Welcome Comrades to the 83rd edition of the Dispatch
It's been a shakeup here in the Dispatch. It's goodby to
Victor Sullivan ... and so many thanks from all of us at CC! You brought us so much, and now you've gone. We wish you all the best on your next big project in life.
For my sins I receive the reins as your new Chief. So any problems are now my fault and any praise please direct to the diligent team. As to the Team,
Leehar has taken over Clans - a true expert in that Forum,
kiintz1973 takes his rightful place as Exec in the Foundry while I am looking after Strategy for now. I am also pleased to announce a return of the
INTERVIEWS !!
This issue we have
TheCrown telling it like it is. A man of depth and intrigue!
We also have
TWO competitions. Another episode from Foundry and a chance to stamp your mark in Clans!!
I reconsider the Mentoring Project and
Scorba 's brilliant exposition on how to play escalating spoils. A veritable smorgasbord of information from the Tournament, Foundry and Clan teams. So much to read, too much to review here. Delve in everyone ... boots and all! And please give us your feedback in the thread.
In the words of Smauel Butler:
Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule.
Enjoy the fruit of our labouring fingers!
thehippo8 Chief Executive If you would like to apply to join the news team, please visit the thread below for more details!
But a special callout for those Tournament experts to make yourself known now to
Dukasaur . Your talent is required!
Click here for Recruitment Details... Welcome back readers. My apologies for not being able to get out an interrogation the last couple of issues. We've got
TheCrown up for this issue, and he talks about his name, maps, and medals.
You Stay Classy, CC.
safariguy5 Freestyle Executive The Scum Insider by safariguy5 show
The Scum Insider Newbie Help Want to get into the Mafia scene, but don't know how to play or even what it is? Consult these threads: Mafia Information , Mafia and You , and Rules and Terms of Mafia . Too much work? Too lazy to read through everything? No worries, you can always jump right into a game and ask for other players or the game runner to help guide you.What is "Mafia"? Mafia, for those of you that don't know, is a game that generally takes place in a town, where the townspeople have to determine who the mafia (or "scum") is and lynch them via a majority vote during the day and the mafia try to kill everyone at night and bluff their way out of getting killed by the town.Mafia News Periodic Table Mafia ended in a town win after the players were able to hang the last mafia goon with plenty of townies to spare. The SKer helped out town by killing the godfather on night one and some good logic and knowledge of the semi-open setup outed the SKer in due time. New mod samgrossy did a fine job in modding.Mafia Callouts Calling all players interested! Some mafia games need some filling: Sign-ups: Seeking Replacements: Consult the Replacement Thread to see what games are in need of reserves/replacements. Now get out there and investigate Mafia for yourself: viewforum.php?f=213 Advanced Roles and Strategy by safariguy5 We talk about a seriously deadly mafia role this gameThe Strongman What is It? A strongman, sometimes referred to as a juggernaut, is a role who's kill ignores any protections that the target may have. Jailkeepers and doctors cannot prevent the kill and bulletproof will not save the target. However, the kill can still be redirected or negated by commuter roles or if the role is untargetable for any reason.Example Jack is a strongman. He targets Alice for a kill. Even though Andy protects Alice, Alice will die anyways.How to Use this Role Strongman roles are almost always Mafia . They usually signify that town has some role or combination of roles that could be gamebreaking. These roles generally have a limited number of shots. They should be used on power roles that have been confirmed or are nearly confirmed. The strongman should be used with care, because watchers and trackers can still uncover them and losing such a strong role can be very damaging to mafia's chances of winning.
show: Interrogation of TheCrown
Hi TheCrown! Hello. Q. Why did you choose the name TheCrown? I chose TheCrown for my respect for Jesus the Christ and the crown he wore in place of us. You asked.... Q. In your opinion, which is the best clan on CC? The best clan in wars would have to be The Pack, but best in all round fun would have to be The New Crusade, but I am a bit biased. Our clan forum includes a constantly played "Mafia" thread led by our awesome BGtheBrain, "Rock, Paper Scissors" led by TheJonah (no relation), "Ready, Aim, Fire" led by BlackKnight_6, "King of Maps" internal tourney led by MoB_Deadly, our own "Map Strategy Guide" led by Thunderhue, a "vent" station to blow off steam, a "brag" station for bragging (duh!), and many other ongoing threads to keep things fun, especially our "Lounge" where we talk about everything and it has over 300 pages now (virtual drinking is the norm there, but I only drink smoothies). Q. Is it true that you never use BOB? Not even on maps like Monsters? Why not? Is it on principle, or because you aren't sure how to install it? I don't use BOB because I don't feel right about loading it on my computer at work. I don't need it anyways, I make some notes sometimes, other times I just remember all my games. Oh, and I'm kind of a computer dummy, so would probably screw it up if I tried loading it. That's probably what my clan wanted to hear me admit for a good laugh. Suckas! Q. Why is it that in any form of game against me (Chewie1) you have dice loaded with sixes, I can match you with map experience and knowledge but not with the dice. Is it because you have an incredibly flexible wrist that effects the way you roll? Chewie seems to have the worst luck against me, other than Pixar and Serreski. Don't know how to explain it other than just plain awesomeness. Q. Ass or breast man? Donkey or manboobs... was that the question? Is there a door #3? Q. You're 42, so I am assuming you have kids. Every time I (Ace Rimmer) see your name I think of crowning during childbirth. Did you watch your children crowning? I do have kids, and yes, I watched all my kids being born and cut the ambilical cord on at least 1 of them. Birth is such a painful looking ordeal.... gotta hand it to you ladies! Q. If TNC kicked you out, which clan do you think you'd fall to? Not anything subliminal about that question, eh Icepack? (Wait... that was from Icepack, wasn't it?) Well, if TNC booted me, I think there are a few that would cheer and a bunch of TNC clan guys that would have war withdrawal. I try to keep TNC at about a 6 clan war at one time average. TNC loves to war, so I provide the vehicle for their desire. We don't turn away clans that want to war, who are we to deny someone a war? So anyways, if I was booted, I think I would start my own clan and get about 15 one-stripers and teach them everything I know (about 7 minutes worth). Q. Who is your favorite clan member? 1st and foremost, was a guy named basic_man2010_20. After that, most guys in my clan are about the same. Basicman left a legacy of bumblings that I still find funny to this day. His name became a verb.... and he became a legend! Q. Why aren't you a general? Have been to general and even field marshal, but then found it too restricting and less fun. I prefer playing 100 games at a time, than playing 3 games at a time on difficult maps with newbies to make sure I win. Don't know who would prefer that farce. Q. Who is your favorite currently active clan member in TNC? To be specific. There are just too many to narrow down to 1. Blackknight_6 keeps me straight, pershy is a lovable teddybear, Ragian is comedic relief, BGtheBrain is the strongarm, Epitaph the smart-guy, ckyrias the super-active, tokle the unknown, 77 the spazz, thunderhue the analytical, Walslaf and ironmanbravo the wonder-twins, cooldeals and jonofperu the newbies, JBfloyd the focused, tenbar and winston the silent but deadly guys, TheJonah the poker guy, uyu the survivor, claude-ala-harley, ejph my brother from Africa, see???? too many to chose just 1, impossible. Q. What is your favorite mafia role? Probably my 1st role ever... Reviver. Q. I (MoB Deadly) heard a rumor that you like spreadsheets? Approximately how many do you have? Usually between 9 to 14, doesn't everyone? I can't keep all my thoughts in my head, got to put some of the down sometimes or I'll explode. Yes, I'm an organization freak. Q. What is your next primary goal now that you are number 1 in medals? Now I try to figure out how to get more medals since I am at about at the end of what I can get. Gilligan is catching me quickly and can overtake me by about 50 medals and there will be nothing I can do about it. I can't write code for maps, I'm not a moderator, I don't think I can develop an interesting map. I do like helping members organize into new clans, so maybe I'll pursue that more. Go UM8s! Go AoK! Q. Score prediction for NC3 1RFG vs FALL? I believe I picked The Fallen to win 25 - 16... they are awesome man.... and 1RFG, well, someday they'll beat us, I'm sure, but they are a bunch of nice guys too. Q. Which clan would you rather face in NC3 Finals? Why? The Fallen.... because I would love to stick it to them! New clan whippersnappers think they can beat everyone! 1RFG, nah.... been there, beat that (a lot!) Q. Score prediction for NC3 Finals if you face 1RFG? I could see us winning 25 - 20, or 35 to 10. Q. Score prediction for NC3 Finals if you face FALL? But of course... 