Hello everyone, and welcome to the WB 2010 – the 3rd Annual Winter Blitz!
As one of the creators and co-moderators of the Winter Blitz, I’d like to take a moment to welcome you all.
First off, we have truly crushed all expectations for this year’s tournament, with 63 entrants - 9 boards of fast-action blitzy goodness. Things got started a day later than we did last year since we held the tournament entry open an extra day (there was quite a flood of last minute interest)… But everything is up and running now.
~~~ You should have your board, country, and deadline assignments! ~~~
If you do not, please reply to
me and let me know. In addition, you should take this as a reminder that
Spring 01 orders are already due this coming Monday, at varying times set by your GM. Send in prelims, and copy
orders-at-diplomaticcorp.com on every set you turn in. This
first turn of the game has a whopping 5 days to diplome (Wed thru Mon). This will be the last turn in which you get such a luxurious amount of time! Thereafter, all turns will follow the
Monday /
Thursday schedule, with retreats and builds due 1 day after the major turn.
Those of you who played last year already know that keeping up with the schedule is not easy. Well it’s even harder for your GMs. There will be times when either Garry or myself will have to cover a game for one of the GMs and when that happens, we are going to use whatever latest set of orders is in the orders-at-diplomaticcorp.com mailbox. This means if you send your prelims there, but you revise mid-turn and only send the revision to your GM – even if your GM confirms receipt – if one of us ends up running the turn, the orders that are in the orders box will be the ones used! It will
not be considered valid grounds for any protest if an NMR is enacted or an older set used due to a player failing to cc to orders.
New for this year, we have an earlier hard cutoff for the games. It did occur last year that some games went into the next day before an adjudication came out. This time around, the firm cutoff is 9pm Central US time (0300 GMT the next day), at which time any unposted games will be run one way or another. If you do
not have results by 10pm Central time, then please inquire! “Not having received the results” is another reason that will not be considered valid grounds for any protest. The results will be posted online, at the respective game page. Can’t find your page? Just visit the standings (
www.diplomaticcorp.com/winterblitz) and click on your game number.
Out of our 63 signups, 15 are new to diplomaticcorp and the Winter Blitz… Here are some tips I’ve picked up from past Blitzes…
1) Time management is certainly key to these games. Those who embrace the fast pace and use the ensuing chaos to the best advantage will do well… The tournament is designed to feel
like a tournament – that is, lots of activity, hustle and bustle, and certainly a sense of urgency just like in Face-To-Face games. In those games too managing your time is half the battle.
2) Simply getting orders in timely will set you ahead of a good bunch! There is nothing worse than watching all your units doodle about while you got busy at work or took a weekend trip and missed a Monday turn. Use prelims. You can update later if you want to, up until your GM adjudicates, which should be within about 3 hours of when their stated deadline.
3) NMR’s will occur! This will help some players and hurt others. Be ready to capitalize on the unwary or unprepared. If you do miss a turn, don’t let it discourage you, for that can only turn a bad situation worse. Do damage control, notify players that you are still active, and turn things around.
4) A bad start does not mean a dead experience! Stick every game out, cuz even moreso than in normal 1-week games, these games can turn on a dime. Just cuz an England drops into the Channel or an Italian finds himself in Trieste after Spring 01, never give up! If, after all is done, you truly do find yourself down and out in round 1, round 2 should afford you another chance, playing against others who had a similar first round result. Thus, your chances of winning the round 2 prize are still very good, if not even better!
5) If you are unsure about anything,
just ask. Your GM is your first point of contact. You can also reach Garry and myself by emailing to feedback-at-diplomaticcorp.com.
If anyone else who has played before has advice for our newcomers, just REPLY to this message and send to blitz-at-diplomaticcorp.com. This is our Blitz forum! Any message you send to the blitz address will automatically post. To read the posts, just visit the message board, at
http://www.diplomaticcorp.com/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=55 (or
www.diplomaticcorp.com and see the recent posts on the home page). This forum can be used for any public discussion that is related to the tournament –
formalities,
press,
intros, etc. Every game adjudication will also be cc’d here, so there is no reason one cannot find a copy of the results somewhere.
Good luck and may good fortune find all your games! (if that’s even possible)
-mike
Order of the Lion
www.diplomaticcorp.com