**********************************************************************
* Round C Prizes and Awards, Part 6: *
* *
* HEADQUARTERS' FINALE *
* *
* "Honoring all who survived the Tournament, and toasting those *
* who emerged in the Top 16 and now fight to become The Greatest." *
**********************************************************************
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 01:07:03 -0400
From: Tournament Headquarters
To: ww2l-news@deitechcomputing.com
The latest Round of the Warlords II World Tournament has ended, and a
vast crowd of Warlords has assembled in the Great Hall of the World
Warlords II League. Everyone is there, from Small Player right on up
to the loquacious Little Puppy and the mighty Warlord Isc! Off to the
left, you spot the vast library of the Warlords II Web Archive, with
the entire wall - and ceiling - honeycombed with pigeonholes, and
every conceivable space filled with scrolls of information. To your
right, you see the portals leading off to the various forums,
WW2L-Mod, WW2L-Scen, WW2L-Talk, and so on. But of course all eyes are
on the front, where a vast tapestry displays the results of Round C,
listing the outcomes of every game. An overheard wisper catches your
ear and draws your attention to the place normally filled by the
Scroll of Official World Rankings, and you realize that the rankings
are gone! And then you realize that not *all* Warlords are here - one
is missing - Tournament Headquarters! What happened to him?
You mingle around among the crowd, and the inquiring looks on every
face reassure you that you are not missing out on some great secret.
But the rumors that are starting to spread are most entertaining! "I
heard he was killed wrestling with a demon..." ... "No, the problem
was that when he cast the spell to produce the updated rankings,
something went terribly wrong and he wound up ranked #0!" ... "I heard
that he came out #1 and was feeling guilty about winning the
tournament that he organized, and was hoping someone would find
something wrong with the numbers" ... "No, the problem was that there
was a tie for 16th place, and he didn't know what to do about it!"
... "Don't be silly, that damned ranking spell has so many tiebreakers
in it, it'd be a miracle if two players came out with the same rank."
... "Hell, who knows. But how long do we gotta wait, anyway?"
* * * Meanwhile... * * *
Deep in the cavernous dungeons beneath the Great Hall, a lone Warlord
toiled away into the night. Every night. For weeks upon end,
surrounded by scroll upon scroll, he cast spell upon spell and wrote
page after page, filling a mighty tome with mystic diagrams, arcane
equations, and more-or-less logical arguments. Would the numbers turn
out right? Would the final stages of the project succeed? Who would
be the winners, and who the losers? Alas, however, this mighty
outpouring of effort had nothing to do with the Tournament, though
both projects had begun at about the same time. And unfortunately the
"thesis project" had to take priority now, at the conclusion of both
projects, even as the Tournament reached it's most momentous moments!
But then, after 550 scrolls of thesis had been enscribed, ensorcelled,
and enchanted, rays of light began showing even in the deep dungeon.
Spring had arrived, the thesis was finally finished (well, except for
some proofreading), and there was time again to play! And so it was
that glorious beams of spring sunshine began hitting just the right
angle to pour light down the crystallized fissures of the ancient
volcano upon which the Castle and Great Hall had been built, and it
was time. Both projects could now be completed! And he who is
sometimes known as Tournament Headquarters knew that it was a good
time to put away his Ph.D. thesis tome for a while, and return to the
task of completing the Tournament.
The timing of the sun was especially auspicious. That same week,
three years earlier, had seen the dawn of the Tournament itself. On a
beautiful day in mid to late May, 1996, a young wizard had posted upon
the magical Internet the first proposal for a Tournament of Warlords.
It was to have begun in early fall, but many exciting ideas and
improvements were suggested, and much time was needed to assemble the
team of Tournament Volunteers, prepare the arcane magics of the WarBOT
and the Remailer, and playtest the rules.
And so it passed that that same week, *two* years earlier, had seen
the beginning of player registrations. In mid-May 1997, the
tournament Volunteers had begun registering themselves, and by May 21,
1997, it was time to issue the call to arms and summon the mightiest
Warlords of the World to join the Tournament!
And now, two years after the start of Registration, in mid-May 1999,
after Email Buddying, a Practice Round, and 3 Official Rounds, some 66
survivors from the original group of 200 stood waiting in the great
hall, eagerly anticipating the latest results and the future
machinations of the World Warlords II League! Their dedication had
become unshakeable, their skill undeniable, and their exploits the
seed of legends, told by bards in tales aplenty all over the world!
Why, then, was it taking so long for the final rankings? Why did
Tournament Headquarters delay? Was it just that he was busy trying to
become "Tournament Headquarters, Ph.D.?" No, he had been secretly
sitting on the official rankings for a week, because once the game
results were ready the temptation to see the final results had been
too great for even his renowned patience to bear! Was he afraid of
the results? No, the numbers were the numbers, and after a year and a
half of official rounds, there were not *too* many surprises. So,
then, was he so worried about mistakes causing confusion and leading
players ranked around #16 and #17 to false elation or dismay? Maybe a
little, but all the key numbers had been checked at least three times,
by the players, their moderators, and himself. And surely one did not
need to wait an entire week to give the players one last chance to
check for typos. None had been reported, either.
No, in the end, it seems that the only real explanation was that
Headquarters was just feeling a little melancholy. For three years,
the World Tournament and his thesis project had defined so much of his
life, and now, it was all drawing to a close! What would he do, now
that it was over? Messages used to flow in by the hundreds per day,
and now the stream had dwindled to a mere message per hour. He knew
that many who had played on for all three rounds were ready to retire
into other pursuits, and it appears he was a bit sad to see them all
go!
Many would continue, but at this time of great transition, it seemed
somehow wrong that three years of blood, toil, tears and a riverful of
sweat -- the combined labors of dozens of volunteers, every one now a
respected friend -- had somehow been reduced by his latest
incantations to nothing more than a single table of numbers, a simple
list of final results and final rankings Something seemed missing. To
simply go and post some numbers on a scroll did not seem a fitting end
to such a massive undertaking! And besides, the timing was just a
little too soon. The three-year anniversary was not quite here yet.
He needed more time, to do things the right way. A means to draw the
Tournament to a close, and bring forth the new age of the World
Warlords II League!
And so it passed that as the Warlords of the World Tournament waited
expectantly in the Great Hall, the weary Tournament Headquarters put
quill to scroll one more time. He had had enough of the arcane
treatise of his Ph.D., and now it was time to write a final chapter
for the History of the World Tournament! There would be other scrolls
coming forth from the Prize Committe, honoring the mighty events and
brilliant roleplays of this, the third and final Round of the
Tournament. Much would be said by others in due time, and many prizes
would be awarded by the Warlords Gods at SSG! But on this occasion,
he had his own final messages to convey.
And he began listing the players in order, and jotting down the things
he wanted to say to each one. Dinner would be coming up soon in the
Great Hall, and this would be a time to recognize each and every
surviving Warlord...
He began with one of his favorite players...
#69. Small Player, otherwise known as Derek Baird, could count his
age on the fingers of both hands at the start of the Tournament.
Derek does not deserve to be ranked last among the survivors of the
Tournament, for his courage and perseverance are legendary. And in
fact, at #69, he outranks all but a handful of the players who lacked
his dedication. Few of his age would have the courage to compete
against the best in the world, and even fewer would have the
perseverance to face the ghosts of inevitable defeat for all three
rounds! Good job, Derek! I'm sorry we couldn't find a good way to
factor your age into the rankings. :)
#65. Skipping over three Lost Players, we come to Medzner
d'Amphipolis, known in real life as Nerses Goelian, who is one of the
French contingent in the Tournament. Nerses, it was great to have you
with us. Although you had a tough defeat in Round A, it was great to
see you come storming back into the top half in Round B.
Unfortunately the tides of battle turned against you again in Round C,
but I'm glad you stuck with the Tournament and I hope we see you in
the League!
#64. Wayne's Warriors Win! Patrick Wayne Dale had a difficult time
in Round A, ranking 31st in his color, and Round B was no better,
where he came in 22nd. But it seems maybe he was simply not feeling
challenged enough? In Round C, when he was asked to push himself a
little and play two games, he pulled off a huge victory as Blue and
ranked 3rd in his color! (Otherwise it was a close call as to whether
he'd be outranked by Small Player or not. :) ) Nice finish, Patrick!
