the final round the top 2 were paired against each other and I was paired to a deadbeat.

[sm8900]

sounds cool! thanks for posting these updates.

[Hamalech]

Congratulations to every of the organizers and collaborators for the effort put in these really big challenge. It's been a very top standing series of tournaments! And what is coming is promising! If you just keep at half the level, it would be memorable! And of course, thanks!

[MaximusSkywalker]

Can I join?

[Dukasaur]

Can I join?

Yes. Great War autotournaments are listed at the top of you Central Command page.

Go to Central Command (the old "My Games" page), click on the Great War box at the top, and any current tourneys become visible. Then you click on each one to read the brief description and there is a Join link in the bottom right.

[Dukasaur]

Today for the first time we will have speed games within the Great War event.

I have prepared 3 little speed tournaments with the same maps and similar settings.
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2893
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2894
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2895

All rounds of all three tournaments are 2-minute Automatic, Sequential, with random Sun/Fog, No Trench, and a 20-round limit. Spoils and game type are as follows.

1. Tournament 1: Assassin.
   • 1 round of four X 8-player games, spoils randomly escalating, nuclear, flat
     4 players eliminated, score resets
     1 round of four X 4-player Assassin games, same settings
2. Tournament two is an 8-player Poly elimination bracket, Premium only
   • round 1 Poly Dubs, escalating
     round 2 Poly Trips, flat rate
     round 3 Poly Quads, no spoils
   This is a single-elimination bracket.
3. Tournament three is an 8-player 1v1 bracket with freemiums welcome
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   Rounds 1 and 2 are straight eliminations. Rounds 3 to 5 are cumulative contest between the final two players

All rounds of all tournaments use a random pick from the seven maps we have that depict Mesopotamia:
Gilgamesh -- representing the legendary warrior who fought in these lands in ancient times
Alexander's Empire -- one of many conquerors whose ruled this area
WWI Ottoman -- representing the Ottoman Empire that ruled the land before the Great War
Eastern Hemisphere -- representing the British (and French) empires that seized it from the Turks
Indian Empire -- the neighbouring great land where the British replenished their power
Middle East -- an overview map
Battle for Iraq -- the most recent bloodbath fought over the land between the waters

For a description of the R/L Battle of Nasiriyeh:

battles of nasiriyeh speed tourneys june 27th and 28th

The Battle of Nasiriyeh

While World War I was unquestionably a 20th Century war, the British campaign in Mesopotamia was a 19-Century war encapsulated within it. A small cadre of upper-class British officers, leading mostly Indian colonial troops, marched without hesitation or apprehension against a much larger Ottoman force, confident of victory.

Before 1915 was over the British would be in trouble, but in June they were still ascendant and their boldness seemed to be paying off. Basra, Shaiba, and Qurna had fallen in 1914. In February a Turkish attack at Bandar Nasiri had been beaten back, and in April the British began moving up the Tigris and Euphrates again. Townshend and his 6th Division had been sent up the Tigris and captured Amara without a fight. George Gorringe and 30th Brigade went up the Euphrates to seize Nasiriyeh, a major Turkish supply depot, but while they were ultimately successful they didn't have the cakewalk that Townshend had.

On June 27th the 30th was ambushed 10 kilometres from Nasiriyeh not by the Turks, but by Budhoos tribesmen who were hostile to all imperial invaders, Turkish or British or otherwise. After surviving the attack, they had a brutal fight and many delays while they overcame 115 degree heat, no sanitation, a shortage of supplies in every category, Budhoo attacks and small but surprisingly strong Ottoman bunkers along the way, swarms of mosquitoes and gnats and all kinds of disease. It took until July 24th before Nasiriyeh was finally captured. The British had suffered 500 combat deaths, and a similar number lost to heat exhaustion and disease.

Still, the objective was achieved, and Baghdad looked attainable.



Further reading:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/nasiriyeh.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have prepared 3 little speed tournaments with the same maps and similar settings.
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2893
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2894
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2895

All rounds of all three tournaments are 2-minute Automatic, Sequential, with random Sun/Fog, No Trench, and a 20-round limit. Spoils and game type are as follows.

1. Tournament one is 8 player Assassin, Premium-only
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   All five rounds count toward final score. There are no eliminations or score resets.
2. Tournament two is an 8-player Poly elimination bracket, Premium only
   • round 1 Poly Dubs, escalating
     round 2 Poly Trips, flat rate
     round 3 Poly Quads, no spoils
   This is a single-elimination bracket.
3. Tournament three is an 8-player 1v1 bracket with freemiums welcome
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   Rounds 1 and 2 are straight eliminations. Rounds 3 to 5 are cumulative contest between the final two players

All rounds of all tournaments use a random pick from the seven maps we have that depict Mesopotamia:
Gilgamesh -- representing the legendary warrior who fought in these lands in ancient times
Alexander's Empire -- one of many conquerors whose ruled this area
WWI Ottoman -- representing the Ottoman Empire that ruled the land before the Great War
Eastern Hemisphere -- representing the British (and French) empires that seized it from the Turks
Indian Empire -- the neighbouring great land where the British replenished their power
Middle East -- an overview map
Battle for Iraq -- the most recent bloodbath fought over the land between the waters

Nota Bene: These tournaments to not give Battle Medals. They will, however, give Cannon Tokens and Helmet tokens

-- DK

This event will run until 23:59 on Sunday, June 28th.

[t4mcr53s2]

congratu;lations to Duk and the team; what a gift!

[Dukasaur]

The five-round Assassin games were taking too long to play. Made a change on the fly and changed the Assassin to 2 rounds. This won't have any impact on tourneys already launched, but it will take effect with the next Assassin tourney.

Today for the first time we will have speed games within the Great War event.

I have prepared 3 little speed tournaments with the same maps and similar settings.
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2893
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2894
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2895

All rounds of all three tournaments are 2-minute Automatic, Sequential, with random Sun/Fog, No Trench, and a 20-round limit. Spoils and game type are as follows.

1. Tournament 1: Assassin.
   • 1 round of four X 8-player games, spoils randomly escalating, nuclear, flat
     4 players eliminated, score resets
     1 round of four X 4-player Assassin games, same settings
2. Tournament two is an 8-player Poly elimination bracket, Premium only
   • round 1 Poly Dubs, escalating
     round 2 Poly Trips, flat rate
     round 3 Poly Quads, no spoils
   This is a single-elimination bracket.
3. Tournament three is an 8-player 1v1 bracket with freemiums welcome
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   Rounds 1 and 2 are straight eliminations. Rounds 3 to 5 are cumulative contest between the final two players

All rounds of all tournaments use a random pick from the seven maps we have that depict Mesopotamia:
Gilgamesh -- representing the legendary warrior who fought in these lands in ancient times
Alexander's Empire -- one of many conquerors whose ruled this area
WWI Ottoman -- representing the Ottoman Empire that ruled the land before the Great War
Eastern Hemisphere -- representing the British (and French) empires that seized it from the Turks
Indian Empire -- the neighbouring great land where the British replenished their power
Middle East -- an overview map
Battle for Iraq -- the most recent bloodbath fought over the land between the waters

For a description of the R/L Battle of Nasiriyeh:

battles of nasiriyeh speed tourneys june 27th and 28th

The Battle of Nasiriyeh

While World War I was unquestionably a 20th Century war, the British campaign in Mesopotamia was a 19-Century war encapsulated within it. A small cadre of upper-class British officers, leading mostly Indian colonial troops, marched without hesitation or apprehension against a much larger Ottoman force, confident of victory.

Before 1915 was over the British would be in trouble, but in June they were still ascendant and their boldness seemed to be paying off. Basra, Shaiba, and Qurna had fallen in 1914. In February a Turkish attack at Bandar Nasiri had been beaten back, and in April the British began moving up the Tigris and Euphrates again. Townshend and his 6th Division had been sent up the Tigris and captured Amara without a fight. George Gorringe and 30th Brigade went up the Euphrates to seize Nasiriyeh, a major Turkish supply depot, but while they were ultimately successful they didn't have the cakewalk that Townshend had.

On June 27th the 30th was ambushed 10 kilometres from Nasiriyeh not by the Turks, but by Budhoos tribesmen who were hostile to all imperial invaders, Turkish or British or otherwise. After surviving the attack, they had a brutal fight and many delays while they overcame 115 degree heat, no sanitation, a shortage of supplies in every category, Budhoo attacks and small but surprisingly strong Ottoman bunkers along the way, swarms of mosquitoes and gnats and all kinds of disease. It took until July 24th before Nasiriyeh was finally captured. The British had suffered 500 combat deaths, and a similar number lost to heat exhaustion and disease.

Still, the objective was achieved, and Baghdad looked attainable.



Further reading:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/nasiriyeh.htm

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I have prepared 3 little speed tournaments with the same maps and similar settings.
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2893
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2894
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2895

All rounds of all three tournaments are 2-minute Automatic, Sequential, with random Sun/Fog, No Trench, and a 20-round limit. Spoils and game type are as follows.

1. Tournament one is 8 player Assassin, Premium-only
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   All five rounds count toward final score. There are no eliminations or score resets.
2. Tournament two is an 8-player Poly elimination bracket, Premium only
   • round 1 Poly Dubs, escalating
     round 2 Poly Trips, flat rate
     round 3 Poly Quads, no spoils
   This is a single-elimination bracket.
3. Tournament three is an 8-player 1v1 bracket with freemiums welcome
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   Rounds 1 and 2 are straight eliminations. Rounds 3 to 5 are cumulative contest between the final two players

All rounds of all tournaments use a random pick from the seven maps we have that depict Mesopotamia:
Gilgamesh -- representing the legendary warrior who fought in these lands in ancient times
Alexander's Empire -- one of many conquerors whose ruled this area
WWI Ottoman -- representing the Ottoman Empire that ruled the land before the Great War
Eastern Hemisphere -- representing the British (and French) empires that seized it from the Turks
Indian Empire -- the neighbouring great land where the British replenished their power
Middle East -- an overview map
Battle for Iraq -- the most recent bloodbath fought over the land between the waters

Nota Bene: These tournaments to not give Battle Medals. They will, however, give Cannon Tokens and Helmet tokens

-- DK

This event will run until 23:59 on Sunday, June 28th.

[Dukasaur]

So, for some time we have been talking about some major prizes for people on the Great War scoreboard. Today we will commemorate some of our great winners.

Going forward, we will give 1 Green and 1 Blue every quarter.

The Quarterly Green: Will be given to the player at the top of the scoreboard at the end of each quarter. However, the same player can only get it once per year. Thus, if the player on the top of the scoreboard already got one within the last four quarters, it will go to the 2nd place player. If that player already got one in the last four quarters, it will go to the third place player and so on.

The Quarterly Blue: Will be a "most-improved" star. We'll need a snapshot of the scoreboard at the end of each quarter. The player who moves up the most spaces on the scoreboard will win the Blue. If multiple players all jumped the same number of spaces, the one who began at the highest point in the previous quarter will get the star.

Both the Quarterly Green and the Quarterly Blue will come with a GA medal to commemorate the triumph.

We are also going to do a little catching up, because this is the end of the third quarter of the War and we didn't do anything special at the ends of the first two quarters. The retroactive prizes will not follow the exact rules set above, but they are within the spirit of what we want to achieve.

Three players have held the top spot for significant periods. They will get Green stars and a GA meda. Four other players reached the top spot only momentarily or were only tied for top spot. Those will get Blue stars and a GA.

