Federation Commander: Escalation!

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:03 pm

The current crop of pbem games is back in full swing and will begin wrapping up sometime within the foreseeable future. Probably another month of so.

In order to prevent any lag between these ending and the next starting, it's time to start thinking of the next round. I've had an idea [based on an old BattleTech tourney format we used to play...]

The scenario is called Escalation!
The basic format is this:
Each player starts round one with a single ship.
Round one is fought as a series of duels between two randomly selected players. The winner of each round gets his opponents ship at the end of round one.
Round two, you now have two ships, both fully repaired to face off against another randomly selected round one winner [who also has two ships]. The winner of each round two battle will get his opponents two ships to add to his current fleet of two making a four ship fleet for round three,
and so on...

The interesting thing about this format is how well each player can integrate two (or more) nearly ramdomly selected empires ships into a coherent force.

I have a couple of assistant moderators who've already volunteered to handle round one games so that all participants can start playing right away - now we just need to see who might be interested. I need at least 8 players to make the format work, but more would be better.

THIS THREAD IS JUST TO DISCUSS INTEREST - DO NOT POST SHIP SELECTIONS HERE.
THOSE WILL BE KEPT SECRET AND NOT REVEALED UNITL ROUND ONE MATCH-UPS ARE DETERMINED.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:04 pm

Federation Commander: Escalation!
version 1.0

1) Federation Commander: Escalation! will be a single-elimination type format, using squadron scale units.
*Note: Should the number of players result in more than four ships per side in any single battle, that battle will be fought using Fleet Scale ship cards to increase the speed of play.

2) Each player will begin the game flying a single ship (up to 150 points) from the Empire of their choice. Any ship card released in any official ADB release [i.e., Border product, Attack product, or Briefing; but not Capt's Log or Communique only] will be allowed.

3) Ship selection for round one will be made in secret and will only be revealed following determination of match-ups. For all subsequent rounds, forces can be determined based on prior knowledge of opposing forces.

4) Each round will be a "to the death" match. Victory points will not be used. The only way to win is to survive or to ellicit a concession of victory from your opponent.

5) The winner of each round will have the units of his defeated opponent added to his current force for use in the next round. All damage will be repaired between rounds.

6) Options:
Weapon Options: Orion Pirates may fill OPT boxes within limits of (5L) at point values specified therein.
Stingers: Hydrans may select any ship/Stinger combo that does not exceed 150 points.
*Note: You do not need to purchase every Stinger that a particular unit is capable of carrying.
Restricted Units: Restricted unit rules [i.e. Webcaster / PPD limits] will not be enforced in later rounds. Should two PPD armed ISC forces be matched up in round 1, the winner will be able to use both PPD armed units in round 2.

storeylf · Post by **storeylf** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:39 pm

Bizarre but i'm in.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:56 pm

storeylf wrote:Bizarre but i'm in.

That's what makes it interesting.
With one ship each in the first round, every one gets a chance to work out how to play FC pbem...
Then, after you've got a bit of experience - you can throw in how to make a Romulan KE and a Tholian CA work as a team against Jimmi-Jo JimBob's Seltorian / Hydran combo...

Alex Knight · Post by **Alex Knight** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:30 pm

Heck, chalk me up. I'm game. Even if I fail to make it that far, I'd be interested to see how the last game looks. One of everything?

mojo jojo · Post by **mojo jojo** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 5:23 pm

Sounds interesting. I'm in.

SFU_FEAR · Post by **SFU_FEAR** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 8:38 pm

I'm in.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:22 pm

Participants so far:

Me
Storeylf
Alex Knight
mojo jojo
SFU_FEAR

I still expect to here from Eric Phillips / Terryoc / and pinecone... among others.

pinecone · Post by **pinecone** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 10:00 pm

Hehe, I'll see. i still need to get my next orders in for our game, Scoutdad. I apologize for it taking so long; I've been really bogged down. I'm sending them tonight.

wedge_hammersteel · Post by **wedge_hammersteel** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:04 pm

I would like to participate.

ericphillips · Post by **ericphillips** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:38 pm

Well, you are hearing from me now: I am in. This sounds like fun, and, if I make it past round one, will give me a chance to try some different ships.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:41 pm

Participants so far: Updated 10/12/10

Me
Storeylf
Alex Knight
mojo jojo
SFU_FEAR
malisman
wedge_hammersteel
eric Phillips

that's eight. That'll get us 3 complete rounds with 4 versus 4 in the final round.
Still haven't heard from Terryoc...
pinecone is a maybe...
and a couple of others have emailed with interest, but will decide soon.

now I'm hoping for 16 participants. Maybe it can be the first Fed Comm Rated Ace event?

Not really, due to the the weird format - but 16 players would be awesome!

Krellex · Post by **Krellex** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:40 pm

Count me in.

malleman · Post by **malleman** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:17 pm

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Oct 14, 2010 3:48 pm

Time to update the list again:

Current Participants:
Me
Storeylf
Alex Knight
mojo jojo
SFU_FEAR
malisman
wedge_hammersteel
eric Phillips
Will McCammon
Scott Ritenour

maybes:
terryoc
pinecone

That's 12... almost all the way to 16!
WOOT!

Federation Commander: Escalation!

Single elimination tree or random pairings each round?

Federation Commander: Escalation!