#63. King Warren holds this slot. The real life Warren Gillette has
more class than just about anyone else I had the luck to actually play
against myself in the Tournament, as anyone who reads the ill-starred
history of B05 will discover. Beset upon from all sides, he held me
off quite ably for many a turn, and even when his cause was hopeless
he never quit and was rarely even late with his moves. Warren, I'm
sorry to see that you had similar problems playing against expert
players in all three rounds, and I hope you keep playing in the
League, where the games will be more balanced and your dedication can
really pay off!
#62. Maddog, Doug Irwin. To be honest, I don't think I ever had to
deal with a rules dispute or game situation involving Maddog. And
considering how many problems big and small we had in this tournament,
that is saying something! Doug, you put up solid efforts in all three
rounds, and your final Opponent Quality score indicates that you
played against some of the toughest competition in the Tournament, so
I'm sure you'll have more fun in the League! I'm looking forward to
finding out how you do in your next game. :)
#61. Ilira, Jareth bar Belford, and Arlis were the three aliases of
R. Paul Miller (who I somehow keep expecting to be RuPaul, playing
incognito :) ). Paul, your ranking is low primarily because of your
first game; you did steadily better every round, and you deserve a
prize for surviving Little Puppy's immense bombardment of extended
turn reports as well as his in-game offensive operations! Aside from
that I confess that I was the initial Prize Committee reader for your
Round B game, and I loved Jareth's story. It was great to have you in
the Tournament.
#60. BigMike. What can I say to Michael Putney? He had the severe
misfortune of playing Blue in Round A. I was Orange. On Turn 1,
White offered an alliance with me, and although I tried to give
BigMike a chance to counter the offer, it didn't happen, and his first
game didn't last very long. The really cool thing I learned from
Mike, as with King Warren, is that this tournament is full of great
people as well as great players. I'm really glad to see that you
didn't let that first loss get you down, Mike, and from the progress
in your rankings it looks like I'd have a lot more trouble if I had to
play against you now!
#59. Ythorm Carstik has to have one of the coolest player aliases in
the Tournament. We can thank Christophe Godel, another member of the
French contingent, for that and much else. Ythorm Carstik was heading
for a solid middle-place ranking in Round A and B, but got sandwiched
between Lord Lucky and the rampaging Wayne's Warriors in Round C, so
his final ranking slipped a bit. Christophe, I hope to hear that
you're regaining that lost ground in the League!
#58. Lord Havell's signature always gave me a boost. "Al
Ataquerr!!!" was the battle cry of our Spanish stalwart, who started
off with an average outcome, struggled a little in Round B, but then
came back as Blue in Round C and did a good defensive job with the
toughest side in the round, managing to hold off the mighty Lovesword
just long enough to finish in the top 50% for the round.
#57. Gandalf the White, otherwise known as Frederick Aubert, deserves
extra thanks for serving as a Moderator throughout the Tournament. I
also know from firsthand experience in Round A that Frederick's
tactical skills are higher than his ranking indicates, even including
his 3rd-highest Opponent Quality bonus, so if you play him one on one,
be careful! As he found in Rounds A, B, *and* C, though, his curse is
on the diplomatic side of the game - somehow he always seems to get
more-or-less betrayed by his allies! (First me, then Avenger, and
finally Gem.) No doubt he'll soon learn not to trust his allies so
much, especially when the agreements have technically expired, and
then he will be formidable indeed...
#56. Henry IV, named after Henry Griggs of Australia, was off to a
good start in Round A, and did pretty well in Round B, but
unfortunately it appears that playing in 2 games in Round C was a bit
more than he could handle. Of course, in Round C he was trying to
play against both Steve the Giant and Wat Tyler in one game, and
Blitzkrieg-Award winning Sir Uriah in the other, so his slippage in
Round C is understandable.
#55. Trebor Melas, the alter ego of Alex Melekhov, is another player
whose solid performances in Rounds B and C were dragged down in the
rankings by a slow start in Round A. Trebor also has the honor of
being another player whose problem-free games rarely caught my
attention. I wish I could say more... I hope Alex continues to move
ahead in the League!
#54. One of two players who found a cool sequential way to change his
alias every round, Dragon Lord Gary began the Practice Round, and
evolved through Dragon Lord Gary II, III, IV, and finally became
Dragon Lord Gary V in Round C! Unfortunately his game results went
the other direction, and his excellent start in Round A turned into an
average finish in Round B, and then he had the misfortune of playing
Black in Round C next to Lord Dread's green forces, and met his
Waterloo. But I would bet he'll hold his own against anyone of
similar rank in the League. :)
#53. Vance Kic was played by Stephane Assadourian, another dedicated
Warlord from France. Stephane was on the wrong end of an unfortunate
personality clash early on, but survived that difficult period and
went on to an impressive 8th-place finish in Round B. But then he
wound up playing Blue against Evgeny's Red juggernaut in Round C, and
his campaign to reach the finals ground to an untimely halt. But
hopefully he's tanned, rested and ready for revenge in the League now,
though!
#52. One word, and you gotta capitalize it: LEICHENBESTATTER. Bruce
Wayne Hall is one of our most consistent players, despite going
through multiple real-life moves and (if I remember right) the arrival
of a baby Warlord during the Tournament. Like many other trouble-free
players, Bruce sticks in my memory mostly because I got to change his
email address more often than just about anyone else's. :) He came in
13th for his color in Round A, 13th in Round B, and then 12th in Round
C! He joined Vance Kic on the wrong end of Evgeny's conquest in C13.
Bruce, I'm sure everyone in the League would be happy to play with
someone who's as reliable, dedicated and skilled as you've been.
#51. Iceman is Ivan Baird. I can't say anything bad about Ivan, he
runs the League mailing lists for us. ;) My biggest problem here is
that I don't know where to begin saying all the good things I could
say about him! Should I talk about how much fun it was to roleplay
with him in C04? Or to try to explain all of the things he's
contributed to the Tournament, right from the very beginning as a
playtester, Head Email Buddy, Moderator, and now Mailing List Guru?
No, let me just say that I'm pretty confident Ivan's ranking would be
significantly higher if he hadn't devoted so much of his time to
helping me and the other volunteers make this a successful tournament.
We all owe Ivan a considerable debt of gratitude. Of course, you
don't have to let that stop you from trying to defeat him if you face
him in battle. At least, I didn't. :) But he got his revenge on my in
the roleplaying. :)
#50. Wolfgang, Steve VanKoughnett, is a Canadian like Ivan and Derek
Baird. Steve was with us as a playtester from almost the very
beginning. Despite occasionally hearing him complain about making
dumb mistakes, it looks like he put up some solid numbers in each
round, and I'm really glad he has been able to stay with us for almost
3 years now. Steve, I hope you decide to stay with us and keep making
more of those mistakes. :)
#49. Wowbagger was Michael Franke of Germany. "Wowbagger" is also on
my list of really cool aliases. After getting off to a decent start
in Round A, it looks like he struggled a little in Round B, and then
pulled out a nice 5th place finish with the difficult Blue side in
C18. Michael also earns my thanks for being another player who never
caused me any headaches as Headquarters.
#48. Only Brian Hughes (Canada) could have come up with both
OfUnknownOrigin and KlownKiller for aliases. Playing in the tough,
small PC-Classic bracket (where most players saw each other more than
once between the Practice Round and Round C), Brian has had tremendous
grace under pressure, and I can't recall him every complaining about
anything. He also strikes me as the kind of player who usually adds a
lot of entertainment value to his games, without necessarily earning a
roleplaying nomination. Sometimes his moves are a little slow to
arrive, but he has plenty of company in that respect, and I suspect
that if he were in another division with less demanding opponents (and
where I wasn't personally moderating), I wouldn't have even heard that
he didn't always send quite the right gamefile in on time. :) Brian's
rankings continued to improve from Round A through Round C, so future
opponents should be prepared for a nice challenge as well as a lot of
fun! :)
#47. Lord Elric, played by Eskil Swahn from Sweden, fought off tough
opponents in Round A and Round B, and then came into his own by
joining up with Piglet in Round C, where together they took down the
highly-ranked Canarsians and Warlord (although Warlord also became a
father during the round and appears to have been a little distracted),
earning himself a 33% finish as Black in C01. Nice work Eskil! I'm
sorry you were cursed with being in practically the slowest game each
round; we'll have to fix that in the League. :)
#46. White Dragon is a European term for an Avalanche, so it's not
surprising that this player comes from Switzerland. Marek Konieczny
has done us all a tremendous service by handling the production of
WarBOT for most of the last two years. He did a great job in Round A,
held out in Round B, and then had the misfortune of playing against
*both* Commando and Lord Isc in Round C. No wonder his Opponent
Quality rating is one of the highest in the round! If he finds time
to play again, I'm sure his ranking will be climbing upwards from its
current spot. :) Meanwhile, he has at least volunteered to put out one
more version of WarBOT and help us get rid of some more of the bugs.
