Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 10:32:27 -0500
From: "Robert F. Heeter" 
Subject: W2WT: Tournament Status Update (B)

O Valiant Warriors Brave and Bold!

In the bitterly cold crusted snows of the frozen month of
January, as your armies struggle forward on yet another march
to yet another battle, you spot something unusual up ahead.
The snows atop the hill in front of you seems to be spouting
upwards!  But then you realize it is a white banner of peace,
a most unusual standard indeed in this realm!  Surely your
enemy is not surrendering!  But what can it be?

Soon your curiosity is satisfied, as you recognize your
friend the Tournament Messenger.  He is clad in pure white,
from his boots and armor made of some magical porcelain-like
substance, to the white scarf that protects his face and
the milky plume of feathers flying from his helm.

He bows before you, and you seek his news:

"Noble Warlord, it is a time of transition.  The swiftest war
 of Round A has now reached Turn 20, and is nearly completed.
 Elsewhere the struggles continue; some battles are still
 on Turn 8.  In other games, there are Warlords whom
 the fates have frowned upon, whose luck has fled, and whose
 battles have already ended in noble defeat.  This is the
 State of the Tournament, sire."

You nod.  Indeed, although there is much fighting left to
occur, even in your own game the range of possible outcomes
is shrinking.  The strong have grown mighty, and the weak
have grown feeble, and it is starting to become clear
that not everyone is going to be able to win this time.
The Messenger continues:

"The valiant wizards of the Corps of Scenario Engineers have
 just about completed the Round B scenario.  Because some
 of the Round A games continue to struggle, we are not
 ready to begin Round B just yet.  However, we do not want
 those who met their fate in Round A swiftly to get bored!
 Soon we shall make a preliminary version of the Round B
 map available to all warlords for playtesting and practice.
 (Indeed, a few hardy moderators have begun the X02 game
 to try out the revised scenario and test the Round B rules.)"

"More will be revealed when the scenarios become public,
 and over the next few weeks the preparations will be
 made for the launching of Round B sometime around the
 fourth day of the third week of the second month.
 (That is, Thursday, February 19, 3 weeks from today.)"

You grin.  A voice in your head is saying: "Prepare thyself!"

"Some preliminary information for Round B:  A memo from
 the Scenario Engineering Corps to the Moderators has been
 leaked to those of us in the Public Relations Office.
 It seems there will be 50 cities, 4 temples, and 36 other
 ruins, containing numerous flight and command items,
 a variety of powerful allies (the same for each side this time),
 and of course fresh coffers of gold.  Furthermore,
 each side will again have 2 heroes.  But now, rumor has it
 that razing will be allowed at any time!"

You smile with the expectation of a coming battle...

 "Gossip coming from the Turkish contingent has it that the
 Rules Gurus have accepted their proposal to allow certain types
 of quests with specific rewards!  Sources at Tournament Headquarters
 have refused to comment.  The venerable sages of the
 Historical College of Mages have reported that based on
 these characteristics, the Round B scenario may be an updated
 version of the "Duel of the Gods" scenario, playtested in
 the Duel, Duel2, Duel_III, Duelz11, and DuelZ12 games stored
 in the Remailer Past History archive."

You smirk.  Surely this messenger is saying only what he
has been told to say!  But curiosity now rages within you,
and the muscles of your arm twitch as your hand instinctively
reaches for the musty, dog-eared book in which the past history
of the playtesting campaigns has been recorded...

"One last thing:  Headquarters is proposing that all players in
 Round A games which are not finished by the start of Round B
 will receive 8 additional vacation days on the day that the
 Round B wars begin, which they can use as vacation or convert
 (2-for-1) into 4 additional timeouts at any time as they
 finish their Round A game."

And the messenger departs as swiftly and silently as he arrived...

You look around at the blood-stained armor and fierce faces
of your veteran troops, and vow that those vacation days
shall not be used.  It is time to finish this war, for a
new battlefield awaits!


-- Tournament Headquarters

****************** SUMMARY  ***********************
Round A games are starting to end.
Expect the Round B scenario very soon.
The Round B map is based on the Duel playtesting games.
Round B should begin in 3 weeks.
Additional vacation/timeouts will be given to allow
  players to start Round B while finishing Round A.
Try to finish Round A as swiftly as you can!
***************************************************