1st Annual Cellar Gaming TripleA Octathalon – Sign-Up Thread

  • '20 '16 '15 '14

    @redrum:

    Some feedback on map selection (just my thoughts take it as you will):

    • Like #1, #2, #3, #5, #8 and they are all relatively common/known maps. Rules are pretty straightforward.
    • Not a big fan of #4 as its sort of an ugly/outdated map and has way too many cutouts.
    • #6 is not a very common map and not sure how balanced it is. Still in development category. Also very similar to 270BC.
    • #7 is an interesting/cool map though very complex. I’d be interested to try it but might be difficult to get lots of players due to level of complexity.

    Welcome to the tournament redrum and great feedback!  I’m hoping that once people get used to the feel of the new maps that they will like them better.  Of course if we find that people don’t like a game or two we can update the list for the next tournament (this will be held annually).

    #6 just looks fun.  I’m not sure of the exact balance, but I’m hoping we will know a lot more by the end of the tourney.  As for #7, I have always liked the look and feel of the map itself – although I must admit I’m still trying to consider the many possibilities of using the trains strategically… ;)  Lots of new elements there.


  • hi all ,

    finally im here to participate , 1-4 for sure and if needed all , so enemys please ask me playin LL before but dice is the houserule - all good so far .

    greetings Day

  • '20 '18 '17 '15

    what about throwing in the Lord of the Rings middle earth one? I’d be okay with removing the 270 BC. I mean, total ancient war kinda covers that.  Haven’t played either.

    I’ll sign up for World at War, Red Sun, and Napoleanic at the moment.

  • '20 '16 '15 '14

    @Whackamatt:

    what about throwing in the Lord of the Rings middle earth one? I’d be okay with removing the 270 BC. I mean, total ancient war kinda covers that.  Haven’t played either.

    I was seriously considering the LOTR game!  But this time I figured we’d go with the more “traditional” warfare.  There’s always a chance that in future years a few games get rotated in and out – depending on what tourney participants thinks about them after this year.

    The Total Ancient War looks fun, btw!  You should consider it.  Haven’t played a “real” game with it, but it looks great.


  • About dice: at least 2 maps are made for ll and hard to do otherwise: NWO and W@W. There are openings that are a must and if they fail the game is lost. I dont think dice is good in those cases.

    Similar about Napoleonic Empires. The chances of the game ending in round 1 or 2 are extremly high.

    Concerning balancing on some maps: instead of letting the dice decide, what about bidding?

    Best regards
    Pug

  • '20 '16 '15 '14

    Hi Pug!  Well, I can’t speak for NWO, but I can tell you that some of the most amazing games I have played in TripleA are World at War with dice, and the game seems quite balanced.  We have had a double round robin tournament going since May, the current results and game saves can be found here:

    http://cellargaming.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=159

    I would contend that maybe because the map is so diverse, real dice actually gives many more opening possibilities?  But you may have lots more experience with the game, so I’m just posing the question, not actually answering it….  :-D

    As far as bidding is concerned, after being involved with tournaments with bidding for 15 years, I have noticed in our A&A community that people sometimes only play one side of the game.  This is to encourage otherwise.  Now, if it appears that the game with dice isn’t quite balanced, we can balance it for next year’s tournament (I would still flip for sides).  You could help us with that balancing process by entering if you like!  :)

    One of the best tournaments I ever held with the old game (3rd edition, CD play) was when I made the bid 18 fixed, and then sides were flipped.  In fact, for that one it was a swiss system where “white” would be Allies and “Black” would be Axis, so that players had an even amount games with each side.  I think it helps diversify the game.

    Is there a consensus as to what is needed to balance out the maps above, or are they pretty close to balanced do you think?


  • I’ll play W@W, NWO, RS and Napoleonic Empires…haven’t decided on the others yet.
    I’m not if favor of LL…I think it takes all the fun out of the game when you know how many guaranteed hits you and your opponent will get before the battle starts. And, I don’t feel it’s necessary in any of the games I’ve selected…you can still achieve most of your opening moves… it’s just a little riskier.


  • DizzKneeLand wrote:

    4.  All games will be played using real dice.

    I like what you’re trying to do here. I’m also familiar with many of the maps you’re using in this tournament. Each map with which I’m familiar is a good map.