Green Star Level Long-term dominance of the Great War scoreboard:


Blinkadyblink





[no avatar]
Ukey





... and the most dominant player on the Great War scoreboard to date:

shoop76





Blue Star Level: For short-term or conjoint dominance of the Great War scoreboard:

The first player to score a victory in the Great War...
[no avatar]
-1-1-3-






iAmCaffeine





Stealth99






t4mcr53s2



Congratulations to all our winners!

[t4mcr53s2]

now i'm embarrassed that i couldn't figure out how to expand my avatar....
Thanks Duk and Doom Yoshi and BW and the whole team

[-1-1-3-]

...and i'm embarassed i did not even send you a mini-picture

Thank you Dukasaur. See you all in 3 years... or inbetween.

Special thx to great-ollie for being the first victim in this conflict. I could not have started that war without his first-quality play as franz ferdinand.

[Dukasaur]

Archive of the autotournaments from March 20th to June 28th, 2015

The third quarter was the biggest and by far the most active thus far.

battle of lodz march 20th to 27th

Battle of Łódź

The progress of the Eastern front was dramatically different in the German and Austro-Hungarian sectors. In the north, the Germans had scored spectacular successes against the Russians at Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes. In the south, the Austro-Hungarian forces had been badly beaten by the Russians during the Galicia-Lemberg campaign.

While the Austro-Hungarian forces withdrew behind the Carpathian mountains to lick their wounds, the Russians shifted forces north. The Russians expected that the armies which had beaten the Austrians could repeat their success against the Germans, while Hindenburg was yearning for a chance to score a repeat of Tanneburg. Both sides, therefore, enthusiastically rushed towards a confrontation in central Poland.

I'll let wikipedia tell the story of the battle:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_ ... The_battle

On November 11, Mackensen's German Ninth Army struck the V Siberia Corps of Rennenkampf's First Army which was isolated south of the Vistula and routed it, capturing 12,000 prisoners. The rout left a gap between the Russian First and Second Armies and the two forces lost contact with one another.

In the meantime Scheidemann's Russian Second Army was being flanked and began retreating towards Łódź. The Russians were beginning to realize the seriousness of the situation in Poland. The Second Army was now being threatened with encirclement.

The Grand Duke was primarily concerned with saving this army and avoiding a repeat of Tannenberg. Wenzel von Plehve and the Russian Fifth Army had been ordered from Silesia to the Łódź sector and covered 70 miles in only two days. Von Plehve smashed into Mackensen's right flank on November 18 under appalling winter conditions (at times the temperature dropped as low as 10 °F (−12 °C)).

At the same time from the east, along the banks of the Vistula, Germans were attacked by the columns of Rennenkampf's Army. The Germans were now threatened with encirclement, but fought their way out by November 26, taking with them the prisoners from the Russian First Army. Pressure on Łódź continued until December but the Germans were unable to break the Russian lines. Short on ammunition, the Russians withdrew to form a new and stronger line closer to Warsaw.

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24 players start

Tournament Phase 1: The stage was set by the assymetrical progress of the war between the German, Russian, and Austrian Empires.
Three Poly-3 games, one each on Unification Germany, Transsib1914, and Austro-Hungarian Empire, Nuclear, Chained/Parachute, Fog/NoFog, No Trench

18 players advance
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Tournament Phase 2: Winter came early and hard. Soldiers advanced in bitter cold.
Five 6-player Standard games, Antarctica, Escalating, Fog, No Trench

12 players advance, score resets
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Tournament Phase 3: As the tide turned against the Germans, they quickly broke out of the Russian encirclement and retreated -- as they should have done at Stalingrad!
Three Poly-3 games, Stalingrad, No Spoils, Fog, No Trench

6 players advance, score resets
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Tournament Phase 4: Warsaw and the bulk of Poland remained in Russian hands.
Seven 6-player Terminator games on WWII Poland, Flat Rate, Chained/Parachute, Fog, No Trench

-- DK
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Battle of the Bees march 29th to april 5th

"Battle of tanga" by Martin Frost (1875-1927) - Unknown. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... _tanga.jpg

The Battle of Tanga, also known as the Battle of the Bees, was a failed attempt by the British to capture Tanga, the main port of German East Africa. The German leader Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck gained enormous fame. His combined force of Germans and (native) Askari troops numbered barely 1000, and routed a British-Indian force of more than 8000 men supported by naval artillery. The battle was several times interrupted while troops had to flee attacks by aggressive African bees, leading to the popular name.

Some more complete descriptions of the battle:
At wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tanga
At firstworldwar.com -- http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/tanga.htm

(About the design of this tournament.) The battle being known as "of the Bees" naturally suggested the Hive map, which I have otherwise not had a chance to use in the Great War series. Since I don't like the map myself, I wrote to a bunch of poeple who do like it, asking about popular game types and settings on Hive. Six answered and gave me advice..

Game Types
All 6 liked 1v1 on the map. One of the six likes 1v1 exclusively, the other 5 like multiplayer games also. Accordingly, 1v1 features prominently in the tournament. Four of the eight rounds are 1v1. (All the even-numbered rounds -- 2, 4, 6, 8 )

A few people like Team games on Hive, and Teams don't work well with autotournament, so I thought Poly would be a good substitute. Only a couple people supported the Poly idea, so only 1 of 8 rounds is Poly. (round 1)

Nobody supported Terminator at all, so no Terminator games are included. One person has played a fair bit of Assassin on the map and likes it, and two others said they have not played Assassin on the map but would like to try it, so I included one round (round 7) of Assassin.

A clear majority do like multiplayer Standard, but there was disagreement if 5 to 6 players is the ideal range, or 6 to 12. Accordingly, I put in two rounds of multiplayer Standard, one with 6 players per game and one with 12 players per game. (round 3 and 5).

Settings

Nobody supported Manual deployment, Unlimited or Adjacent forts. None of those are used in this tournament.

Almost everyone preferred fog, so all games in this tourney are foggy. Almost everyone opposed trench, but I did have a couple people mention trench in conjunction with Poly, so I did 2 trench games in round 1 (the Poly round.)

There was a lot of disagreement about whether No Spoils or Escalating is the way to go, with slightly more support for Escalating. There was very tepid support for Flat or Nuclear. Accordingly, I have overall used 23 Escalating games, 14 No Spoils, and only 1 game each of Flat, Nuclear, and Zombie.

I have used a random choice of Chained/Parachute throughout.

There is no freestyle or speed. All games have a 30-round limit.
-- DK

Givenchy april 1st to april 8th

The Battle of Givenchy was fought from December 18-22, 1914 The goal was to help ease the French, who were under heavy pressure at Arras, by attacking the Germans around Givenchy to keep them from reinforcing Arras.

Sharp fighting broke out on 19 December when Indian troops from the Lahore division launched an attack, successfully capturing two lines of German trenches. However their success was short-lived as a prompt and aggressive counter-attack pushed the Indian troops back out again. On the 20th the Germans counter attacked and actually broke through the lines and occupied part of Givenchy until two British reserve battalions were brought into action. After severe fighting and casualties on both sides the fighting finally died down at the end of the 22nd, where both sides found themselves back to their original lines.

20 Players start:

Round 1:
5 - 5 player terminator on France, esc, chained, fog, no trench, 20 rounds

12 players advance

Round 2:
3 - Poly (1 each slot) on WW2 Europe, esc, chained, fog, no trench, 20 rounds

6 Players Advance

Round 3:

5 - 6 player standard on Benelux, flat, chained, fog, trench, 20 rounds
-- MCS

Scarborough and Hartlepool april 8 to april 15

On 16 November, Rear Admiral Franz Hipper—commander of the German battle cruiser squadron—persuaded his superior, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, to ask the Kaiser's permission for a raid. U-17 was sent to investigate the area near Scarborough and Hartlepool for coastal defenses. The submarine reported little onshore defense, no mines within 12 miles of the shore and a steady stream of shipping.

Being an easy target to hit the Germans at approximately 8:10 on the morning of December 16, 1914, commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper, unleashed a bombardment of the North Sea English seaports of Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough.

The bombardment lasted until around 9:30 am the bombardment (of 1,150 shells) resulted in some 137 fatalities and 592 wounded. The two coastal defense batteries in Hartlepool (Heugh Battery and Lighthouse Battery) responded, firing 143 shells and damaging three German ships, including the heavy cruiser Blucher.

24 player start

Round 1:
5 - 1v1 on Germany, esc, chained, fog, trench, 20 rounds

12 players advance

Round 2:
3 - 1 on each of the following: Germany, British isles, England, flat, chained, fog, trench, 20 rounds

6 players advance

Round 3:
5 - 6 player assassin on British isles and England, flat, chained, fog, no trench, 20 rounds
-- MCS

Ardahan and Sarikamish april 20th to 27th

After the Bergmann Offensive, the Russians continued to hold onto Ottoman Territory. In an effort to fight back against the Russians, the Germans and the Ottoman 3rd Army took on a joint mission in the capture of Ardahan and Sarikamish.

In the Battle of Ardahan, the city was captured in an operation commanded by German Lt. Col. Stange. The mission of Stange Bey Detachment was to conduct highly visible operations to distract and pin Russian units. Stange Bey's initial mission was to operate in the Chorok region. The unit was materially assisted by the rebellious Adjars of the country, who seized the road. Later Enver modified the original plan toward supporting the Battle of Sarikamish by cutting the Russian support link to Sarikamish-Kars line.

In a few short days, the 3rd Army received orders to advance towards Kars. In the face of the 3rd Army's advance Governor Vorontsov planned to pull the Russian Caucasus Army back to Kars. Yudenich ignored Vorontsov's wishes to withdraw, and stayed to defend Sarikamish. Enver Pasha assumed the personal command of the 3rd Army and ordered it into battle against the Russian troops.

20 Player Tournament
Round 1: Capture of Ardahan
x7 10-player games
3 Europa, 4 Classic Cities: Istanbul. Terminator, Fog, Unlimited Reinforcement, 30 Round Limit
20 Advance

Round 2: Advance towards Kars
x4 5-player games
4 Rail Europe. All Classic Settings, Parachute Reinforcement, 30 Round Limit
4 Advance

Round 3: Yudenich's Defense of Sarikamish
x4 4-player games
4 Siege! 2 Assassin, 2 Terminator, Fog, 30 Round Limit
2 Advance, Score Resets

Round 4: Russian Victory at Sarikamish, Ottoman Troops were immobile
x5 4-player Poly Games
5 Soviet Union, Trench, Adjacent, 20 Round Limit
1 Winner
-- JK1

kolubara and rudnik ridge april 21st to 28th

Kolubara/Rudnik Ridge

After the failure of the second Austrian invasion of Serbia at the Drina on Sept. 17, operations were suspended for some time. The Austrian 2nd Army had been transferred to the Russian front, leaving Potiorek with only two Armies, the 5th and 6th. Both the Austrian and Serbian High Commands expected Potirek to lay low until more troops became available. Significantly, however, he was not forbidden to undertake a new offensive - it is just that nobody expected him to.

During the period of relative quiet, the Serbs made a strategic withdrawal from the line on the Dvina that they held on Sept. 17th, to a shorter and more defensible line along the River Kolubara, a small tributary of the Sava.



It was here that on November 5th Potiorek resumed the offensive, launching the Austrian 5th and 6th Armies against the Serbian 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Despite numeric superiority and a good defensive position, the Serbs were hamstrung by a desperate shortage of ammunition (especially artillery ammunition) and other supplies. Vigorous defensive actions had to depend on small arms fire and hand-to-hand combat.

By November 15th, the Serbian line was crumbling. An even deeper strategic withdrawal was required if the Serbian army was to avoid complete disintegration. In order to shorten the line, the radical step of abandoning the capital had to be taken. Austrian forces entered Belgrade on December 2nd.

