Group A is finished playing, but if I understand correctly there will be a playoff game for 2nd ?

Yes, there will be a playoff between Jeff Kuta and josemurc in Group A. I have requested that Jeff create the game.

Is anybody following this closely enough to know the France/Austria split so far?

Among those who have advanced to the playoffs or elimination bracket:

France win = 8
Austria win = 14
Draw = 5

And several of the France wins featured critical NMRs by Austria.

I think it's clear from my deep dive (more on that later) that Austria is superior.

*looks at two French solos*

Nahhh, it's not that bad. Austria is a bit easier though

Actually, it is that bad.

I predict we'll see a 2:1 margin for Austria over France during the elimination phase.

It is complex and depends on the strategy of both France and Austria But globally France has the initiative and Austria has to adapt to France strategy. I think it is more difficult to adapt to the other strategy and therefore France has the advantage.

I highly disagree. France is inherently a reactive nation. If you're not playing it as such, it might be why you aren't seeing as much success

I think we'll see more France wins, frankly, because the players who can't win as France will be eliminated from the tournament and the ones that can will move on

Apparently you missed what I said. Those numbers only reflect people who are advancing or made playoffs, not those who lost both.

Oddly enough, josemurc and I both beat each other as France, so one less France victory will advance.

Austria is clearly better.

Someone who wins as Austria and ties as France advances. That's the goal for each pairing.

Huh, and here my goal is to win as both Austria and France. I've been doing it wrong the whole time!

I heard what you said, but I don't think that makes my statement any less true

Of course, play to win. But the minimum you need to advance in single elim is Austria-win & France-tie so that's the goal. Any more is gravy.

I think we'll see fewer France wins for two reasons:

1) It is harder to win as France; and
2) The tie-breaker rules favor Austria (France tie advances)

@Goldfinger: you are very good... But I am not that bad either... ;-)

Anyway. I ready to agree that France has to react to the reaction of Austria :-)

To change topic. I think tournament should not work on the basis of face to face but should be based on several games rather than just 2 with a potential tie... Chance still has a huge importance in AvF games...

First round wth 4 players is good. Shouldn't we have a system with each time 4 or 4 players and qualify the first 2 ?

3 x 6 players -> 3 x 2 players qualified
6 players -> First two players are finalist
Finalist plays 3 times Austria and 3 times France :-)

Isn't France still a tiebreaker in this tourney? As in, if they're all tied after the 3rd game, player who got France moves on?

And @CptMike, I think that France can more easily change directions in 1902 than Austria. Yes, in 1901 France moves more decisively in one direction than Austria does, but a French army in Marseilles and fleet in Brest gives Austria almost no indication of where France is headed

Good points, CptMike. The good thing about online gunboat Diplomacy is that you can play multiple games at the same time.

I could easily see a tournament format like we just had where the 8 group winners and 8 group runners-up are put into 4 more properly seeded groups of 4.

Then the top 8 players could again face off, dropping to 4 and then the top 2 play each other in a 4 game match with 2 each France and Austria.

It would be the same number of rounds, but the random factor would be minimized.

@Goldfinger: you write "a French army in Marseilles and fleet in Brest gives Austria almost no indication of where France is headed " - I fully agree. That's why I say that France has the initiative.

@Jeff Kuta: agreed. For next turn we have 16 players. Instead of having 8 matches of 2 players (winner moves up) we could have 4 group of 4 players (with first 2 moves up). That would not last longer but it gives "chance" less weight.

Hmm. I use that ambiguity as flexibility to react to whatever strategy I see coming from Austrian builds (fleet vs no fleet)

We both agree: the best country is the one that can anticipate the reaction of the other player to what he thinks is our own strategy... :D

Good luck. All that said, good luck in next turn of the turnament !

So guessing a password doesn't get a "wildcard" entry to your competition. You just dodged a bullet Goldfinger... I had a cunning plan, I'm getting thrashed by good old Ghug, he has France and I have Austria, and I planned to play France against you using Ghug's cunning moves. I was just bored and the temptation of playing against Goldfinger was just too much & then once I had guessed the password I went a bit too far. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Wrong tournament :p

If you wanted a game, you could just ask. Though seeing as I kick ghug's ass regularly in FvA, idk if his strategies would pay off :p

I'm pretty sure I won one of our last two games and made the one I lost a lot closer, gold.

I like the idea of having another grouping of 4 next round. Considering I barely squeaked through this round I could maybe get lucky again.