Greetings, Gentlemen!  Welcome to the 2012 Winter Blitz Tournament! 

If you're a repeat customer, glad to have you back.  If you're new to this event, congratulations!  You're going to have a great time.

My name is Chris Morse, and I have the honor of being your GM for the first round of play.  I know a couple of you already (Hi!) and am looking forward to getting know the rest of you over the course of the next 3 months or so.

Before we get to the country assignments, let's take care of the housekeeping.
1.  Here are the tournament rules.  Everything important is here:  http://www.diplomaticcorp.com/tournament.php?display=rules
2.  Deadlines.  One of
the key features of the Blitz is its hard-core schedule.  Did you see the schedule in the rules?  It was the first item.  Don't tell me you skipped reading the rules!  Uh, oh.  I hope we're not going to have a problem here.  Go back and read the rules.
3.  Deadlines (Part 2).  As the GM, I get to pick the time that orders are due.  I pick 6:00 Eastern Standard time.  I'm pretty sure that's 5 hours behind GMT.  Please get your orders in on time.  To be honest, I usually won't be adjudicating until 7:00 or 7:30.  You may submit orders up until the time I start adjudicating. If you send me orders and I've already started, I'll simply tell you it's too late.
4.  Addressing orders.  Send me your orders at camorse22(at)yahoo.com.  Please place the game number, country name, season and year
in the subject line.
GOOD:    DC412 - French orders Spring 1901
BAD:    France orders

GM'S Pet Peeve:     Lazy people who submit orders by hitting REPLY, so their retreats or Fall orders come in looking like this:  Re: DC412 - Spring 1901 Results
5.  Acknowledging orders.  I will ALWAYS acknowledge orders.  A-L-W-A-Y-S.  If you don't get an acknowledgment, I haven't seen your orders.  Double-check your addressing, and if there is any doubt, send them
again.
6.  The Blitz Orders mailbox.  When sending me orders, you should always copy the WB orders mailbox.  That's orders(at)diplomaticcorp.com.  This does two things for you:  (1)  If I lose your orders, or there is some glitch and I don't get your orders, the copy in the orders mailbox is proof that you submitted and you will avoid an NMR.  (2)  If something happens to me to prevent my adjudicating, the tournament director (TD) will use what is in this mailbox to adjudicate.  He's not going to wait for me to get out of the hospital so I can forward him your orders.  COPY THE BOX!
NOTE:  Orders sent to the mailbox and NOT your GM will not get you off the NMR hook.  This happened last year where a player sent to the wrong GM and the mailbox.  Read scenario (1) again. 
The key point is that to prove you weren't at fault, the message in the blitz orders mailbox has to show that you did correctly send it to me.

7.  Reminders.  As those of you who have played with me know, I'm a huge care bear.  I will send reminders 95% of the time.  This is a courtesy, because I really don't like to see anyone miss a turn.  Of course, you know that my failing to send a reminder can never be used as an excuse for your orders to be late.
8.  Prelims.  Not required, but feel free to submit them if you like.  When the deadline hits, I'm going to use the most recent set you've sent me.

9.  Errors.  The next game I adjudicate perfectly will be the first one.  If you spot an error,
it is your job to let me know right away.  Never had one yet I couldn't fix, as long as it is brought to me attention promptly.

10.  Other correspondence.  Feel free to write to me with questions or comments about the game or the tournament.  I'm always interested in what's going on behind the scenes, too.  Players who include even the briefest explanations of what is going on in their heads are always appreciated by GM's.


NEXT PSEUDO-DEADLINE:  Please respond to this message immediately to confirm your contact information and your  participation in the tournament.  If something has come up and you need to drop out, better to do that now than after the game has begun.

FIRST GAME
DEADLINE:  Spring 1901 Orders are due Monday, January 23, at 18:00 EST.


COUNTRY ASSIGNMENTS:  Countries were assigned by random draw.  I interrupted my daughter reading "In Cold Blood" for English class and had her pick seven armies out of the virtual hat, with the order of the draw corresponding to the order of the player list as it was given to me below by the tournament directors.

ID : bret_pollack
Ctry : Russia
Name : Bret Pollack
Email : bret_pollack(at)hotmail.com
Location : Marriottsville, MD, US

ID : chaosonejoe
Ctry : France
Name : Joe Babinsack
Email : chaosonejoe(at)yahoo.com
Location : Butler, PA, US

ID : EdBailey1946
Ctry : Austria
Name : Ed Bailey
Email : EdBailey1946(at)yahoo.com
Location : Oxford, GA, US

ID : micoxy
Ctry : Germany
Name : Mick Cox
Email : mickstagman(at)aol.com
Location : Newcastle, NTHUMB, UK

ID : politesociety
Ctry : Italy
Name : Eric Palmer
Email : eric.s.palmer(at)gmail.com
Location : Williamsburg, VA, US

ID :
Sags
Ctry : England
Name : Nick Saywell
Email : nicksaywell(at)vip.hr
Location : HR

ID : stevec
Ctry : Turkey
Name : Steve Cooley
Email : tmssteve(at)yahoo.com
Location : MA, US

I will be updating the game page on the DC site tomorrow (since it's now well past my bedtime). 





Good luck, and don't forget to have fun!
Chris