With virtually the entire Austrian 5th Army in the Belgrade area mopping up, the 6th was left alone to face the the Serbs. Some ammunition finally arrived from Greece and France, and the Serbs were able to go on the offensive from their line along the Rudnik Ridge. King Peter I made a personal visit to the front lines, boosting morale. The Serbs attacked with vigour, and after five days of the bloodiest fighting thus far, the Austrians broke and began to withdraw. The Austrian 5th withdrew north across the Danube, while the 6th withdrew west across the Drina. The Serbs reclaimed their capitol on December 15th.

For the third time Potiorek had been defeated by the Serbs. Virtually all of Serbian territory was back in Serbian hands, and a demoralized Austrian army barely managed to retreat in good order. Potiorek was finally dismissed and replaced by Prince Eugene.

Serbia had lost 170,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, while Austria-Hungary had lost 215,000. To put it in perspective, the losses that each side suffered in this one campaign were greater than the combined losses of all the nations in all the battles of the First and Second Balkan Wars.

Note about nomenclature: A majority of writers refer to the entire campaign as the Battle of Kolubara. A minority refer to it all as the Battle of Rudnik Ridges. A few have split it up, with the Austrian offensive (from November 5th to December 2nd) being called Kolubara and the Serbian offensive (from December 3rd to 15th) being called Rudnik Ridge. This last system seems the best to me, clearly separating the two phases.


Serbian artillery in action once ammunition arrived.

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Tournament Phase 1: Potiorek's third attempt to conquer Serbia began on Nov 5th 1914, and at first went well

• 30 players begin, 24 advance
  5x Polymorphic games (randomly Poly dub and Poly trip) Flat Rate Foggy Parachute
  Map: Austro-Hungarian Empire (representing the Austrian ascendancy in the early going)

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Phase 2: Short on ammo and with huge casualty numbers, the Serbian army began to crumble

• 24 players begin, 18 advance
  5x 6-player Terminator games Sunny Chained Escalator
  Map: Random (representing the partial disintegration of the Serbian forces

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Phase 3: Serbs imported ammo from France through Greece over the thin Balkan rail network

• Scores Reset, 18 players begin, 12 advance
  5x 6-player Standard games Foggy Flat Rate Chained
  Maps: France, Ancient Greece, Balkan Peninsula, Rail Europe, Orient Express
  (these maps represent the tenuous supply line from France to Serbia via Greece)

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Phase 4: King Peter's visit to the front on Dec 3rd boosted Serbian morale and ignited the counteroffensive

• 12 players begin, 6 advance
  5x 6-player Terminator games Foggy No Spoils Unlimited
  Maps: 3x King's Court, 2x King's Court II (representing the King's visit and its powerful effect)

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Phase 5: By December 15th Potiorek was in full retreat and Serbia was intact

• 6 players
  5x 6-player Assassin games Sunny Escalating Chained
  Maps: 3x Balkan Peninsula, 2x Europe 1914 (representing a restoration of the status quo at the beginning of the war)

-- DK

falkland islands april 22nd to 29th

The Fall of the German East Asia Squadron Part II of II

The rest of the East Asia Squadron, after the surprising victory at Coronel, started heading home to Germany. 300 members of the crew were awarded Iron Crosses and Spee himself received the Iron Cross First Class. They continued raiding until they reached the Falklands. At this point, Spee decided to raid this base as well. This battle taught us 5 very important lessons:

Round 1: Listen to your junior officers.
It is said that almost the whole fleet opposed the raid on the Falklands, as the ships already had as much coal as they could carry.
32 start
3 quads games, No Spoils, Fog, Chained, 1982

Round 2: If you are outgunned, fire first.
When the Germans arrived, the entire British fleet was coaling! However, Spee regrouped and then attempted to flee.
32 advance
5 4 player games, Flat Rate, Fog, Parachute, Arms Race, FreeStyle

Round 3: The well-rested crew wins.
Sturdee (the British Admiral) after hearing of news of the German arrival, ordered his crew to breakfast while the ships were still re-coaling. This was in contrast to the Germans, who were not able to port for more than 24 hours in a few weeks (due to naval war rules).
18 advance
4 6 player feudal games, Escalating, Fog, Unlimited

Round 4: Greater firepower really does pay off.
The Invincible and Inflexible were much faster and more powerful than the German squadron, and victory was very one-sided.
16 advance into bracket
5 poly trips Flat Rate, Unlimited, Sunny, Pearl Harbor

Round 5: Sometimes in war, luck is enough.
Sturdee's entire mission was to track down and eliminate Spee's squadron. Lucky for him, they came right to him.
2 players advance
1 2 player game, Flat Rate, Unlimited, Sunny, Pearl Harbor

Even though there was substantial success, and a great legend formed with German East Asia Squadron, it all eventually perished. In that final battle, nearly 2000 were killed and 200 captured. 2 ships escaped, one of which carried many crew members who eventually made it home. The other was eventually scuttled. With that, the naval war had mostly ended in the Pacific and Atlantic, until the U-boat fleets started booming.
-- DY

battle of bolimov april 23rd to 30th

Battle of Bolimów


http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q56 ... uuulcz.jpg

Battle of Bolimow Auto Tourney (Freemium Friendly!)
The Battle of Bolimow is not one of those famous battles that everyone knows the name. However, it did turn out to be a very important battle in the history of warfare.

Near the end of January 1915, the German Ninth Army under General Mackensen, was located southwest of Warsaw, Poland near the village of Bolimów. The Russian Second Army under Smirnov was positioned south of Warsaw, waiting for the Germans to make their move.

Strategically, there is very little that would make Bolimów an important target. There is however, a rail line situated close-by, which during WWI became a strategic necessity in order to reinforce your position. The Germans needed the Russians to believe that the rail line was an important objective. You see, in the larger strategy, the Germans were trying to draw the Russian army away from East Prussia. The Germans wanted to launch a large offensive there, and wisely wanted less resistance. If the Germans could secure the rail line, then head into Warsaw, it would be bad for the Russians.

On 31 January 1915, the Germans opened an artillery barrage of the Russian lines. The only thing different about that particular artillery barrage was that the Germans, for the first time in the history of warfare, used artillery shells that contained chemical agents. The shells were equipped with an explosive that would dissipate the chemical agents across the battlefield, incapacitating the enemy. The Germans fired some 18,000 chemical artillery shells at the Russian lines to soften them up before their infantry assault. As it happened, there were two things working against the Germans that day. First, the wind was blowing away from the Russian lines, toward the German line, so the chemical attack did not affect the Russians. Secondly, the wintery-January temperatures actually prevented the chemicals from dispersing and were totally ineffective.

Once the Germans realized this, they called off their offensive, which the Russians decided to take advantage of. They counter-attacked, and lost heavy casualties as more German artillery rained down on them. Some 40,000 Russian casualties, compared to 20,000 German casualties meant that in the eyes of the Germans they had won the day. More importantly, they achieved their objective of drawing Russian troops away from Prussia, so it was an operational success.

Though the employment and failure of their use of chemical weapons placed a huge blemish on the German Army that day, things would soon change for them as they (and the Allies) got better and better at using chemical weapons shortly after the Battle of Bolimow.

Entry Membership: Open to all; Freemium Friendly
It is short, and some popular maps to entice more freemiums to participate.
16 Players; Seeded by Score
Rounds: 4
Game load: 1 game; 4 total
Draw: Seeded by Score
Round Details:
Round 1: 16 Start, Seeded by score, 1 Game, 8 Move on.
The first important thing to note about this battle is that it brought about a change in warfare, not just for the battle, or the operation, but for warfare in general from that moment on. The rest of WWI would see countless uses of chemical weapons. For that reason I chose Europe 1914 map. Also, the nuclear and fog setting lend to the actual battle events of chemical weapon usage.
Games: 2 players, Standard, Automatic, Sequential, Nuclear, Chained, Fog, 20 Rounds, 24 hours.
Map: Europe 1914.

Round 2: 8 Start, Seeded by score, 4 move on.
The second most important thing about this battle is that the railway created a perfect ruse for the Germans to deceive the Russians. The railway was important, but not the main objective. For that reason, I chose the Rail Europe map. Again, keeping with the nuclear setting, but making it sunny since it was not the main objective.
Games: 2 players, Standard, Automatic, Sequential, Nuclear, Chained, Sunny, 20 Rounds, 24 hours.
Map: Rail Europe.

Round 3: 4 Start, Seeded by score, 2 move on.
The next most important fact regarding this battle was that the freezing temperatures had a devastating effect on the gas, rendering it innocuous. To represent the bitter cold, and the unknowable mystery of what might happen when using this new weapon, I chose the Age of Realms 2: Magic map. Again, the nuclear, fog, and trench settings, really capture the battle circumstances.
Games: 2 players, Standard, Automatic, Sequential, Nuclear, Chained, Fog, Trench, 20 Rounds, 24 hours.
Map: Age Of Realms 2: Magic.

Round 4: 2 Players, 1 Winner.
Lastly, the end of the battle deteriorated into the old stand-by tactics that we see throughout WWI. Therefore, the trench warfare map makes the most sense, keeping with the nuclear and fog settings, but changing the reinforcements to parachute to help with gameplay.
Game: 2 players, Standard, Automatic, Sequential, Nuclear, Parachute, Fog, 20 Rounds, 24 hours.
Map: Trench Warfare

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bolim%C3%B3w
https://archeopressja.wordpress.com/roa ... f-history/
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/bolimov.htm
http://www.h100.tv/article/the-battle-of-bolimov
map source: http://www.milex.de/forum/suche.php?page=12
-- RE00

anzac day april 24th to may 1st

ANZAC DAY

Some background from the wikipedia entry:

Anzac Day /ˈænzæk/ is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served."[1][2] Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, and Tonga, and previously also as a national holiday in Papua New Guinea and Samoa.[3][4] It is unofficially recognized and observed in Newfoundland, as they were an independent dominion and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was the only North American unit to fight at Gallipoli.

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first campaign that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand,[5] a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed to achieve its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking the Ottoman Empire out of the war, the actions of the Australian and New Zealand troops during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This has shaped the way their citizens have viewed both their past and their understanding of the present

With the coming of the Second World War, Anzac Day became a day on which to commemorate the lives of Australians and New Zealanders lost in that war as well and in subsequent years. The meaning of the day has been further broadened to include those killed in all the military operations in which the countries have been involved.

All of the above are from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Day

In tournament terms, we will celebrate ANZAC Day with the following maps:
Australia (representing Australia)
New Zealand (representing New Zealand)
Oceania (representing Australia and New Zealand and their dependencies and/or former dependencies the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn, and Tonga)
WWI Gallipoli (representing the landings at Gallipoli)
WWI Ottoman (representing the main adversary at Gallipoli)
Golfe du Saint-Laurent (respresenting Newfoundland, which also celebrates ANZAC day in honour of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment)
WWII Australia (representing the expansion of the theme of ANZAC day beyond WW I to WW II and Korea)

All seven maps will be played in each phase of the tournament.

Phase 1: Polymorphic Dubs, No Spoils Foggy Parachute
Phase 2: 6-player Terminator, Sunny Escalating Unlimited
Phase 3: 1v1, random spoils, random forts, random fog and trench
Phase 4: 8-player Standard, Foggy Flat Rate trench

(Anzac Day is actually April 25th, but it is celebrated mainly by Anzacs, and with the march of the time zones it is already April 25th for them when it is still April 24th for most of us, so we're launching the tourney at a time that will make it feel right for them)
-- DK

Qurna april 25th to may 2nd

Qurna
The battle of Qurna was a relatively small encounter where Ottoman troops retreating from their defeat at Basra attempted to hold the line and prevent further British expansion. The British, after three attempts, succeeded in forcing the Ottomans troops to surrender, thereby guaranteeing a safe front line for their bridgehead at Basra and the Abadan oil fields.
Fuller account: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Qurna

Click image to enlarge.

"Meso-WW1-2" by created by the Department of Military Art and Engineering, at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). - available on the West Point web site at:http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/ ... p%2046.htmOriginally uploaded to EN Wikipedia by Cglassey 28 April 2006. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... -WW1-2.jpg

This will be a 16-player elimination bracket, with each round being a simple best-of-seven 1v1 games.

In each round of the tournament, you will play seven maps:
Eastern Hemisphere (representing the British Empire)
Indian Empire (representing the approximately 2/3 of the British Imperial troops who were from India)
Battle for Iraq! (representing Basra and the Abadan oil fields that motivated this operation)
Middle East (representing the regional geography)
Gilgamesh (representing the awesome importance of the Tigris River)
WW I Ottoman (representing the Ottoman Empire)
Random (representing the unpredictabilities of war)

Round 1: The British move up the Tigris, accompanied by gunboats
default settings except nuclear spoils and fog (representing the offsetting advantage given the British by their naval artillery and the Ottomans by their knowlege of the topography)

Round 2: The Ottomans are entrenched at Qurna
default settings except no spoils and trench (representing the entrenchment of the Ottomans)

Round 3: The Norfolk Regiment makes an amphibious landing behind the Ottoman lines and traps the defenders
default settings except parachute (representing the advantage given by the amphibious deployment)

Round 4: After a negotiation, the Ottomans surrender
default settings except no forts (representing the lack of reinforcement)
-- DK

dogger bank april 26th to may 3rd

Battle of Dogger Bank, 24th January, 1915

This battle started as a German raid in the North Sea at Dogger Bank. Due to some intercepted radio contact, the far greater British Navy was waiting for them. Even though the battle was nominally a British victory, both sides' commanders were subsequently replaced.

All rounds 6-player Terminator Escalating, Sunny, Chained
Round 1: Why the British Won
The Germans lost the Blucher, an armored cruiser based on the designs for the Invincible. This was the last armored cruiser built by the German Empire. The British only had one ship with serious damage, the Lion which was drydocked for 4 months afterwards.
36 start, No eliminations
Play 5 games on Eastern Hemisphere

Round 2: Why the British Lost
Due to an electric failure, the British had to communicate with flags. The order to chase down the remaining Germans after the Blucher was disabled was given by 2 flags "Course NE" (the direction of the Blucher, and "engage". This was misconstrued as an order to finish off the lone German.
Play 5 games on 13 Colonies

Round 3: Why The Germans Lost
After this battle and Heligoland Bight, it was clear to the Germans that even raiding in the North Sea would not work. The Royal Navy's might had been proven time and time again through this war. Many of the expensive ships which the Germans operated were stuck in harbor throughout the war, hiding behind minefields.
Play 5 games on WW II Europe

Round 4: Why the Germans Won
The losses could have been much worse. It is entirely conceivable that the entire raiding/scouting fleet was destroyed. The subsequent Kaiser's orders to cease all on-water engagements focused the German navy on the U-boats, which made the navy much stronger.
Play 5 games on Holy Roman Empire

The maps are chosen to represent high and low points in British and German history.
-- DY

raid on the suez may 3rd to 10th

Raid on the Suez

Egypt was in an odd position. Once a mighty imperial power itself, it had declined over the millennia, and by the dawn of the 20th century it was a dependency. Furthermore, it wasn't even a straightforward dependency. Legally, it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Economically, it was dependent on Britain and France, and militarily it was both tributary to the Ottoman Turks and occupied and administered by the British. Culturally, there was a strong desire for independence. This very peculiar set of divided loyalties was barely stable until 1914, but with the outbreak of war it could not be sustained any longer. The Ottomans needed to restore their authority in the area, while the British couldn't give up the Suez canal, crucial to the maintenance of their overseas territories and to their domestic trade.

In December of 1914, the British engineered the overthrow of Egypt's Khedive (hereditary ruler) Abbas Hilmi, who was opposed to the British occupation. They replaced him with the more-tractable Hussein Kamel and formally declared a Protectorate over Egypt.

The Ottoman 4th Army, nominally led by the Turk Djemal Pasha, but largely controlled by its German Chief of Staff, Kress von Kressenstein, prepared an attack. They had at their disposal about 25,000 troops, only a third of what the British had in Egypt, and did not expect to be able to capture and hold Egypt. What Djemal Pasha hoped to accomplish was to cross the Suez, fan out behind the British lines, and inspire Arabs to rise up and revolt against the British. What von Kressenstein hoped to accomplish was a little less ambitious. He hoped to sink enough ships in the Suez canal to make the canal useless for the duration of the war, and thus to seriously impair the British and Frech commercial empires.

Both the Turkish and British forces were typically imperial in nature. Only one fifth of the Turkish force was composed of Turks. The rest was mainly Arabs from Syria, as well as other ethnic groups from Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. Only one fifth of the British force was composed of troops from Britain. More than half were from India, along with a sizeable ANZAC contingent and a small regiment of local Bedouins.

With the Sinai having few roads, only one railroad, and the sea passage blocked by the British Navy, Pasha and von Kressenstein decided to make the difficult overland crossing, using old caravan routes and Bedouin camel tracks. To bring an army of 25,000 men across this difficult terrain, carrying everything including their own water on horse-drawn and camel-drawn wagons, was a feat in itself, comparable to the marches of ancient armies in the same region.

On February 3rd Ottoman Army reached the Suez Canal, built pontoon bridges, and forced its way across. They had some very remarkable achievements to be proud of: having made the Sinai crossing, achieving tactical surprise at the Canal, bridging it despite the British artillery, and comporting themselves generally quite well. Nonetheless, they were doomed. The British had 3-1 numerical superiority, a prepared defensive position, technological superiority, ample supply, and basically everything needed for a decisive victory. The heated part of the battle lasted barely 10 hours. By the end of the day the British had won. The Ottomans were retreating rapidly, and British gunboats moved in to blow up their pontoon bridges.

For more information:
on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_the_Suez_Canal
on kaiserscross: http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/279622.html
on firstworldwar dot com: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/suez.htm
on 1914-18 dot net: http://www.1914-1918.net/suez.htm

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Round 1: Egypt had once been a mighty Empire itself.

• Poly (2), No Spoils, Parachute, Fog
  1 game each on the four Egypt maps
  24 start, 16 advance

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Round 2: Forces from the battle came from many places around the Ottoman and British Empires

• 8-player Terminator, default settings
  1 game each on Eastern Hemisphere, WW I Ottoman, Indian Empire, New Zealand, Middle East, Ancient Israel
  16 start, 6 advance

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Round 3: In the end, it was a decisive and one-sided British victory. Sort of like Trafalgar.

• Scores reset
  6-player Standard, Flat Rate, Fog and Trench
  5 games on the Trafalgar map

-- DK

Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes may 5th to 12th

The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, also known as the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915. The offensive was intended to advance beyond the Vistula River and perhaps knock Russia out of the war. German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn strongly believed that the war was going to be won on the Western Front and was hesitant to lend support to Paul von Hindenburg, commander of the Eastern Front. However Falkenhayn did eventually sanction Hindenburg's planned offensive. Hindenburg would personally lead the northern offensive in the area of the Masurian Lakes. General Alexander von Linsingen would lead an attack against the Russians in the Carpathians aimed at Lemberg, and further south General Borojevic von Bojna would attempt to relieve the besieged fortress at Przemysl.


12 Player Autotournament
Round 1: Tough winter to fight through

12x 12-player Games, Random Map, Escalating, 30 Round Limit, All other Classic

2 Advance

Round 2: Fought at the Great Masurian Lakes [SCORE RESET]

4x Poly (3 Position), 2 Flat Rate 2 Escalating, 30 Round Limit, Great Lakes

1 Winner
-- JK1

initial Dardanelles bombardment may 7th to 14th

Initial Dardanelles Bombardment
The narrow passageway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean has always been of enormous strategic importance. It was fought over by the Hittites, the Trojans, Scythians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusader kings, the Venetians, the Turks, the Bulgars, the Ukrainians, the Russians, the British, and the French.

At the outset of World War I, the Ottoman Turks were neutral and being courted by all sides. The Germans, however, were far more active in the courtship than any other major power, and the Turks soon accepted major German gifts of money, supplies, military advisors, military technology, troops, and ships. The story of how a German battlecruiser sailed across the Mediterranean despite allied attempts to intercept her, and joined the Turkish fleet, has previously been told in our tournament the Escape of the Goeben which we ran at the end of October. The further story in how the captain of the Goeben took over running the Turkish fleet and tricked the Ottomans into going to war against Russia has been told in our tournament the Black Sea Raid which we ran at the end of January.

On November 3rd, 1914, without waiting for an official declaration of war by Britain or France, the Anglo-French squadron shadowing the Goeben opened fire on the Turkish fort at Sedd el Bahr. A lucky hit ignited the ammunition magasine, ripping the fort apart, destroying ten heavy guns and killing 150 men. The large explosion was clearly visible from the Allied ships. A very lucky fluke, the Sedd el Bahr detonation may have contributed to an overoptimistic view of what naval bombardment of the Turkish forts could accomplish.

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty at the time, was very enthusiastic about a naval assault on the Dardanelles. His admirals did not share his enthusiasm. Most of the admirals felt an assault on the Dardanelles could not succeed without landing a sizeable force. The British and French were heavily engaged one the Western Front, and extra troops were hard to find. Churchill insisted, and Sea Lord John Fisher and Sir Sackville Carden, commander of British forces in the Mediterranean, strenously disagreed, but they followed orders and prepared a plan of attack.

The attack began on February 19th. Very few sources mention it, but that is the anniversary of the 1807 British victory at the Dardanelles, when Admiral Duckworth demolished a Turkish fleet guarding the straits. Coincidence? Perhaps, but it seems likely to me that Churchill, who was a keen student of history and always discussed historical parallels with current operations, chose that date because it was a celebratory anniversary.

70 vessels participated in the attack, including one new Dreadnought (the Queen Elizabeth), three new battlecruisers, and sixteen old pre-dreadnought battleships. The fortresses at Kum Kale and Cape Hellas were attacked, but no grand explosions were observed. There was actually significant damage to the forts on the shore, but Turkish mobile batteries on the heights were able to pick up the slack and continue fighting back against the Allied fleet when the guns in the forts went silent. On November 3rd, the Allies overestimated how much damage they were doing; on February 19th, they underestimated.

The bombardment was to resume on February 20th, but bad weather forced a postponement. The second bombardment took place, after several weather delays, on February 25th. On that day, even more damage was done to the forts, and marines shore parties were landed to blow up the forts that the Turks abandoned. As before, however, the guns on the heights continued to be effective when the shore guns did not. Several allied ships were damaged, and with no hope of silencing the guns on the heights the operation was called off.

