Tournament of Champions (Season 5) for AA 50 Anniversary '41 version

[Islandia]

I would like to join this tournament.

[Deltium]

@Islandia - you are registered, thanks for participating !

[Deltium]

OFFICIAL UPDATE

We are now at 16 players, which is GREAT !
We can launch the tournament now, but I would like to wait for a few additional sign-ups, for the wait-list, just in case.
There's a hope in me that we can reach 32 players, but I would be fine with also launching the tournament with 16.

Importantly, I am going to give the suggestion from @Raville some serious thought, in terms of the tournament format.
If anybody would like to share their personal views, please do so in the interim.

Cheers, Deltium

[Raville]

@Deltium Thanks for you information and great you are thinking about a Two Stage Tournament proposal with a Single Elimination in each bracket, wishing to have a successful ToC 5 and expecting suggestions by other participants. Greetings to all.

[Deltium]

@Raville and ALL - I really gave the alternate tournament format suggestion a LOT of thought, and I will comment as follows:

• First of all, I want to emphasize that I thank you for putting some good thought into how the tournament may be improved, and I want to emphasize that we will continue to seriously consider ANY changes to the tournament formats going forward. As you can see in the updated rules, I did add a clear point about rule changes going forward:

Rule Changes: Any player may submit a proposed rule change to the TripleA Tournament Director for consideration. The TripleA Tournament Director will consult with the Admins, and if appropriate, shall allow all members to vote on the requested change over a reasonable period of time. If there is substantial support to change the rule, the rule shall be changed accordingly.

• Second, I want to highlight again the importance of the double-elimination format for tournaments such as this. The reason is that a double elimination tournament accomplishes THREE really important goals of tournaments at Triple A, namely, (1) it gives EVERY player a "2nd chance" to continue playing in the tournament and NOT get eliminated after some bad luck, or against an opponent that is much better than you, and (2) it creates a more statistically-accurate format for the best players to truly win the tournament, and very importantly, (3) it gives people who have lost one game to be paired in the 2nd game with a player more likely closer to their skill level, and hence, allows people to connect more frequently and play together informally, which builds the TripleA community into a long-term and healthy ecosystem.

• Third, I do agree that the best Anniversary players should be able to play both the Axis and the Allies solidly, but I continue to believe that this can be best accomplished with very careful consideration about your BID. The bidding process is designed to accomplish several key things, namely (1) forcing BOTH players to transparently select the actual & exact IPCs that they believe to be FAIR, versus a forced bid of 13 IPCs or X IPCs, and (2) it does not imply that a person will only play either the Axis or the Allied powers. Looking back at the results of the previous tournaments, I do see many players playing both sides, and even if you find one person that has played only the Allies, than this is a good signal to you to ADJUST your bid accordingly to take this player out of their "comfort zone" by perhaps bidding for the Allies lower.

• Lastly, you raised a good point about the time requirement for the individual games and tournament overall. I will indeed do my best to ensure that this tournament moves along a bit faster. In ToC4, many of the delays in the tournament were caused by individual games holding up the entire bracket. For ToC5, I will be quite strict on 45 days for the winner's bracket and 30 days for the loser's bracket. As you can see in the new Revised tournament that I launched recently, we have made very swift progress in just a couple months, and it is proceeding at a very healthy pace. I will certainly enforce adjudication if the games reach the deadline. I would like to make it shorter, 30 days, for all games, but as this is a PBEM / PBF tournament at heart, we must be respectful for people that can only play at most one turn per day, given commitments to other aspects of their lives. I am one such person that cannot play live very often as I work in Asia currently, and hence, the time difference is too difficult for many people who live in other parts of the world.

Therefore, for ToC5, I would like to keep this tournament in the traditional double-elimination format. However, I do encourage feedback on this point, and I am certainly willing to reconsider in the future ToCs if there is a material change in demand by the players. Personally, I want to thank you again and emphasize that there is indeed good merit in your thoughts, and I hope that you have a good tournament !!