45 - 0, or maybe 24 - 21. Q. If you could somehow instill a sense of virtue among the members of CC, which virtue do you think they(we) most desperately need? love... can't we all just get along? Q. Do you like the Thrash/Death Metal Band called "The Crown"? Have never heard of them and have never liked that kind of music, so probably not. Great name though. Q. Any top secret upcoming tournament plans? I plan on running a bunch of tourneys over winter, and besides "Avalanche" and "Hot & cold" tourneys, have been wanting to do a new tourney based on a tourney run by Walslaf. I love to make up new tourneys that are fun. Q. Which blows your mind more: finding out the ownership is changing or finding out that classic is wrong? Since I have no idea what changing ownership is in reference to (the lackattack thing?), I would pick classic. What difference is new ownership of CC going to do to the site? I have no idea. Q. Do you have a favourite tooth? I do not. But I guess if I had to pick, it would be based on if one was missing, which would make my smile look dorkier. Q. What's your favorite game/type and settings, and how did that come to be? I love having no spoils, it's easier on my brain thinking I have a good strategy. I hate losing because I turn in 3 sets of reds in a row while my opponent has all rainbows. So, I prefer to take out as much luck as possible. And, I love foggy, so a person can't see me coming or what I am doing. So, I guess the othes would be automatic, sequential and chained. Q. If you could ban 3 maps off CC what would they be? Poison Rome #1! - Still can't figure what the heck makes a bonus on that map Baseball #2 - Boring City Mogul #3 - Too weird Q. Do you think you will find an avatar that you actually like as much as your old one? I do think there are some cool ones out there... I especially like my crown with the spikes.... but back by popular demand, I have brough back my favorite rotating avatar. Found by BGthebrain. Q. Which of your numerous medals was the most difficult to achieve? Probably my first tournament win. Isn't that always the hardest to get? I found out that to get tourney wins I had to play more than 2 or 3... but if I played 20 at a time, that I would eventually win some. Q. I (thehippo8) see your first tournament win was Take out the Officer - what an awsome way to start! What made you pick that tourney and how did it feel to win it? I actually was the TO on it and won my own tourney. It was my 1st concept to run a tourney and have it be different. I have morfed that tourney into the current "Avalanche" series that I run. I think the funnest tourney I won was with teammates Walslaf, happyfeet, and chapcrap. Q. You have already won 30 tournaments and are in at least ten more - what would be a good number of tournament wins for you? I don't really think of the number of tourney wins, but just the adrenaline rush of winning one. I can ignore the feeling brought on by losing tourneys... it's just common practice now. Am looking forward to winning VioIet's current tourney on Das Schloss. Oh, and I just need to keep ahead of chapcrap in tourney wins... sucka! Q. Did you pick TNC, or did TNC pick you? I petitioned to RA and T4C when I started to wonder what a "clan" was. I didn't like the clans that used skulls and crossbones to look tough, or names that I found questionable. I picked T4C when the leader, TheSaxLad, was quick in returning answers to me, and was enthuisiastic about adding me. I later found out that there was actually a 4th crusade and that it was a bad thing, so I told the clan that I would be leaving unless the name was changed. That's how T4C became TNC. Q. What's your favourite map? Waterloo, I love the complexity and options. Q. If you could conjure up a map, not already on the site, what would you want to see as a map? Maybe some kind of "Indiana Jones" map. Q. Will you host a Mafia game? Never. I'm way better with numbers than letters and words. Q. What was your favourite tournament you hosted (out of the amazing 30 tournments hosted by you so far!) and why? I believe I have finished 47 now, but my favorite would have to be "Mini-Clan War" tourneys because I love getting people in there and see the light go on as they discover team play and how a clan war works. As I said before, I love to help people get into clans, as being in one myself has enhanced the fun on CC by hundreds-fold. Q. Is the DTX ranking the best thing you've ever seen? The DTX ranking system is amazing and the best ever! I love telling clans that we (TNC) are #1! Q. What's gonna happen if G1 wins our war? Unforetunately I think G1 is going to win... we've had a rough couple of weeks as a clan as a lot of people are going on or have gone on vacation. Plus, one of our strongest silent members got banned somehow and got booted from all his games. I had put him in a lot in the 1st 2 rounds, so I think that is going to be the decider and why we lose. G1 is playing tough though, and I don't understand why we can't dominate them. Also, I think it will suck when we lose because that will give Gilligan another medal and he will be the medal-god sometime soon or it will pad his lead. Q. What's gonna happen when I (Gilligan) take over in medals? I'm going to cry on your wall everyday. Thanks for your time TheCrown. No problem, it's been fun. Just want to give a shout out to chemefreak and all the other clan mods who have put up with a heavy workload because of TNC . Also a shout out to all who work as mods and who help make this run smoothly. A special shout out to whoever created the Waterloo map... I love you man!
Welcome one and all to my second helping of bringing you the Strategy Division.
This is the stuff that's important, so listen up!!
I have a look at the
Mentoring Pilot Project . After sending out some PMs I received some interesting feedback. Have a read for yourself and do please post your own comments or thoughts.
I also have a look at
Scorba's Tacticus Escalatus in the second article in the
Collected Wisdon series. One very clever man that
Scorba . And, I have to add, not only did I learn something but by jingos what he says works! So whether your serious or whether you are here just for fun, there's something for everyone here!
Stay clever!
thehippo8 Temporary Strategy Executive Mentoring Pilot Project by thehippo8 show
There are those amongst us willing to offer their time freely to help others. There are those amongst us willing to bare their souls so as to be able to learn. As a consequence of this, the Mentoring Pilot Project was born. The premise was:kalishnikov wrote: Do you wish you had someone to answer your questions when you first joined CC? To tell you about Greasemonkey and how not to play freestyle? Well why not help mentor a new recruit and share the knowledge you've gained? Are you an elite player, tired of playing the same old people again and again, hoping for some fresh blood to join your ranks and energize your games? Why not coach the next great player yourself? Are you a new player completely lost about what to do and how to play? And just what is this greasy monkey thing anyway? Or are you just tired of losing games all the time and want to get a stripe? Then the mentoring program is for you! Check it out! ==============================================
Based on the popularity of Itrade's thread, and the fact he was getting overwhelmed with it, I've set this up as a central place for mentors and those wanting help to meet up. This is very informal and open to everyone. Post here if you want to help, or if you want help. Playing in games with your mentoree is not required, you can just offer advice from the "sidelines", in case you're worried about losing points.
New players looking for help, please pm the mentor. Very few mentors (other then me, I think I pm'ed all my mentees) will pm you. Don't be shy, if their name is on this list they have VOLUNTEERED to help without coercion, just don't spam them or be rude. And if they say they are busy, give them time or try someone else.
When posting, please list either Mentor or Mentoree and skill level. If you want to be a mentoree , please rate your skill level: 1 - I'm brand new and know nothing about World Domination 2 - I'm decent at the board game, but need help navigating the site 3 - Been here a bit, but need help winning games 4 - Need help with a specific gametype, e.g. freestyle, escalating, etc... If you want to be a mentor , please rate your skill level and list any strengths: 1 - I know the site well and understand basic strategies 2 - I win a fair amount of games, but play mostly lower ranks 3 - I can hold my own in most games and have played the top ranks regularly 4 - I consider myself a top player and an expert on strategy To this explanation, kalishnikov added a list of 42 Mentors and 48 Mentees. The Pilot was set up on 14 July 2007 and the list was last updated on 8 September 2011. Since that time there were more Mentors and Mentees who posted their interest but their names were not included on the list. Given the level of interest in the Pilot I thought it was high time to contact these good souls and see how they fared with the Pilot. To the Mentors I asked:1. How many people have you mentored since the mentoring scheme began (completed games and number of unique mentees)? 2. What has been the most dramatic increase (by points) that you have seen a mentee rise through your assistance? 3. How many unique maps have you played with mentees? 4. How many unique map settings have you used with mentees? 5. How long have you been involved in the mentoring program?
To the Mentees I asked: 1. Did you get a mentor? 2. How many games did the mentor work with you on? 3. On what maps? 4. On a scale of 1 to 5 (brilliant, great, okay, mediocre, pathetic) - how would you describe the assistance you got? 5. What would you change about the mentoring programme if you could? 6. Would you be invovled in this programme again? 7. Have you gone on to mentor others? If so, how many? On what maps? And how did that go for you? 8. What makes a good mentor?