Thanks Marek!
#45. Dionysos is one of our most all-around entertaining players.
The human behind this festive mythological persona is Paul Heilporn of
Belgium, who started off in the middle of the pack, then pulled ahead
in Round B with a 7th place finish in his color, but collided with
Drummer and The Federation in Round C to finish 11th as black in the
tactically, diplomatically, and literarily entertaining game C02.
Paul's talents in the roleplaying arena have already been noticed, and
as I look up the rankings a little further, I think we will have to
find a way to get him together with #44, #43, and #42 for a PC/Mac
Classic "Role-Playing All-Stars" game! (And you'll all see why, as
you see who the next three players are...)
#44. Magnus Goransson of Sweden was the only player who needed no
alias to be entertaining. :) I played with Magnus a long, long time
ago, in the very earliest days of the Warlords II Players' Web Site.
He was a little reluctant to join the Tournament because he felt
(correctly) that WarBOT would change the nature of the game in a way
he wasn't entirely happy about, but he was kind enough to change his
mind, and since he's still with us it seems he wasn't too
disappointed! A veteran playtester and early-round Moderator, Magnus
has already earned great fame and multiple nominations for his
hilarious roleplaying. Unfortunately his career was cut a little
short in Round C, where real-life constraints and a brilliant campaign
by the Duke of Death kept him from achieving his previous level of
success. But he's already on record as being interested in setting up
a League Game, so I encourage everyone to team up with him and have
some more fun now that Round C is over. :)
#43. Dark Lord Pi. Need I say more? Justin Nafziger's roleplaying
abilities are second to none in this Tournament. What fewer people
realize is that he's also pretty good strategically, and has been
getting better every round. He held off Fortissimo in Round A with a
brilliant hero slaying. He was well on his way to dominating the map
in Round B, until ShirKhan and Raider allied to stop him. And now,
despite finishing Round C with only 4 cities, by playing the tough
Blue color and surviving, he actually ranks 7th. And as I mentioined,
I would love to see what happens if we put Justin and Magnus and Paul
together with our #42 player, who is...
#42. Larry Lang was one of a handful of players to come up with
entirely different roleplays each round. Starting off as The Avenging
Angel, he very nearly swept the map and took a 5th place ranking in
Round A, also earning consideration for Best Actor and Best Picture.
He morphed into Thor in Round B, ran into the even more highly ranked
Hunzo, and had a bit more of a strategic struggle in a game that was
also a bit of a challenge for the moderators. He survived that
intact, however, and in Round C he showed up as The Masked Avenger.
Larry's ranking only held even in C08, though, which was a real
"balance of power" game. Knowing how well Larry can roleplay
(especially when he doesn't have the Prize Committee holding him to a
G rating), I would love to see Avenging Angel return to join Dark Lord
Pi, Magnus and Dionysos for an all-star roleplaying game in the
League!
#41. Now we come to Lord Dread. Alex Vickers (Canada) is the
mastermind behind this interesting character. I want to thank Alex
for helping us to Moderate the more recent rounds. Meanwhile, Lord
Dread's surprisingly dominant 1st place finish with 37 cities as Green
in Round C is testament to his tactical talents! Alex would have been
a serious contender for a top-16 spot, except that his Round B ranking
handicapped him. Still, I hope Alex is looking forward to bringing up
his ranking even further in the League! :)
* * * * * * *
At this point, the rays of the sun which illuminated the crystal cave
underneath the Great Hall have faded into sunset. As the mighty
Warlords settle down for supper upstairs, Tournament Headquarters
finds his ink, parchment, daylight, and willpower running down, and he
brings the scroll up to the dining hall. And now you learn why the
rankings have been a little slow! The ceremony goes on late into the
evening, and would go on all night except that Headquarters finally
confesses that he hasn't finished writing up the rest of his notes for
#40 through #1. But he promises that the final parts (and complete
statistics) will follow shortly. "Shortly" is a little vague however,
and should be taken to mean either tomorrow, or else sometime not
later than next weekend, when the true 3-year anniversary of the
Tournament (and 2-year anniversary of Registration) truly arrives. :)
And Headquarters flashes a wicked grin as he deliberately leaves
everyone in suspense for a little longer, and heads off to catch up on
some long-awaited sleep...
* * * * * * *
The festivities continue in the Great Hall for an entire day! Jesters
sing and dance, glorious beverages and bountiful food are served, and
in the afternoon there is even a little game of Warlords played out in
the gardens, as the lords and ladies take turns emerging from cities
and pretending to attack one another!
And then at supper that evening, another list of results is announced,
and spirits rise once more as the litany of honor and valor continues...
#40. This spot is owned by ShirKhan, otherwise known as John Tatom.
John is another one of those players who has been doing increasingly
well as the Tournament has progressed. Rising from an obscure
18th-place finish in Round A, he distinguished himself mightily in
Round B, with both a 6th-place finish as Blue and a Best-Actor winning
roleplay! It appears he has remained inspired through Round C,
earning a 7th place finish as Red in C08. Rumor has it that the prize
committee is enjoying the tales told by ShirKhan and the others in
that game, too. :) John, you have been one of the players who has made
this tournament worth all the time and effort that went into putting
it together!
#39. Rorqual, Thomas Perrier, from France, holds this spot.
Rorqual's story is a most interesting one - he was one of the
most-improved players between Round A and Round B. In fact, no one
ranked above him managed to improve 17 places between those two
rounds, as he did! And it all had to do with learning to choose his
allies wisely, as was explained in the Round B Prizes and Awards
honors. ("If you can't beat 'em...") Unfortunately he then wound up
in C04, a domain infested with highly-ranked and treacherous foes. I
know because I played one of them. :) But I am happy to say that not
only did he not succumb to the terrible temptations of treachery
himself, he also managed to play off two of his enemies against one
another and live, and he never showed any signs of despair either!
Thomas, I hope to read about more of your adventures in the League! :)
#38. Wargs. Jon McCullers is the mastermind of these beings. Jon
was also one of our earliest playtesters, and lately he became a
moderator too. The Wargs did fairly well in Round A and Round B, but
then they ran into Sir Uriah's Blitzkrieg-award-winning armies in
Round C. And their Opponent Quality rating wasn't quite enough to
make up for the defeat. I wonder if Jon is going to sharpen his
swords in the League and get his revenge? Sir Uriah is more highly
ranked, but not *that* much more highly... :)
#37. Several reincarnations of Operation Overlord (the D-Day invasion
of Normandy in World War II) were run by Brad Wishnevski of Canada.
Like Jon just below him, Brad is another player who posted solid
results in Round A and Round B against tough opponents, but like White
Dragon he wound up on the wrong side of the Commando/Isc alliance in
C11. Brad's individual game rankings came out slightly below Jon's,
but his OQ score was several points higher - among the highest in the
Tournament - and that made the difference for him in the final
rankings.
#36. The Drummer in the Tournament is Vern Vaillancourt, another one
of our many Canadians. Vern and I have known each other for a long
time, since we worked together to run the original Warlords
Play-by-Email site. Vern's also responsible for the Web page
templates that I used to produce the new-look League and Tournament
sites. Vern did well in both Round A and C02, but had a bit of a
letdown in Round B. But rumor has it that he's picking up steam in
the League already, as a playtester in the pioneering League game L01!
I am looking forward to reading more about Vern's exploits in the
future... :) And you know what, he really is a drummer in a band in
his spare time!
#35. Professor Patrick is Pat Lang. And he's a real professor, too!
Considering the nature of Warlords it's probably not surprising that
he teaches math. :) Pat had some trouble with is brother Larry beating
him up in Round A, but he came into his own with solid performances in
Round B and Round C, and rumor has it that the Brothers Lang have
already upgraded from PC-Classic to PC-Deluxe, so I hope we see a lot
more of them in the future. They are already busy playing with Hunzo
and a new player in the L02 League game. Finally, Pat did a
tremendous job in helping to moderate some touchy games in several
rounds, and I've seen many a potential Headquarters headache disappear
as he took care of various situations in his games. Thanks Pat!
