Wikipedia lists forty-seven references for the term "Through A Glass, Darkly" on its disambiguation page -- books, movies, TV shows, songs, albums, poems, and of course the original Biblical verse (1Corinthians 13:12) that it comes from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through_a_Glass_Darkly
We are concerned here with the poem by General George S. Patton, Jr.
General Patton wrote:Through the travail of the ages,
Midst the pomp and toil of war,
Have I fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star.
Thus begins the poem.
For the full text, go here: http://www.generalpatton.com/quotes/index4.html
Patton believed in reincarnation, and the poem is generally believed to be a literal statement of the past lives of soldiers that he describes. Personally, I don't think that's necessarily true. The poem seems to me to be intended figuratively, as a statement of solidarity, of a commonality of experience with all those soldiers fighting, suffering, dying through the ages. Regardless, whether it is meant literally or figuratively, it's a great poem, and a great inspiration for a new tournament.
This tournament will combine the two of the most popular game types -- 6-player Terminator and 1v1. The same pattern is repeated in each phase. Game load is fairly low. In each Phase you will play just one Terminator game, and between zero and five 1v1 games.
Terminator games will be Automatic, Sequential, Escalating, Chained, Foggy, No Trench, 24-hour, with a 30-round limit.
Settings for 1v1 games will be chosen by the eligible players, with some restrictions. (no freestyle, no speed, no manual, round limit must be 20 or 30)
In each phase, players will be divided into groups of 6. The group will first play one 6-player Terminator game. For each kill, you will score 2 points. After a kill, you will get a chance to defeat the victim again in a 1v1 game. You will get to specify the settings for the 1v1 game, with some restrictions (no freestyle, no speed, no manual, and round limit of 20 or 30). If you (the killer in the Terminator game) win 1v1 game, you will score 1 point, for a total of 3 on the kill (2 from the Terminator game and 1 for the 1v1). If the victim from the Terminator game wins the 1v1 game, he scores 2 points for that instead. The winner of the Terminator game will also score 3 extra points for the win, in addition to the points he scores through kills. There will be NO credit for "kills" of players who drop out by deadbeating (unless you actually do kill them, which the Terminator game format does allow), or players who are still alive if a game is won by round limit or map conditions.[spoiler=new rule december 20th]I started thinking about this current phase, where all three Terminator games were won by map conditions and one or more players remained unterminated. Until now my intention was to only give P.A.T. games when an actual termination occurs. It makes sense that the terminators should get benefit only for players they actually kill, not for players who are still alive at the end. However, the P.A.T. is not just an opportunity for the terminator to score a point; it's also an important opportunity for the terminatee to get something out of the round. Logically, it does not make sense that players should be penalized for not getting killed.
Therefore, new rule. If a player remains unterminated at the end of a Terminator game, the winner of that game will still play a P.A.T. game against him.
The player who failed to make the kill still suffers a small penalty, because he doesn't get the two points for the kill in the Terminator game. The other player still gets a chance to score 2 points in the P.A.T. game and come out of the Phase with some kind of score.[/spoiler]
Groups will be re-randomized before each new Phase. 30 players will start. After Phase 1, we will reduce to 24; after Phase 3, to 18; after Phase 5, to 12, and after Phase 7, to 6. Eliminations will normally be by score, but players who deadbeat or fail to accept invites on time may be dropped and allow lower-scoring players to advance.
Ties will be broken by the following heirarchy of tiebreakers: first, most Terminator wins, second, most wins overall, third, most kills, fourth, precedence (who signed up first).
Points will be imperfectly cumulative. After each elimination, the surviving players will have their point totals reduced by one-quarter (in other words, multiplied by .75) before adding in the points from the next phase.
Phase 1
Patton wrote:I have battled for fresh mammoth,
I have warred for pastures new,
I have listed to the whispers
When the race trek instinct grew.
Map: Dawn of Ages
Phase 2
Patton wrote:Perhaps I stabbed our Savior
In His sacred helpless side.
Yet, I've called His name in blessing
When after times I died.
Map: Tribal War - Ancient Israel
Phase 3
Patton wrote:While in later clearer vision
I can sense the coppery sweat,
Feel the pikes grow wet and slippery
When our Phalanx, Cyrus met.
Map: Pelo War (not a perfect analogue for the Persian wars, but the best we have available.)
Phase 4
Patton wrote:Still more clearly as a Roman,
Can I see the Legion close,
As our third rank moved in forward
And the short sword found our foes.
Map: Conquer Rome
Phase 5
Patton wrote:Once again I smell the heat sparks
When my Flemish plate gave way
And the lance ripped through my entrails
As on Crecy's field I lay.
Map: Flanders 1302 (Wrong location, but close, and right era.)
Phase 6
Patton wrote:Midst the spume of half a tempest
I have heard the bulwarks go
When the crashing, point blank round shot
Sent destruction to our foe.
Map: Trafalgar
Phase 7
Patton wrote:And still later as a General
Have I galloped with Murat
When we laughed at death and numbers
Trusting in the Emperor's Star.
Map: Napoleonic Europe
Phase 8
Patton wrote:So but now with Tanks a'clatter
Have I waddled on the foe
Belching death at twenty paces,
By the star shell's ghastly glow.
Map: WWII -- Western Front
Phase 9,
Patton wrote:So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, but always me.
And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings
It was through His will I fought.
So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.
Patton's last famous manoeuvre, at the Battle of the Bulge. Map: WWII Ardennes
Scoreboard
This is my 126th!
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