    However, the above is a deal breaker for me. I’ve played about 100 games of New World Order. Every single one of those games has been with low luck. (The default option for that map, and the one option for which it was designed.) Low luck is just as important for Rising Sun as it is for NWO. Even for a casual game I’d be unwilling to play NWO with dice. That reluctance is at least doubled for a tournament game. The outcome of a tournament should be decided by skill, not by luck. Because I’ve always played New World Order with low luck, I’ve never had the outcome of any NWO game decided by anything other than skill. Back in the old days (when I used to play Classic and Revised with dice) there were a number of games in which luck, not skill, was the deciding factor.

  • '20 '16 '15 '14

    Well, I know that WaW is great with dice.  I don’t have your experience on the maps, and without making this a discussion of LL versus dice, I want to make one small point.

    Most of the games are decided by the small battles.  Those small battles in LL involve dice.  You can still get diced in LL.  And in those circumstances, the dicing is less but also less is the chance for recovery.  I can definitely attest to being diced in LL personally, in the many cases I am thinking of they involved LL on the Classic maps (I haven’t played NWO with LL).

    I hope you decide to join anyway!  After all, this is for the fun of the game, and you would be helping some new players learn the ropes for these maps as well as playing some of the old timers.  :)


  • @DizzKneeLand33:

    Most of the games are decided by the small battles.

    That may apply to the smaller boards, but not to the big maps. On maps like NWO the income and the possibilities are too big for those small battles to have a big impact.

    Best regards
    Pug

  • '20 '16 '15 '14

    How about this.  If there is enough interest in this tournament, we will have this one annually starting in December.  I will also start a Low Luck tournament with a similar format in May (opposite sides of the year) and have that one annually as well.

    So, then we can compare how each game plays from both a dice and a low luck perspective.  But you have to play in both to get the true comparison.

    Deal?  :wink: :mrgreen:


  • I will play. not sure how to play them all yet but I will try them all


  • I do not like low luck sam I am.
    but I will give it a go


  • Hi. Thanks for organising this tournament.

    I’ll sign up for these:
    New World Order
    Red Sun Over China
    Great War
    Napoleonic Empires

  • '18 '16 '15

    I’m intrigued but unsure, I’d be new to all of the games, would the brackets all be started at the same time (so I’d get 8 new games with 8 sets of rules I have to learn)?

  • '20 '16 '15 '14

    @Balladeer:

    I’m intrigued but unsure, I’d be new to all of the games, would the brackets all be started at the same time (so I’d get 8 new games with 8 sets of rules I have to learn)?

    Hi Balladeer!  In essence, the plan is to start the brackets one per day starting on December 15.  However, play during the first round will be slower for two reasons.  One, a lot of us are in the same boat as you regarding new maps.  :-D  Another is the fact that it’s the holidays, so turns will be moving slowly during that time of a “learning curve.”

    In addition, the slots are drawn at random.  So, unless there is an exact factor of 2 that enter each tournament (8, 16, 32, 64), there will be first round byes, and you won’t have games in all 8 brackets ever going at the same time (well, unless you keep winning, but then that’s your own fault.  :-P  And even then you will have down time waiting for other games to finish, etc.)

    An example of this is if there were 24 players in a certain bracket.  In that case there would be 8 first round matches and 8 byes, so that 1/3 of the players would get a first round bye in that bracket.

    Also, I am currently in the process of finding as much detail as I can (via the TripleA sites and other places) on each game, and I will be posting my findings on the Cellar Gaming message boards as I find them, so hopefully that will help with understanding the initial strategy and so forth.  The general page is at this link:  http://cellargaming.com/phpbb/index.php  You only have to join the board if you want to add your own posts (and feel free!), otherwise you can stalk at will.  :)

    Does that fully answer your question?  Sorry, shockingly I got to rambling a bit….

  • '20 '16 '15 '14

    And always remember that you don’t have to enter all of the brackets – you can enter as many as you like.  Of course, the more you enter the more chances you have to win points towards the Octathalon standings.

  • '18 '16 '15

    Allright, count me in, I’ll let you know which brackets.

    Who wants to try World at War with me?


  • If you’re new to the game and would like to learn about it, I’ll play a game with you.

  • '18 '16

    Hi DizzKneeLand33,

    Sign me up for all the games. Looking forward to play the maps with dice  :-D.

    Bacala

Suggested Topics

  • 1
  • 2
  • 1
  • 4
  • 12
  • 43
  • 2
  • 174
Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

38

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts