The Dustbin . . .

[stockwellpete]

Just a slight change of plan. The tournament will open on May 1st and recruitment will open on Monday 16th April.

[shawkhan2]

I sure wish you would plan things ahead of time.

[stockwellpete]

I sure wish you would plan things ahead of time.

So the basic diary for me across the year is as follows . . .

February 1st - FOG2DL Season starts
May 1st - KO Tournament starts
June 1st - FOG2DL Season starts
September 1st - KO Tournament starts
October 1st - FOG2DL Season starts

[stockwellpete]

This thread is for all the players in the competition to ask questions about various aspect of the rules, to make suggestions for changes in future competitions, and to generally talk about anything relevant to the Knock-out Tournament. Anything goes really, as long as it is conducted amicably.

[stockwellpete]

Slitherine have very kindly agreed to sponsor the Knock-out Tournament again. Vouchers will be awarded to the two finalists in the competition. My thanks to Iain, Ciro, Marco and Daniel at Slitherine for their continued support.

[rbodleyscott]

He was joking.

[stockwellpete]

He was joking.

Who was? What are you doing in my dustbin anyway?

[FroBodine]

First question - how are the armies assigned in the knockout tournament? Are armies assigned, or do we have to choose our own army? And, if we have to choose our army - is it from a specific list, or can we select any army in the FOG2 universe?

Thanks!
-=Jeff

[stockwellpete]

First question - how are the armies assigned in the knockout tournament? Are armies assigned, or do we have to choose our own army? And, if we have to choose our army - is it from a specific list, or can we select any army in the FOG2 universe?

Thanks!
-=Jeff

Players will be choosing their own army and there is no allocation of armies by me. I haven't made up my mind yet on whether every army will be available for selection, or whether the massed bow armies are excluded this time. These armies are being looked at by Richard in the current beta and there is a possibility that a change to them might occur while the KO tournament is in progress. That might cause some problems if it occurs so it might be better to exclude those armies from the outset (Indians, Indo-Greeks and Nabataeans). The Silk Road armies will also be excluded as I am assuming not everyone has downloaded those.

[MikeC_81]

We should not ban any armies. Bow armies are at the top of the spectrum but not necessarily in a tier unto themselves. Klayeckles and other Indian list winners are all skilled players who likely will do well regardless of army selection. There are also a very large number of poor/mediocre results in Season 1 which indicates to me that skill in handling the army is very much a big factor.

There is also the issue of keeping Mounted Archer armies in check. If mass bow armies are banned, it is likely these lists immediately jump to the top end of the power spectrum and become far and away the best armies

[stockwellpete]

We should not ban any armies. Bow armies are at the top of the spectrum but not necessarily in a tier unto themselves. Klayeckles and other Indian list winners are all skilled players who likely will do well regardless of army selection. There are also a very large number of poor/mediocre results in Season 1 which indicates to me that skill in handling the army is very much a big factor.

There is also the issue of keeping Mounted Archer armies in check. If mass bow armies are banned, it is likely these lists immediately jump to the top end of the power spectrum and become far and away the best armies

The issue is that the massed bow armies might be changed mid-tournament and that some players who have chosen them will then complain about it and want to change their army. In this tournament you pick one army at the start and stick with it right the way through. I will have all the details finalised by Sunday.

[klayeckles]

We should not ban any armies. Bow armies are at the top of the spectrum but not necessarily in a tier unto themselves. Klayeckles and other Indian list winners are all skilled players who likely will do well regardless of army selection. There are also a very large number of poor/mediocre results in Season 1 which indicates to me that skill in handling the army is very much a big factor.