I even went through the posts since September 11 and found another 17 Mentees to send my questions to. I cleared out my Inbox and prepared for the onslaught. Responses from Mentors I received a total of seven responses. You know who you are, so thanks for responding, but I won’t list your names to protect the innocent. The responses were:I mostly cannot even remember. Sorry mate ;(
Thanks for the message, but the truth is that I haven't been involved in the mentoring program for quite some time. I left the site in 2009 and just recently returned, so I'm afraid I don't remember what little mentoring I did back then. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
I’m going to have to decline as I have a crazy schedule this week and barely time for turns - I’m also right in the path of that big storm coming up the east coast of the US so I have to prepare for that. So exclude me for now maybe next time.
Sorry, I haven't been involved for around 3 years
Sorry I had a long time away from CC. I had a lot of success with AoR when it first started and made a lot of points for many, but most the players are no longer on the site.
I’m probably not the guy for this. I haven’t actually mentored someone that’s not clan team games related in a long time.
Never got a mentor officially. I tended to play the "odd" maps ... AOR, etc, and there are a few who unofficially would help others. I helped a few myself.
So, like, wow! Seems that while the pilot was popular a few years back, and sounds like it was something of a success at the time, from the Mentor’s perspective it is over. Maybe there are Mentors who didn’t respond who are still active – but if they can’t respond to a PM just how active is anyone’s guess. But, hold the presses, I did receive one further, one might say proper, response: Howdy, Happy to answer questions, don't know how much help I can be. 1. At least 2, maybe 3/4. 2. They haven't stuck around too long really, sorry to say. Couple of losses and they're not that interested. 3. Hmm, good question, only about 3-5 I would say. 4. Usually no spoils, adjacent, sometimes cards and linked reinforcement. 5. Few years but haven't had anyone knocking at my door, I have to say. Good luck with it.
Again, if this is every Mentors’ experience then, to be frank, maybe the idea of the Pilot was greater than its implementation? Responses from the Mentees Here I received ... ummm ... five responses! Again, I will not put up anyone’s names – but here are the responses I got:I didn`t play with mentor but now I don`t need it. Thanks.
Hi, I have not gotten [with] a mentor so none of this questions [are able to be answered].
I did not get a mentor. I am not in need of one anymore. Sorry for the confusion. Thank you so much for taking the time to contact me. All the best,
That was a long time ago, I don't remember being mentored.
I joined up but have not actually had a mentor. I just didn't have the time ... and still don't!! I was using it for really complex maps, but I don't have time for them.
So, again, the mentoring program either didn’t happen for these people or for those that did it was too long ago. I do not have enough information to be able to draw any meaningful conclusions other than a general apathy or (possibly) and unwillingness to share insight. Either way, it is perhaps fair to say that the pilot has either passed its usefulness or certainly isn’t rocking the way it should. But as for the Mentors, the best response came later:Thank you for asking. I recieved useful responses from xman5151, chapclap, usernamer, sirsebster and deepfryer (though don't recall if he was from the mentor list ...) played a few games with them but then got into team training with Macbone in SoC, and formed a new clan after one of TheCrown's clanwars for beginners ... 5 of us in my clan have been unofficially trying to mentor the others in our clan and each other. So very useful program; helped me transition from solo to teams but got some other mentors through other channels ... have offered it to clanmates and newbies
And this post has renewed my hope and faith in the pilot. I seriously doubg that this was the only person who had such a positive outcome! But what to do? Fixing the Pilot From a personal perspective I believe that the Pilot was a great idea. It was well explained and there seemed to be a lot of interest. But there was no feedback, no follow up, no controls, nothing to keep the impetus and eventually it fizzled out. To revive this I believe that the whole program needs to be run by a dedicated comptroller who places Mentees with Mentors, checks on them, ensures that there is a certain and quantifiable plan, ensures on the success of the plan and, most importantly provides feedback and incentives. For the Mentees some sort of graphical representation of improvement in ratings, understanding of maps or other criteria to show that the Pilot is working. Mentees should be required to post confirmation their goals were met or, if not, why not – for the betterment of the programme and instructions to the Mentors generally. Mentors, on the other hand, should compete for the most Mentees, most maps taught, best increase in Mentee score and, I believe most importantly, medals for Mentor achievement. Maybe I am wrong, but it would be interesting to see what everyone else thinks (assuming they do!). And if the Pilot can be revived, I believe that can only be good for CC!!
Collective Wisdom Series: Scorba's Tacticus Escalatus by Scorba with commentary from thehippo8 show
Trawling through the Strategy Section, I was bowled over by the clever, selfless and downright fun talent sharing their wisdom with us all. In this series, we will look at some of these great posts and consider them in more detail. In this issue, we look at an article called Scorba's Tacticus Escalatus that was posted by Scorba - posted mid October 2012.Scorba wrote: Introduction Hello and welcome to Scorba's Tacticus Escalatus, a strategy guide for escalating games of five or more players. I am normally an extremely lazy and often stoned individual. So why is it that I have taken the time and gone to the immense effort of writing this guide to escalating play? The answer is simply because I play a lot of escalating games, and many of the players I encounter clearly have no idea how to play them. Poor play ruins games, handing the win to one player or other, and this irks me greatly. I have thus decided to give the site the benefit of my experience and wisdom in order to help these poor sorry souls, by writing this article on escalating play. So kick back, roll a fat one and relax as you learn how to play the game the Scorba way.
See! Selfless and, as you will soon find, talented in the extreme (and whoever said getting stoned is bad for the brain better read here first!).The Golden Rule Always remember the golden rule in escalating games, CONSERVE YOUR TROOPS. Conserve, conserve, conserve. Take easy cards. Do not attempt to break opponents’ continents. Do not attack opponents’ large stacks unless you intend to eliminate them. Do not become involved in pointless tit for tat battles. Every troop you have on the board makes you a less tempting target for elimination. Every troop you lose takes you closer to losing the game.
So easy to learn ... and frankly surprisingly easy to put into practice! When you realise that there is a purpose to being careful it seems to come naturally – and the little green greedy monster is held easily at bay! A little diplomacy also assists, but we will come to that.The Three Phases In order to play escalating games well you must first understand the nature of the game. It is split into three phases. The Early Game, the Mid-Game and the End Game. You must learn to recognise when the game shifts between these phases, as each calls for different tactics.
Shades of chess theory here ... read on!The Early Game What you do in the Early Game depends largely on your drop. If you have been dealt a strong presence in a small continent you should deploy and fortify everything you can to it. Take it as quickly as possible, as long as you can put up a reasonable defence afterwards. If you claim a continent, defend it. Deploy to its borders for the next two or three rounds. Once you have a good defence you can use its bonus to increase your influence in other areas of the map.
This is crucial advice, but read it again – and again if you missed it. The important part is do not take a continent unless you can take it quickly AND you can put up a reasonable defence afterwards. It doesn’t have to be a perfect defence because you can always go back to slow steady play. But don’t simply ignore your ability to take a region out of some deluded view that to do so is always wrong. It isn’t always wrong. In a recent game I played (11850781) I was able to quickly take South America (Classic Map). I had a reasonable chance to hold it because it is a small region with only two weak points, being small it can be more easily ignored by your opponents (who were struggling for greater regions) and if you work with a neighbour (in this game my biggest opponent was taking Africa) you may be able to convince them (through diplomacy) not to attack you too early. As to that game, my diplomacy sucked slightly because I kept forgetting to move my troops but that ultimately also saved me because another player made a mistake in trying to take out that neighbour and I was able to mop up easily and in round 12!Do not become involved in a dog fight for a continent. If someone else deploys to the continent I have set my eyes on then I usually abandon my plans. Chewing through a six stack is likely to cost you six or more armies unless you get good dice. Even if you win the continent your defences will be weakened considerably and another player may take it from you, costing you even more armies. Remember, conserve your troops.
This is such brilliant advice. I wish I’d heard it earlier in so many games! In the game 11850781, my biggest concern was to avoid a tit for tat with my neighbour in Africa.So what to do if you have not been lucky enough to get a good drop? Do not fear, all is not lost. A continent gives you an edge in an escalating game, nothing more. I usually do not take a card in my first turn unless I am going for a continent or all the players preceding me have taken one. Instead I deploy one army on each of the countries I deem most important to me. There is a threshold at which players will not attack you in order to get a card, and that magic number is four armies. Do not deploy your armies to a small continent where another player has a strong presence. They may well try to take it regardless and your deployment will be wasted. Remember, conserve your troops.
There is a saying that you should be able to win a game from any position. It may be true, but the point is to maximise your position. Use psychology (the 4 troop thing is great advice). But be careful to ensure that you maintain troops disparately over the board. If they are all together then you could easily fall to someone with a good set of rolls. If you also have some troops on the other side of the board where they simply cannot reach then they are simply handing you to their opponent and that has a powerful grip too. In chess terms, this is like two disconnected passed pawns – the opponent king can’t stop both of them!Fortify your armies together as much as possible. This is quickly achieved in Unlimited fortification games. I do not like Unlimited. It speeds up the Early Game too much and removes the need for forward planning. Adjacent is dull as there are not many options available to you. I advise you to play Chained games, as this involves the most skill. A good Chained fortification at the right moment can swing a tight game.
Be careful with this advice. Read it carefully and think about what I said above. The purpose of forting your troops is to make yourself less likely to be attacked by your opponents in the early game. It maintains your unreachability (ok so I invented that word but you get what I mean!).Some players like to leave two or three armies on each territory for defence. This is poor tactics in my opinion. People will need to attack you in order to get cards. Why lose two or three armies when you could lose only one? Remember, conserve your troops. In addition, if you have two troops on six countries, this is an extra six armies that could have been added to your large stacks, which can be the difference between success and failure when trying to eliminate somebody. Also, how does it benefit you if the weakest player loses eight armies attacking your two stack in desperation to get a card? It does not, unless you are next to move and can eliminate them. Besides which, you want opponents to take your weakly held countries to open up as many lines of attack as possible for your large stacks in the End Game.
One factor to take into account here is the way in which your neighbours are behaving. If you are surrounded by players who deprive you of easy opportunities to get a card but there is another player who understands the need to get cards but is not hostile to you then move your troops in a way that allows you to block the meanies and foster friendship with your like-minded kin. But beware they don’t sucker you into believing that they are actually your friend. Keep an eye on the cards too!As I said above, do not waste your troops breaking an opponent’s continent. Remember, conserve your troops. What does it matter to you if someone holds a two bonus? It does not. Play your own game. Don't mess with somebody else just for the sake of it. The only winners if you try this are your other opponents. Take the easiest card available to you, as long as it does not compromise your lines of attack for your large stacks. I will often deploy to a country solely because it is next to an opponent’s one stack. Where you build your stacks is extremely important. If you hold a continent then your options are limited, as you will need to stack on its borders. If you do not hold one, then there are two good options. The first is in bottlenecks, as this will make it harder for opponents to move around the board making eliminations in the End Game. The second is in countries which border many others, giving you the best chance of getting an easy card and keeping open multiple lines of attack.
This is brilliant advice. Remember that you can win by stopping them win, making it hard for them to achieve their goals but most importantly – staying alive!Always wait until you have five cards before making your first cash in, unless you need an injection of troops to secure a continent. You want as big a cash in as possible. Sometimes players avoid taking a card to push themselves lower down in the cash in order. On the occasions I have done this, I have generally regretted it as it left me a card behind my opponents which has often turned out to be disastrous in the End Game. I advise you to just go with the flow and take the small cash in. With luck you will be the first to cash in for a second time and this may allow you to eliminate an opponent.
Remember the caveat, cash early if there is a reason to. Don’t slavishly follow the 5 card rule if you need the troops then and there! Sometimes an early cash where you get another 2 added to a couple of regions early on is an immensely powerful disincentive to others from attacking you! There are times, too, where you realise you simply can’t hold your region without troop count – then you either have to give up the region or cash. But always keep an eye on the number of cards on the table – sometimes the risk of an early cash is worth the punt. But don’t do it without reason!The Mid-Game There is a clear marker which usually heralds the transition to the Mid-Game. The first cash in. Sometimes a player may cash in early and the Early Game continues until the other players cash, but this is rare with good players.
This is like chess where the opening is finished once the pieces are developed. The mid-game in chess begins when you are following a plan. If your opponent doesn’t recognise that and counter then they are doomed! CC is no different.How you play the Mid-Game depends on how you are faring in the game. If you are strong then you should concentrate your armies in up to three stacks. I generally think three is too many and usually go for one or two (the once famous Big Pile of Scorba (TM)). If you are weak then you should scatter your armies around the map to make yourself as hard to eliminate as possible. It is something of a dilemma when deciding how to place your armies. Sure, having four six stacks dotted around makes you harder to eliminate but they are of limited use if someone fumbles a kill and you have to cross the map at speed to pick up the baton and finish them off, where as a twenty four stack gives you a fighting chance of achieving this.
I simply have never played that way and probably lose too many games as a consequence. I am going to experiment with this. I can certainly see the logic. I guess it depends where that one stack is and what the opponents are doing!The Mid-Game is dominated by jostling for position. You should constantly be aware of the players relative strengths and how many cards they are holding, looking for weak players that you can eliminate in the End Game. Position your armies ready to do this, and/or to prevent your other opponents from doing so. It may be worth taking out an opponent’s smaller stack, say a five stack, to achieve better positioning, though I rarely do this as it makes you both easier to eliminate. Be extremely careful to keep your large stacks lines of attack open when taking cards. You do not want to have your stacks caught behind the lines at a critical moment. There is nothing worse than having the armies to win a game only to have them unable to attack. Armies behind the lines have an offensive capacity of zero and their only purpose is to make you harder to eliminate. Be aware of who you are attacking when taking a card. If you take the last of an opponent’s countries in an area then you are making them that much easier to eliminate. This can lose you the game. It sometimes occurs that a player is so weak, whether through poor play, atrociously bad luck or being the victim of someone else's stupidity, that they are worth eliminating in the Mid-Game. See the paragraph on eliminations in the End Game section for notes on deciding whether it is worth going for or not.
I have nothing to add. Great advice here. Read, read and read it again!The End Game The End Game usually begins at the twenty cash in, though it can be earlier or later depending on circumstances. Generally speaking, the more countries there are on a map and the less players there are in a game, the longer the Mid-Game as there is a greater troops to cards ratio.
Again, this has corollaries with chess. The end game is reached when you can pretty much calculate the outcome of a set of moves. Sure, it can be very complex, but where you can see that we have moved from strategy to tactics then you are likely in an end-game situation. In that Classic game I was playing, 11850781, an opponent had taken down my neighbour so much that my 35 three card cash-in allowed me to eliminate both my neighbour and his attacker (although I had to take a rather circuitous route to get there. In the process I got my neighbour’s 4 cards and his attacker’s 3 cards and ended up cashing in 2 more sets – an overwhelming advantage which I sheeted home against the last poor player (who was playing very well) through the sheer volume of troops.The End Game is all about cold blooded murder, baby. Kill the weaker players! Kill them! Kill them! Do not worry about protecting your continent in the End Game. Positioning yourself for eliminations is king.
In my game, 11850781, I abandoned my territory and went for my neighbour and his attacker. If I failed then the last player had a 20 stack and was looking to cash so it was a risk – but a risk worth taking!Be aware of the cost versus reward when eliminating players. There is little point chewing through a hundred armies just to get a thirty cash in. In one game I had over three hundred armies on the board and one of my opponents eliminated me. His reward? Three cards netting him a paltry seventy five cash in. Sheer lunacy. He was then surprised when our other opponent, who had nearly four hundred armies sat on Bangkok, went on a world tour wiping him off the map. Fool! If you cannot eliminate a weak player, the next best thing is to protect them. Position your armies to block opponents’ movements around the board. A good blocking move has won me many, many games.
This is also brilliant advice. Keep your eye on this in the middle game too, because you may want to tuck that weak player under your arm for later. Deadlock If all players play well then the End Game can descend into Deadlock, where all players have too many armies on the board to be worth eliminating or weaker players are protected by blocks. So what can you do if your game goes into Deadlock? The answer is your options are extremely limited. Any direct action on your part loses you the game. All you can do is continue to take easy cards and hope the player who proceeds you loses patience and goes stir crazy, attempting to eliminate someone leaving you with some easy cards. Deadlock can be extremely dull and tedious so I advise you to put a round limit on. I go for twenty rounds as if nothing interesting has happened by then, then it probably won't.
That fool going feral is usually me! Must be patient, must be patient, must be ... oh stuff it aaaarrrgggghhh!!!Poor Players Be aware of who you are playing against. I'm sure we've all played against some fool who does something completely irrational, taking you both out of the game. Very irritating when it happens to you. But there are some things you can do to limit their impact on your game.
Last issue we looked at Chefs – be sure to go back and read that if you haven’t already!If a poor player holds a continent, do not build on its borders. They are likely to think you are preparing to attack them and make a pre-emptive strike against you. Build on neutral ground as far away from them as possible.
Maybe even try a completely (or weakly) protected border but with a little diplomacy also. If you say you are no threat and appear to be no threat then they will believe you are no threat – because you are no threat, at least not until the end game!Holding a continent can actually be a disadvantage when playing against poor players. They may use their cash ins in the Mid-Game to attempt to break you, costing you more armies than you have got from its bonus. It might be better to play without a continent.
You can also just change strategy mid-game if you need to. Sometimes a back down is better than getting caught up in their stupidity!Three and Four Player Games Most of what I have said holds true for three and four player games. However, there is a problem with such games. If everyone plays well then the game will inevitably result in Deadlock. Be warned, good strategy cannot win you such a game but poor strategy, yours or someone else’s, can lose you it. The only reason I play these games now is that it is quicker to get a speed game organised.
This is interesting. As a low to intermediate player I shy away from bigger games in the deluded belief they are more complex. They are not – particularly when you take on board Scorba’s advice!Outro So there we have it, Scorba's Tacticus Escalatus. I hope I have improved the game of novices and perhaps even given experienced players food for thought. For myself, writing this article has been an enlightening experience and I think it will improve my game. While I have known what I have written for many years some of it was subconscious. Writing the Tacticus has transformed vague conception into clear thought. Mwahahahaha! Now everyone will play like me. Is that a Big Pile of Koolbak I see on my borders? OMFG! What's that? Is that a truly enormous spliff I hear calling my name? I think it is. Laters.
Understandably, the feedback to this article was nothing but positive. skychaser responded (in the thread ):Nice guide. I mainly play 8 players scalatus and I agree with most. I would like to add one single rule you may find interesting. Two tigers cannot delve at the same mountain. That means, if you have a stack in a large map and someone makes a stack near you at the same continent then you should run like hell. There's a high chance he's after that continent. Furthermore by escaping you can let some rivals for him to pray upon thus wasting that one's armies.
But, interestingly, Bazza100 added: No mention of spread multipliers, force ratio pushing, politics, not even baiting? Perhaps you should put the fat one down ... or then again maybe not. And yes, bit annoying when they don't see the winner waiting to pounce.
A lot of that has to do with diplomacy - and maybe an opportunity for another article? At any rate this is great stuff. So, thanks Scorba !!
Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!
I'm very pleased to announce that there is now a contest where
You Can Design the Season 3 TPA Cup! Just click that link and have a look!
In this issue:
I present an interview with long-time Tournaments afficionado musteriuz. Generalhead, actually a new reporter recruited by the Foundry section, gives us a guest article about his experiences hosting a tournament and advice for first-timers. DaveH presents the twenty-seventh (!!!) installment in his Tournament Tips. ... and his regular look at the TPA. Enjoy!
Dukasaur Tournament Executive Meet the Tournament Winners: Musteriuz by Dukasaur show
Musteriuz has played in many of my tournaments and also been my team partner in others. Checking out his profile, I found he's won three tournaments, and been a finalist in many. His wall lists: Tourney successes: Winner: I picked WHICH map? (TPA2), Free for All, Live and Let Die (Assassin); Finalist: The Bombardment tournament, Bart's joined powers I, Fivemore's World 2.1 6-player tournament, From serf to emperor, 5 Elements shuffle, WWII Europe Skills Tournament, Terminate the !s, 4Player escalating: British Isles, Dungeon Bash!, Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Planes, History 101, Trini's Terminator Tourney. Battle for Supremacy: Map champion - Age of Merchants; Region XV - winner. Olympics Part 3: Fortius - Diving champion.
So, let's talk about your very first tournament win, way back in the summer of 2010 and Free for all by OliverFA . How long had you been playing CC at that point and how many tournaments had you been in before you won one? Thanks for talking to me Duke. I had been on CC for nearly 3 years by that time and this was my 60th tourney, if I reckon correctly.Wow! That's a lot of patience. Did you ever feel you might never win one? And did you pop a bottle of champagne when the moment finally arrived? It was beginning to look like a case of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" as I had been a finalist in a few tourneys by then, but I play to have fun and therefore I just carried on as always. Being a teetotaller there was no champagne, but it did give me some real joy to get that achievement - and that medal!!!What was the finest moment? Probably when I realised that I had managed to overcome some really tough tourney opponents, including overlander, wolfpack and the others. Here's what I posted in the tourney thread when Oliver announced that I had won:Hooray! Thanks for hosting, Oliver. I must admit that I really enjoyed this tourney and am especially pleased at having beaten such illustrious opponents to achieve my maiden tournament victory. Thanks to all opponents that made the games challenging, but fun. A very gentlemanly post! (I always love having you play in my tournaments; you're so gracious and courteous.) So, a year went by, and you got your second win in Live and Let Die by tokle . How did that come about? Hehe, that was a bit of luck, I suppose. People weren't happy with how some of the games were set up and tokle had to change things a bit to keep the assassin games called assassin games. I got lucky because every time I played him 1v1 I managed to beat him and when he got involved to make it assassin games (at least 3 players), either I won or he won without me being his target. With only the eliminated person leaving the tourney and tokle no longer eligible to be the winner, that left me as last man standing. Ah, well, as they say in (pick your favourite sport), you take the points any way you get them. But hopefully never by cheating. Luck is not cheating though and I had a second medal (only about 98 less than HA at that time, lol. Or was it 998?)Yeah, it's pretty crazy when you think of some of the people in three digits and wonder how long it will take to catch up to them. So, another year went by, and you got your third win I picked WHICH map? originally by barterer2002 and rescued by peanutman after bart flew the coop.... Well, that one lasted about a year! I decided to try and enter all the TPA2 tourneys, no matter the settings and this was one of them. I thought it an interesting idea to only pick a home map from maps you've never won on. Having gotten through the first round as the only one in our group to win more than 1 game, I went back to my old style of slipping in through the back door, i.e. winning at the last minute. I wonder if all those years supporting Manchester United has anything to do with it? Anyway, I managed to beat Chewie 3-2 in a 1v1 play-off, won the tie-breaker game against ThrushAAX and 4red and then won the finals 4-1 in 1v1 against Reptile. Actually managing to win a TPA tourney did feel a bit special.Twenty-three games over the course of a year and a change of TO's in the middle of it. Did you discover a new love for any of those maps you hadn't won on before? No, I can't really say that I did. A few of those games were the first time playing those maps and the one map I finally got a win on was Rail Africa and I already liked the railroad maps.Speaking of maps, what is your favourite map? Favourite game type and settings? Favourite tournament type? My favourite map remains the second one I ever played on - Age of Merchants. I've already clocked up 104 tournament games on that one. Only 29 wins though I love playing flat rate games and I used to love playing in the fog - until I found out that people will always find a way to cheat. They take pictures!!! What's the point of playing with a foggy setting then? I love those long tournaments where you score points for placement in games with the top few in a group advancing until the finals. I absolutely hate 1v1 and avoid it as much as I can. With my perennially bad attacking dice (I'm sure I don't have the right BOB plug-in to fix that) I hate wasting attacking rolls against neutrals. I've planned on running a CC tourney for almost as long as I've known they exist. But as I always hear how much work and time it requires, I've never gotten there yet, Who knows? Maybe that will happen sooner rather than later. The only thing I'd like to see happen on CC is an "in-house" random number generator for the dice rolls. Maybe that will assuage the nagging feeling that clever enough people can "hijack" the dice rolls. Anyway, thanks for taking the time out to talk to me. May we all long continue to have an enjoyable time (for the most part) on Conquer Club.Thank you for your time and good luck in future tourneys!
