WDS Tiller Operational Campaigns Tournament News

[HMCS Rosthern]

First and foremost, you're doing great Patric and you should continue doing what you're doing and don't worry too much.  In my days of running forums and Tournaments here I can tell you with complete confidence that silence is approval at The Blitz.  If your players don't like what you're doing chances are there will be some grousing about it.  Lack of it speaks volumes.

While I personally think the ELO rankings are a better indicator of a players skill level than is their winning percentage on the Ladder, it is far from perfect too.  We developed the ELO rankings to mimic a chess players rankings, however Panzer Campaigns has infinitely more variables than a game of chess and therefore even the ELO rankings aren't perfect by any means.  All of which is to say that I think anything you choose to do will be fine, but if you always rely on ELO you will find Tournaments featuring many rematches.  You can have just as much success with a completely random draw system, or a random seeding followed by bracketed play, or a seeding based on ELO followed by bracketed play.  As others have pointed out, there's always a bit of that in warfare anyway.  I'm sure Lee would have preferred to keep fighting Hooker and Burnside and not Grant, but sometimes you just draw a bad hand.  For me personally I like the tournaments because they force me out of bad habits I develop when I play my "regular opponents" whose tendencies I've learned.

You're doing a bang up job, and the number of sign up for the latest Tourney is a testament to it.

For the record, in Tournament No 4, I am picking the pairings randomly, and an entrant only plays another entrant once.

[Mr Grumpy]

First and foremost, you're doing great Patric and you should continue doing what you're doing and don't worry too much.  In my days of running forums and Tournaments here I can tell you with complete confidence that silence is approval at The Blitz.  If your players don't like what you're doing chances are there will be some grousing about it.  Lack of it speaks volumes.

You're doing a bang up job, and the number of sign up for the latest Tourney is a testament to it.

Paul’s post sums up my feelings perfectly, the fact we have so many sign ups and so few drop outs is the best indicator of what a great job you are doing, when people are happy they tend not to leave feedback but when they have an issue they will let you know!

So silence is golden, please keep doing what you are doing 

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

First and foremost, you're doing great Patric and you should continue doing what you're doing and don't worry too much.  In my days of running forums and Tournaments here I can tell you with complete confidence that silence is approval at The Blitz.  If your players don't like what you're doing chances are there will be some grousing about it.  Lack of it speaks volumes.

While I personally think the ELO rankings are a better indicator of a players skill level than is their winning percentage on the Ladder, it is far from perfect too.  We developed the ELO rankings to mimic a chess players rankings, however Panzer Campaigns has infinitely more variables than a game of chess and therefore even the ELO rankings aren't perfect by any means.  All of which is to say that I think anything you choose to do will be fine, but if you always rely on ELO you will find Tournaments featuring many rematches.  You can have just as much success with a completely random draw system, or a random seeding followed by bracketed play, or a seeding based on ELO followed by bracketed play.  As others have pointed out, there's always a bit of that in warfare anyway.  I'm sure Lee would have preferred to keep fighting Hooker and Burnside and not Grant, but sometimes you just draw a bad hand.  For me personally I like the tournaments because they force me out of bad habits I develop when I play my "regular opponents" whose tendencies I've learned.

You're doing a bang up job, and the number of sign up for the latest Tourney is a testament to it.

For the record, in Tournament No 4, I am picking the pairings randomly, and an entrant only plays another entrant once.

This only has to be the first round.  After that, you just keep the Allied player in place and rotate the Axis player down one spot and the Axis player in the bottom slot rotates up to the top slot.  That way, there is nothing to work out.  When the first Axis player rotates back up to the top to face the first Allied player again, End of tourney.  That also works with odd number of pairings and players.  Odd number of pairings works the same as even number of pairings and team with one more player can rotate to a bye slot, but, only one player gets a bye and only once.

[HMCS Rosthern]

Please note that no support for the tournaments and updates to the tournaments will be available until after June 13. All tournament Rounds are in progress and current end dates are after June 13. 

Tournament 2: final round is in progress.
Tournament 3: Round 3 is in progress.
Tournament 4: Round 1, I am waiting for one final result. Round 2 information has been posted and the round can commence. 

Remember it is the responsibility of the entrants to initiate the game with their opponent. Use email or Private Messages to initiate contact. 

In the meantime, good gaming!