Historical map of the bombardment, showing the sweep of the Turkish guns:

Click image to enlarge.

wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_oper ... s_Campaign
firstworldwar.com article: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/da ... _feb15.htm
a group of interesting articles: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sh ... ign-begins

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Tournament round 1: The Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles have been fought over since ancient times.
6-player Sunny escalating games, one each on Gilgamesh, Alexander's Empire, Pelo War, Ancient Greece, and Imperium Romanum.
24 start, 20 advance

Round 2: Germany outfoxed Britain and Russia, and brought the Ottomans into the war on the Central Powers' side.
5-player Flat Rate Foggy Trench games, one each on Unification Germany, Transsib1914, WWI Ottoman, British Isles, and Europe 1914.
20 start, 12 advance

Round 3: A preliminary bombardment on Nov 3rd scored a lucky hit and created a false sense of optimism.
Five 1v1 Nuclear games on WWI Gallipoli, random sun and fog
12 start, 7 advance

Round 4: February 19th was the anniversary of the destruction of the Turkish fleet by the British in 1807.
Five 7-player Terminator games on Napoleonic War map, one each of no spoils, escalating, flat, nuclear, and zombie
7 start, 4 advance

Score resets
Round 5: The first bombardment damaged some forts, but the Turkish guns on the heights could not be destroyed.
Four Poly-2 games on WWI Gallipoli, foggy, randomly escalating and flat, one each of Chained, Parachute, Unlimited, and No Forts
4 start, 2 advance

Score resets
Round 6: A second bombardment on February 25th did more damage, but still failed to silence the guns.
Six Poly-3 and Poly-4 games on WWI Gallipoli, No Spoils and Fog
-- DK

second siege of przemysl may 12th to 19th

After the failure of the first siege, the Russians resumed on Nov 9th. This time the situation was much more in their favour. The Austrian army had still not recoverd from the disaster of Galicia, and now the German army was also reeling back after the defeat at Lodz. Very little help was available for Przemyśl. A relief force was sent, but failed to reach the city. The Russian artillery never stopped, and in addition to combat casualties there were many losses to disease, starvation, and frostbite. On March 22nd the garrison capitulated.

Account of the siege on wikipedia

Reading about Przemyśl is very much like reading about the debacle at Stalingrad, which is why the Stalingrad map has been chosen to represent this battle. Nuclear spoils represent the constant losses to Russian artillery. No forts represent the failure of the relief force to reach the garrison. Observation was somewhat unreliable, but not entirely, so I have chosen a mixture of sun and fog.

The tournament is a straightforward elimination bracket straight out of Dullsville, so nobody will be offended by use of tiebreaking rules. Most of the rounds are Poly, to reduce the impact of the fairly strong first-turn advantage.

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Simple elimination bracket. 32 players start, 31 die.

All rounds feature Nuclear spoils and No Reinforcements.

Round one, 1 x Poly(4) game, sunny
Round two, 3 x Poly(2) games, all foggy
Round three, 5 x 1v1 Standard games, random sun and fog
Round four, 7 x Poly(3) games, alternating sun and fog
Round five, 9 x Poly(4) games, random sun and fog

-- DK

angola may 16th to may 23rd

Angola Campaign

One of the characteristics of a World War is that many nations, which are not declared war combatants, can still battle each other, as a periphery of the war. One of those cases is evident with the German Campaign in Angola. Between October 1914 and July 1915, the Germans and Portuguese clashed in Portuguese Angola, even though Germany and Portugal were not at war until March 1916!

To represent this global war phenomenon, the first round will be truly global battles. Just try and stay neutral in the first rounds... it will prove impossible.
24 Start
Round 1: 4 games Terminator, [World 2.1, Classic, Dark Continent, Eastern Hemisphere] , 8 Players, Escalating, Chained, Sunny
Round 2: 4 games Terminator, [World 2.1, Classic, Dark Continent, Eastern Hemisphere], 8 Players, Escalating, Chained, Foggy
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There were a few skirmishes, all held on the border between modern Angola and Namibia. The people who live in this border area are the Ovambo. Many critics of the borders of modern Africa can point to the Ovambo as a flaw in the current system, since even though they are mostly in Namibia, the areas in which these battles took place are also Ovambo areas. From a ethnic perspective, it made sense for them to be part of one colony. This started me thinking about the merits of ethnic-based borders. For this rounds only maps with a strong ethnic component were considered.
24 Advance
Round 3: 6 games Terminator, [All Your Base are Belong To Us, Battle For Iraq, Dawn of Ages, First Nations Americas, Rorke's Drift, Supermax: Prison Riot], 6 players, Escalating, Chained (Sunny, Foggy)
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Germany conquered a border town, lost it and then completely surrendered (in South-West Africa) all before the war began. They did continue to supply the local Ovambos with arms to resist occupation. This is a typical type of operation in almost every civil war in every period of humanity.
24 advance
Round 4: 6 games Terminator, [Alexander's Empire, American Civil War, Unification Germany, Unification Italy, Holy Roman Empire, Texan Wars], 6 players (Flat Rate, No Spoils), Chained, (Sunny, Foggy)
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Looking at this region of Africa illustrates one of the key arguments in ecological biology: pastoralism versus ranching. The pastoralists claim that this is the only truly sustainable form of animal agriculture, while the ranchers claim it does damage to the environment since nobody cares about it (they just move on to destroy the next area). Ranchers claim that is the only way to feed the growing world population, pastoralists claim there is no sustainable way to feed the growing world population. You probably have an opinion on this issue already, but the science isn't as clear as either side would like. Both the Portuguese (and Germans if they would have stayed longer) tried to force ranching on the locals.
To settle the top 4, some of the most famous disagreements in Western history will be simulated.
Note: No Score Reset (this isn't a bracket, just a way to clear up ties at the top)
4 advance
Round 5: 3 games, [Duck and Cover, US Senate, Solar System] (random spoils, reinforcements, and special gameplay rules)

2 advance
Round 6: 3 games, [Extreme Global Warming, Third Crusade(played poly3), Prohibition Chicago] (random spoils, reinforcements, and special gameplay rules)



Try Ranchin' me, buddy!


See what happens when I take my ray out to pasture?

-- DY

neuve-chapelle may 18th to 25th

Indian Troops Charging German Positions Source: wikipedia. Original source: Official British Military photograph. First published in "The Great War" Ed. H.W. Wilson, 1916

After a depressing winter of trench warfare, the Allies were anxious to develop an offensive on the Western Front and begin the process of ejecting the Germans from France. Originally the plan called for a joint offensive by both the British and the French, centred on the point where their lines met in Artois. However, due to lack of reserves, the French half of the offensive was cancelled and this became a purely British operation.

At first everything went well. The British used aerial photography to create detailed maps of the German lines and circulate them among their troops. A stupendous artillery barrage destroyed the German front line. The British and Indian forces surged forward, and fought much harder than either their German enemy or their French allies had expected them to. The town of Neuve-Chapelle was captured on the first day, and the German lines were broken.

Things started to go sour after that. Despite the detailed maps, the labyrinth of trenches was incredibly confusing; a couple battalions in key places made wrong turns and ran into German strongpoints that hadn't been bombarded. The unreliable and artillery-damaged phone network failed at key moments. Attempts to communicate using older methods like runners didn't do much better, again impacted by the bewildering terrain. The artillery barrage on Day 1 had used 30% of the British Army's entire ammunition reserve (one historian calculated that in the first 35 minutes the artillery used as much ammunition as the British had expended in the entire Boer War.) This lavish expenditure of ammo had devastated the German lines and made the gains of the first day possible, but it could not be maintained, and by Day 3 when German reserves arrived, many British division had nothing left to shoot at them.

By Day 3 the optimistic assessment based on Day 1 results was drying up. Neuve-Chapelle and a small strip around it remained in British hands, but most of the line was restored to German control.

Post-war assessments vary. Many historians say that the small gains achieved are about as much as anyone could expect under the circumstances, and count it as a British victory, but others call it just a bloody and expensive failure.

articles:
Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Neuve_Chapelle
1914-1918.net -- http://www.1914-1918.net/bat9.htm
FirstWorldWar.com -- http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/neuvechapelle.htm

24 players begin. Three preliminary rounds will test your worthiness to be one of the top 8 and enter the main part of the battle.

Preliminary rounds

Rounds 1 to 3

• 7 X France 2.1 8-player Standard flat rate fog
• 4 X France 4-player Standard Manual Foggy Adjacent
• 3 X 3-player Assassin nuclear foggy on [Trench Warfare, Europe1914, Benelux]

Bracket phase (scores reset every round):

Rounds 4 to 6

• "What Went Right"
  Balloons on Steamworks represent aerial photography, South Africa 1885 represents the British Army's expenditure of ammo, Conquer 4 represents the mathematical meticulousness of the plan, Indian Empire and British Isles represent the British and Indian troops.
  Poly Dubs No Spoils Fog Adjacent on [1 each of Steamworks, South Africa 1885, Conquer 4, Indian Empire, British Isles]
• "What Went Wrong"
  Rail map represents the arrival of German reinforcements, Labyrinth represents the confusion of the British troops in the maze of trenches, Trench Warfare represents the restoration of the status quo.
  Poly Quads default settings on [1 each of Trench Warfare, Labyrinth, Rail Europe]
• "Finale"
  (11 of the 12 maps used thus far [excluding Benelux, and playing Trench Warfare just once not twice.])
  Eleven 1v1 random spoils, random fog, random trench on 11 maps.

-- T2K, DK
(Preliminary design by takman2k, final tweaking by Dukasaur)

attempt to force the narrows may 20th to 27th

Attempt to Force the Narrows

Click image to enlarge.

"HMS Irresistible abandoned 18 March 1915" by Royal Navy - Library of Congress. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... h_1915.jpg

Most naval officers knew that it was futile to try to take control of the Dardanelles through sea power alone, and that control of the land would be required. However, with heavy commitments on the Western Front, neither Britain nor France had many troops to spare, and both the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, who made British naval policy, and Minister of Marine Jean Augagneur, who made French naval policy, were determined that their respective Navy should win the Dardanelles without asking their Army for help.

Whether the "Navy only" approach was stimulated by genuine desire to avoid putting strain on the Western Front, or just hubris, is a matter for coffee-shop debate. All we can say with certainty is that their plan was a total disaster. Three British and two French warships were lost in the Turkish minefields, along with auxilliary craft, and little damage was done. The debacle caused great political fallout at home; before the year was out both Augagneur and Churchill, along with several admirals, had been removed from their posts (other factors were at play as well, but the disaster in the Narrows was the largest element). Soon the Army would be landing on the Gallipoli peninsula and facing its own horrendous debacle, but this episode is pure Navy.

Article: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/da ... _mar15.htm

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In this tournament, rather than use the Gallipoli map (which focuses on the land-based attempt to control the Dardanelles) I have opted to use Conquer Club's three great naval battle maps: Battle of Actium, Trafalgar, and Spanish Armada. All games are 5-player Standard. Each of the five preliminary rounds is named after one of the five Allied warships lost and has settings suggested by the name of that warship. In the final, the top five players will play 9 games in three waves, named after Churchill, Augagneur, and Turkish War Minister Cevat Çobanlı.

25 players start

Round 1: Irresistible (sunny nuclear)

Round 2: Inflexible (flat rate no forts)

Round 3: Ocean (sunny and unlimited)

Round 4: Bouvet (foggy parachute)

Round 5: Gaulois (flat rate trench)

Top 5 advance, scores reset

Round 6: Winston Churchill (default settings)

Round 7: Jean Augagneur (flat rate parachute trench)

Round 8: Cevat Cobanli (no spoils fog)

-- DK

togoland campaign may 24th to 31st

Togoland campaign(august 1914)

Acting governor Hans-Georg von Döring could not believe his ears. In accordance to the Congo Act he had sought neutrality accross the Congo Basin. After all, colonialists from all empires had a common goal. To control local populations and keep interdependent economies running. That was of course, until a few moments ago. British officer Captain Barker and the District commisioner from Keta had demanded the surrender of Togoland, one of the most developed colonies in Africa, under threat of attack. They had a mere 24 hours to prepare.

the british and the french make an unopposed attack on Togoland. The germans surrendered Tomé and with it modern rail lines:
Random draw, 3 games, 21 move on, 3 players, standard, auto, escalating, chained, no fog, no trench, map: Rails Africa, round limit 30

Border skirmish at the battle of Bafilo in North-eastern Togoland:
Random draw, 5 games, 15 move on, 3 players, standard, auto, escalating, chained, no fog, no trench, map: Dark Continent, round limit 30

The germans send raiding parties south of Kamina to slow the allied advance. Communications were difficult:
Random draw, 3 games, 10 move on, 3 players, standard, auto, flat rate, chained, no fog, trench, map: Rails Africa, Dark continent, Woodboro, round limit 30,

After having lost a quarter of their troops in a railway raid, the germans defend their entrenched position in the Battle of Chra(august 22 1914):
Random draw, 10 games, 6 move on, 10 players, standard, auto, escalating, chained, no fog, trench, map: Rorke's Drift, round limit 30

The germans make haste to withdraw, destroy all wireless communication and electrical equipment on the plateau to finally surrender:
Random draw, 6 game, 6 players, standard, auto, nuclear, chained, fog, no trench, map: Woodboro, round limit 30

-- W

shaiba may 25th to june 1st

Click image to enlarge.

Battle of Shaiba
The sun glimmered on the horizon unhesitatingly drawing down the skies. Lieutenant Colonel Sûleyman Askerî trodded on. The imminent split attack on the Qurna-Basra-Shaiba line grazed his thoughts. They had crossed into british mesopotamia in want of steady supplies and goods. If the Mesopotamian campaign was to succeed, control over the rivers and the fertile land would be crucial. He had brought 18.000 men with him, 4000 regulars and 14.000 arabs and kurds. In his mind he had no doubt they would prevail. The unholy demons would eventually subside against the impending force of Allah's great Ottoman army. Shaiba was his objectif. Command needed it cut off from Basra and the more than 6.000 British and Indian soldiers on their knees. Tomorrow, on april 11 his bombardment was scheduled to commence simultaneous to Qurna. Bless Allah and may he bestow his glory upon us.

players: 24
entry: premium

Setting up for a split attack on the Qurna-Basra-Shaiba line:
Random draw, 3 games, 24 move on, games: 2 players, poly triple, auto, no spoils, unlimited, fog, trench, map: Rails Asia

Initial bombardments on Shaiba:
Random draw, 3 games, 24 move on, games: 2 players, standard, auto, nuclear, chained, no fog, no trench, map: Battle of Iraq!

Sneak attack through barbed wires:
Random draw, 3 games, 20 move on, games: 2 players, standard, auto, chained, no spoils, fog, trench, map: Battle of Gazala

General Melis counter-attacks the next day:
Random draw, 3 games, 15 move on, games: 2 players, standard, auto, chained, no fog, no trench, map: Battle of Gazala

Scramble back to safety and retreat to Barjisiyeh Wood:
Random draw, 5 games, 10 move on, games: 5 players, standard, auto, flat rate, no reinforcements, fog, no trench, map: Battle of Iraq!

The british scour the woods and launch a last bayonet charge to disperse and capture the ottomans:
Random draw, 7 games, games: 10 players, terminator, auto, (no spoils, esc, flat, nuclear) unlimited, no fog, no trench, map: Clandemonium

-- W

second ypres may 28th to june 4th

Second Ypres

There are five notable things about the Second Battle of Ypres:

1. As the German strategy for 1915 emphasized the Eastern Front, Ypres was the only major effort the Germans made on the Western Front in the entire calendar year.
2. (As all Canadians learn in school) this was the first battle where the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought under its own commanders, instead of as a mere auxilliary to the British Expeditionary Force. Thus it was a milestone in the creation of Canada as a distinct nation and not just a colony.
3. With 1 and 2 putting Canada and Germany on a collision course, Second Ypres marked the first time that a former colony defeated a European power on European turf.
4. The initial German attack marked the first major success for poison gas, almost annihilating two French colonial division. Poison gas had already been used (for instance, as we noted, during the Battle of Bolimov) but until Ypres it had mainly been a failure.
5. Second Ypres was where Lt. Col. John McRae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields", the best-known and most quoted poem of the Great War.

I thought of several ways of combining the above facts in one tournament, but after days of pondering, I've decided that "In Flanders Fields" deserves its own tournament. This will happen on December 8th, which will be the 100th anniversary of the poem's publication. This tournament, therefore, will ignore the poem and just follow the battle itself.

Sometimes, I have very little to add to what has already published, and this is one of those occasions. I very strongly suggest that you follow the link below, and read a very clear and coherent account of the battle on firstworldwar dot com:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ypres2.htm

For comparison, I also offer the wikepedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Ypres

This will be an all-polymorphic, straighforward bracket tournament. Spoils throughout will alternate randomly between nuclear and zombie -- nuclear to mark the tremendous devastation caused by the gas attacks, and zombie to represent the stench of death in its wake. Fog in all phases will represent the great confusion. Trench will be applied randomly -- although this battle was fought in the trenches, it was actually quite fluid and rapidly-changing, and at times not very typical of trench warfare.

Phase 1: Ypres was Germany's only major 1915 offensive in the West.
3 games on Unification Germany, Poly Dubs

Phase 2: The first gas attack fell upon troops from Algeria and other French African colonies.
3 games, 1 each on Eastern Hemisphere, Dark Continent, and France, Poly Trips

Phase 3: British and Canadian troops were rushed into the gap.
5 games, 1 each on England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Canada, Poly Dubs

Phase 4: The heroics of the Canadians established their reputation as a force to be reckoned with.
7 games, 1 each on Montreal, Vancouver, Golfe de St. Laurent, Northwest Passage, Great Lakes, First Nations North America, and North America, Poly Quads

-- DK

battles of Krithia May 31st to June 7th

The Battles at Krithia (Apr 28, May 6-8, Jun 4, 1915)

24 players start

The French and British were to land in unison on the beaches at the southernmost tip of Gallipoli. The French were to hold a front, while the British performed a pinwheel rotation around the front, sweeping up victory.

Round 1: April 25
Three beaches were taken by the British. On two beaches, heavy casualties were suffered. However, a third beach was abandoned (and the next 2 objectives). Unfortunately, the soldiers had no orders to advance or to fortify, so they just evacuated the beach. The British have a very distinct method of what to do with no orders given. It is the phrase: "if it moves, salute it, if it doesn't move, paint it white". The Russians have a much more useful variation which translates to: "dig a trench from here to evening". Trench digging is generally more useful than painting things white when on contested territory.

Some similar looking territory is found in San Marino.
5 games, 4 player Terminator, San Marino, Trench, Flat Rate, Adjacent, Fog

Round 2: April 28
Operation Pinwheel (not the real name) was doomed to failure. For one thing, the terrain isn't an even chessboard. Some troops had to scale ravines and mountains, while others faced heavy resistance. Instead of one smooth, advancing arm, the British army became isolated pockets of troops outflanked completely. This is not a recipe for success.

5 games, 8 player Terminator, 4 Star Meats, Escalating, No Reinforcement, Fog

Round 3: May 1-5
The ground-artillery was almost out of ammunition. The navy still had some, but were hoarding it for the next attack on Constantinople. Little did they know that victory was going to be measured in yards, rather than cities. Aerial reconnaissance had not yet figured out the fortifications of the Ottomans. What bombardment did happen was mostly wasted (unless you think blasting rocks into smaller rocks is a worthwhile exercise).

5 games, 8 player Terminator, Feudal Epic, Escalating, Chained, Fog

18 players continue

Round 4: May 6-8
The new plan of the Allied forces may seem similar to the last plan. Everyone is to advance one mile. The french are then to hold a front, while the British begin yet another pinwheel. The advancement of the mile is what proved to be difficult. After the first day, some troops had almost advanced 400 yards. During the dark, they slept and the entire process was repeated twice more. The furthest advance was never more than 600 yards, and still nobody knew where the Ottoman trenches were. One third of allied combatants died in this battle.

5 games, 2 Players, Trench Warfare, Trench, Nuclear, Adjacent, Fog

15 players continue

Round 5: Late May
Hunter-Weston, the brilliant designer of operation pinwheel and the broad daylight advance into entrenched forces, went from Major General to Lieutenant General, presumably for something unrelated to these battles. The tide seemed to be turning for the British. They were advancing their trenches by night-time stealth missions, and more troops were arriving daily. However, the Ottomans were also advancing their trench system.

5 games, 5 Player Terminator, WWI Ottoman Empire, Flat Rate, Parachute, Sunny

12 players continue

Round 6: June 4
The Third Battle had more realistic plans. Instead of taking the regional centre, they were hoping to advance to the Turkish trenches, take them, and then establish new trenches 500 yards further. Only one of the fronts managed to reach the opponents trench, but had to retreat after a Turk counterattack. In the end, the trench and front had advanced 200 yards. This is classed as a major British victory.

5 games, 6 Player Terminator, Gallipoli, No Spoils, Chained, Fog

Some notes about technology: most of the British were still using pith helmets at this point, the Brodie not really coming into circulation yet. Some armored car advances were attempted in the third offensive, but in general everyone had to walk at the enemy machine guns. Lord Kitchener replied to the news of the casualties by promising to send more troops.

-- DY

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/krithia1.htm
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/krithia2.htm
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/krithia3.htm

Eski-Hissarlik june 4th to 11th

Eski-Hissarlik (may 1st 1915)
Wary Liman Von Sanders sighed. Not one year ago he was both German officer and diplomat at the Ottoman court. Now he found himself in charge of Ottoman forces, still away from beloved Germany, disallowed to return. Perhaps a punishment for not convincing the Ottomans to join the war sooner. In a brief glimpse he studied the Ottoman war ministers' letter. A surprise attack on British-French forces to finally push them into the sea and end their Gallipoli campaign.

players: 24
requirements: freemium (mandatory freemium)

21 battalions march out under a late evening sky:
Random draw, 1 game, 16 move on, games: 6 players, standard, escalating, unlimited, map: The Solar System, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

Initial bombardments on the british-french position:
Random draw, 1 game, 8 move on, games: 2 players, standard, nuclear, no reinforcements, map: WWI Gallipoli, no fog, trench, round limit 30

Attack allied defensive positions:
Random draw, 1 game, 4 move on, games: 3 players, assassin, escalating, chained, map: AOR1, fog, trench, round limit 30

British Royal Navy and French Senegalese arrive in time to turn the battle:
Random draw, 1 game, 2 move on, games: 2 players, standard, escalating, chained, map: D-Day Omaha Beach, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

May 3rd another failed attempt by Liman Von Sanders:
Random draw, 1 game, games: 2 players, standard, flat rate, chained, map: AOR1, fog, no trench, round limit 30


http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/eskihissarlik.htm
-- W

Kamerun Campaign 1914 part 1

Kamerun Campaign 1914
From 1914 until 1916 Kamerun, back then slightly larger than current day Cameroon, fought valiantly isolated between enemy territories. Their discomforts originated from French Equatorial Guinea to the south and French Central Africa to the north-east, British Nigeria to the west and Belgian Congo to the south-east. It was cumbersome task for the 6000 Germans to hold when facing such asymmetrical disadvantage.

players: 16
requirements: premium

German colony Kamerun is surrounded by allied colonies, french forces initiate scouting:
13 games, 14 move on, games: 2 players, poly 3, flat rate, adjacent, map: Feudal War, fog, round limit 30

British forces invade north, west and south:
12 games, 12 move on, games: 2 players, poly 3, flat rate, adjacent, map: Middle Ages, fog, no trench, round limit 30

Battle of Tepe(center), the british chase off the germans from their riverside station:
10 games, 10 move on, games: 2 players, standard, flat rate, chained, map: Rorke's Drift, fog, no trench, round limit 30

Mora(north), british fail to seize german fort and impose a siege:
9 games, 8 move on, games: 2 players, standard, flat rate, chained, map: Siege!, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

Nsanakong(south) and Garua(center), british get obliterated and chased through the jungle:
8 games, 6 move on, games: 2 players, poly 2, flat rate, chained, map: Africa II, no fog, no trench, round limit 30, score reset

British and french bombard and land across mined coastline:
6 games, 4 move on, games: 2 players, poly 2, nuclear, chained, map: Land and Sea, fog, trench, round limit 30

Overwhelmed across the coastline, the germans are confused:
5 games, games: 2 players, poly 4, nuclear, unlimited, map: random, fog, no trench, round limit 30

-- W

gorlice-tarnow june 14th to 21st

After the terrible beating the Central Powers had taken at Przemysl and Lodz, the Russian star seemed to be rising, and the Austro-Hungarian army seemed to be on the verge of total collapse. The German High Command could not let their primary ally die, so they shifted their strategic emphasis for 1915 from the Western Front to the Eastern Front. With the aid of substantial German reinforcements, the Austro-Hungarians were able to recover.



General August von Mackensen was given command of the entire front, creating a unified command for both German and Austro-Hungarian forces on the Eastern Front. The Gorlice-Tarnow offensive began as merely an operation to relieve some of the pressure on the badly-mauled Austrian force in the Carpathians, but it exceeded its expectations and soon became a total rout of the Russians. All the progress the Russians had made during the fall and winter was undone, all of Poland was returned to Austro-German control, and the Russians left behind 250,000 dead and 750,000 prisoners.

Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorlice%E ... ive#Battle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ret ... Russian%29

35 players begin.
The first three rounds of the tournament will honour the various combatants:
Round 1: 5x5 player Escalating games on Unification Germany representing the five German Corps. 30 players continue.
Round 2: 6x6 player Nuclear games on Austro-Hungarian Empire representing the six Austro-Hungarian Corps. 28 players continue.
Round 3: 7x7 player Flat Rate games on Transsib1914 representing the seven Russian Corps. 20 players continue.
All of the above will be Terminator, random Sun/Fog, random Chained/Parachute, no Trench.

Scores in the first three rounds will be cumulative. After round 3 they will reset.

The next three rounds will all be on the WWII Poland map. The WWII battleground in this area overlapped much of the same territory as was fought over in the WWI version, and the German victory was equally lopsided. Since the same map is used for all three rounds 4, 5, and 6, the difference between the rounds will be in game type.
Round 4: 3 Polymorphic games (Poly 2,3,4) No Spoils, Foggy, random Chained/Parachute, no Trench.
Round 5: 5x5 player Standard games, Zombie spoils, random Sun/Fog, random Chained/Parachute, Trench.
Round 6: 7x5 player Assassin games, Escalating spoils, Foggy, random Chained/Parachute, no Trench.

Scores from rounds 4 to 6 will be cumulative. After Round 6 the top 8 players will go into an elimination bracket. The next three rounds 7, 8, and 9, will all be 1v1. They will feature a random selection from many of the maps that have been used on various Eastern Front Great War tournaments so far;

• the four maps used in the first six rounds of this tournament, of course, but also
• Eurasia Mini from Tannenberg;
• Germany, Europe, Great Lakes from Masurian Lakes;
• Austerlitz, Balkans, and WWII Eastern from Lemberg-Galicia;
• Siege from the First Przemysl tournament;
• Antarctica from Lodz;
• Age of Realms II from Bolimov;
• Stalingrad from Second Przemysl, and last but not least,
• Baltic Crusades and Baltic States, neither of which we've used until now but probably should have...

Rounds 7, 8, and 9 will each have a random pick of nine maps from the above 17. All will be 1v1 games, with random Sun/Fog, random Chained/Adjacent/Parachute, random Escalating/Nuclear/Flat Rate, and random Trench/No Trench.

-- DK

Artois june 18 to 25th

The second battle of Artois, 9 May-18 June 1915, was the most important part of the Allied spring offensive of 1915. It was hoped to capture Vimy Ridge, break through the German lines, and advance into the Douai plain. This would cut key German railway lines and perhaps force them to retreat from their great salient bulging out into France.

The British First Army, under General Haig, was allocated to the offensive, and was to attack Aubers Ridge, over the same ground attacked during the battle of Neuve Chapelle (10-13 March 1915). The French offensive would be launched by the Tenth Army, under General d’Urbal. It was supported by 1,200 guns with 200,000 shells, a huge amount for ammunition for 1915. The artillery bombardment began six days before the attack was due to go in.

The British attack at Aubers Ridge was a total failure. It cost the British army 10,000 casualties and was a failure from the beginning. In contrast, the French attack on 9 May opened with a dramatic success. Pétain’s XXXIII corps advanced 2.5 miles in the first hour and a half of the battle, and the 77th and Moroccan Divisions actually reached the crest of Vimy Ridge.

General d’Urbal had not expected such rapid successes, and his reserves were six miles behind the front line, preparing to move up over the next few days. The German reserves were much better placed, and by the end of the day the French had been pushed back off the top of the ridge.

Over the next five weeks the French and Germans engaged in a battle of attrition in the area immediately behind the old German front line. This was a maze of communications trenches and strong points, where progress was slow and costly. The Moroccan Division did manage to fight its way back onto Vimy Ridge on 16 June, but was once again pushed back.

The attack in Artois failed to achieve its original objectives. Vimy Ridge remained in German hands until it fell to the Canadians in 1917 (Battle of Vimy Ridge), while the battle of attrition favored the Germans. The French suffered 100,000 casualties, the Germans 75,000, and as the French were well aware there were more Germans than Frenchmen.

Start with 24 players

Round 1 - (3) - 6 player terminator games, esc, chained, fog on England

16 players advance

Round 2 - (5) - Polymorph 3 slot, ns, chained fog, trench, 20 rnd on France

8 players advance

Round 3 - (5) - 8 player Standard, esc, chained, sunny on France 2.1

4 players advance

Round 4 - (7) - 4 player standard, nuclear, chained, fog, trench, 20 rnd on Germany

-- MCS

capture of amara june 21st to 28th

Capture of Amara


"Meso-WW1-2" by created by the Department of Military Art and Engineering, at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). - available on the West Point web site at:http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/ ... Originally uploaded to EN Wikipedia by Cglassey 28 April 2006. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... -WW1-2.jpg

After their successes at Basra, Qurna, and Shaiba, the British were emboldened to proceed deeper into Mesopotamia than they had previously thought possible. Charles Townshend took over command of the 6th Division which had captured Basra and Qurna, and boldly proceeded up the Tigris to capture Amara.

Further reading:
firstworldwar.com, details of the Capture of Amara: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/amara.htm
wikipedia, general intro to the Mesopotamia Campaign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamian_campaign
the rise and fall of sir Charles Townshend: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/townshend.htm
the career of Sir John Nixon: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/nixon.htm

The tournament:

20 players start.
The first three rounds are 4-player Standard games, randomly Esc/Flat/NoSpoils, randomly Fog/Sun, Chained, No Trench.
Round 1: The High Command in London advised caution in Mesopotamia, but the Army of India favoured bold aggressive attacks.
5 games: London, Eastern Hemisphere, Indian Empire, Eurasia Mini, Middle East
Round 2: Sir John Nixon, a proponent of rapid advance, ordered the 6th Division up the Tigris.
5 games: Gilgamesh, Imperium Romanum, Alexander's Empire, WWI Ottoman, Battle for Iraq
Round 3: Despite a shortage of supply, the 6th rushed up the Tigris in flat-bottomed riverboats.
5 games: Gilgamesh, Labyrinth, Classic, Extreme Global Warming, High Seas
The top 12 players continue. There is no score reset at this point.

Round 4 is 1v1, Esc, foggy, random forts, no Trench.
Round 4: On June 3rd, General Townshend arrived in Amara with only his advance platoon.
Best-of-9 series on 9 maps randomly selected from the 14 maps used in the first 3 rounds.
The score resets, and the top 8 players go to what is effectively a 2-round final.

The last 2 rounds are 8-player Assassin, random spoils, randomly chained/parachute, random sun/fog, no trench
Round 5: Despite being outnumbered 20 to 1, Townshend bluffed and demanded the Turks surrender.
6 games: British Isles, Indian Empire, Eastern Hemisphere, WWI Ottoman, Battle for Iraq, Middle East
Round 6: The bluff worked and Townshend became famous.
7 games: Actium, WWII Gazala, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Austerlitz, Orient Express, Stalingrad


-- DK

festubert launch june 22 one iteration only

Festubert

We have told in Artois how the joint British-French offensive in Artois went awry. The French actually made a breakthrough in their sector, but the British failed. With no progress in the British sector, it was obvious that the Germans would be able to refocus their reserves against the French sector only. To prevent this, the British hastily prepared a new attack.

The British quickly changed their tactics from what they had used a week earlier. In the initial Artois battles, they had attempted a quick rolling artillery barrage directly in front of the infantry advance. This proved totally inadequate against the advanced German trench system. At Festubert, the British adopted the French model of a long and involved artillery barrage before the attack.

This is one of the things you learn when you begin to study the Great War in depth. The popular myth is of stupid British generals who used the same failed tactics day after day after day, costing millions of lives with their lack of creativity. In fact, the truth is almost the opposite. The British were rapid innovators, constantly experimenting with new strategies, new tactics, new technology. The human cost remained horrendous, that much is true, but that was true for all participants in this enormous war. The British forces, more than any other nation's, were remarkable in their zeal to find new methods of winning battles that would cost fewer lives. The truth is almost diametrically opposite to the popular myth.

Nonetheless, only one kilometer of ground was gained around Festubert village before this offensive also ground to a halt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The battle of Festubert is a single-instance tournament. In other words, it will not re-iterate (make a fresh copy of itself when it fills) like other autotournaments in the Great War event do. Thus, if you want to participate in the Festubert tournament, you must join this one-and-only iteration.

The special thing about this tournament is this: it is essentially a Part 2 to the battle of Artois, which we launched a few days ago. Festubert proceeds from Artois so directly that I wondered if it even should get its own tournament. In the end, I decided it should. Now, as a result of the intimate connection between them, there will be a special reward. If you make it to the final round of both Artois and Festubert, you will get a General Achievement medal in addition to any other prizes that you win as a result. That means, obviously, that you must play in both, so in addition to joining Festubert, make sure you have joined Artois. The latter is a regular re-iterating tournament that will re-iterate until June 24th, so you still have time.

Because of its special status, Festubert costs 4 tokens to enter plus 20 drab stars.

45 players begin

• The Allies were determined to try to dislodge the heavily-entrenched German Army from France and Belgium. The Artois offensive, and especially the operations against the Ypres salient, were hoped to be the beginning of a grand offensive to break the stalemate.

Phase 1: The Allies hoped to dislodge the heavily-entrenched Germans from France and Belgium.
Seven 5-player Standard Flat Rate games, Sunny, Trench, on Europe1914, Benelux, Germany, British Isles, France, Trench Warfare, and Flanders1302.
36 players advance, score resets

• Only the French sector in the Artois offensive was making any progress, and it was obvious that the Germans would be able to refocus their reserves and bring that to a halt.