Down the Rabbit Hole; Hosting a tournament by generalhead show
Down the Rabbit Hole; Hosting a tournament If you ever wanted to leave the safety of the game zone and peek into the rabbit hole of what makes Conquer Club what it is, hosting a tournament would be a good place to start. Before you host a tournament you can read in the instructions in the Conquer Club Tournament Handbook . Running a tournament is easier than I thought it would be. After you have read through the handbook you need to post the tournament information on the Create/Join a Tournament page. Before you post though here are a few quick tips to help you get started. It is a good idea to look at some other tournaments that were created to see how everything was posted and to get some good ideas about a theme and game play. Whenever I am trying to decide what type of tournament I want to run I will go to the start game tab pick a map and look through all of the options so I don't miss anything.Think about what type of tournament you want to run. 1v1 16 players, 1v1 32 players. single elimination, double elimination. Doubles, triples, quads. The possibilities are endless. Think about the settings. Standard, nuclear, sunny, fog, trench, escalating spoils, flat rate. again the possibilities are endless.Keep it simple. For your first couple of tournaments keep the map and settings simple until you get the hang of hosting tournaments.Think about a theme. This is not necessary; it is just a way to jazz up your tournament.When you have your tournament type and settings picked out , just click on New Post and post all of the tournament information. Make sure you list the map, tournament type and all of the setting in the top of your post so all of the players joining will be able to see what the tournament is about. This will also help you when you go to set up the games you can refer back to this list so you don't mess up your tournament games. If you always have a list at the beginning of each of your tournaments posts you should never forget anything. It is a good idea after you make your initial post to hit reply and type reserve so you can reserve the second post for brackets. Keep a hard copy. This is not necessary; I like to keep a hard copy with; players, games, game numbers, passwords, brackets and game setting just for a quick reference.Inform players . Update the thread. As players post in the thread that you created, make sure to post yourself that players are in, if you only need reserves or if the tournament is full. It is also a good idea to have a reserve spot under your original post for a player list and a bracket. Making a bracket or crossing names off of a list of player is an easy way to keep track of your tournament. Inform players if there is a delay in the tournament. Inform players when there is a winner (usually by pm to all players) so they know who won and that the tournament is over. These are only tips, for complete tournament hosting information click the link to the Conquer Club Tournament Handbook . Don't be afraid to ask for help, that is what the tournament directors are there for. Here is the current list of the tournament directors; chapcrap , mcshanester29 , merch313 , Night Strike , Serbia . One way to randomize your bracket is through http://www.random.org/ . Be organized and your tournament will stay simple and easy. Set up the games as they show on the bracket. Once there is a winner declare the winner. Can't be any more simple than that. One neat tooI I've found that is essential if you are going to run a tournament is WTG or watch this game. It installs a tab on your my games page next to recently finished games (the tab says watched). This tool lets you install your tournament games (or any game) into the tab to so you can keep an eye on your tournament games without having to hunt for them. Here is a link to this awesome tool: Watch this game tool. Before you know it you will have your first tournament in the bag with your first tournament organizer medal to show for it. If you are anything like I was once you find out how easy it is you will be hungry for more. Hosting a tournament is just a peek into the rabbits hole. You can go as deep into the rabbits hole as you want to. Here are a few more places that will get you there. General discussion forum : For all general discussion about Conquer Club. Map Foundry : Ever want to try your hand at making your own map. Conquer Club Newsletter Teams : Ever want to be a real life reporter for the Conquer Club Newsletter.
Tournament Tips by DaveH show: Automating a Round Robin Tournament.
In the last issue I showed how a spreadsheet of match-ups can be used to make the invites and tournament thread information easier to manage. In this one I will describe a macro to automate the creation of this information. The round robin matchups were in tables (as described in the last issue): The round number is above a table of the 1 vs 1 player number match-ups. Once one table is created (as described in the last issue) it is simply copied sequentially as many times as required to complete the round robin series. This spreadsheet is called "Round Robins" and a different spreadsheet ("Games") has the detailed game information with the VLookup function to assign the player names to their respective numbers. This spreadsheet is as follows: Note that there are two blanks in the table. This is where two players ave dropped out and, since this particular tournament was in its final stages, they are not being replaced. The blanks mean that the opponent has a bye that round. Also, at the end of the tournament all players who played a dropped out player and won must have their total scores reduced by one. Once one table is created, the following macro can be used to create the next one. The descriptions of the stages are described in the coding:Code: Select all Sub AddRound() ' select the "Games" spreadsheet Sheets("Games").Select 'select the row number of the last table's map reference number cell - this we will call LineStart LineStart = InputBox(Prompt:="Last Row Number", _ Title:="Enter the last row number", Default:="Enter Previous Row Number of the Round Number") 'select the map number in column "B" and Referenced Map in column "C" Range("B" & LineStart, "C" & LineStart).Select Selection.Copy 'add 23 to LineStart (depth of the table) for a variable we can call LineDest linedest = LineStart + 23 'Select and paste the two values to the destination cell Range("B" & linedest, "C" & linedest).Select ActiveSheet.Paste 'get the previous round number and increment it iRoundNumber = Cells(linedest, 2).Value + 1 'paste this value into the destination cell - the VLookup function that we pasted next to it will automatically update the map to the new value Cells(linedest, 2).Value = iRoundNumber 'select the Round Robin sheet Sheets("Round Robin").Select 'Look for the next round number (starting at column 8 and incremented by 3 for the next table I = 8 While Cells(1, I).Value <> iRoundNumber I = I + 3 Wend 'select the table below this round number Range(Cells(3, I), Cells(22, I + 1)).Select Selection.Copy ' go back to the games spreadsheet Sheets("Games").Select 'select the next table start position Cells(linedest + 2, 2).Select 'paste the values into the table - not the formulae! - using paste special. Selection.PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues, Operation:=xlNone, SkipBlanks _ :=False, Transpose:=False 'Move the second column; selecting it first.... Range(Cells(linedest + 2, 3), Cells(linedest + 21, 3)).Select '...cutting it... Selection.Cut '...selecting the new position for it... Cells(linedest + 2, 5).Select '...and pasting it there ActiveSheet.Paste 'select the VLookup function from the previous table... Range(Cells(linedest - 2, 3), Cells(linedest - 2, 4)).Select 'copy it.. Selection.Copy 'and paste in the first row of the second table Cells(linedest + 2, 3).Select ActiveSheet.Paste 'select the whole table and copy the functions down Range(Cells(linedest + 2, 3), Cells(linedest + 21, 4)).Select Selection.FillDown 'copy this table... Selection.Copy 'and paste alongside - this is pasting the values not the formulae - for safety in case of changes to the player list Cells(linedest + 2, 7).Select Selection.PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues, Operation:=xlNone, SkipBlanks _ :=False, Transpose:=False 'search for any "0" values and replace them with blanks For I = 1 To 19 If Cells(linedest + 1 + I, 7) = "0" Then Cells(linedest + 1 + I, 7) = "" If Cells(linedest + 1 + I, 8) = "0" Then Cells(linedest + 1 + I, 8) = "" Next I 'Now paste in the formula for allowing players to join - this is complex! a = "=IF(I" & (linedest + 2) & "="""",G" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&H" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&"" has no game this round.""," & "" a = a & """Round ""&B$" & linedest & "&""; ""&G" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&"" vs ""&H" & (linedest + 2) & "& "" [to]""&I" a = a & (linedest + 2) & "&"" R""&B$" & (linedest) & "&""[/to]"")" Cells(linedest + 2, 10).Value = a 'Paste the thread formula into the next column a = "=IF(I" & (linedest + 2) & "="""",G" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&H" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&"" has no game this round.""," & "" a = a & """Round ""&B$" & linedest & "&""; ""&G" & (linedest + 2) a = a & "&"" vs ""&H" & (linedest + 2) & "& "" [game]""&I" a = a & (linedest + 2) & "&""[/game]"")" Cells(linedest + 2, 11).Value = a 'copy down the two formulae Range(Cells(linedest + 2, 10), Cells(linedest + 21, 11)).Select Selection.FillDown 'Add the headers that can go into the invites and tournament thread Cells(linedest, 10).Value = "Round " & Cells(linedest, 2).Value & " is on map " & Cells(linedest, 3).Value & ". Join just 1. 2 players have byes." Cells(linedest, 11).Value = "Round " & Cells(linedest, 2).Value & " is on map " & Cells(linedest, 3).Value & ". 2 players have byes." End Sub
To use a new block of code a pm is sent to all the players in the tournament with the block of data below column 10. This can be used for the players to join their correct game. The block of data in column 11 can be written into the tournament thread to track the rounds and provide access information. In principle, any required sequences of operations can be written into Excel using the Record Macro function. So, even if you don't know or fully understand the above coding, you can still use this recording function to automate a sequence of Excel operations. (These "tips" are ones that I have tried to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. I am sure there are different and better methods than these, so please let me know. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to! Please note that I use Excel 2003, so there may be variation in the menu instructions if you have other versions of Excel)
TPA Wrap by DaveH show
TPA 1: State of Play The 1 ongoing tournament, The 1st Open Centum has completed the round robin series and, when the active games are nearing completion, the final 8 sets of games will complete the "Centrum". The 9 finalists are ThrushAAX, Babagonosh, Gromph, Neva, Bones2484, Maasman, Uckuki, Mizzou3181 and Chiefsfan4ever. The results of this tournament will then complete the TPA series!TPA 1 Standings TPA Season 2: State of Play There are now 24 finished tournaments with animainiacs rescued tournament "TPA Premier Event presented by HA" being the latest. The winner was BluU followed by Swifte, Mizzou3181 and benga. These scores have been added to the master spreadsheet which has also been "cleaned up" by correcting any "duplicates" caused by slight misspellings (usually of an additional space which is difficult to detect) in the individual tournaments result lists. The leader board now has barterer2002 (3358) leading followed by dowian2 (3218), arno30 (2289), bones2484 (2301) & dtellis (2225). As the number of scoring tournaments increases beyond the limit of 8 Premium there has been a small adjustment in the scores (the macro used for this will be detailed in a newsletter shortly).TPA 2 Standings TPA Season 3 COMPETITION!! TPA3 needs a new cup and banner! If we get 10 or more people willing to design either or both, we have prizes as detailed in the following link! Link to Competition Details pm me if you want to have a go! Open for recruiting in TPA3 are 4 tournaments: 08-Oct Premier Dukasaur - Salient Assassinations in History 22-Oct Premier redhedge47 Just Another 1 v 1 Tournament Random maps 05-Nov Standard DaveH Magic Trench Doubles Master 2 v 2 Round Robin Trench 12-Nov Premier greenoaks CIA Assassin A few of the available tournament dates have been filled, so if you want a tournament of yours included in TPA3 and it will complement the existing list of tournaments, then pm me! The thread for the TPA3 details is at:http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=175675 The thread for the code that TO's will need to include in their tournament is at:http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=177868
We are all so used to seeing
thehippo8 name associated as Newsletter Foundry Executive that it seems just plain weird to see anything else. Anything else other than his promotion to King of the river that is!