[HMCS Rosthern]

We are looking for an Allied entrant to join the "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" tournament starting Round 3. Please contact me by Private Messages. Owning certain games is a requirement to join this tournament. See the "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" tournament rules thread for details. The entrant will be eligible for the random prize draw at tournament end. 

[HMCS Rosthern]

We are looking for an Allied entrant to join the "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" tournament starting Round 3. Please contact me by Private Messages. Owning certain games is a requirement to join this tournament. See the "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" tournament rules thread for details. The entrant will be eligible for the random prize draw at tournament end. 

sja_ski has joined the tournament starting in Round 3. Thanks sja_ski.

[LEGXXIIPRPF]

THANKS A LOT for organizing those tournaments!!! 

You are breathing life into the Series and into HTH gaming.

We cannot thank you enough.

Steffen

[HMCS Rosthern]

Just a reminder that Round 3 of the It's a Long Way to Tipperary tournament features Sicily '43. If you don't already have a copy, Sicily '43 is the WDS game of the week. A good opportunity to pick up the game.

[HMCS Rosthern]

Due to a drop out, we are looking for an entrant to join the FWWC "1914 Valour" tournament, for the last 2 rounds. 

The new entrant can't win the tournament, but will be eligible for the free game draw (As well as getting some competition from 2 other entrants).

[HMCS Rosthern]

I have received some feedback on the tournaments. I very much appreciate it.


There are a lot of issues with the Tournament Rules impacting overall tournament fairness:

1. Drop-outs: unless we get lucky and find a replacement, an entrant drop-out forces another entrant to drop out. We’ve also had existing entrants filling in for an entrant drop-out until we find a replacement. And if an entrant is forced to drop out, they are still eligible for the Random Draw.
   
2. Early Termination: I believe we have this covered: we simply don’t award bonus points when Early Termination is in effect.
   
3. Game Resignations: Resigning early so that their opponent can’t fight for more Tournament Points.
   
4. Game Delays: Slowing down the turn rate until the Round End Date so that their opponent can’t fight for more Tournament Points.
   
5. Round Pairing Selections: It is possible for a strong entrant to be paired with a series of weak opponents, thereby giving the strong entrant an unfair advantage.
   

There are other issues impacting overall tournament fairness:

1. Scenario Balance: It is really difficult to select a balanced suite of scenarios that give the Teams equal attack and defensive roles over the Tournament Rounds, while ensuring all entrants have an equal chance of obtaining Tournament Points.
   
2. Real Life: Entrants have lives, and life events can impact their ability to play. If an entrant claims a life event causing a drop-out, game resignation, or game delay, the tournament organisers must respect that. Every tournament has had impacted entrants, and the Tournament Rules must account for these eventualities.
   
3. Late Starting Games: This results in less real time to complete a game.
   
4. Incorrect Round Games: There have been cases of entrants not using the required Optional Rules thereby possibly impacting scenario balance.
   

Given all of the above I conclude that it is more likely that a Tournament will favour one Team over another. The consensus is that these tournaments are nominally a competition, since there are some randomness and biases impacting which entrant will eventually win. Some entrants like these tournaments because it gives them an opportunity to meet new gamers. It is that spirit that I organize these tournaments.

Proposed Tournament Rules Updates (Please provide feedback)

When designing the Tournament Points calculation, I envisioned entrants completing the games, battling over Total Points in the scenario to maximize their Tournament Points. I did not account for some of the above issues.

The tournament organizers must award Tournament Points once the Round End Date has been reached regardless of the state of the game (see above). Tournament Points are awarded based on the Total Points of the last completed turn agreed to by entrants in the pairing. If there is no agreement that last sent turn is used to calculate Tournament Points

The Tournament design requires that all games are completed. Going forward conditions of entry into the Tournament are:

1. Entrants agree to complete all scheduled games. Resignations are highly discouraged unless there is a Real-Life event.
   
2. Entrants agree to keep a reasonable turn rate. The Round length gives sufficient time to complete a game, 3 days per turn plus 10 days. Entrants can complain to the Tournament Organizers if they feel their opponent is delaying unreasonably.
   

Game Completion Bonus Tournament Points

In addition to the existing Tournament Point calculations, 100 Game Completion Tournament Bonus Points are awarded to each entrant that completes the game in the Round pairing.

• If an entrant in the pairing claims a Real-Life event causing them to resign the game or drop-out out of the Tournament, the other entrant in the pairing is awarded 100 Tournament Points.
  
• If the Round End Date is reached and the game is not complete, Game Completed Bonus Tournament Points are not awarded.