(Scoreboards are also updated in Post Two.)
Congratulations Remo Williams for winning the tournament!!!
Congratulations Leehar for winning the GA and being crowned Most Dukasaurish non-Dukasaur!
Congratulations to Kingm, who placed second both in regular points and in Dukapoints, and also qualifies for a prize!
Congratulationt to IanPhull, who very narrowly edged out Fewnix for third place and also qualifies for a prize!
Honourable mention to Fewnix, who came oh! so very close to third place, even after needing to drop out of the tournament for medical reasons. Well done!
Congratulations to everyone who overcame their distrust of some of the settings used and had a good tournament after all. (I'm looking at SirSebstar, who so dreaded the freestyle game and ended up winning it!)
Thank you everyone for participating and making this a tournament to remember.
Link to player lists and game lists
Link to Second Chance Lottery pool
Today it is exactly one year since I joined CC! In celebration, of course we have to have a tournament! And if we lived in a fair universe, everyone would shower me with gifts, but since I know the universe is a cruel and heartless place, I will shower you with gifts instead: two years of premium are up for grabs!
Freemiums are welcome! Since I'm giving away premium prizes, I would be delighted to give at least one of them to someone who can't otherwise afford premium. You will only play one game at a time, so as long as you keep one slot available, everything will be fine.
I'm looking for 100 people to experience victory as I first experienced it, to win on five of the first six maps that I won on when I came to CC, and with the same settings, of course! Not all of you will experience victory, but I hope you enjoy the attempt!
GA Medal: A GA medal has been approved for "the most Dukasaurish non-Dukasaur."
[spoiler=see how to qualify for this medal]For each of the five maps, if you win, you can collect Dukapoints for the manner in which you won. You can get up to one point for winning as closely as possible to the number of rounds in which I won, and up to one point for coming as closely as possible to my final troop count.
Example: I won the Ancient Greece game in 27 rounds with a final troop count of 38, so if you win in 27 rounds with a final troop count of 38, you will score a full two points. Since it's very unlikely that you will replicate my performance that precisely, fractional points will be awarded. So in the Ancient Greece example, if you win in 22 rounds with a final troop count of 25, you would get (22/27)+(25/38)=0.81+0.66=1.47 points. Having numbers greater than mine has the same effect as having numbers less than mine, so someone who finished with 51 troops would score the same as someone who finished with 25 troops. At double my numbers, your score peters out to zero, so if you finish with 76 troops or more you will get zero Dukapoints.
On a regular basis I will only keep track of these to two decimal places, but if there are a few people very close together at the top of the list I will go back and recalculate their Dukapoints to more decimal places as needed, so rest assured that you will not get screwed out of the GA medal by a rounding error!
In addition to the above, there is an extra half-point (0.5) per map for satisfying certain special conditions, unique to each map. These will be specified below each phase. A perfect score, therefore, is 2.5 Dukapoints per map, for a total of 12.5 Just like the points for number of rounds and number of troops, you can only score these extra points if you win the game.
Furthermore, in addition to ALL of the above, there will be 1.5 points given to anyone who posts a story in the tournament thread about the first CC game they played against me, or otherwise encountered me. 1 point will be given to anyone who posts such a story in the tournament thread, and an extra 0.5 if you go all the way and post game links, quotes and/or supporting graphics.
The grand total score for everything is therefore a maximum of 14 Dukapoints.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=premium prizes]One year of premium will be given to the winner of the tournament. Six months will go to the person in second place, and three months to the person in third place. The final three months' premium will be given to the winner of the GA medal, unless that person has already won one of the other three premium awards. In that case, the final three months will go the player with the most Dukapoints who does has not won any other award.[/spoiler]
So, let's have a look at the experience ahead of you.
Coming from a long line of Habsburg loyalists, I had to try out the Holy Roman Empire map. It's still one of my favourite maps, not just great to play on but beautiful to look at.
On this map, I scored my first victory:
Game 8012950, against [player]Tammerlane[/player]
I see Tammerlane is now a Major. At the time, he was only a Captain, but that was still miles above the raw recruit that I was, so I gained 38 points. If you read the log, you will see that my victory didn't come from any particular brilliance on my part: I got a great drop, while he ran into some tough dice, but at the time none of that mattered. All that mattered to me was that I had won my first game!
[spoiler=phase 1 a]100 players will be randomly matched into 1v1 games on the Holy Roman Empire map. Settings will be the ones I first faced: Automatic Sequential No Spoils Chained Sunny.
The 50 winners will score 3 points and go directly to Phase 2 A, while the 50 losers will get a second chance in Phase 1 B.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=phase 1 b]50 players will be randomly matched into 1v1 games on the Holy Roman Empire map on the same settings as above. The 25 winners will score 1 point and go to Phase 2 A, while the 25 losers will be dropped into the Another Chance lottery pool.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=dukapoints in this phase]If you win at least once on this map, you can earn up to two Dukapoints in the standard manner. (See the explanation of Dukapoints in the GA Medal spoiler above.)
