Scoring Points Versus Winning Games

The WoA article focussed on differences between the Cold Wars brackets, but the discussion omitted direct mention of a significant difference -- the total points scored per bracket. Scores were 8 points higher in the second bracket (16%). Eight points may or may not seem like much, but it works out to an average of 1 point per game played. In other words, the higher WoA-valued armies of the second bracket scored on average 1 more victory point per game. Here is a table that presents points scored distributed by normalized WoA measures, wherein scores are grouped into three classes: below par (under 500), at par (500), and over par(over 500). The number of armies in each cell is the parenthesized second number.

Normalized WoA	Dark Ages Feudal Ages	Chivalry Late Middle
under 500	35(5)	10(2)
500 (par)	12(2)	25(3)
over 500	4(1)	24(3)
Total:	51	59

Since WoA’s are higher in the second bracket, one would expect greater shares of the total victory points to have been scored at the higher end of the WoA distribution. What the table shows are the different competitive environments defined by the two brackets. No one needed a WoA measure to understand that Book 1 and Book 2 armies are different; it is interesting to see that that intuitive understanding is borne out by the numbers.

Define the Brackets by the normalized WoA?

Tournament brackets could be defined by the WoA measure, instead of the amry lists books. The Cold Wars results suggest that there is no particular need to do this. In fact, one could argue that the brackets worked just great to iron out a competitive balance.

Normalized Weight of Arms Scores

400 Anglo-Norman 8
400 Gaelic Alliance 8
500 Nikephorian Byzantine * 8
400 Welsh 7
200 Scots-Isles Highlanders * 6
400 PreFeudalScots * 6
600 Normans * 4
500 Saxons 4
Total: 51

500 Swiss 10
600 Burgundian Ordonnance * 9
500 Free Company 8
600 Later Polish 8
500 Ottoman 7
600 Teutonic Knights * 7
400 Ayyubid Egyptian 6
300 Anglo-Irish 4
Total: 59

2002 Cold Wars 25mm MW Tournament Results (WoA)

1st Round, 1st Bracket (Dark -Feudal Ages)
T. Gore - Gaelic Alliance (417) 5 pts.
J. Bleed - Saxons (474) 2 pts.

Silvio Marra - Nik. Byzantine (512) 5 pts
Paul Schneider - Normans (634) 2 pts.

Jamie Fish - Scots Isles (136) 2 pts.
A. Aimette - Welsh (403) 2 pts.

Jeff Ball - Anglo-Normans (367) 5 pts.
Ken Brate - Pre-Feudal Scots (375) 2 pts.

1st Round, 2nd Bracket (Age Chivalry - Late Medieval)

Perry Gray - Burg. Ord. (565) 4 pts.
Karen Jarosz & Mike Burke - Med. Irish (314) 3 pts.

Rich Jarosz - Later Polish (660) 5 pts.
Dave Burton - Ottomans (467) 2 pts.

Rob Robertson - Swiss (454) 5 pts.
Bruce Taylor - Free Company (485) 3 pts.

Tony Marra - Teutonics (619) 5 pts.
Paul Dobbins - Ayubbid (386) 3 pts.

2nd Round, 1st Bracket (Dark -Feudal Ages)

PreFeudal Scots (375) 4 pts.
Saxons 2 (479)pts.

Anglo-Norman (367) 3 pts.
Gaelic Alliance (417) 3 pts.

Welsh (403) 5 pts.
Normans (634) 2 pts.

Nik. Byz. (512) 3
Scots-Isles (136) 3

2nd Round, 2nd Bracket (Age Chivalry - Late Medieval)

Burg. Ord. (565) 5
Teutonics (619)2

Free Co. (485) 5
Ayubbids (386) 3

Ottomans (467) 5
Anglo-Irish (314)1

Swiss (454) 5
Later Polish (660) 3

The Weight of Arms in Medieval Warfare Part II