#34. George Hulseman joins Larry Lang among the players who came up
with new roleplays every round. He started off as Geez, then became
The Hillbillies and shared in the Best Picture for Round B, and his
third incarnation was as the Canarsians in C01. He improved steadily
every round and was a pleasure to play with in the X03 playtesting
game (even though we lost to Lord Amaranth and the Duke of Death).
George has been with us as a playtester and moderator since the very
early days, and I can't thank him enough for all the work he's put
into the tournament. The League is now currently waiting for him to
finish moving and get a high-speed connection in his new place, so he
can come back and play some more. :)
#33. This ranking belongs to a player who was a contender for the top
16 through Rounds A and B, but became a Lost Player after getting his
hero slain by Kalten on Turn 8 of Round C. We do not honor Lost
Players.
#32. Turin Turambar, masterminded by Lou Shirley. Lou guided his
alter ego to very very good results in Round A and B, and showed such
a good grasp of the Tournament that we persuaded him to become a
moderator, which he has done equally well! Lou would have wound up
with a much higher ranking if he hadn't run into a pair of strong
players in Round C, Sir Ripper and Lovesword, and found himself with a
weak finish playing in a color (Red) where many others did quite well.
But Lou was as gracious in defeat as in victory, and I look forward to
seeing what he does next!
#31. This is the latest perch of our beloved Remailer God, Elam
Birnbaum. Elam's roleplays included Chief Achi in Round A, and then a
pair of Star Trek themes in Round B (Captain Picard) and Round C (The
Federation). My sense of things is that Elam has lost more heroes in
the tournament than any other player, which is one reason why he
switched from Captain Picard to the Federation - he needed a bigger
cast of characters for his heroes! And yet as you can see his
tactical skills have made up for the occasional moments of
carelessness, and in his final performance he did a masterful job as
Green in fending off Drummer and Dionysos, whom he now outranks! Elam
is the only player in the Tournament that I've actually met
personally, and it has been wonderful to work with such a great guy in
running this Tournament. We've been playing Warlords together since
the very earliest days of PBEM, and it's always been fun! I am
looking forward to getting a cable modem connection so we can keep
playing after I move out to California in another two weeks...
Finally, we all know how helpful the Remailer has been to making this
whole Tournament successful, but only a few players are aware that
Elam has also been very active as a moderator in all three rounds.
Three cheers for Elam!!! :)
#30. Sir Phoenix is the beloved creation of Gustavo Castro de
Venezuela. Gustavo has been picking up steam in the rankings since
the start of the Tournament, moving from 13th to 10th and finally 8th
as Black in C14. His Opponent Quality ranking testifies that only a
few other players have fought off tougher foes, and I have no doubt
that his ranking would continue to rise if the Tournament went on even
longer. Which it will, only we now call it the League! !Muy bien,
Gustavo!
#29. Randy King is the human being behind the legends of Kamevil and
(in Round B) Raider. His Round B and Round C rankings could have put
him into the Top 16, except he was dragged down by a slow start in
Round A. But his exploits in Round B have already become the stuff of
legends, helping his game earn a share of the Best Picture voting in
Round B and earning himself a Best Actor nomination to go with it!
Randy, I hope C08 wasn't your last game with us!
#28. Lord Lucky, played by Jeff Hartman, is always fun to read. Not
only does he write witty (and mercifully brief) turn reports, but he
has a tradition of fighting some of the bloodiest battles in the game,
and it's always fun to check his body count in the final
statistics. :) Jeff is also one of our longstanding moderators, and we
owe him many thanks for running his games calmly and efficiently
throughout the Tournament! Jeff would have come even closer to making
the Top 16 if he had placed a little better in Round B, and I hope
he'll set out to make up for that one defeat in the League!
#27. King Chu of Formosa, played by Hsiao-Chiu Chu of Taiwan
(otherwise known as Formosa :) ), has one of the most interesting
records in the Tournament. He posted a top finish in one of his two
Round A games, and came up #4 in Round B, with the result that he held
a very respectable #8 ranking at the end of the last round. But then
real life and the merciless Duke of Death got in the way in C03, and
King Chu posted a very unfortunate 19-place drop in the rankings!
However, despite this distressing reversal of fortune, King Chu showed
tremendous honor and held out as long as he could without complaint or
despair. Although there may be better tacticians in the game, King
Chu deserves an award for courage in the face of disaster!
Hsiao-Chiu, I hope you keep playing and get a chance for revenge in
the League. (I too know what it's like to lose to the Duke of Death,
so you have my wholehearted support if you choose to make this your
quest! :) )
#26. It is a pity that #26 and #27 aren't reversed; the player who
ranks #26 was in a similar situation to King Chu, ranking 14th after
Round B, but he lacked King Chu's grace under fire and became a Lost
Player when faced with a war against both Falcon and Legion of Doom in
Round C. No honors go to this Lost Player, and he will have to work
his way back up the ladder from the bottom, now. :)
#25. With the most amazing victory in Round C, Sir Uriah (Yuri
Khvorostjanov of Russia in real life) has earned a place among the
legends of the tournament. Unfortunately his stunning 16-turn victory
as Red in C10 was not enough to make up for his 12th-place finishes in
Round A and Round B, but he did post an extremelly impressive
improvement in the rankings, moving up 16 spots from #41 after Round B
to #25 after Round C! Yuri is one of our most dedicated players, and
Ivan and I have had tremendous respect for him ever since he helped
Buddy a lot of our new players during Registration and the Practice
Round. I hope he keeps playing in the League and shows us whether his
#1 ranking in Round C is what he really has deserved all along!
* * * * * *
And with that, another bottle of ink has run dry. Those whose names
have not been announced know they are among the top 24. But are they
in the Top 16? Ahh, only Headquarters can reveal that. And all in
good time... For tonight, however, it is enough for all to honor the
valiant foes whose names and partial honors appear above! There are
so many tales to be told about the Tournament, and it takes time to
give each its proper respect... But soon shall the rest of the truth
be unfurled!
* * * * *
Finally, after much impatient waiting, Tournament Headquarters returns
to the Speaker's Podium at the head of the Great Hall of the World
Warlords II League. He wastes no more time, knowing that everyone has
been waiting far too long for these final words. He begins:
"Warlords,
"At last, we come to the conclusion of this grand adventure. Today,
this very day, marks the 2nd anniversary of the start of the Warlords
II World Tournament!"
Headquarters snaps his fingers and a scroll unrolls on the wall. It
is familiar indeed, for who could possibly forget that glorious Call
to Arms which marked the beginning of player registration? It reads:
>Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 16:36:48 +0100
>To: rfheeter@phoenix.Princeton.EDU
>From: Tournament Headquarters
>Subject: WC97 Announce: Warlords II World Tournament (Prizes!!)
>
>[ Please distribute far and wide! Tell every Warlord you know! ]
>[ (Our apologies to anyone who receives this unexpectedly.) ]
>
>**===----===** http://tournament.verdon.org **===----===**
>
>Greetings, Warlords Fans!
>
>You stand on the battlements of your great castle, a mighty Warlord
>atop the tallest tower on the highest, most strategic hill in your
>kingdom. The wind blows your hair straight out behind your head as
>you gaze down and observe your troops practicing enthusiastically
>in the fields below. All is as it should be.
>
>But then, in the distance, you spot a thin trail of dust rising into
>the air. A tiny black speck leads the trail, like some earthly cousin
>of the great comets in the sky. The speck expands as the dust trail
>grows larger, closer, and your hunch is soon confirmed when your
>sharp-eyed lookout announces: "Sire, a messenger is arriving."
[ ... ]
A murmur goes up among the crowd of Warlords assembled in the Great
Hall, as many recall the earliest stages of this grand adventure. The
eagerness, the uncertainty, the thrill of those very first battles -
and the agony of those first defeats. Ahh, what a wonderful two years
it has been!
Headquarters waits for the hubbub to die down, then continues:
"The last wars of the Tournament have ended, and it is time to finish
tallying the scores! Indeed, the time draws near when swords will be
drawn once more, and new battles fought! Despite our best efforts to
produce reasonable rankings, I am sure there will be Warlords among
you who will undoubtedly choose to dispute their status, not to
mention those who simply enjoy an exciting battle or few! I hope we
all look forward to many exciting adventures as those new battles get
underway!