Congrats
hippo on the promotion! So now it is my fifteen minutes of fame.
Now, down to business, this issue I would like you all to welcome generalhead who has come on board to help us flesh out what can only be described as the
best part of the dispatch.
He has gotten of to a flying start with a look at his map in the foundry now. We have another competition for all you eager beavers. And after lasts issue calamity, we will be stricter on the medals.
Classic Cities comes to Conquer Club for the first time with a look at Jakarta and Sydney in New beta maps. Another run down of Maps in Development. Lots of movement over the last two weeks, so make sure you see where your favourite map is this week. Be honest, how many of you spotted the mistake on the Classic map? Well the bishop spotted it.
Q. What do John Wayne and a map key have in common? A. Both are legends. koontz1973 -- Foundry ExecutiveMaps in Development. koontz1973 show
Drafting Room Where maps start life. But like all new babies, this is where they need the most attention. Alamo by generalheadRing of Fire by vaughn03 Main Foundry The main block of work is done here. Gameplay section. Where the last bugs for a better game get squashed.Austrum by koontz1973krazy kingdoms by dolomite13Conquership by lostalimboWW1 Gallipoli by cairnswkFields of Gettysberg by pamoaTribal War Israel by Seamus76Vertex by koontz1973 Graphics section. Making art is not a priority, making pretty maps is.Classic City: Madrid by koontz19734 Star Meats by dana1971France 2.0 by Lancelot du LacSpanish Amarda by cairnswkParis Metro by QyuUSA 2.1 by isaiah40Philadelphia by RedBaron0 Happy gaming everyone, whatever map takes your fancy.
My Attempt at Map Making generalhead show
My Attempt at Map Making I have been a member of Conquer club for a little over two years. I have watched my points go up and down like a yo-yo. I have hosted and completed a few tournaments. I have posted in the forums. I was looking for a little more from Conquer Club though. Then I found out that you could make your own maps..... o' yeah. I went to the forum map making guide to read how to do it. o' my... I thought to myself. My first instinct was to turn and flee. That was my first instinct also when I decided to run a tournament too but soon realized running a tournament was pretty easy as long as you were organized. I first read through the Map making handbook a few times. Next I downloaded Gimp . Next I ran through natty dread tutorial a few times to get use to gimp. After I ran through the tutorial three times I researched the map idea that I wanted to do. Next I posted my idea in the Melting Pot: Map Ideas . my map idea looked like this.Click image to enlarge. Koontz said that the idea was good, but he needed a first draft (time for gimp). Here are my first drafts. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. When I started this project I felt like I was on a boat stuck in the middle of the ocean without a paddle. Then Koontz and other visitors of the foundry came to my rescue. These guys were a blessing. They helped me make my map better than I could have on my own. A lot of the leg work was mine to do, but the suggestions of how to do them were outstanding. These guys helped me take my map from poop to potato salad. These are my latest pictures of my map and even though they are a lot better than when I started, I still have a lot of work to do.Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Before too long I hope to gain my stamp and work my way out of the drafting room and into the main forge of the map foundry. I never thought I would be able to make a map and wouldn't have been able to if it weren't for the Awesome members of the foundry. My friend from the foundry Seamus76 (Who created the Tribal War - Florida map) told me Seamus76 wrote: Making the maps has been a labor of love, and there's some really cool people in the foundry. That's how I met Koontz. He's a good guy for sure. CC is addicting and making maps is the ultimate rush.
Wait till you play on your own map, so cool.
I hope to see you all soon in the foundry GH. Here is a link to my map if you would like to preview the awesome help that I have been given, and if you wish you could leave a few comments of your own. Comment on my map: * My Alamo Map *
New Beta Maps by koontz1973 show
...................... Classic Cities ................. come to Conquer Club. For the first time ever, 2 maps from the classic map have gone live with the moniker classic city. Welcome into the stable of maps:Classic City: Jakarta by koontz1973 .Why Jakarta: Because I wanted to get the Classic map fleshed out by having the cities become maps themselves.Best strategy for winning: None that I can think of apart from good dice and a lot of luck. Are you happy with the map: I am now. natty dread annoyed the hell out of me with this one but the points he made, made it a better map. Just wish he could of made them in a nicer way. Classic City: Sydney by cairnswk . Cairnswk is busy with studies so has not been able to comment yet on his newest map. Happy gaming everyone, whatever map takes your fancy.
A Classic Mistake show
The Bishop, a very new player spotted something that we have all missed over the last few years. The_Bishop wrote: Hello everybody! I'm pretty new at Conquer Club. This map is wonderful, really. But this is not exactly the classic World map. The connection Kamchatcka - Mongolia (in this case Magadan - Manila) is missing. Is it intentional or mistaken? Let me know your point please
ender516 wrote: I don't recall ever seeing a sea route from Magadan to Manila on any board.
thenobodies80 wrote: The_Bishop is right.
If we compare the real classic map with our classic map, we can see the difference.
Said that, it doesn't mean they must be identical.
Gilligan wrote: Holy crap. My mind is blown. How has this not been seen before? It'd have to be a weird-ass route from Magadan to Manila.
Peter Gibbons wrote: After all the discussions that went on for this map, I'm genuinely shocked. How did we all get this wrong?
The_Bishop wrote: Sorry, I didn't want to throw you into a panic... LOL I noticed that problem at the first sight. Just because I know very well the classic world map and I always remember the connections. It will be hard to add one line?
Gilligan wrote: Not that it'd be hard to add a single line, it wouldn't make much sense without changing the cities. You'd have to fly around Tokyo, or something.
john9blue wrote: i thought that was done for copyright reasons? i'm not sure if i heard that somewhere or just assumed it
Gilligan wrote: I think you assumed it. The map was made to avoid copyright, I don't think that one connection made a difference.
DoomYoshi wrote: WOW. MY MIND HAS BEEN BLOWN TWICE IN ONE FUCKING DAY!!!!!
ender516 wrote: Well, this map was made to match the connections on the Classic Shapes/Classic Art maps, which were made to match the connections on the original map here on CC, which was the first one which might have been infringing. Does anyone know what that one looked like? Is this issue due to a variation in terms of what Hasbro and the earlier publishers of R*sk put on their maps over the years?
Peter Gibbons wrote: RjBeals wrote: New site leadership - why not revamp this revamp?
Because changing connections isn't a revamp, right? It would have to be an entirely new map that goes through the Beta stage, otherwise it would greatly affect in-progress games.
