Britcon 2013

[madaxeman]

I’m pleased to be able to bring you details of this year’s Britcon event, to be held at our usual venue, UMIST in (always-sunny ) Manchester over the Friday-Sunday of 9-11th August 2013.

At Britcon 2013 there will be two Field of Glory periods:
- 15mm Ancients: 800 points, armies upto 1066 AD, 72" by 48" tables
- 15mm Medieval: 800 points, armies from 1066 AD, 60" by 40" tables

Full details are on the BHGS Website, and a link for those of you who want to to just go ahead and book your place is available online here.

We've also listened to your feedback about how unwelcome Britcon's two late night games can sometimes be, and so for 2013 there will be an option to drop Friday or Saturday night's game and just play 5 games in the larger gaming periods . This also means that each of the "traditional" 6-game main periods will now be decided by counting player's best 5 scores over the weekend. You will need to confirm whether you intend to drop a game - or not - at the time of booking.

What Else To Look Out For in 2013?
• New Periods - including a 10+ game "Epic Saga" competition for the runaway success that is the Saga ruleset, as well as the debut's of two further 28mm rulesets, "War and Conquest" (supported by the author, Rob Broom) and WW2 skirmish game "Bolt Action" (supported by Warlord Games - TBC)
• Prices Frozen - we know there is a recession out there, so through careful negotiation with the venue there will be no increase in entry fees in 2013.
• Accommodation still optional - we've also negotiated some great rates at UMIST for a variety of standards of rooms, starting as low as £33.50 for Bed and Breakfast - all still in stumbling distance of the venue and bar as usual.

Bookings are now live....

[petedalby]

Outstanding Tim - well done! And thanks to everyone else who has rallied round to keep this excellent event on the wargaming calendar.

I've just booked and it couldn't have been easier.

Dropping a game will be a welcome option for some - but it strikes me that by dropping the Saturday game that you may have a submarining opportunity on the Sunday? How will the draw cope with this?

[jdm]

WELL DONE TIM!!!

[philqw78]

I thought it would be better to drop the saturday morning game. Thas the one I dislike most.

[madaxeman]

Outstanding Tim - well done! And thanks to everyone else who has rallied round to keep this excellent event on the wargaming calendar.

I've just booked and it couldn't have been easier.

Dropping a game will be a welcome option for some - but it strikes me that by dropping the Saturday game that you may have a submarining opportunity on the Sunday? How will the draw cope with this?

By Sunday morning everyone will be counting 3 results in the draw - either because they have played only 3, or because they have played 4 and the draw will always drop the worst score for people playing all the games.

Play 6 and you always ignore your worst score (after round 2) so you can't submarine, play 5 and you have no margin for error as everyone else is dropping their worst score in each round of the draw and you aren't. All in all we suspect that it will actually be harder to submarine than before..

[Vespasian28]

I don't play in tournaments but am more than happy to read the AAR's, especially from Tim, but would someone please explain what on earth "submarining" is so I can understand why it is such an issue?

[petedalby]

All in all we suspect that it will actually be harder to submarine than before..

Excellent - thanks Tim - delighted to see that you've thought it through.

but would someone please explain what on earth "submarining" is so I can understand why it is such an issue?

Submarining is the art of deliberately or accidentally dropping a few points so that you are lower in the draw in the hope of gaining an easier game(s) and thus leapfrogging the players above you who in theory will have had more challenging games and opponents. Sometimes it works....sometimes it doesn't.

[Vespasian28]

Ahh, very Machiavellian!

[ShrubMiK]

Except I'm not sure it works overall as a deliberate strategy, especially late on the competition when there is less time for any potential benefits to accrue. Is there evidence that it does?

You drop a few points, so you play somebody who is likely to be a few points behind the person you would have played, so on average you will gain a few more points next time than you would have otherwise. It's not obvious that you are likely to come out ahead on the deal, or even expect to break even. You may still play a bad game and lose more points against the theoretically easier opponent. (i.e. a point on the scoreboard is worth two points in the bush, or whatever the appropriate metaphor would be here).