"But first, we must honor those who have, based on their rankings,
fought most valiantly and successfully in the battles of the last two
years. It is a mighty roster which I must read for you today, full of
glorious names whose very syllables bespeak the countless episodes of
honor and treachery which now lie exposed among the Tomes of Rounds A,
B, and C.
"Unfortunately, there are 8 very good players in the Top 24 who
nonetheless will not win prizes, for those will only go to the Top 16.
And how can I explain to someone that after 2 years of valiant effort,
and great success, they just didn't quite make it? This is a
difficult problem. I wish I could simply give out 24, 48, or even 72
prizes. But the best I can do is to honor you all as I have, and to
honor the last 24 maybe a little more than the rest. And so, like
most difficult problems, a straighforward solution appears best. So
let us continue where we left off, get the painful part over with, and
then find out who is currently #1!"
And he gazes down at a long, very long, scroll of rapidly-written notes,
and begins....
"#24 is The Wall. Denis Lacasse is another of our Canadian wizards,
and his exploits are already legendary. Most notable was his
Best-Picture winning game against Captain Picard in Round B! The
Prize Committee has also benefited from his able assistance. His
rankings are very consistent: 8th place in A04, where he held 38% of
the cities as Blue. 9th place in B02, where he held 32% of the cities
as White. And now 8th place as Green in the very tough C06, where he
held off first Avenger and then Gem (both top-24 themselves) in a
defensive masterpiece that left him with 23% of the cities. The only
fault one might find with The Wall is that he somehow never assembled
the offensive firepower to really win a game outright. And yet,
playing Blue in Round A and Green in Round C, it is clear he has done
quite well with very difficult colors in several rounds. And indeed,
the gap in scores between The Wall and the #16 player is small indeed.
Denis, had you managed to rank 2 notches higher in each of your games,
you would have come out #13. However, since I already owe you a prize
for your Best Picture effort in Round B, the best I can do now is hope
you'll not be too disappointed that you didn't make the top 16.
"#23 is Steve the Giant. Steve Lucas is a great warrior-poet from
Australia, who has earned Best Actor nominations in both Rounds A and
B. And his incredible 2nd-place finish in Round A, and 3rd-place
finish in Round B, catapulted him to 3rd place in the overall rankings
at the end of Round B. So how on earth is he ranked #23 now? Two
words: Wat Tyler. The story of C15 is a Waterloo for Steve the Giant:
in a duel between the two top-ranked Australians in the Tournament,
Wat Tyler's Black forces, ranked #18 going into the game, left the
formerly undefeated Steve the Giant with just a single city as Red,
and a 13th place finish! Together with a somewhat lower than average
OQ ranking from Rounds A and B, that was enough to tumble Steve out of
the Top 16 altogether. (By my accounting, had Steve finished with 5
cities instead of 1, he would have ranked 9th as Red, and that would
have been enough to keep him in the Top 16. The finger of fate has
been fickle indeed this round...) But if anyone in the Top 24
deserves a prize for sportsmanship, it is Steve. Where many Warlords
would have raged in frustration at such a humbling defeat, he never
flagged, and continued to tweak Wat Tyler until the end. In the end,
his armies may have lost one war, but the spirit of a great Warlord
lives on in Steve the Giant.
"#22 is RoadRunner. I confess that I know less about his exploits
than I should; my spies appear to have failed me this time. :) (No, I
don't have spies. :) ) Jeff Wyatt finished with 45% of the cities in
Round A, but as Green that was only enough for a 14th-place finish.
This appears to have been what kept him out of the Top 16, because his
44% finish as White in Round B netted him 5th place, and his 31%
finish as Green in Round C was again 5th place. His OQ score is above
average, and had he ranked 10th in Round A instead of 14th, or fought
a little more aggressively to a 52% win in Round C, he would probably
be in the Top 16 now. Instead Jeff falls with Denis "The Wall"
Lacasse among the ranks of those extremely good warlords whose
victories nonetheless fell just a little short of what was needed.
"#21 is MadMax, aka Max Fulton. Max has been a part of this
tournament since the earliest days, and many of you know him as a
moderator or former playtesting opponent. Although Max and I
frequently disagree in the Moderator list, I have profound respect for
Max's ability to argue his case well under any circumstances :), and
to survive in both debate and Warlords games against an extremely
challenging set of foes. I suspect Max had the worst luck of the draw
of anyone in the tournament: no less than 6 of his 9 opponents rank in
the top 24, and 5 of them outrank him! And of the other 3, 2 were
Iceman and Gandalf, moderator/playtesters with considerable experience
and above-average rankings. Max places at #21 because, despite facing
such ferocious competition, he somehow managed to survive all of his
games, placing 12th, then 5th and finally 10th as Red in C05, which
easily featured the most highly-ranked combination of players of any
game in the Tournament. "The MadMax Effect" also shows up in the
rankings of his opponents, only one of whom managed to place higher
than 6th in his color during the round he faced Max. Intriguingly,
had we weighted Opponent Quality at 50% instead of 33%, or had Max
finished 3 or 4 places better in one of his games, he could have
climbed up to #16 in the overall rankings. As it is, we must see what
happens when we turn MadMax loose upon the League, where he is already
giving Wat Tyler a run for his money in the L03 game. :)
"#20 is Kay Chang, whose alter egos were the extremely successful Sun
Tzu (Rounds A and B) and the less successful Warlord. Kay has been
with us since the very beginning, helping out as a playtester and
moderator since the earliest days of the Remailer. Those who knew of
Kay's subtle hero-replacement surprise in the second playtesting game
(Duel2) were not surprised to see Kay ranking #5 through Round B.
Powered by a 5th-place finish in Round A and a 2nd-place finish in
Round B against very difficult opponents, Kay seemed destined for the
finals. But like Steve the Giant and King Chu of Formosa, he ran into
trouble in Round C! Kay's version of trouble came in two forms:
Piglet in C01, and a new baby at home. The result was a 12-place
finish as Red, and another warlord who, umm, made some room in the Top
16 for fresh faces... :) If Kay manages to get used to fatherhood and
find time for Warlords again, though, the Top 16 had better watch out
for their rankings... :)
"#19 is Sir Ripper, who spends his time in the Real World being known
as James Ashcroft. Placing 6th in Round A and 3rd in Round B, Sir
Ripper was ranked #11 in the world going into Round C. And, in a very
cruel twist of fate, it turns out that he would have ranked 15th or
16th if he had only managed to come up with *one* more city in Round
C! Sir Ripper's fall from the Top 16 comes from his 9th place finish
as Green in C16, where he allied with Lovesword and nearly destroyed
Turin Turambar. However, he only finished with 22.9% of the cities
and 172 points of army strength, and both The Wall (same cities, more
armies) and Professor Patrick (1 more city, but less army strength)
did ever so slightly better in their games. And so, for want of a
city, a prize was lost... I don't know what more to say! I would
give out more prizes if I could, but unfortunately we have to draw the
line somewhere.
"#18 is "Evgeny", namely Evgeny Vasiliev, who has come to our
Tournament land from Israel. Evgeny, like RoadRunner, is a player who
got off to a slow start, ranking #12 in Round A, but then picked up
steam each round, finishing #6 in Round B and finally posting a very
impressive 20-turn total victory as Red in C13. (However, it is to be
noted that he played a second game as a sub in C17, where he was
eliminated (on turn 9!), along with the formerly-highly-ranked
Maga/Lord Garlic/Shang Tsung, by the ferocious alliance of Falcon and
Legion of Doom. Will the real Evgeny please stand up? :) Evgeny
nonetheless came within spitting distance of the Top 16, and had he
managed to rank one notch higher in any of his rounds, he would have
made it. This would have been difficult in Round A, where he would
have needed to more than double his city count to outrank Geez as a
Blue player; and it would be hard to do better than Sir Uriah's
16-turn sweep of the map in Round C; but in Round B, if he had
finished with just one more city, he would have outranked Raider
(Kamevil-B) and finished with enough points to make the Top 16.
Instead he now provides Sir Ripper and RoadRunner with worthy company
among the ranks of those who fell just a tad short of a prize.
"#17... It is a good thing that we are down to the last of the
players who didn't make the top 16, for the story of #17 is another
heartbreaker, and I do not know how much more of this I can narrate
without losing my mind! Everyone please send your condolences to
Piglet, our beloved WarBOT guru, moderator, playtester, and all-around
tournament volunteer Mike Leung, whose fate it is to fall within a
hair's breadth of the Top 16. Mike's story is similar to Evgeny's: a
sluggish start in Round A, a strong victory in Round B, and a triumph
in Round C that nonetheless falls ever so slightly short of what he
needed. Fortunately I already know that Mike's heart is not broken by
his ranking outside the Top 16, and there is also a very good chance
that one or more of the Top 16 will not be able to play in Round E, so
we may yet see Piglet having more adventures with his Farm in the
future... And if not, I hope he will definitely volunteer as a
moderator! But let me tell you first just how close Mike actually
came. Mike had the misfortune of being Green in Round A, so that
despite accumulating 43.59% of the cities, he ranked only 15th. Had 2
more enemy cities been razed, or had Mike gathered one more city
himself, he would have pulled ahead of RoadRunner (45.16%), picked up
the 14th spot, and finished in the Top 16. But Mike was playing a
very gentlemanly game in Round A, not realizing just how tough the
competition would be in this Tournament. He learned fast, though, and
dominated the map in Round B by taking 79% of the cities as White,
finishing 3rd behind Legion of Doom (95%) and some guy who called his
side "The Untouchables" (100%, Turn 19). Piglet poured on the
pressure again in Round C, unfazed despite having to face 5th-ranked
Sun Tzu along with veteran players Canarsians and Lord Elric. The
annals of C01 are filled with comments by his opponents about his
tactical genius, and it is no accident that he finished 2nd as Green,
nudging out Lord Isc by a city (52% from 25 cities vs. 50% from 24)!
But Lord Dread was not to be denied #1, having finished with 77% of
the cities. Unfortunately, despite these increasingly spectacular
victories against increasingly difficult opponents did not do enough
to erase the effect of Piglet's strategic error in Round A, and I am
left with the difficult job of consoling him with nothing more than
the knowledge that he was not alone in falling a little bit short.
"But I think it is time to call an end to consoling those whose
victories were insufficiently victorious. It's time now to celebrate
the achievements of those who were smart, skillful, talented, or just
plain lucky enough to win one of the 16 prizes!
"The #16 prize goes to Kalten, Mikhail Langer, who hails originally
from Russia but currently (at least last I heard) resides in Texas.
As we have seen in reading how close the #17-19 players came to taking
his place, Kalten's grip on the #16 spot is rather fortunate. No
doubt he is used to surviving slim odds, though, since he has been
with us since the playtesting phase - and we all know just how dicey
the WarBOT odds get when you're trying to keep your hero alive amidst
hordes of enemies! Kalten, like Piglet and several others, started
off as Green in Round A, and so despite taking 59% of the cities, he
came out #10 in the rankings. He edged out Elam Birnbaum's "Chief
Achi" but fell a little short of Turin Turambar. Kalten's glorious
moment came in Round B, where he took the #1 ranking for the most
competitive color, Yellow, and this time edged out Turin Turambar by
finishing with 78% of the cities to Turn's 73%. This left him sitting
in 12th place after Round B. Round C might have been a disaster, but
despite having the worst of the successful Red finishes (29%, below
ShirKhan at 31% and above Avenger at 8%), Mikhail nonetheless did well
enough with his 8th place finish and respectable Opponent Quality
score to hold onto his spot in the Top 16! Congratulations!
"#15 is the possession of Zak Klobucher, variously known as ZAK (Round
A), Lord Gumby (Round B, with a Best Actor nomination) and Rhonda /
Rhonda-B (two games in Round C). The only difference between Zak and
Piglet (or Evgeny, for that matter) in the rankings is a subtle shade
of Opponent Quality score. Zak finished 13th as Green in Round A, two
places (6.5% in city fraction) ahead of Piglet and one place behind
Evgeny. Both Zak and Piglet finished 3rd in their respective colors
in Round B, while Evgeny took 6th. As Blue in B07, Lord Gumby (59.4%)
just edged out Falcon (57.5%) and just lost out to Isildur (60.6%) in
the city ratings. But then Piglet came out 2 places ahead of Zak's
"Rhonda" persona as Green (who took 4th place in Round C), and Evgeny
also came out 2 places ahead, with the result that all 3 players'
individual scores are exactly the same, and the only difference is
that Rhonda's opponents in Round C (all of whom are in the top 24 and
2 of whom are in the top 16) outranked Piglet's and Evgeny's, giving
Rhonda the edge in the Opponent Quality scoring. Count your
blessings, Zak! And congratulations on making the cut! It's been
great having you with us as a playtester, moderator and opponent. :)
"#14 belongs to Commando, brought to us by Nico Hofmeester. Nico has
been an extremely solid player, taking 3rd as Blue with 70% of the
cities in Round A and then following that up with 6th as Yellow with
60% of the cities in Round B, giving him a 6th-place ranking going
into Round C. In C11 he allied with highly-ranked Lord Isc and
quickly disposed of all opposition. Too quickly. It was only Turn
13, and they had the choice of splitting the map 50-50 with 7 turns of
peace, or else duelling it out. It was far from clear that a 50%
finish would be enough for Commando to stay in the Top 16, although it
seemed enough for Lord Isc. At the same time, a duel might leave them
both with fewer cities, and it might knock either one out of
contention! After a few turns of sparring, however, both players
chose peace, and Commando got lucky, staying in at #14 depite taking
home only a 6th-place finish as Red in Round C! Lucky, lucky, lucky!
Or was it just a brilliant decision? Either way, congratulations
Nico!
"#13 is the lucky number for Apache! Roger was fortunate to play two
games in Round A: he was actually eliminated as Orange in A09, that
being Avenger's "No-front-war" featuring Apache, Gor Bonecracker, and
Rorqual as the players who had fronts and lost. Given that 2 of those
3 outrank him, Roger can be forgiven for the early defeat, but he is
still lucky that he was able to become "Best Buddies" with ZAK and
split the map 50% in A12, which earned him a 6th-place spot in the
official standings. In Round B he played Red, allied with Little
Puppy, and stalemated Gem, winding up with 1/4 of the cities and 7th
place. He then played a slow-and-steady game against MadMax, his old
ally Rhonda, and his old enemy Gor Bonecracker in Round C. By holding
his own and gaining a bit here and there in one of the most difficult
games of the tournament, he finished 7th as Black with 35.4% of the
cities (and a 23-point lead in army strength over Sir Phoenix). His
individual score matches Rhonda, Piglet and Evgeny, but his Opponent
Quality edged out all of them and kept him in the winner's circle.
(Roger, had you finished Round C with one less city and fewer armies,
or two fewer cities, thereby slipping 2 spots in the rankings, you
would not have made the top 16... Cutting it a little close? :)
Whew!)
"#12 is one of our most famous roleplayers, David Hauri's "Little
Puppy, Slayer of Dragons, and ... umm, Defender of Endlessly Long
Titles, and Yipping Tormentor of , umm, All Who Must Read His Endless
Turn Reports". Or something like that. :) It is hard to find much
obvious evidence of luck in Little Puppy's position among the Top 16.
He rolled to a crushing 96% win in A10, outmaneuvering Gor Bonecracker
and Celeborn diplomatically and taking 4th place and a Best Picture
prize along the way. His idea of a tough game was facing #13 Apache
and the even more highly ranked Gem in B09, using diplomacy to get
Apache to face Gem while he rolled over the weaker Lord Vetinari, and
then helping Apache keep Gem under control so that he could finish
with 48.7% of the cities as Yellow. Unfortunately Yellow was a
successful color in Round B, and he only took 11th place there. (Had
he picked up another handful of cities he would have wound up in
3rd-5th place.) Finishing 11th despite having almost half the map
seems to have scared Little Puppy into thinking that 50% of the cities
might not be enough, since he went on another rampage in Round C,
where he wound up with 47 out of 48 cities as *Blue*, the most
difficult side, where only 3 of 18 players managed to finish with more
than their 1/4 share of the map. The one weakness in his record is a
below-average opponent-quality score... In addition to his tactical,
diplomatic and roleplaying exploits, Dave has also been tremendously
helpful as one of our new moderators and in helping out with the Prize
Committee. And, along with Elam Birnbaum, he's one of the two players
in the Tournament who can certify that I do exist in reality, and am
not simply a figment of your imagination. Now, finally, as those who
have read any of his game histories (which should be everyone; they're
hilarious!) already know, the proper way to congratulate David is to
chant: "All Hail Little Puppy!!!" :)
"#11 is a veteran from the earliest days of the Tournament, known
today as "Gem". Jim Panagos has played this character with panache
through all sorts of real-life crises. In Round A he took over the
entire map on Turn 18. If Falcon and Hegemon hadn't done the same
thing in less time, he'd have ranked 1st instead of 3rd as Orange for
that feat. In Round B he wound up in a mighty defensive battle,
holding off both #12 Little Puppy and #13 Apache simultaneously while
playing Blue, and coming out with a #10 ranking as Blue. This left
him temporarily in 20th place, but he sealed his spot in the Top 16
with a masterful game against Gandalf, The Wall (now #24) and Avenger
(who just barely managed to survive), finishing with 66% of the cities
and a #2 ranking for Blue. Nice job, Jim!
