More thoughts on the "A Duplicate Bridge Too Far"
tournament...
(Yes, yes...I know the first tourney is not going to be in duplicate format...this is just for further discussion.)
Bullet points:
- Two flights (one Axis, one Allied)
- Depending on the number of entries, round robin format so that each Axis player competes against each Allied player
(If there is a large number of entrants and the round robin format is just not feasible, seed subsequent rounds after the first so that the top Axis player is up against the top Allied player, next highest Axis against next highest Allied, and so on. Seeding would need to be modified so that no one played someone in the opposite flight more than once.)
- Rank within your flight based on total points scored by each flight member
(Axis and Allied flight scores are kept separately. You are competing against both your enemy opponent in each scenario, and against your other flight members for the overall tournament.)
- Each round would be a different scenario with a different pairing (Only scenarios with time limits would be used, in order to shorten the time of the tournament and avoid "point" problems if one side is entirely wiped out)
- Score 30 points for winning the scenario
- Score 10 points for each flag held at the end of the scenario
- Score 1 point for each enemy unit (of any type) killed
- Deduct 2 points for each of your own units (of any type) killed (Minimum number of points you can score per round is zero. Don't want to mess with negative points.)
Note: The points values listed above are just suggestions. Another idea...
- Score 50 points for winning the scenario
- Score 10 points for each flag held at the end of the scenario
- Score 2 points for each enemy unit (of any type) killed
- Deduct 3 points for each of your own units (of any type) killed
The overall winner of the tournament after X number of rounds would be the single player that contributed the most number of points (as a percentage) to his flight.
For example:
Axis flight is made up of Allen, Bob, and Carl.
Allied flight is made up of Edward, Frank, and Gary.
Each player would compete in three different scenarios.
After three rounds:
Allen scores: 52 + 49 + 75 = 176
Bob scores: 35 + 50 + 72 = 157
Carl scores: 55 + 60 + 12 = 127
Axis total = 460
Edward scores: 32 + 15 + 61 = 108
Frank scores: 45 + 22 + 54 = 121
Gary scores: 10 + 32 + 39 = 81
Allied total = 310
Allen wins the Axis flight and Frank wins the Allied flight.
Allen accounted for 38.3% of the total Axis points.
Frank accounted for 39.0% of the total Allied points.
Frank is the MVP and wins the tournament.
Advantages with this format:
- Not limited to tournaments with multiples of 8 players. Any even number of entrants will do.
- Everyone plays each round. No knock outs.
- Preservation of force is important. No more using empty trucks as scouts.
- Can still play with unbalanced scenarios, even "forlorn hopes". Your success is determined by both head-to-head play and by how well you did in comparison to those within your flight.
Disadvantages with this format:
- Problem created when a player quits in the middle of a scenario. How does his opponent score the points? Does this either over-inflate or under-inflate his performance in that round vs his other flight members?
- If someone drops out of the tournament, that creates "bye" rounds that mess up the scoring system. (This is why multiple short duration tournaments are probably better than a single long tournament.)
- Someone might purposely lose when playing head-to-head with a friend, so that the friend has a better chance of winning the whole tournament.