I took the Prussian cannons early on, so you can score an extra 0.5 Dukapoints by collecting the Prussians bonus at any point in the first five rounds.[/spoiler]
Even before I joined the HRE game, I had joined a game on the Ancient Greece map. Historical maps naturally attracted me. I looked at Pelo War first, but it looked pale and washed out, so I chose the Ancient Greece map and its vivid colours. (And good thing I did -- if my first CC game had been on Pelo War, I might have quit in disgust and never come back!)
When Sunny, the Ancient Greece map is pretty simple, but I was dealing with it in Foggy mode. All the hidden troop counts on territories I couldn't see made it seem mysterious and magical. And obviously, no snaps. I think it was a good two or three months before I would switch to Firefox and start using BOB.
So, this was the first game I joined, but it took much longer than the other game, so it was my second victory.
Game 8003331 against [player]greenoaks[/player], [player]zackspack[/player], and others.
This was a five-player game, but two of the players are no longer on CC, so I'm only naming the ones that are still around. The settings were pretty brutal, too: Manual Freestyle Nuclear Chained. Ugh! Yes, those are the settings you will have to win on!
A special appeal to freestyle haters: Yes, I know freestyle sucks. But please don't reject this tournament based on one phase that has a setting you don't like. Broaden your horizons! Hey, I suck at freestyle (you want to know just HOW BAD I suck at it? After a year on CC, I still don't have my freestyle Silver!) but I managed to beat greenoaks, a freestyle master, so anything is possible!
[spoiler=phase 2 a]The 75 winners from Phase 1 will be randomly matched into 5-player games on the Ancient Greece map, Manual Freestyle Nuclear Chained. The 15 winners will score 3 points and go directly to Phase 3 A, while the 60 losers will get a second chance in Phase 2 B.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=phase 2 b]The 60 losers from Phase 2 A will be randomly matched into 5-player games on the same map and settings. The 12 winners will score 2 points and go directly to Phase 3 A, while the 48 losers will get a third chance in Phase 2 C.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=phase 2 c]The 48 losers from Phase 2 B along with 12 players randomly drawn from the "Another Chance lottery pool" will be randomly matched into 5-player games on the same map and settings. The 12 winners will score 1 point and go to Phase 3 A, while the 48 losers will get put back into the "Another Chance lottery pool".[/spoiler]
[spoiler=dukapoints in this phase]If you win at least once on this map, you can earn up to two Dukapoints in the standard manner. (See the explanation of Dukapoints in the GA Medal spoiler above.)
I took the Sterea Ellada bonus very early in this game, so you can score an extra 0.5 Dukapoints if during your win you collect the Sterea Ellada bonus at any point in the first five rounds.[/spoiler]
After those first two victories I was hooked and bought premium. Then I joined a whole pile of games, and for a few weeks I did nothing but lose, lose, lose, lose, lose and lose. You know those paranoid dice threads, where people claim that the "good" dice are reserved for premium players? Well, I had the opposite delusion. I thought that the dice of new recruits were artificially boosted, in order to make us think that winning on CC is a piece of cake, and then once you bought premium they took the good dice away!
I did have a couple victories mixed in with all the losses, and one of them was my very first successful team game. It was on the classic map:
Game 8058942 with [player]patrick88[/player] and others,
versus [player]firlands25[/player], [player]panchodue[/player], and others.
(Again, I'm only mentioning the ones that are still around. All the rest from that game are history.)
I won this game! Lol, NOT! I flailed about ineffectively, and so did most of my team-mates, while patrick88 put together a great victory! Patrick88 did all the meaningful work, I collected 22 points (I think the highest ranking person in the game was a corporal). Not a bad deal.
[spoiler=phase 3 a]The 39 winners from Phase 2 (15 from 2 A, 12 from 2 B, and 12 from 2 C) plus one player drawn at random from the "Another Chance lottery pool" will be randomly combined into Quads games on the Classic map. The settings are Automatic Sequential Escalating Sunny. The 20 winners will score 3 points and go directly to Phase 4 A, while the 20 losers will get a second chance in Phase 3 B.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=phase 3 a]The 20 losers from Phase 3 A, along with four players drawn at random from the "Another Chance lottery pool", will be randomly combined into Quads games, with the same map and settings as in 3 A. The 12 winners will score 1 point and go to Phase 4 A, while the 12 losers will go back to the "Another Chance lottery pool" and hope for the best.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=dukapoints in this phase]If you win at least once on this map, you can earn up to two Dukapoints in the standard manner. (See the explanation of Dukapoints in the GA Medal spoiler above.)
