[b]Byzantine Empire - Part 1 (FOG2 Ancients)[/b] We are pleased to announce another [b]Field of Glory 2[/b] public tournament, covering the Byzantine Empire up to 1000 AD. It will be played using the normal Field of Glory 2 Multiplayer system and our automated tournament system. Game results will go into the Elo ranking system. Anyone who has Field of Glory II can enter. You do not need to own any DLCs to enter. To enter, go to the tournament page [url=https://www.slitherine.com/tournaments][u][b]here[/b][/u][/url]. The general tournament rules can be found [url=https://www.slitherine.com/tournaments/rules][u][b]here[/b][/u][/url]. The first round will commence on [b]Wednesday 24th January 2024 at 10.00 am GMT[/b]. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun. Specific tournament rules: This tournament will involve five rounds. Each round will last 14 days. The battles will be Medium-sized custom battles: [olist] [*] Italy 569 AD: Byzantine 551-578 vs Lombard 568-569. Mediterranean Agricultural. [*] Balkans 600 AD: Byzantine 600-649 vs Avar 558-631. North European Agricultural. [*] Armenia 686 AD: Byzantine 650-739 vs Arab (Umayyad) 685-750. Mediterranean Hilly. [*] Balkans 895 AD: Byzantine 740-902 AD vs Bulgar (Danube) 852-1018 AD. North European Agricultural. [*] Syria 993 AD: Byzantine 988-1041 vs Fatimid Egyptian 978-1073. Middle-Eastern Agricultural. [/olist] Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. Each player will be able to choose his forces using the normal force selection system. In each round, all players will be playing on the same randomly generated map for both games. First round pairings will be selected randomly, subsequent rounds using the Swiss Chess system. Nobody will play the same opponent in more than one round. The scoring system is as follows: [list] [*] If a game runs to the turn limit, each side scores points equal to the enemy % routed at the turn limit. If the game times out, adjustments may be made, depending on how far the game has progressed and who took longer over their turns – see below. [*] If one army breaks, the victorious player scores 60 points plus the difference between the enemy % routed and his own % routed. The loser scores points equal to the winner's % routed. [/list] Examples: [olist] [*] If Ben defeats Tamas's army, and has inflicted 45% routed on Tamas, and Tamas has inflicted 15% on Ben, Ben will score 60 + (45 – 15) = 90, Tamas will score 15. [*] However, if Ben defeated Tamas’s army by inflicting 62% routed on Tamas, and Tamas had inflicted 56% routed on Ben, Ben would get 60 + (62 – 56) = 66 points, and Tamas would get 56. [*] If the game is unfinished (or it reached the turn limit) with Ben inflicting 20% routed on Tamas, and Tamas inflicting 10% routed on Ben, Ben would score 20, and Tamas would score 10. (Provided that between them they have played at least 36 turns in all – see below). [/olist] Note that this system rewards aggressive play over desultory skirmishing. If you rout an enemy unit then hide for the rest of the game, both players will get extremely low scores - lower than if they played hard and lost. Byes: If an odd number of players sign up for the tournament, one player will get a bye in each round. In the first round this is random. In subsequent rounds it will be the player with the lowest score. The score for a BYE is 75 points for each game. Round times and timing out: Each round will last 14 days. Any battles that are not completed by the end of the round will be timed out. The player who has had the game in his “My Turns” box the longest overall will be the one who is deemed to be timed out. This will not normally incur any penalties, unless insufficient turns have been played: If the timed-out player has played less than 18 turns, his score will be reduced proportionately, and his opponent will be granted (100 - the timed out player's adjusted score) if this value exceeds his current score. (This means he will get the full BYE score unless the timed out player's adjusted score is more than 25). If the timed-out player has played less than 6 turns, he will not be included in the draw for the next round. This is to prevent someone else’s enjoyment being spoiled by being drawn against someone who has apparently dropped out of the tournament.