"#10 is another player with a really awesome alias. Kent Storey's
"Lovesword" is one of the great success stories of this Tournament.
He had a successful start in Round A with a 10th-place finish as
Orange in A19, taking home 42% of the cities in a game he played with
RoadRunner (#22). But he really went into high gear in Round B,
taking 4th place as Red by giving Lord Amaranth (now Wat Tyler)
tactical fits, and finishing a very difficult color with 36% of the
cities. And then in C16 he completed his demonstration of prowess by
pulling 4th in Black with 73% of the cities, allying with Sir Ripper
to defeat Turin Turambar and Lord Havell. As it happened, Lovesword's
success outshone Sir Ripper's so much that Sir Ripper slid out of the
Top 16 and Lovesword practically took his place! Kent was also kind
enough to volunteer as a moderator in the later rounds, where he did a
great job helping the tournament succeed. Welcome to the Top 10,
Kent!
"#9 is the home of our top-ranked Australian, Barry Brook. In his
various incarnations as Lord Amaranth and Wat Tyler, he has given
lessons to Lovesword (now #10) in B16, (where he took 4th place as
White with 52% of the cities) and forced a bitter potion of defeat
down the throat of Steve the Giant (formerly #3, now #23) in C15,
(where he took 2nd place with 47 of 48 cities). He also took 6th in
A31 with 64% of the cities as Orange. Aside from moving
systematically from 6th to 4th to 2nd in the color-rankings each
round, Barry has also been successful in serving as a playtester,
email buddy, moderator, and, most importantly, PC scenario design
guru. Barry has been the official producer of the master files for
each scenario since as far back as I can remember, and is currently
busy trying to figure out how to balance the funky Round E scenario
without knowing what the Round E rules options are actually going to
be. :) Barry, I'm glad you decided that you didn't want to stay down
at #18 where you finished Round B!
We are now 2/3 of the way from #24 to #1! Who is #1? it's not me, I
can tell you that. But before we figure out who's #1, we still have
to get through #8 through #2... Having given condolences to 8 players
and congratulations to 8 more, it's time to keep moving upwards!
"#8 belongs to the player with the highest Opponent Quality rating in
the tournament. His opponents have included Gor Bonecracker (above #8
:) ), Gem (#11), Apache (#13), MadMax (#21), The Wall (#24), Rorqual
(#39), Iceman (#51), and Gandalf (#57, twice). His name is Avenger.
Keiran Downie is the brains behind this fighting force; he got off to
a great start in A09, where his No-Front War strategy kept Apache and
Rorqual tied up against Gor Bonecracker while Avenger quietly
swallowed up 62% of the cities for a 5th-place finish as Blue. His
diplomatic style and uncanny success got the attention of his
moderator and I, and we swiftly recruited him to help us moderate the
later rounds. In Round B he had the good fortune to play in two
games, and in the Avenger-B incarnation (B08) he took 8th place as
Yellow with 55% of the cities. (He was a respectable 13th as Avenger
in B07, also playing Yellow and fending off Lord Gumby (#15) to finish
with 34% of the cities.) By my calculations he would have come in
about #17 if he hadn't played in the second game, but at the same time
he might have done better in that game if he had not been dividing his
attention... Avenger's game in Round C was his toughest, where he
found himself with The Wall and Gem as neighbors and struggled to a
9th place finish with 4 cities as Red, edging out MadMax by virtue of
finishing 3rd in his game rather than 4th, and beating out 6 other
players who finished with either 1 city or 3. Had Avenger lost one
more city in C06, he would have fallen to 14th, and had he lost 2 more
cities he would have been #15, and any worse than that and he'd be in
the #20 range... But he didn't lose his cool, even when Gem came up
with a nasty, clever, and very deadly slaying of his hero Locutus of
Borg, and now I get to congratulate Keiran on making the top half of
the top 16!
"#7 is Issa Oraha, whose Warlords have been the undefeatable Hunzo
and, for Round C, The Prophet. Hunzo is already world-famous for
pulling off back-to-back #1 rankings in Round A (as Blue, where he
beat out Maga in the 20-turn 100% victory category by somehow piling
up nearly double Maga's army strength) and Round B (as Red, a tough
color where 63% was more than plenty for #1). He appears to have
given up some of his aggressive ambitions in Round C and returned to a
more spiritual realm in C09... After getting off to a clearly
undeniable lead, his armies chose to have a little "civil war" and
keep the game interesting, rather than simply finishing off all
opponents as usual. I suspect his C09 roleplay is going to keep the
Prize Committee tied up for a while! But he still finished with 32 of
48 cities and a 3rd-place position. Only Lord Isc managed to rack up
two #1s and a #3, but Hunzo's final rank was hurt somewhat by the
effect of playing in the small PC-Classic division, where he claims it
is difficult to find high-caliber opposition. It's not clear whether
his Opponent Quality score is low because his opponents were really
that terrible, or if it's because he's just so damn good that everyone
else fled the tournament in terror after getting crushed by his
military and diplomatic offensives. :) Nice work, Issa! Your presence
in the Top 16 is going to be one of the most exciting aspects of the
upcoming round, at least from what I can tell!
"#6 is the Legion of Doom, played by David Abrahamsson of Sweden.
David earned his spot with a #4 finish as Orange in A26 (89% city
count), a #2 finish as White in B13 (95% city count), and then a #5
finish as Black in C17 (40% city count). This last game might have
gone worse for him except that Falcon was a true ally and chose not to
take advantage of his 3:2 advantage in cities after he and David
eliminated the other two players by Turn 11. And David has been a
model player. What more can I say to someone who seems to destroy
everyone with ease and never causes problems for his moderators? One
word: Excellent!
And now we come to the top 5. If we ignore Opponent Quality
altogether, then way the system ranks players is basically to take the
sum of their rankings for each game, with a lower ranking being
better. For instance, David's #4, #2, and #5 total up to 11. Apache,
Zak, Piglet and Evgeny each have a rank-total of 20, and their spread
in the actual rankings is due to their varying Opponent Quality
scores. David's total of 11 is only beaten by 4 other players, one of
whom is Issa. And the other 3 are all ranked in the top 5. But one
of those top 5 actually has the same rank-total as Apache, Zak, Piglet
and Evgeny, and his presence in the Top 5 (rather than the 13-20
range) is due entirely to his exceptional Opponent Quality score. And
he knows who he is now...
"#5 is Gor Bonecracker, played by Matthew Wellens of Minnesota. Like
Avenger, Gor arrived in the Top 16 after a series of rocky adventures
against highly ranked opponents. In fact, Avenger was one of his
opponents. :) It's hard to summarize Gor's campaign to reach the Top
16. Unlike Legion of Doom and Hunzo, he didn't have the liberty of
playing against demolishable opponents. In Round A, Gor Bonecracker-B
placed 9th as White by holding out with 38% of the cities against
Avenger (#8), whose diplomacy persuaded both Apache (#13) and Rorqual
(#39) to go after Gor instead of Avenger in Avenger's famous no-front
war. (The other Gor Bonecracker in Round A came in 18th as Blue and
picked up a share of Best Picture for Round A in an even more
difficult war featuring Little Puppy (#12) taking over all but one
city...) Gor got a bit of a break in Round B, where he came out and
allied with his old enemy Rorqual (#39) to eliminate all opposition
and claim 60% of the map in B06, taking 5th place as Yellow (and
missing 3rd by just one city). Gor's adventures became truly
hair-raising in C05, the game featuring #5 Gor, #13 Apache, #15
Rhonda, and #21 Zak all battling to get or keep Top-16 spots. The
short version of this epic battle is that Gor played the difficult
Blue color, found himself on the wrong end of a war with Red (MadMax,
#21), and escaped through diplomacy when Apache and Rhonda turned on
MadMax after it appeared MadMax would eliminate Gor and feast upon the
two of them next. Gor was down to a handful of cities, hanging on for
dear life, but his allies were honorable to him and Gor survived. In
fact, he took advantage of the no-razing rule on the last few turns to
reclaim 10 cities, and luckily finished 6th! And so, where others
found themselves on the fast road to the Top 16 through relatively
easy matchups, Gor slogged it out the hard way down in the swamps, and
he now has more experience than most Top-16 players about how to play
other Top 16 players! Before I conclude this extensive summary, I
need to add that Matt has also done a massive amount of work for the
Prize Committee throughout the Tournament, and I am deeply grateful to
him for all the help he has given us there!
