I hereby present to you my submission. It is somewhat different in style from what you're used to in the tournaments page. It is not a military style nor historical. I wrote it as a fictional tale. To me this was more fun to write, and to you I hope this is a refreshing change. If this proves to be too long and unfitting, my apologies I'm not experienced with auto-tournaments. I could find no specification to size limits.
Note that I did break up my text in order to make clear my rational. In the end, it is the compilement at the far bottom and the round titles that are to be used.
[bigimg]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/EasternFront1915b.jpg[/bigimg]
Tournament set-up: Every player plays against every other player in a
round-robin style tournament. Every game won, will be considered a squad survived. The more of your squads survive, the higher you chances at winning the battle. Reversely every game lost is a squad lost. Players who lose too many troops too early on must make a tactical retreat in order to prevent further losses.
Naturally this tournament is premiums only.
[spoiler=pre-story round 1 - The soils of Poland]A firm wind swirled about them. Always twisting and turning at the edge of their coats, pushing them only gently. Yet never pushing them forcibly enough. It was a subtle wind. It ostentatiously warned them of what would come, but never did it dare disturb the peace every soldier deserves before a battle.
General August Von Mackensen stared at the line of troops before him. His slightly chilled hands grabbed the rein reassuringly while his mind was back at home. He longed for spring and the sweet piny air of Saxony. The horses would graze, his wife would read her books and his children would play in the water of the Aller. It wasn't an unusual dream. What man would not dream of his homeland when trudgingly marching the frozen soil of midwinter Poland? Secretly, but not intentionally the same thought would wander the minds of the soldiers around him.
"Mein General!" Young Captain Abernichtser came trotting up.
"Our scouts have reported multiple sightings of the Russians. Smirnov is closing in on our location as we speak" It was a question. Von Mackensen nodded to himself.
"Numbers?"
"None as of yet sir, but numerous to say the least."
"Very well, have them harass the enemy. The 9th marches for Bolimów as planned. We'll make our preparations there. Oh and, ask our good friend Colonel Metternich to send his regards. His Fokkers alone should be fine enough to slow them down."[/spoiler]
Round 1: WWII Poland, standard, 2 players, auto, flat rate, chained, no fog, no trench, round limit 20
15 games each
16 start ==> 16 move on
[spoiler=pre-story round 2 - The Icy trenches of Bolimow]Just off the village of Bolimów the general stood studying the enemy trenches. They were engraved in a field opposite of their own. Initial skirmishes didn't seem to have slowed Smirnov's second army very much. They had arrived almost simultaneous to his own. Fortunately, in unspoken agreement, they both settled down for the evening. Simply batteling on unprepaired ground after a long days' march wasn't of this age.
Uneasy he stared back at the Howitzers. The head of military command had supplied him with a nasty dosage of Xylyl Bromide shells, tear gas. He hoped it would not come to those. He would only use them if necessary of course, but these chemicals weren't even fully tested and he had witnessed with his own eyes how horrible these things would be. Dreadful things. 18,000 T-shells. They sent shivers down his spine.
On January 31st, the next day, the battle commenced.[/spoiler]
Round 2: Trench warfare, standard, 2 players, auto, no spoils, no reinforcements, no fog, trench, round limit 20
15 games each
16 start ==> 12 move on
[spoiler=pre-story round 3 - Unprecedented]"General! General! We have fire the T-shells! We are losing too many men!" Colonel Rechtinger shouted as the cannons roared all over the battlefield. Planes rattled in the air above and men screamed and cursed in the trenches. All morning the battle had raged already and the losses were already beyond count. Continuously his officers had come pleading for the use of the chemicals. They seemed to see it as some salvation to their nightmares. Little did they know.
Yet, he was on his own. If he would lose this battle and turn back to Berlin, what would army command have to say about him. "Why didn't you use the T-shells?!" He could already hear them inculpate him and they would be right of course. It is the responsability of the general to use any means possible in order to win his battles, preferably with as little losses as possible. And if these shells proved to be succesful, the entire course of the war could be tilted in their favour.
"Very well", he grunted.
"Sir?" He had not understood.
