Matrix Games

“Race for the Caucasus Tournament”

Please note, entry into this tournament requires ownership of the Steel Inferno DLC for War in the East 2.

Welcome, Wargamers, to our first War in the East 2 tournament using the PBEM++ system. This is a standard tournament which we are organizing on the War in the East 2 forum at Matrix Games.

We have 16 slots available for players to compete using the new scenario “AG A – Part I – Race for the Caucasus”, a 17-turn scenario which focuses on the historical Operation Edelweiss and the drive by 1^st Panzer and 17^th Armies, supported by Rumanian forces, to breakthrough to the oil rich regions of the Caucasus. The Soviet forces are initially disrupted and scattered but are quickly reorganized and reinforced. The remaining terms and rules for this tournament are detailed below.

1. Please only sign up if you are able to commit to playing through all rounds should you advance and completing all of your assigned games with your assigned opponents. We expect this tournament to go for a total of 4-5 months.

2. For all major communications and tournament announcements, there will be a Tournament sub-forum in the Gary Grigsby’s War in the East 2 main forum. Forum link: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=11946

3. When you sign up, in addition to your forum name, please let us know your PBEM++ login handle as well as an e-mail where we can reach you when necessary and a confirmation that you own the DLC. Only complete applications will be accepted.

4. Please check back on the forum regularly for tournament updates. These will include your assigned opponent, your assigned side to play, and any other updates relevant to the tournament.

5. Players will be randomly assigned a side to play for each round.

6. You will have roughly one month to play each round, or about 30 days for 17 turns. The exact start and end date will be announced on the forum.

7. We will start with 16 players, paired up to play 8 initial games.

8. The second round will consist of 8 players, paired up to play 4 games.

9. The third round will consist of 4 players, paired up to play 2 games in the Semi-Final.

10. The final Championship round will consist of 2 games: one for 1^st and 2^nd place, played by the 2 winners of the Semi-Finals, the other for 3^rd and 4^th place, played by the two eliminated players from the Semi-Finals.

11. It is the responsibility of players to reach out to their assigned opponent to begin matches. Please use the Tournament sub-forum to organize and confirm opponent pairings and communication.

12. Players will have one week to organize their games. Players who do not respond within the time limit will be disqualified and replaced from chosen back-ups. If you are unable to connect with your assigned opponent within the allotted time, please let MaximKI and Joel Billings know as soon as possible.

13. Tournament recruitment is based on a first-come first-serve basis with the first 16 players to sign up given priority to participate.

14. We will keep the applications after the first 16 and if there are drops in the first or before the Top 16 round, those who are next in line on will be offered a spot in the tournament.

15. A win in the scenario will advance you to the next round. A loss will eliminate you from the tournament. A draw will advance whichever player had the edge in the draw result, however small, in terms of the VP ratio. If a winner cannot be determined by VP ratio, a judgement will be made by the tournament judge, Joel Billings. Please post a screenshot of the VP ratio screen in the Tournament sub-forum.

16. After the first round, if there are drops before the start of a round, those who were eliminated in the earlier rounds but were closest to victory will be offered to substitute dropped players.

17. If a game is not completed and the inability to complete the game is primarily due to delay on the part of one player, the player who delayed the game will forfeit and be eliminated. We will judge player turn delay by looking at the PBEM++ server logs. If both players actively played the game but there were significant delays on both sides, the projected victory will be used to determine who advances to the next round.

18. No Temporary Motorization of units is allowed.

19. For any questions or disputes regarding game outcomes, Joel Billings has final say.

Sign-ups open November 18^th, 2022 at 3 PM GMT. Sign-ups will now be active until Monday, December 5th at 3 PM GMT. Top 16 rounds begin on December 6^th, 2022 at 3 PM GMT and end on January 10^th, 2023 at 3 PM GMT.

Tournament Prizes

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

First Place: A $100 voucher to spend on games, DLCs, and expansions from the Matrix Games / Slitherine game library, along with a custom “WITE2: Steel Inferno Champion” forum avatar

Second Place: A $50 voucher to spend on games, DLCs, and expansions from the Matrix Games / Slitherine game library, along with a custom “WITE2: Steel Inferno 2^nd Place” forum avatar

Third Place: A $30 voucher to spend on games, DLCs, and expansions from the Matrix Games / Slitherine game library, along with a custom “WITE2: Steel Inferno 3^rd Place” forum avatar

Fourth Place: A $25 voucher to spend on games, DLCs, and expansions from the Matrix Games / Slitherine game library, along with a custom “WITE2: Steel Inferno 4^th Place” forum avatar

AAR Award: In addition to these prizes, players who write up a detailed After Action Report of their tournament games on the Matrix Games forum or any of our official social media channels, or record a detailed video AAR and share it, will be awarded a $25 voucher to spend on games, DLCs, and expansions from the Matrix Games / Slitherine game library. Please note, each player is eligible for a total of one voucher this way, not one voucher per AAR. For example, if you were to place Fourth and write up a nice AAR about at least one of your tournament games, that would earn you a total of two vouchers as a prize.

If you have further questions, please reach out to either MaximKI and/or Joel Billings.

- The Matrix Team