Cheers, Deltium

[Deltium]

ToC 5 (Season5) for AA Anniversary '41 version -- NEXT STEPS

OK, we seem to have settled on a solid 16 players. I will work on seedings this weekend, and expect to have this finished by Sunday. In the interim, I want everyone to familiarize themselves with the rules (including but not limited to the timing restrictions), and ensure that you know how to play PBEM.

Please do NOT commit to play in this tournament unless you are able to play PBEM and unless you understand ALL of the rules. If anyone is new to PBEM, then please just email me at 5683deltium@gmail.com, and I will help you get setup.

PBEM instructions: https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/39/how-to-pbem-a-visual-guide

AA50 rules: https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/394/triplea-rules-for-anniversary-edition-tournaments

Also, I recommend that you prepare your secret battle plans !!

Cheers, Deltium

[Raville]

@Deltium Thanks for your commentaries and commitment,

11 months ago in last tournament ToC4 I submitted a proposal to have 2 chances in that contest, you got it and liked it setting a double elimination tournament with a loser's bracket (perhaps limited by challonge.com system); it wasn’t excactly as proposed and then surged a question: Who has interest to be in a loser’s bracket? Following that first recommendation, just recently made another proposal that covered all your requirements and adding some other: 2 games, second chance, bid games, standard bid games, gaming both powers A&A, etc. with a better balance games but having only winners brackets, not that losers bracket that is really disappointing with gamers feeling bad in moral and in a failure position. About time set of 45 days instead of 30 days, from my point of view I think and feels it will create laziness, being boring and quite slow tournament (same scheme as last ToC4).

About “2nd Chance” to a loser in a loser’s bracket, it’s not interesting at all! Proposing losers should go out and just remain winners in winner's brackets (but everybody having those two chances). Maintaining that same old scheme I forwardly advice that if losing maybe I’ll not feel going into a losers second chance bracket as was in last tournament (without having any chance to come back up into the winners bracket). Sorry, but there should be winner's brackets only!

Furthermore, I invited several gamers from lobby and majorities told me they don’t participate in this tournament cause it's PBEM / PBF base; anyhow, I also well understand situations as gamers living in other geographical areas; so, maybe we could organize a tournament live online only to these potential participants under the proposal I’d made as a Single Elimination–Double Bracket at the new Ladder & Tournament TA site created by @prastle

Thanks again and ready to begin, GLHF to all, Raville

[Agency10]

Can I sign up?

[Deltium]

@Agency10 - you are #1 on the wait list. Although we have 16 registered participants right now, it is normal that 1-2 fall out before the start of the tournament, and if so, you will be able to play.

Thank you for your interest !

[Deltium]

ATTENTION ALL TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS AA50 '41 SEASON 5 PARTICIPANTS !!

We have officially launched the tournament, and the bracket is now live:

https://challonge.com/AA50_ToC5

OK, we are officially READY TO BEGIN !!

Please note a few important things:

• This will be a LL tournament, but players can opt to play with dice, if both players agree.

• I know about half of you personally, but the other half I do not. I have sought advice from the active players, and did my best to seed you based on the knowledge that I have. Please do not put any particular emphasis on your seed, as this is a double-elimination tournament, and you will have a fair chance to compete.

• Please initiate the bidding process immediately. For simplicity, the LOWER seed shall initiate the bid. Please note that you are bidding for the ALLIES.

• Please do review all of the rules, and with regard to bidding, only ONE unit from the bid can be placed in each territory (e.g. you cannot put all of the units in one territory).

• AT ALL TIMES, be respectful to your opponent and timely in your response. As per the rules, you have 48 HOURS to make your move. Violations on gameplay frequency will be monitored and taken seriously. If possible, try to play live with your opponent to keep the game moving forward rapidly, but if not PBEM/PBF is allowed.

• As this is the first game, and as we are approaching the Holidays, I will allow a slightly longer period than 45 days, and I will allow a deadline of December 23rd, but please try to play swiftly.