There is also the issue of keeping Mounted Archer armies in check. If mass bow armies are banned, it is likely these lists immediately jump to the top end of the power spectrum and become far and away the best armies

Mike,

Good pts you make...I think i can add a comment after playing both as and against the indians in the league...I think the classic indians have too many advantages...not just bow. they also have a very large realitively cheap mobile contingent including lots of pachyderms...and outnumber every other army on the board...each one of those is an advantage unto itself; having all of them combined is too much. true, they require a differnt approach--players that walk up and slam their indian face into a phalynx may have problems (but not always due to numbers), so a first timer might bungle it badly, but once you get the hang of them, they're deadly. the closest i came to a loss was against the gauls; with random anarchy charges into my second line after routing troops, they had decimated my bowmen...but they're not a big morale hit because indian numbers are so great...when it was over my wimpy chariots and weak cav were pounding into the gauls backside again and again...most of which was disrupted from missile fire.

FOG 1 saw large indian armies too; but it was a bit harder to get flank charges going, as well as massed bow shots due to less forgiving sightlines...thus the cheap mounted and massed bow was not as effective, so they were not a "super army" as they are here in skilled hands.

if players are free to draft any army; and most are drafting to win, we'll see a pile of indian types. IMHO... thus after winning as indians, and losing to indians, i believe a tweak is coming, and i support it. they're due for a tweak, and i think it might happen soon...so i see Pete's point. and hey...there's a lot of armies to pick from...we'll hardly miss em

[bbogensc]

Many of the Greek or earlier Italian-Greek armies can field 25+ heavy infantry with cheap skirmishers and would match up well against the Indians. The problem is just that nobody plays these in league because 65% of all players choose a Macedonian-type army and nobody wants to go up against pikes with a Greek or early Italian army. That is the problem, not the Indian archers. The game would also even out against the Indians, and yield more realistic to historical results, if mounted archers had the same range as foot archers. I've discussed this in other posts.

[stockwellpete]

The decision is that the massed bow armies (Indians, Indo-Greeks, Mountain Indians and Nabataeans) will be excluded from the first KO tournament because they might be subject to modification during the course of the tournament.

[stockwellpete]

Recruitment will be opening this time next week so please start thinking about the army that you are going to use. The most important things to know about the tournament are these . . .

For all matches in this competition players will select "Open Battle" and will field a "Medium" army and choose a "Medium" battlefield unless otherwise directed. Players are free to customise their army before each battle so "Default" is the correct Force Selection option. Terrain will always be "Pot Luck" unless otherwise specified. There are no exceptions to this standard set-up for a match.

Players will choose one army at the start and will use that army for the entire tournament. It does not matter if someone has already chosen your army. There is no restriction on the number of times a certain army may be chosen by players.

Each round will be of 14 days duration. Matches not completed in this time will be subject to adjudication.

The massed bow armies (Indian, Mountain Indian, Indo-Greeks and Nabataeans) cannot be chosen for this tournament as they may be subject to modification while the tournament is underway.

Please note: it is recommended that you have all the available DLC's if you are going to enter this tournament.

[stockwellpete]

The draw for each round of the tournament will be held "live" on this forum alternatively at 9am (GMT) or 9pm (GMT). Using my trusty bingo kit, I will draw out the matches in batches of four (batches of two in the later rounds) and then post them on the forum. When we did this before we would usually get a little audience of 7 or 8 players watching the draw unfold.

[stockwellpete]

Welcome to the FOG2DL Knock-Out tournament!

If you wish to enter, please post your name in this thread with your choice of army for the whole tournament. It does not matter if someone else has already chosen that army before you.

Please note that the massed bow armies (Indians, Mountain Indians, Indo-Greeks and Nabataeans) may not be chosen for this tournament as they may be subject to change in the forthcoming DLC.

This is a knock-out tournament so you have to win to stay in it. You will have 14 days to complete each match. Unfinished matches will be subject to adjudication.

The draw for the first round will take place "live" on this forum at 9am (GMT) on Monday 30th April. Matches will start on May 1st.

Please note: it is recommended that you have all the available DLC's if you are going to enter this tournament.

[rexhurley]

Me - Palmyran (258-273AD)

[Cunningcairn]

Please count me in with Ptolemaic 320BC to 167BC

[mst007]

I`m in. Ancient British 60BC-80AD (gulp)