Or in a really cynical world, you may find several people trying to submarine and being drawn against each other.

[kevinj]

I don't think I've seen it used as a deliberate strategy, and it would be very hard to come back to win a tournament after suffering a heavy loss in the first game. I have seen examples though of people who seem to have had an easier draw after suffering an early setback overhauling players who have had a series of tough games near the top of the leaderboard to claim a place.

[philqw78]

It is only Saturday morning where it could be seen to cause a problem.
The easy way around that is to draw all those starting on saturday against each other.

All is then reasonably fair. Apart from the dice and the umpire

[spike]

Tim,

I think scoring 5 out of 6 is a good idea, but I have a couple of observations/warnings.
• F1 used to be scored like this, so drivers could account for poor reliability of their cars, but what it ultimately lead to was more dangerous racing, as drivers took risks, knowing that if it went wrong they could discard the race from their score.- Is this relevant well.....
• The “submarine tactic” is more likely to be used as you can gain a draw advantage in losing the second to last game, to get an easier final game, knowing that the score can be discarded in the final score.

I would therefore the only tweaks I suggest that the Sunday morning score will always be included and it’s the best 4 from the other 5 games!

Spike

[philqw78]

• F1 used to be scored like this, so drivers could account for poor reliability of their cars, but what it ultimately lead to was more dangerous racing, as drivers took risks, knowing that if it went wrong they could discard the race from their score.- Is this relevant well.....

So buy lancers and throw caution to the wind then. Brilliant

• The “submarine tactic” is more likely to be used as you can gain a draw advantage in losing the second to last game, to get an easier final game, knowing that the score can be discarded in the final score.

IMO if you are in with a shout on Sunday morning you are not going to throw any points away. But you wouldn't know since you've never been there Spike

Light blue touch paper and stand well back

[kevinj]

The “submarine tactic” is more likely to be used as you can gain a draw advantage in losing the second to last game

You could only do this if you were playing all 6 games and didn't already have a score that you wanted to drop.

IMO if you are in with a shout on Sunday morning you are not going to throw any points away.

I agree with this. Especially as you'd be giving them to someone else who would also be in contention.

[titanu]

Tim - great news - come on chaps lets get behind this and make sure it works.

[madaxeman]

The “submarine tactic” is more likely to be used as you can gain a draw advantage in losing the second to last game

You could only do this if you were playing all 6 games and didn't already have a score that you wanted to drop.

IMO if you are in with a shout on Sunday morning you are not going to throw any points away.

I agree with this. Especially as you'd be giving them to someone else who would also be in contention.

See - the new Britcon team can give answers to questions they haven't even though of, and do so without even posting themselves !

What's not to like!

[philqw78]

You is a genius Tim

[spike]

I would like to remind you I've got a legitimate yellow jersey from 2011 Mr Powell.....
.....which is more than Mr Ruddock has

• F1 used to be scored like this, so drivers could account for poor reliability of their cars, but what it ultimately lead to was more dangerous racing, as drivers took risks, knowing that if it went wrong they could discard the race from their score.- Is this relevant well.....

So buy lancers and throw caution to the wind then. Brilliant

• The “submarine tactic” is more likely to be used as you can gain a draw advantage in losing the second to last game, to get an easier final game, knowing that the score can be discarded in the final score.

IMO if you are in with a shout on Sunday morning you are not going to throw any points away. But you wouldn't know since you've never been there Spike

Light blue touch paper and stand well back

[philqw78]

I would like to remind you I've got a legitimate yellow jersey from 2011 Mr Powell

Yes, think how well you could have done if you didn't try and submarine for a better final game.

[spike]

I would like to remind you I've got a legitimate yellow jersey from 2011 Mr Powell

Yes, think how well you could have done if you didn't try and submarine for a better final game.

Two notes for your scrapbook on 2011 (...in which I was the only person to beat Ian Stewart: and that was the game on the Britcon Video )

1: I was not actually trying to submarine in game 5, just a badly implemented battleplan.
and
2. I ran into "Lucky" Ruddock in the last game- where even he agreed his dice so spawny, that they were beyond the bounds of reasonable probability!!