We can finish up the rest of the Top 5 pretty quickly now:
"#4 is Falcon, played by Andrey Muravyov of Latvia. Like Hunzo, it
appears Andrey is in need of more challenging opponents, since he won
the Blitzkrieg Award in Round A by taking over the map on Turn 14 as
Orange in A25. He then took 4th with the tough Blue color in Round B
with a 57% finish in B20 (where Sir Uriah took 42%, Lord Dread was
eliminated (!), and Montressor went Lost). And finally he wound up
with a 4th place finish as Red in Round C, splitting the map with
Legion of Doom to eliminate Shang Tsung and Evgeny-B and end up with
60% of the cities in C17. The only complaint one might file is that
Falcon hasn't necessarily fought with all the highly-ranked players he
was placed with. And yet players such as Lord Dread (#1 ranking in
Round C), Shang Tsung (#14 through Round B), and Evgeny (#2 finish in
his other Round C game and #18 overall) seem to do a lot better when
they aren't getting eliminated by Falcon and his allies. :) Andrey has
also helped out tremendously as a Moderator. Welcome to the Top 4!
"#3 is not me. It's the Duke of Death! Bill Irwin has been with us
as a playtester and moderator since the start of the Tournament. He
took 3rd in Round A as Green with a 97% finish in A06, then ran into
trouble in Round B as White against Sun Tzu's Red, who outmaneuvered
him somehow. (I don't know how, because Bill has clobbered me in
every playtesting game I've played against him, so interested future
opponents may want to ask Kay Chang for the secret recipe. :) ) The
bottom line was that the Duke of Death wound up with 23% of the cities
in B03 and an 11th place ranking, which left him at 15th overall after
Round B. I think he was in a slight state of anxiety about making the
Top 16, because it's the only way I can explain the utter devastation
he inflicted upon Wolfgang, Magnus Goransson, and the former #8 (now
#27) King Chu of Formosa in C03. The mighty Duke wiped the board
clean and owned the entire map on Turn 19 for the #1 finish as Black
in Round C! Like Gor Bonecracker and Avenger, the Duke of Death's
ranking might not be so high except for the compensation he picked up
from the Opponent Quality rating. But the two other players with the
same rank-total are Gem (#11) and Commando (#14), and both are in the
Top 16 too. Congratulations to the Duke of Death!
"#2 is *not* Lord Isc. It's *my* good fortune to have had a set of
very exciting games and to manage to rank highly without embarrassing
myself too much! As most of you probably already know, I played
Hegemon in A11 and took 2nd place as Orange (behind Falcon's
Blitzkrieg-Award winning performance). In Round B I was The
Untouchables and managed to take 1st, but I have to confess that after
my ally and one of my enemy's went into Static Defense, it was hard to
say I earned it. Round C was my personal favorite; I was Beyaryn,
playing Black against Rorqual, Rhonda-B, and Iceman, all of whom were
tremendously fun to roleplay with. I had the option of doing with
Rhonda what Commando and Lord Isc did, and splitting the map 50-50,
but I had conscience pangs about the 2nd Commandment of the
Tournament: Peace is not an Option. I also had an inner anxiety about
the fact that I hadn't managed to actually defeat anyone who was
highly ranked, and since Bill (with help from others) had beaten me
twice in playtesting, I figured I should earn my spot in the Top 16
with a bit more work. As it happens, I could have split the map 50-50
with Rhonda and each of us would only have moved 1 place in the Round
C rankings, so the final war didn't do anything to affect the Top 16.
But of course I didn't know that beforehand, and the final stage of
the game was the most fun I've ever had playing Warlords. Anyway,
instead of congratulating myself, I want to take this chance to thank
BigMike and Gandalf, who both stayed with the tournament even after I
clobbered them in Round A, and King Warren who persevered even though
I overran him in Round B. I'm really glad you didn't hold it against
me and drop out. :) I also want to say thanks one more time to Thomas,
Zak, and Ivan from my Round C game, since their hilarious roleplaying
and subtle maneuverings pushed me to play harder and write more (and
hopefully better) than I ever had before!
"And yes, the #1 Warlord in the World (for now) *is* Lord Isc!
Iskander Umarov's registration information says that he lives in
Moscow, Russia. Personally I think he might be a Warlords equivalent
of Big Blue, the killer chess machine. :) How else can you explain a
guy who finishes #1 twice and #3 the third time just because he gets
lazy and settles for half the map? :) (Okay, so maybe he's the same
guy as Hunzo, but playing with the PC-Deluxe version instead of the
PC-Classic version. :) ) Seriously, Iskander began in Round A as "Isc"
and took over the map in 19 turns as White in A21, edging out Pooh for
the #1 ranking on the basis of army strength, crushing Goblintamer,
Lord Callahan, and LEICHENBESTATTER-B (none of whom was a Lost
Player). He promoted himself to "Knight Isc" for Round B, and wound
up as #1 with the difficult Blue side by finishing with 62% of the
cities in B23. His opponents there were Dragon Lord Gary IV and
Wargs, and I imagine Knight Isc might have done even better if the
diagonally-opposite player (Solomani) hadn't gone Lost on Turn 7 and
taken some of the pressure off Wargs and Dragon Lord Gary. He then
moved up to "Lord Isc" for Round C, and took #3 as Green by splitting
the C11 map 50-50 with Commando (who was Red) after they eliminated
White Dragon and Overlord, respectively. It's tempting to wonder
whether Iskander might have beaten Lord Dread's 77% finish as Green if
he had gone after Commando; then he could have had a clean sweep with
#1, #1, and #1 in all three games! Well, there is no doubt he belongs
up here at the top, and if he keeps up his pattern of victories, I am
sure we can also expect to see "Warlord Isc" in Round E and Round F!
Bravo, Bravo to Iskander, #1 in the World Tournament! "
... and the Warlords of the World break out into a mighty round of
applause! Lord Isc is picked up and carried around the room in wild
celebration, as victors and vanquished alike celebrate the power and
glory of his victories!
After some time, everyone's pent-up energy winds down, and eyes return
to the front of the Great Hall, where a smiling Headquarters resumes
his narration:
"... but we cannot enthrone him as The Greatest just yet, for there
are more battles to be fought! The open rounds of the Warlords II
World Tournament are now complete, and it is time for the League to
kick into high gear as we see which of these Top 16 (or 24, or 48, or
72...) is *really* The Greatest! Wait! Before we all break off and
go engage in new wars, there is a small ceremony we must perform
together. Although there are still a few loose ends to be wrapped up,
such as the Prize Committee votes for Round C, there is something
which needs to be done now. Although I expect I've enjoyed the
Tournament as much as any of you, I have also been looking forward to
*this* moment for a long, long time, too."
And he who is known as Tournament Headquarters steps down from the podium
where he has been reciting these tales of valor and victory. He lifts up
his Staff of Authority, holds it high above his head, and then swiftly
smashes it to smithereens upon his knee!
"And now", he says, "I join you, not as Tournament Headquarters, but
as one Warlord among equals, a man among friends. Let us get our
mighty new League off to a good start, and enjoy many more battles
together!"
And he who *was* known as Tournament Headquarters issues his last
command: into the Great Hall march musicians, minstrels, bards, poets,
dancers, and all forms of entertainment! And jubilation reigns long
into the night!
* * * * * * * *
And now, back to the real world at last:
The rankings table with all the numbers can be found on the Web at
http://www.heeter.net/w2wt/
(Just go to Tournament Standings and you'll see where to go.)
Thanks again for a wonderful Tournament, everyone!
-- Bob