Well, I think after studying the handbook I'm ready to host my first tournament. Please don't jump to conclusions--hopefully this isn't the word idea you have ever heard. In all seriousness, I apologize in advance for any missteps, but you have my commitment to a well-administered tournament that hopefully will be fun for all. Without any further adieu, the details:
MAP SELECTION - I've selected 40 maps for this tournament. They are, almost exclusively, either based on real geography and/or historic times. Also, with a few exceptions, there are not many peculiar or odd bonuses. I've divided the maps into 5 categories that are loosely arranged by number of territories (you'll see why below).
FORMAT - The format will be very similar to soccer's World Cup. 32 players will enter the tournament (I will seek 4 reserves). Each player is guaranteed 5 games. If you make it through the finals, you will play 20 games. In total, this will be a 75-game tournament.
The first round will have 8 groups, each with 4 players. Each group will play 5 games on 5 different maps (one map from each size category). The winner of each game gets 1 point. The top 2 players from each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal round will have 4 groups, each with 4 players (players will avoid playing anyone they faced in the 1st round). Again, each group will play 5 games on 5 different maps (no maps that were grouped together in round 1 will be grouped together again). The winner of each game gets 1 point. The top 2 players from each group will advance to the semifinals.
The semifinal round will have 2 groups, each with 4 players (players will avoid playing anyone they faced in the quarterfinals). Again, both groups will play 5 games on 5 different maps (no maps from the quarterfinal round will be repeated). The winner of each game gets 1 point. The top 2 players from each group will advance to the finals.
The final round will have 1 group of 4 players. There will be 5 games on 5 different maps (no maps from the quarters or semis will be repeated). The winner of each game gets 1 point. The player with the most points is tournament champion.
TIEBREAKERS - In the first round, quarters and semis, any ties in points will be broken in favor of the player who won their games in the fewer number of total rounds (1st place ties of 2-2 are irrelevant; any second place ties of 1-1 will be broken this way).
In the final round, if two players tie for first, the first tiebreaker will be the number of overall wins throughout the duration of the tournament.
The second tiebreaker will be a single head-to-head Luxembourg game with no spoils.
GAMEPLAY - All games will be standard, sequential, fog, flat rate, chained.
SEEDING - Once the 32 players are registered, I will divide everyone into 4 pots based on their ranks at that time. I will then randomly assign players so that each first round group has one player from each pot. Subsequent rounds will NOT be seeded.
I think that about covers it. Below I will list the maps in each group and the list of registrants. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or PM me. I'll update this thread regularly and hopefully we can get the tournament going soon.
FIRST ROUND GROUP 1 Cairns Coral Coast Triple Alliance Canada Portugal Benelux
GROUP 2 Africa Montreal British Isles 2 Indochina San Marino
GROUP 3 Iberia Mongol Empire Ancient Greece San Francisco Ireland
GROUP 4 North America Middle East Italy WWII Eastern Front Iceland
GROUP 5 Soviet Union Texan Wars France Greater China Netherlands
GROUP 6 Europa Caribbean Islands Great Lakes Hong Kong Australia
GROUP 7 Charleston Scotland Alexander's Empire WWII Western Front Madagascar
GROUP 8 Arctic Malta Germany Puget Sound Haiti
QUARTERFINALS GROUP A Charleston Mongol Empire Italy Greater China Benelux
GROUP B Soviet Union Scotland Ancient Greece Indochina Haiti
GROUP C Arctic Middle East France WWII Western Front San Marino
GROUP D Iberia Montreal Germany Portugal Madagascar
SEMIFINALS SEMI 1 North America Texan Wars Canada Hong Kong Australia
SEMI 2 Cairns Coral Coast Malta British Isles 2 San Francisco Netherlands
FINALS Europa Triple Alliance Great Lakes WWII Eastern Front Ireland
As was pointed out to me, I did make one omission.... spoils are flat rate. I'm adding everyone who signed up to the registration list, but if you want out because it's flat rate, just let me know.
Really happy about the response so far. This might get to start far sooner than I imagined.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I did make one more small change: I added a new tiebreaker for the Final Group. It makes more sense to me to have the tournament decided based on what went on so far rather than a new head-to-head map.