• I will be writing to each of the pair of players instructing you to begin

AT THE CONCLUSION OF YOUR GAME: please write a brief summary of your game AND attach the game file in the Forum page here: https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/1061/tournament-of-champions-season-5-for-aa-50-anniversary-41-version

OFFICIAL BRACKET PAGE: Results will be updated dynamically at the official bracket page: https://challonge.com/AA50_ToC5

Most of all, be RESPECTFUL and COMMUNICATE PROACTIVELY to eliminate any disputes like Order of Loss (OOL), etc. Please also review the rules on the edits. Please be very careful before you click in a battle or finish your turn, as edits are VERY SENSITIVE in tournaments !

Lastly, this tournament is NOT solely about winning or losing. Look at EACH match as an opportunity to learn a deeper aspect of the game and to meet another Axis and Allies player in the world.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, at 5683deltium@gmail.com

[Agency10]

@deltium Great. Thanks.

[Deltium]

Deltium (Allies, 18 IPCs) defeats Chewbaluba (Axis)

First, Chewbaluba is a fast and friendly player.
Allies got off to a good start, securing Africa early and the Russians slowed the German tide as best as it could.
The Americans opted for a Pacific navy and made a sneak attack on Tokyo which secured the game.
Good game Chewbaluba. Game file attached.

Cheers, Deltium

0_1541722522531_triplea_Ame4.tsvg

[tulkas]

Tulkas axis over Mogwai +15 allies. Mogwai had the worse dice imo. Although he didn’t complain about the dice and said that strategy was also to blame. He did go PAC with US and that took a lot of pressure off Ger which got a stronghold going in Cauc. By round 5 japan had India and was defending pacific at the same time. TUV was +150 for axis and Mogwai surrendered.

[BigMac]

If there is room, count me in! Prastle, awesome job on website.

[prastle]

@bigmac Sdaly the toc is full BM but you are second on wait list if any drop.

[Brennan]

I suppose it's too late to join this tournament?

[Blasherke]

Blasherke (Axis) defeats QuarterMaster in an exciting game. The Allies suffered from bad dice in the first two rounds and of course this had an impact on the outcome of the game. Especially with the Allies going for a KJF, where binding Japan at an early stage is vital. This enabled both Germany and Italy to build up forces and strike on Russia. Despite an impressive sea battle next to Gibraltar, the allies were unable to turn the tide.

Thanks QuarterMaster for the fun game!

[Handsome]

Icelander (Axis) defeats Handsome (Allies +15) in just 6 rounds as Allies surrender after a last desperate UK attack on Berlin.

From start, US aimed to get air superiority and tried to force Japan to react to a possible US threat in the Pacific and therebye lighten the pressure on Russia. The plan worked, but US didn't take advantage and let itself getting carried away in an armsrace in the Pacific. When UK makes some very bad choices in Africa/Middle East, Germany/Italy soon take controll and grow very strong. The US Atlantic fleet gets sunk by Luftwaffe in turn 6, and an economicly crippled UK makes a last desperate attack on Berlin at terrible odds.

Thanks to Iclander for a very good and friendly game. 0_1542843543985_triplea_Bri6.tsvg .

[Islandia]

Islandia (Axis) defeats Prastle (Allies + 14) in round 11 as Allies surrender after failing to capture France with a double strike from United Kingdom plus the United States. 0_1542946618396_prastle-live toc.tsvg

The game started with the US doing a furious full scale assault on Japanese shipping sending many transports and carriers to the bottom of the Pacific. This gave Germany and Italy a bit of breathing room, though they were pushed out of the Mediterranean and Africa by turn 5. Germany was able to build up a strong airforce that threatened Allied shipping resulting in a heavy spend for Capital ships for the allies (3 British Battleships)! Once Japan was able to get going, it started to push towards the center and the Axis gained a slow advantage.

[Icelander]

Icelander (Allies +14) defeats Tulkas (Axis) after Germany fails to capture Moscow in round 9. 0_1544313774128_triplea_Ame8.tsvg

Basically UK and US kept their economy going in Africa and the Pacific, while Russia did its best to face enemies coming from all sides. A very good Germany with strong air support invaded Karelia twice but couldn't build enough to take Moscow while the British threat from the Baltic grew larger.

Thanks to Tulkas for a very challenging game.