In this game it was one of my team-mates who scored the final kill, but I did contribute by staying alive to the end and being a thorn in the side for the opposing team. You can score an extra 0.5 Dukapoints if BOTH of the following are true: you are NOT eliminated in this game, and you do NOT score the final kill.[/spoiler]
I had already tried playing the Netherlands map on my first day (Game 8005089) with unsatisfactory results, so I gave it another shot. It's another beautiful map, of the brightly-coloured variety that I tend to favour, and interesting gameplay as well:
On this map, I scored my first Escalating sweep.
Game 8062311 against [player]Larry46[/player], [player]thunderstrk[/player], [player]rumracer[/player], [player]TheForgivenOne[/player] and others.
Man, what a high! It wasn't a perfect sweep (one player had already eliminated another previously) but close enough. Man what a rush! And in the Fog, with no snaps, just reading the log and making intelligent guesses about where people would be. After almost a month of mostly losing, it was an incredible moment.
In the game chat you will notice I thanked the players for participating in my first successful Terminator game. I didn't mention that it was also my first Escalating sweep. It's possible that I didn't even know that term at the time!
[spoiler=Phase 4 a]The 32 winners from Phase 3 (20 from 3 A and 12 from 3 B) along with 3 players drawn from the "Another Chance lottery pool" will be randomly place into 7-player Terminator games on the Netherlands map. The settings are Manual Sequential Escalating Chained and Foggy. The 5 winners will each score 3 points and go directly to Phase 5 A. The 30 losers will get a second chance in Phase 4 B.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Phase 4 b]The 30 losers from Phase 4 A along with 5 players drawn from the "Another Chance lottery pool" will be randomly place into 7-player Terminator games on the same map and settings. The 5 winners will each score 2 points and go directly to Phase 5 A. The 30 losers will go to Phase 4 C.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Phase 4 c]The 30 losers from Phase 4 B along with 5 players drawn from the "Another Chance lottery pool" will be randomly place into 7-player Terminator games on the same map and settings. The 5 winners will each score 1 point and go to Phase 5 A. The 30 losers will go to the "Another Chance lottery pool".[/spoiler]
[spoiler=dukapoints in this phase]If you win at least once on this map, you can earn up to two Dukapoints in the standard manner. (See the explanation of Dukapoints in the GA Medal spoiler above.)
In this game I finished with a little sweep, killing the last three opponents on the same turn, and you can score an extra 0.5 Dukapoints if you do likewise.[/spoiler]
On December 20th, one month into my CC career, I had another Escalating sweep. It is immortalized on my wall:
As you can see, I was very pleased with myself. Egads! 266 points! However, that game was Escalating Terminator, and we've already had an Escalating Terminator in this tourney, and it was also Freestyle, and we've already had a freestyle, so we'll skip over that one and move on. Still, I was quite a happy camper that day!meanwhile, everybody check out Game 8147358... from PFC to CFC in one turn.... 266 pts!
I've always been fascinated by Malta, its complex history, and its special strategic significance in countless wars over 2400 years, from Classical times to World War Two. I absolutely had to try the Malta map!
This map produced my first Flat Rate victory, and the first where I used diplomacy.
Game 8055512 against [player]Craig25[/player], [player]metal mickey[/player], [player]Jalm[/player], [player]PhantomEagle[/player], and others.
I laugh now when I read the chat and think about my primitive attempts at diplomacy, my stupid misclicks, and my dice disasters. Somehow, despite all that, I muddled through it and racked up 167 points, enough to get my first stint as a Lieutenant.
Diplomacy is explicitly allowed in this phase of the tournament.
[spoiler=phase 5 a]The 15 winners from Phase 4 (5 each from 4 A, B, and C) along with one person drawn from the "Another Chance lottery pool" will be placed into 8-player games on the Malta map. Settings will be Sequential, Flat Rate, Adjacent, and Sunny. The two winners will score 3 points and add up their total score. The 14 losers will get a second chance in Phase 5 B.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=phase 5 b]The 14 losers from Phase 5 A and two players drawn from the "Another Chance lottery pool" will be placed into 8-player games on the Malta map, with the same settings as the previous round. The 2 winners of these games will each score 1 point.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=dukapoints in this phase]If you win at least once on this map, you can earn up to two Dukapoints in the standard manner. (See the explanation of Dukapoints in the GA Medal spoiler above.)
Since this was at least partially a diplomatic victory for me, you can score an extra 0.5 Dukapoints if you use diplomacy in winning this game.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=tournament flow chart]Here's a graphical representation of how the tournament goes:
[/spoiler]Although it's a fairly big tournament, the actual scoring is pretty simple. You get 3 points if you win a map on the first try. You get either 2 or 1 points on subsequent tries, depending on if it's a "three chances" phase or a "two chances" phase. The maximum possible score is 15, if you won all five maps on your first try. The person with the most points wins. Ties will be settled by your Dukapoints. (See the detailed explanation of Dukapoints in the GA Medal instructions at the top.)
I hope you enjoy the journey!
