“The Lord God is my armor!” --- Gustavus Adolphus, refusing the steel body armor offered by his aides at the Battle of Lützen (where he was killed), 16th Sept. 1632.
Welcome to Caracole III. This time round John (aka flatsix518) will be taking a break from running things and has graciously allowed me to take the reins for this third chapter. He has given me leave to try out some of my more radical ideas which I hope will find a receptive audience. My intent is to provide a more balanced series of matches, not necessarily by having two even armies, through a modified scoring system that will hopefully address mismatches and thus open up the field to seeing a more varied pairing of armies. Also I’m hoping to have Caracole III run quicker by having smaller initial groupings which advance into slightly larger ones and throughout have all match pairings pre-orchestrated. I look forward to gaming with as many of you as possible.
Cheers,
Steve (aka pantherboy)
1. Overview
Caracole III will be played over two rounds with 24 players. In the first round players will be allocated to pods of 4 players wherein they will play the other pod members in mirror matches. You will play each opponent using a different period. Round one will include a TYW, ECW and an Italian Wars pairing. Once scoring is completed the top player from each pod will enter a second round pod of 6 players. The 6 runners up will form a second pod and so on for the other placings creating four pods of 6 players. Scoring for the second round will be independent of the first round and final standings will determine overall ladder position as per Caracole II.
2. Round One
Players will be allocated randomly to six different pods though Caracole II Pod “A” players will be separated as will Pod “B” and “C”. This will ensure a more varied range of opponents allowing players to earn experience fighting veteran players. There will be some overlap with two players being in the same pod again but in such cases it will be randomly determined.
Round one will involve fighting three mirror matches, totaling six games, using a pairing from each period. They are;
1. Italian Wars: French 1550-1559 vs Spanish-Imperial 1543-1559
2. Thirty Years War: German Catholic 1632-1638 vs Swedish 1630-1634
3. English Civil War: Parliamentarian 1642-1643 vs Royalist 1642-1643
3. Round Two
In round two players will progress into one of four six-player pods based on their ranking in the first round. The highest scorer of each pod will enter Pod “A”, the second highest scorer Pod “B” and so forth. Players will then fight 5 mirror matches, totaling 10 games, using pairings from all periods. They are;
1. Italian Wars: (to be decided)
2. Tercio to Salvo: (to be decided)
3. Thirty Years War: (to be decided)
4. Thirty Years War: (to be decided)
5. English Civil War: (to be decided)
NB: Tercio to Salvo may be changed for those without the module.
At the conclusion of round two final standings will be tallied and players will be ranked from 1st to 24th based upon their score in the second round ala Caracole II.
4. Battle Parameters & Setting Up Games
Players will be free to set up the challenges in any order as they wish. The only requirement will be that everyone needs to have each match set up by the end of the second week. You are not required to be playing them but they do need to be created. From my experience once matches have been set up players are more likely to get them completed in time even if it is doing a turn every few days.
Matches are to be set up using the following parameters. Please note that terrain will default to agricultural unless both players desire pot luck. Before creating a challenge please check the player’s terrain preference as per their request when signing up.
Change Campaign… Select appropriate campaign
Scenario Type: Open Battle
Force Size: Medium
Map Size: Medium
Terrain Type: <Agricultural or Pot Luck if both players agree>
First Player Side: <Any>
Army List (xxx): <As per pairing>
Army List (xxx): < As per pairing>
Filter Army List: On
Force Selection: Player
Note – Advance settings must be left on default!
Note – Include a password
Note – It can be helpful to include a comment like “Challenge for Player A”
5. Scoring
Scoring will be based upon the break level and by how close the battle was. The narrower the margin between players will result in scores rather close while an early decisive win will be wider.
Win: 6.0 + (enemy break% - winner break %)/10
Draw or Loss: (enemy break %)/10
Example:
pantherboy (German Catholic 1632-1638) (61%) vs flatsix518 (Swedish 1630-1634) (48%)
pantherboy (48%)/10 = 4.8pts
flatsix518 6.0 + (61% - 48%)/10 = 7.3pts
NB: Any battle that ends due to all the turns elapsing and with a player ahead in break % will not be considered a win and as such will only score the opponents break level divided by 10.
6. Timeline
Round One will commence on July 1st (or 3 days after recruitment is full if earlier) and finish on July 31st.
Round Two will commence on August 1st (or 3 days after all matches are completed if earlier) and finish on September 14th.
Games must be completed within the stated ranges though extensions may be granted on a case by case basis if they do not significantly interfere with the tournament.
7. Reporting Games
Reporting results will be incumbent on the player who won the battle. They will be required to log into the Slitherine Forum and post the result publically on the appropriate thread (e.g. Caracole III Results). Results posted should be reported in the following format;
Pod (A/B/C etc.)
Player ID (army) (Army Break %) score vs Player ID (army) (Army Break %) score
Example:
Pod A
pantherboy (German Catholic 1632-1638) (61%) 4.8pts vs flatsix518 (Swedish 1630-1634) (48%) 7.3pts
8. Absent Players & Neglected Turns
For ease of management if you wish to quit the Caracole or won’t have time to finish your matches then please notify me. An explanation isn’t required. The purpose is to allow me to either delete you from the tournament (if games haven’t been played) or issue forfeits on your behalf rather than you sitting there as a ghost player with your opponents trying to contact you.
For players who encounter an unresponsive opponent then don’t be too concerned as it is obvious who they are by looking at the results table and at the end of the Caracole I’ll simply award the game to the more active player unless they didn’t complete any games in which case I’ll remove their name from the list.
9. Recruitment
Recruitment will be limited to the first 24 players interested. If all 24 slots fill up quickly then the commencement date will be moved forward. To sign up please post your intent below with your preference for agricultural or pot luck terrain and whether you own Tercio to Salvo. A reserve list will be started if interest goes beyond 24.
Players so far:
1. pantherboy (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
2. rbodleyscott (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
3. w_michael (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
4. cavehobbit (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
5. deadtorius (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
6. TheGrayMouser (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
7. awesum4 (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
8. Aryaman (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
9. Tiopepe (no information) Tercio to Salvo
10. batesmotel (Pot Luck) Tercio to Salvo
11. shawkhan2 (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
12. Doyley50 (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
13. keyth (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
14. Hutze (Pot Luck) Tercio to Salvo
15. cromlechi (Pot Luck) Tercio to Salvo
16. iandavidsmith (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
17. Hrothgar (Agricultural) Tercio to Salvo
18. Praeter (Pot Luck) doesn't own Tercio to Salvo
19. majandro (Pot Luck) Tercio to Salvo
20. youngr (Pot Luck) Tercio to Salvo
21. Ulysisgrunt (no information) no information