"I said use the damn shells!"[/spoiler]
Round 3: Round 2: Trench warfare, standard, 2 players, auto, nuclear, no reinforcements, fog, trench, round limit 20
11 games each
12 start ==> 8 move on
[spoiler=pre-story round 4 - Russian counterattack]An unprecedented amount of chemical weapons was shot that day. All in vain. His experts seemed to come up with a most confusing amount of excuses. The concentrations were off, the air was too cold to aerosol the chemicals, the wind was unfavourable... Little did it matter. He was now looking at a closing defeat. An hour ago he had called off the attack. To no avail. The Russians launched a counter-attack. 11 divisions were now marching upon them. There was nothing to be done about it but sit tight and shoot back. If only the wind would stop blowing the chemical fog back in their faces. Not much had wafted into the air. But the fog that did, had come back to curse them.[/spoiler]
Round 4: Round 3: Round 2: Trench warfare, standard, 2 players, auto, no spoils, no reinforcements, fog, trench, round limit 20
7 games each
8 start ==> 1 winner
[spoiler=Conclusion]It was but a week later that the first decent estimations had appeared. 40,000 russian casualties and 20,000 german. A resounding victory for Germany despite the tear gas not functioning properly. His superiors had already sent him their felicitations, but somehow he didn't feel for them. Too many people had met their end.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Collection of all for introductory text]
Round 1 - The Soils of PolandA firm wind swirled about them. Always twisting and turning at the edge of their coats, pushing them only gently. Yet never pushing them forcibly enough. It was a subtle wind. It ostentatiously warned them of what would come, but never did it dare disturb the peace every soldier deserves before a battle.
General August Von Mackensen stared at the line of troops before him. His slightly chilled hands grabbed the rein reassuringly while his mind was back at home. He longed for spring and the sweet piny air of Saxony. The horses would graze, his wife would read her books and his children would play in the water of the Aller. It wasn't an unusual dream. What man would not dream of his homeland when trudgingly marching the frozen soil of midwinter Poland? Secretly, but not intentionally the same thought would wander the minds of the soldiers around him.
"Mein General!" Young Captain Abernichtser came trotting up.
"Our scouts have reported multiple sightings of the Russians. Smirnov is closing in on our location as we speak" It was a question. Von Mackensen nodded to himself.
"Numbers?"
"None as of yet sir, but numerous to say the least."
"Very well, have them harass the enemy. The 9th marches for Bolimów as planned. We'll make our preparations there. Oh and, ask our good friend Colonel Metternich to send his regards. His Fokkers alone should be fine enough to slow them down."
---------------------------------------------------
Round 2 - The icy trenches of BolimówJust off the village of Bolimów the general stood studying the enemy trenches. They were engraved in a field opposite of their own. Initial skirmishes didn't seem to have slowed Smirnov's second army very much. They had arrived almost simultaneous to his own. Fortunately, in unspoken agreement, they both settled down for the evening. Simply batteling on unprepaired ground after a long days' march wasn't of this age.
Uneasy he stared back at the Howitzers. The head of military command had supplied him with a nasty dosage of Xylyl Bromide shells, tear gas. He hoped it would not come to those. He would only use them if necessary of course, but these chemicals weren't even fully tested and he had witnessed with his own eyes how horrible these things would be. Dreadful things. 18,000 T-shells. They sent shivers down his spine.
On January 31st, the next day, the battle commenced.
---------------------------------------------------
Round 3 - Unprecedented"General! General! We have fire the T-shells! We are losing too many men!" Colonel Rechtinger shouted as the cannons roared all over the battlefield. Planes rattled in the air above and men screamed and cursed in the trenches. All morning the battle had raged already and the losses were already beyond count. Continuously his officers had come pleading for the use of the chemicals. They seemed to see it as some salvation to their nightmares. Little did they know.
Yet, he was on his own. If he would lose this battle and turn back to Berlin, what would army command have to say about him. "Why didn't you use the T-shells?!" He could already hear them inculpate him and they would be right of course. It is the responsability of the general to use any means possible in order to win his battles, preferably with as little losses as possible. And if these shells proved to be succesful, the entire course of the war could be tilted in their favour.
"Very well", he grunted.
"Sir?" He had not understood.
"I said use the damn shells!"
----------------------------------------------------
Round 4 - Russian counter-attackAn unprecedented amount of chemical weapons was shot that day. All in vain. His experts seemed to come up with a most confusing amount of excuses. The concentrations were off, the air was too cold to aerosol the chemicals, the wind was unfavourable... Little did it matter. He was now looking at a closing defeat. An hour ago he had called off the attack. To no avail. The Russians launched a counter-attack. 11 divisions were now marching upon them. There was nothing to be done about it but sit tight and shoot back. If only the wind would stop blowing the chemical fog back in their faces. Not much had wafted into the air. But the fog that did, had come back to curse them.
-----------------------------------------------------
Round 5 - ConclusionIt was but a week later that the first decent estimations had appeared. 40,000 russian casualties and 20,000 german. A resounding victory for Germany despite the tear gas not functioning properly. His superiors had already sent him their felicitations, but somehow he didn't feel for them. Too many people had met their end.[/spoiler]
