The four "designers" are:
Philippe Thibaut aka PhilThib: Lead Designer (also a founder and General Manager)
Philippe Malacher aka Pocus: Lead Developor (also a founder)
Arne Meyer Vedo-Hansen aka Rafiki: Forum Administrator
Philippe Sacré aka Sunray: Content Contributor
They'll each be playing two randomly assigned players. We will be playing the 24-turn West scenario and all the players will be USA, designers CSA. There's got to be something symbolic about Frenchmen defending New Orleans and the French quarter!
So, once I've made the assignments we'll start the games. I'm just waiting on the "go" from the designers. As I mentioned before, this is just a fun round to solidify the players' seeding for the final few rounds, which hopefully ensures the best two players make it to the finals.
A word on hosting and AARs. Players will each be hosts due to time constraints on the designers. Also, I'm hoping players will be willing to do a little more in regards to play-by-play. Obviously this is a special moment for this great game so it would be nice to get it all documented. I've gotten a commitment from Jim-NC to document his round, everyone else is certainly encouraged to do so as well.
I'll be replying to this thread in the next day or so with the matchups so stay tuned. You can get started right away once you see who your design opponent is.
I leave you with these words:
Sunray: "I always considered the human vs. human as the best challenge. Nothing compares to a devious, sneaky, cunning human on the other side!"
PhilThib: "The tournament was a beautiful idea of some of our key forum members, and I was delighted to be invited to join. In fact, the only thing I expect is to have a good time having fun with a game I barely had time to “play” just for the fun of it. I am sure head-to-head (PBEM) with the game will give me a wider perspective on the game engine, and may be some new ideas, too. But I am just doing it for fun first and foremost. I’ll do my best, but I am almost sure to get trounced, as I am lacking ‘field’ experience here…;-)"
Pocus: "I believe I’m a bit rusty. I know, by reading the AAR and accounts of the forum that some players are really at the top of the tip when it comes to devising strategies for AACW. Even if I know the rules by heart, I lack practice applying them ‘as a player’. That said I believe this will give everybody a load of fun, whatever the outcomes! I played quite a lot of PBEM in others games, so a word of advice: even if I appear dead, continue hammering on me, it will be more prudent on your side "
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