There is a really good question above... did this match classic shapes/art or did that totally get screwed up when we changed? You'd think it would have got caught then if it was a change.
Gilligan wrote: It was missed in classic art.
AndyDufresne wrote: Here is a copy of the old map I had stored on my PC, to help make comparisons easier for everyone:
--Andy
The_Bishop wrote: I am really surprised too! More than 600,000 members! How is it possible nobody noticed the missing connection Magadan-Manila?
I have just a strong curiosity. How many years did you play this "classic modified" map?
Well, I don't know what you want to do now, but in my opinion the map should be changed to be the "real classic".
If I can give my suggestion... You can change Manila with Shanghai, that is the largest city of China. It's more northern and more suitable to be connected to Magadan (and also to Novosibirsk).
If you don't want to change it, well, no problem for me. I will enjoy the site the same way!
thenobodies80 wrote: Honestly I don't think the map will be changed again, at least not so soon. But who knows!
Robinette wrote: The world is not the same as it was... Climate Change messed up that connection, without a doubt...
The_Bishop wrote: Wow funny!
Probably the Japan Tsunami messed up that connection...
So now we should get rid of the connection NewYork-Havana because of the hurricane Sandy.
But I agree with waiting to make changes on the map...
In december 21th the World will be completely messed up!!
The Mayan Prophecy is coming!
Ooohhh
Robinette thinks climate change and the Bishop thinks a Tsunami messed up the connection. What is your take on this. Should the map go through another revamp? Should the connection be put in? Head on over to Classic map to voice your opinion. Happy gaming everyone, whatever map takes your fancy.
Foundry Dispatch Competition by koontz1973 show
Well, last time was a bit of a muck up if I do say so myself. In the end we gave away 3 medals. x-raider got one for being fast, but wrong. sannemanrobinson got one for being correct but missing the second part. trinicardinal got one for just being right. Correct answers by trinicardinal. Field of Gettysburg by pamoa (response here ) 4 Star Meats by Dana 1971 (response here ) and Alamo by generalhead and tkr4lf (response here )thehippo8 wrote: Indeed you did, but considering that we Clowns on the Dispatch made such a bad show of this comp I see no reason why you should not also receive a medal for your sterling efforts. After all, you were "more correct" than x-raider so we will chalk this up to experience and provide you with a shiny new medal too. But that's it folks - lolly-scramble is over! On behalf of the entertainment team - thanks for playing and let's see who gets in first next issue!!
Amazing how we can all get carried away sometimes. Well, now lets see who will get the shiny this issue. And yes, only one will be awarded. Lets see if ckyrias can get out of bed early enough to retake his crown. ckyrias wrote: sunday and i woke up late for the 3rd in the row!!
Welcome to the 4th competition in the foundry section of the dispatch. For this one we are going old school . For every map, map makers need to write a small description of their map. Can you guess the maps (3 in total) from these descriptions.Map 1. Map Description: An Objective map of 24 starting territories and many neutral starting territories with a theme of drug gangs versus the police. There are four separate objectives, two focusing on each side of the conflict, but all four share one territory. The map contains many non-standard gameplay features including neutral starts, bombardment, and autodeploy. The objectives aren't the only route to victory. There are multiple options for bonuses which don't follow the basic continent style and can be used to eliminate your opponents or help hold an objective.Map 2. Map Description: A standard play map based on the Japanese built Thai-Burma Death Railway from WWII. The map features four POW camps on the left side of the map filled with territories that connect via two guards and a railway station with adjoining territories on the main map. Add two rivers that are only crossable in certain places like the Bridge on the River Kwai and that allows plenty of region bonuses small and large; with beautiful Thai colors on the territories that build the design to almost flower-like status.Map 3. Map Description: A graphic depiction of 1861, the onset of the war between the United States and Confederate States of America.Post your answers in the dispatch thread. Fastest correct winner wins the medal. Happy gaming everyone, whatever map takes your fancy.
This fortnight in Clans has seen the conclusion of the majority of Clan League 4 with only Division 1's final left on the agenda.
CC3 also reaches boiling point as the battles in the Quarter-finals heat up!
I'm excited to document Random League 2 results, and I'll admit to some bias in my narrative on the 1v1 challenge
My name has also been praised and lamented in equal measure (ok, perhaps more disdain) in the AoC vs Emp & Otp vs Myth threads, so with my exams complete, I am free to cast my lightning bolts on those who try to blemish my perfect visage
Leehar Clan Executive Clan League 4 show
The final face-off to determine the Division 1 Champions and therefore the top clan in the clan league's unique format is set to commence soon with VS The Champions of Division 2 are The Division 3 Conquerors courtesy of a single point win, are Division 4 has been won (again by a solitary game) by The last men standing from Division 5 are
Conquer Cup Quarterfinals show
The matches are reaching their denouement as almost all games are now in play, and it's up to the players involved to use their strategic nous and bring the wars over to their side!(1) KORT vs (24) OSA - [12 :: 16] - Link (4) TOFU vs (5) PACK - [10 :: 6] - Link (2) TSM vs (10) AFOS - [21 :: 17] - Link (3) EMPIRE vs (6) AOC - [14 :: 18] - Link Intriguingly, with the latest scores, All the matches have a 4 point difference
Random League 2 show
The second edition of the Random League has concluded, with the hosts One Step Ahead being crowned champions on points difference. They were deserved winners courtesy of being unbeaten throughout the League, and became champions in thrilling fashion on the last day with a draw versus The Next Crusade. Manifest Destiny can feel hard done by however, as they ended the campaign with the most wins [5] in the competition. Ultimately their 9-3 loss on the first day of matches against the aforementioned TNC can be said to have split the difference between MD and the eventual champions OSA as on top of being level on points, there was a 6 all stalemate between the 2 to boot. PR also displayed an impressive pedigree in coming 3rd in this competition, specially as they and current champions OSA were bottom feeders in the inaugural edition (7th & 8th respectively) Random League 1 winners Foed were 4th in this one, perhaps due to the shortened nature, with only 1 game played against each clan in RL2 as opposed to 2 legs in RL1 Competition was tight throughout, as only 1 win separated champions OSA from 8th placed Dynasty, with last placed MB only having a draw to show for their efforts
1v1 Challenge Semi-finals show
2nd Annual 1 vs 1 Challenge link VS ID accounted for 1RFG & TNC en-route to the semi's, while Kort took care of RoTS & OSA in making it this far VS Foed scraped through with consecutive 21-20 wins against TFFS & AKA, with defending champions demolishing MD & MB in making it to this rematch of last years Final
How Much War is Enough? by Swifte show
Clan forum regulars may have seen a recent thread where the F400 rankings were re-run using a single year worth of war results as opposed to the two year period that has historically been used. A suggested reason for looking at a one year period was that the F400 allows clans to hold their rank for too long without continuing to participate in additional wars. This got me wondering just how different the frequency of warring is for clans ranked highly on the standard F400 (2-year period) compared to the rest of clans. To get to the bottom of the this question, I summarized finished war counts by year from the same database used to calculate the F400. For the 42 clans ranked on the F400, I looked at the following things: -Current F400 ranking -Current DTX ranking (For those unfamiliar with clan ranking systems, two systems that exist today are the F400 rankings, and DTX's rankings. The F400 system is a modified performance rating algorithm. DTX's system scores results roughly the same as an average CC game is scored... starting every clan at 1000 points, winning clans take points from their opponents, with an adjustment factor for the size of the war. ) -Finished War Counts for 2010, 2011, and 2012 -Rolling 2 year Finished War Counts (2010-2011, 2011-2012) -The portion of all wars fought by the clan, relative to the total number of wars from 2011-2012. -Finally, the clan's war count relative to the average war count (adjusted to remove clans with 0 wars in a year) across each 2 year period. For example, a 1.00 means the clan fought a number of wars equal to the average number of wars for the 2 year period. A 2.0 means the clan fought 2 times as many wars in the 2 year period. Dark green are the top 20%, light green in the 20-40th percentile, yellow is between 40-60%, light red is 60th - 80th percentile, and dark red are the bottom 20%.Click image to enlarge. My personal takeaways from this table... there does seem to have been a decline in the current year of wars finished by top 10 F400 clans. The vast majority of top 10 ranked clans are in the 80th - 40th percentile relative to the average number of wars. However, there are two or three clans that also seem to have thirst for war that is far greater than the rest, and I wouldn't recommend holding everyone to those standards either... it's just not for everyone!
Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of
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