We’re going into the last week of Round 2 – all matches need an outcome reported by June 9th.  In recognition of the fact that you’ll be hearing from the GMs again in a few short weeks, regarding the launch of Round 3, this update will be relatively brief.

Round Two Progress Update:  As of May 31st, we have 11 matches in progress.  Five of these are on turns 19 or 20 and seem likely to finish with ease.  We have three matches where clock usage will determine a winner and it’s possible we’ll have three games whose outcome will be in the hands of the judges.  Other ‘quant’ nuggets:

• The current tally is 29 AP wins and 14 CP wins.
• Fourteen games featured a bid of zero, 33 games had an AP bid of one, and seven games had a bid of two.  Perhaps the results of this round will see the average drift upwards in Round 3.
• The average bid for a winning AP player was .89, the average bid for a losing AP player was .86.

Tourney Format Reminder:  This is a double elimination event so those who joined the event in round one would need TWO losses to be evicted from the the tournament.  If you lost in Round 2 but won in Round 1, you will still advance to Round 3.

Adjudication Preparation:  It’s pretty clear that several games will not finish by the deadline and the GMs will, again, be forced to make a decision that should have rightfully been made on the battlefield.  It is hoped that players in such matches can agree on an outcome, thus relieving the GMs of this burden.  In cases where a mutually agreeable outcome is not forthcoming, the GMs will make a decision based on a variety of factors including clock usage, board position, and each player’s rationalization of why they should win.  A couple of caveats exist though:

• If the clock usage clearly indicates that a single player used the vast majority of time, that player will lose.
• If a player ends the match being unresponsive to his opponent and the GMs, not only will he lose, he will also be dropped out of the event, regardless of whether or not this is his second credited loss.  Nobody enjoys a game where the opponent is missing in action.
• If there’s even a sense that someone is trying to deliberately manipulate their game and ACTS messaging to generate a clock-usage based victory, that player will lose.
• Finally, if a player can’t be troubled to provide a rationale as to why they should have the match adjudicated in their favor, that player will lose.

That being said, all match outcomes are due Friday, June 9th.  The GMs will also be checking the ACTS logs at that point as some contestants are not reporting outcomes.  Any adjudication requests are due June 10th and this should include information the GMs should have to make an informed decision.  The GMs will make their decisions known by June 12th.  This is just a game and, based on the limited number of adjudications in Round 1, I am confident that this round will be no different when it comes to participants behaving in a sportsmanlike fashion in both words and deeds..

May Puzzle:  Last month’s puzzle challenged players to prioritize moves based on stated objectives.  In this case, the goal was to ‘lock down the West and win the race to Total War”.  A record number, thirteen, of both tourney participants and tourney followers, took a shot at ‘solving’ this puzzle.  As always, there are no ‘winners or losers’ in the “Game of Puzzles”, we are but seeking gaming entertainment where we can find it.

Several players provided solutions that were aimed at the stated objectives but only one nailed the key move which was to fire a German corps into Rouen.  This move will singlehandedly force the AP to make a non-event play; the AP foregoing an OPS or SR play in order to play the Blockade event is a surefire way for the AP to lose the game.  On the subsequent turn, after an AP event play of Blockade, that German unit in Rouen could get to Nevers and put all French units (other than the Calais FRc) out of supply.  Respect to Bill P. for being the only entrant to identify this move.

The next part of the puzzle was to look at what ‘locking down the west’ means.  Experienced CP players interpret that as establishing a sound defensive line in the West with a key space being Brussels.  (Controlling that space, Liege, and Sedan is sufficient to earn the extra German replacement point in Total War which is CRITICAL to withstanding Allied attacks in the West.)  Several players latched on to this as exemplified by tagging the Liege/Sedan flank attack on Brussels.  This has roughly a 91% chance of winning for the CP.  Hat tip to Johnny H., Matt J., and Steve K.

The final part of the puzzle was selecting the card to use.  The described move requires at least three OPS, activating Liege/Brussels/Metz, so Severe Weather can’t be used.  Since getting to Total War quickly was a puzzle objective, Falkenhayn must be retained.  This forces the German 10th army card to be selected for usage as OPS.  Credit given to Ryan D., Matt J., Yannick P., and Steve K.

POG 7th Edition Update:  We’ve been receiving a lot of good feedback to support the new printing.  Rules tweaks, correction of place names, and border adjustments:  Keep them coming in!  Even the more subjective comments are being reviewed and being acted upon – the intent of this edition is to make sure that “Deluxe” really means something, both in terms of aesthetics and functionality!  As previously announced, this will be a special double-sided map printing with the reverse side being the traditional legacy map with updates and corrections to match the new map.  Once the artwork is finalized, the focus will switch to fine-tuning the rules, tables, and charts.  The GMT P500 page is here.

No Rest for the Weary:  Round 3 Looms Upon Us!  The next round of the tournament will commence on or about June 17th.  We anticipate 86 people being offered spots in Round 3.  A person with two wins could theoretically skip this next round, at the cost of an assigned loss, and still advance to Round 4 but that is too horrible a concept to really contemplate or discuss any further.  Based on feedback from multiple players, Round 3 will be a little longer to ease the pressure on folks with summer plans NOT involving POG.  Anticipate a Round 4 completion target being in the late October timeframe.

For those who’ve completed their matches – enjoy the next two weeks of peace!  The rest of you still playing, keep those cards and dice moving!  As always, additional tournament information can be found here.