Double Elimination Tournament

The DE tournament format pits 8 players competing in a series of battles. Ea!h player continues in the tourney until he has lost twice, at which point he is eliminated. The first round calls for random pairings, this will result in 4 winners and 4 losers.

The 4 winners will match up against each other in the "winners" bracket and the 4 losers will match up in the "losers" bracket, see chart. Second round winners in the winners bracket face each other in the third round; losers cross over to the losers bracket to continue play. Second round losers in the losers bracket are eliminated, having suffered their second loss; winners continue. The tournament ends when all but the last and winning player have 2 losses.

Battles will follow the standard 1200 point format with 3 terrain rolls (no modifications for home climate) and a 4x4 table. No unreliable generals, bad weather or other unusual occurances. The battle winner is determined using the standard scoring, whoever has more points at the end of 7 rounds wins, irrespective of the spread. List minimums are not required for 1200 pts.

For campaign purposes, each players master list should include 1700 points to sustain him for the entire tournament. Minimums and maximums must be maintained in the initial list creation. After each battle, all players can bring in one identical unit to replace one that has been routed or shaken. The replaced unit is gone for good.

Units shaken at the end of a battle remain so until they sit out one round of the tournament. If they are used while shaken, they act as one morale grade lower plus one cause of unease.

Army selection for such a tournament should be limited to some type of historical grouping. We are considering Punic, Successor, Roman Conquest or Knights at this time. Any grouping of your choice is possible.

Just recently, I had the experience in playing in my very first WRG tournament. This short report records my impressions while they are still fresh in my mind.

Watch out for brain drain. I played 3 games in less than 24 hours and wound up with a headache from neck muscle tension. I blame it on too many "up 2s" by my opponents.

Spend some time studying the opponent that you draw in terms of troop type and weapon. It will provide the basis for selecting your own list, if you are allowed flexibility, and also give you the basis for a plan.

Planning is a must. If you don't do it, your opponent will have the initiative and get the matchups he needs to your disadvantage. Execute your plan quickly. If you delay or play slowly, you can be overcome by some bad luck and not have time to recover. My Light Cav routed on turn 2 of each game (bad luck) and I ran out of time to recover.

I also relearned some lessons in tactics that should have been unnecessary after 2 years of non-tourney play. 1) Put a support unit behind your LI so that when they are inevitably charged by the opposing Light Horse they can find someone to hide behind. 2) Wave attacks only work if you get the second wave close enough to hit the target AFTER it recoils from the first wave; my Pikes stood useless in a key battle because the beaten opponents had recoiled out of 4 inch range. 3) Do not charge loose or close archers with Heavy Cavalry, it is certain death; Alexander and 12 Companions were routed on Persian Medium Infantry with bows.

My final observation is to remember the prime objective: RAVE FUN! I finished close to last out of 14 entries but enjoyed myself all the same.