Phase 2: The French alone were advancing, and the Germans would soon be able to contain the limited breakthrough.
Five 12-player Escalating Terminator games, randomly sun/fog, no Trench, on France 2.1
30 players advance, score resets

• A new British offensive was prepared. Following the French model, it began with an enormous 60-hour artillery barrage that threw 100,000 artillery shells at the German lines.

Phase 3: A stupendous artillery barrage preceded the British attack
Nine Polymorphic Dubs games, randomized Spoils, Foggy, Trench, on maps randomly chosen from a long list of CC maps with a strong bombardment component: Feudal War, Arms Race, New World, WWII Poland, AOR3, Conquer Rome, Pearl Harbour, WWII Western Front, Duck and Cover, King's Court, Das Schloss, Castle Lands, All Your Base, Monsters, Baseball, Rorke's Drift, WWII Europe, WWII Gazala, Poison Rome, Labyrinth, WWI Gallipoli, Conquer 500, Cuban Missile Crisis, Steamworks, and Trafalgar.
21 players advance, score resets

• The Indian divisions were the first infantry sent in.

Phase 4: The Indian divisions were the first infantry sent in
Seven 3-player Nuclear Assassin games on Indian Empire.
14 players advance, score resets

• Next were the Canadians.

Phase 5: Next were the Canadians
Seven 1v1 games, randomly escalating and nuclear, randomly foggy/sunny, no trench, on Montreal, Vancouver, Golfe Du Saint-Laurent, Northwest Passage, Great Lakes, First Nations North America, North America.
11 players advance, score resets

• Finally the British, with a disproportionate share of the casualties falling on the Scots.

Phase 6: When the regular British Army went in, the lyon's share of the casualties fell on the Scots
Seven 11-player Standard Flat Rate games, Sunny, No Trench, on Scotland.

Further reading:
wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Festubert
firstworldwar.com: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/festubert.htm
1914-1918.net: http://www.1914-1918.net/bat11A.html

-- DK

First Battle of Isonzo june 23 to 30

First Battle of Isonzo, 23rd of june 1915
Luigi Cadorna, the Italian chief of staff, peered at his map as it lay on the table. His heart raced at a horse's pace despite the absence of any action. About a month ago Italy had formally delcared its intentions, join the 'Triple Entente' against the 'central powers'. The plan filled him with anticipation. He retraced their offensive plan gently brushing the map with the top of his finger. Objectif was to surprise the Austro-Hungarians across the river Isonzo and to disable enemy mobility on the frontline. Little did he know he was making the same disastrous mistakes as the western front in Flanders and France.

players: 20
requirements: all

Anticipating a vain Italian surpise attack, the Austro-Hungarians prepared mountain defences:
random draw, 1 game, 20 move on, games: 5 players, standard, flat rate, unlimited, Unification Italy, fog, no trench, round limit 30

An Italian force, double the size of their enemy, sets itself up for a series of mistakes:
random draw, 1 game, 20 move on, games: 5 players, standard, escalating, unlimited, Unification Italy, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

A week of bombardment, 200 barrage artillery fire across the river:
random draw, 1 game, 16 move on, games: 5 players, assassin, nuclear, chained, Stalingrad, fog, trench, round limit 30

A foolish frontal assault followed the rain of artillery, uncovered and in the open:
random draw, 1 game, 12 move on, games: 6 players, terminator, flat rate, chained, Stalingrad, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

Tactically irrational split attacks on Trentino and Gorizia:
random draw, 1 game, 9 move on, games: 4 players, terminator, flat rate, chained, Italy, fog, no trench, round limit 30

Two additional divisions reinforce Austro-Hungarian auspicious positioning, victory is secured:
random draw, score resets, 1 game, 3 move on, games: 3 players, terminator, flat rate, parachute, Austro-Hungarian Empire, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

Cadorna calls off attack, mere minor gains were made:
random draw, score resets, 1 game, assassin, nuclear, no reinforcements, Unification Italy, no fog, no trench, round limit 30

-- W

battles of nasiriyeh speed tourneys june 27th and 28th

The Battle of Nasiriyeh

While World War I was unquestionably a 20th Century war, the British campaign in Mesopotamia was a 19-Century war encapsulated within it. A small cadre of upper-class British officers, leading mostly Indian colonial troops, marched without hesitation or apprehension against a much larger Ottoman force, confident of victory.

Before 1915 was over the British would be in trouble, but in June they were still ascendant and their boldness seemed to be paying off. Basra, Shaiba, and Qurna had fallen in 1914. In February a Turkish attack at Bandar Nasiri had been beaten back, and in April the British began moving up the Tigris and Euphrates again. Townshend and his 6th Division had been sent up the Tigris and captured Amara without a fight. George Gorringe and 30th Brigade went up the Euphrates to seize Nasiriyeh, a major Turkish supply depot, but while they were ultimately successful they didn't have the cakewalk that Townshend had.

On June 27th the 30th was ambushed 10 kilometres from Nasiriyeh not by the Turks, but by Budhoos tribesmen who were hostile to all imperial invaders, Turkish or British or otherwise. After surviving the attack, they had a brutal fight and many delays while they overcame 115 degree heat, no sanitation, a shortage of supplies in every category, Budhoo attacks and small but surprisingly strong Ottoman bunkers along the way, swarms of mosquitoes and gnats and all kinds of disease. It took until July 24th before Nasiriyeh was finally captured. The British had suffered 500 combat deaths, and a similar number lost to heat exhaustion and disease.

Still, the objective was achieved, and Baghdad looked attainable.




Further reading:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/nasiriyeh.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have prepared 3 little speed tournaments with the same maps and similar settings.
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2893
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2894
http://www.conquerclub.com/player.php?m ... nt_id=2895

All rounds of all three tournaments are 2-minute Automatic, Sequential, with random Sun/Fog, No Trench, and a 20-round limit. Spoils and game type are as follows.

1. Tournament one is 8 player Assassin, Premium-only
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   All five rounds count toward final score. There are no eliminations or score resets.
2. Tournament two is an 8-player Poly elimination bracket, Premium only
   • round 1 Poly Dubs, escalating
     round 2 Poly Trips, flat rate
     round 3 Poly Quads, no spoils
   This is a single-elimination bracket.
3. Tournament three is an 8-player 1v1 bracket with freemiums welcome
   • round 1 escalating
     round 2 nuclear
     round 3 escalating
     round 4 nuclear
     round 5 flat rate
   Rounds 1 and 2 are straight eliminations. Rounds 3 to 5 are cumulative contest between the final two players

All rounds of all tournaments use a random pick from the seven maps we have that depict Mesopotamia:
Gilgamesh -- representing the legendary warrior who fought in these lands in ancient times
Alexander's Empire -- one of many conquerors whose ruled this area
WWI Ottoman -- representing the Ottoman Empire that ruled the land before the Great War
Eastern Hemisphere -- representing the British (and French) empires that seized it from the Turks
Indian Empire -- the neighbouring great land where the British replenished their power
Middle East -- an overview map
Battle for Iraq -- the most recent bloodbath fought over the land between the waters

Nota Bene: These tournaments to not give Battle Medals. They will, however, give Cannon Tokens and Helmet tokens

-- DK

[Dukasaur]

In the first three quarters, we have run 240 autotournaments on 68 unique templates.

Thank you all for your support. The first tournament of the fourth quarter is up.

[mookiemcgee]

I seem to remember a post saying most of the tourneys would only accept players with less than 5% missed turn rate... Not sure if the number was exactly that, but there is a played in my inital dardnless bombardment tourney named 'koalie' who has apparently missed 85% of his turns on this site. I'm not even sure how its possible to miss 85% of your turns, kinda think its funny. Also I dont mind him in the tourney, he isn't missing turns (although he has been rather mouthy)... I was just trying to rectify my foggy memory of what i read about missed turns, with the shocking stat I found on his page.

[Dukasaur]

I seem to remember a post saying most of the tourneys would only accept players with less than 5% missed turn rate... Not sure if the number was exactly that, but there is a played in my inital dardnless bombardment tourney named 'koalie' who has apparently missed 85% of his turns on this site. I'm not even sure how its possible to miss 85% of your turns, kinda think its funny. Also I dont mind him in the tourney, he isn't missing turns (although he has been rather mouthy)... I was just trying to rectify my foggy memory of what i read about missed turns, with the shocking stat I found on his page.

Yeah, Initial Dardanelles was created without an attendance restriction. I don't remember why.

[Dukasaur]

The first iteration of the Battle of Gully Ravine has taken a long time to fill, despite having a huge list of prizes and being given marquee status. Regretfully, I've had to cancel the second iteration.

A new, smaller tournament coming soon.

[iAmCaffeine]

Keep it up mate, it's appreciated.

[Dukasaur]

Keep it up mate, it's appreciated.

Thanks, man. Good to hear!

Launching tomorrow, Achi Baba. This will be a full freemium-vacation tourney, which means freemiums can join even if they do not have the requisite slots available.

achi baba july 17th to 24th

Attack on Achi Baba

After 4 failed attempts to seize the village of Krithia and Achi Baba hill behind Krithia, General Hunter-Weston was determined to try just one last time and persuaded Hamilton to authorize another attack. The final attack on Achi Baba was a failure again. Huge casualties were inflicted on the Turks -- 10,000 dead on the Turkish side versus only 4,000 dead on the Allied side -- and yet the village and the hill remained in Ottoman hands. The Allies were soon to shift their emphasis further up the coast to Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay.

Basic outline: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/achibaba_jul.htm

Achi Baba helped cement Hunter-Weston's reputation as one of the worst British generals of all time.

Nicknamed "Hunter-Bunter", Hunter-Weston has been seen as a classic example of a "donkey" general — he was described by his superior Sir Douglas Haig as a "rank amateur", and has been referred to by one modern writer as "one of the Great War's spectacular incompetents".[1] However, another historian writes that although his poor performance at the battles of Krithia earned his reputation "as one of the most brutal and incompetent commanders of the First World War" [2] "in his later battles (at Gallipoli) he seemed to hit upon a formula for success ...(but) these small achievements were largely forgotten".[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aylmer_Hunter-Weston

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24 players start.
Phase 1: The battle for Gallipoli had been going on for two months
Two 1v1 games on WWI Gallipoli, No Spoils, Fog

Phase 2: The hill of Achi Baba controls the high ground over Krithia
We used the San Marion map to represent the hills of Gallipoli during the Battles of Krithia tournament. I just played in that tournament and it was the most fun I've had on CC in at least six months, so I'll put it in here with identical settings.
Three games, 4 player Terminator, San Marino, Trench, Flat Rate, Adjacent, Fog
18 players advance, scores reset

Phase 3: Almost a caricature of a bad general, Hunter-Weston callously disregarded casualties in his ranks.
The 30% casualty rate suffered by the Highlanders during the Battle of Gully Ravine was referred to as "blooding the pups".
Three games, 6-player Terminator, Halloween Hallows, Nuclear, Unlimited

Phase 4: The arrival of new French artillery enabled a massive barrage on the Turkish lines
Three games, 6-player Standard, France, randomly nuclear and zombie, randomly fog and sun, randomly trench and no trench
12 players advance, scores reset

Phase 5: Despite suffering massive casualties, the Turks held on
Three games, 6-player Standard, WWI Ottoman, default settings

Phase 6: Hunter-Weston was recalled to England
Three games, 12-player Standard, England, Foggy Flat Rate Parachute

Phase 7: The Gallipoli campaign was at its half-way point
Two 1v1 games on WWI Gallipoli, No Spoils, Fog

Phase 8: For the duration, the Turks would rule Achi Baba hill
Three games, 4-player assassin, King of the Mountains, Nuclear, Fog, Trench

-- DK

[Dukasaur]

Second Isonzo tournament will be launching soon.