Grognardcon Preliminaries or ...

Grognardcon is a special Pre-con consisting of an amalgam of ten of the old classic hex-style wargames under the watchful eye of GMs Bruno Sinigaglio and Bill Morse: Afrika Korps, Anzio, Bulge '81, Gettysburg, Panzerblitz, Squad Leader, The Russian Campaign , 1776, Wooden Ships & Iron Men and Waterloo. All ten use the Free Format scheduling device which allows players to schedule preliminary games at their convenience. Play as many or as few preliminary games as you like but only your best three results in each game will determine the four finalists to advance to Single Elimination play at the end of the week. Each event will be turned over to its own GM on Monday for resolution in the normal manner - the only difference is that participation in Grognardcon gives you two additional days to qualify with preliminary games in the events of your choice. Play at Grognardcon is free to all Tribune level members and subject to an additional fee for all others.

WBC FREE FORM FORMAT. This Tournament uses a Swiss Elimination format for the preliminary rounds followed by a Single Elimination format for the four players with the best performances during the Swiss segment. Entrants may play multiple games during the Swiss segment, which begins during the PRE-CON on Saturday and which concludes during the CON on Friday. Best performances will be determined as described below in paragraph 4.

SCHEDULE. The schedule consists of three segments, GROGNARD PRE-CON Swiss, CON Swiss and CON Playoffs (semi-finals and Final).
a. GROGNARD PRE-CON SWISS. The PRE-CON Swiss Segment consists of two daily heats: Saturday 1400, Sunday 0900. The PRE-CON Swiss Segment continues through Monday, 0900 hours, whereupon the CON Swiss Segment begins. Essentially, the PRE-CON Swiss Segment simply continues unabated into the CON.
b. CON SWISS. The CON Swiss Segment consists of five daily heats: Monday 0900, Tuesday 0900, Wednesday 0900, Thursday 0900 and Friday 0900. The Swiss Segment ends on Friday at 2100 hours, at which time the four players with the best performances during the Swiss Segments will advance into the Playoffs.
c. CON Playoffs. All games played during the Swiss Segment, which includes the PRE-CON Swiss and the CON Swiss, will be used to determine the four best players. The two-round playoffs begin Saturday, with the semi-finals at 0900 hours.

The Gettysburg '88 format will again this year fall under the "Flexible Free Form" appellation. It's actually a Swiss Elimination event, with the Swiss rounds being played, in addition to the precon, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday whenever entrants can arrange games. The top four Swiss finishers will play semi-final and Final rounds on Saturday.

Swiss round preliminary games can be arranged in one of three ways:
1) play at any time during the Grognardcon pre-con, Saturday through Sunday and/or
2) during the WBC proper, report to the GM kiosk at 9 AM Monday through Friday, to be matched against an opponent who does the same (the game could be played at that time or a mutually agreeable time later that day), or
3) arrange your own opponent and game time.
The default scenario will be 6F, Scenario 5, the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, using all optional rules except 10D, Extra Union Generals. However, players are free to use any other scenario and/or omit any optional rules as long as both players agree to the changes.

Players simultaneously reveal which side they wish to play, by using Union and Confederate counters. If opposite sides are chosen, play proceeds. If both players want the same side, they bid for the right to play that side. Players determine who has the first option via die rolls. The player winning the roll may either accept the non-preferred side or bid a Victory Point incentive to play the preferred side. Bids may begin at zero, and may be made in whole - or half-number increments. If the first player bids to play the preferred side, the second player may either accept the VP-incentive to play the non-preferred side or bid a higher VP amount for the preferred side. The option passes back and forth in this fashion until one player accepts the non-preferred side and the VP-incentive. The incentive is applied to the Victory Point score at the end of each day. After the conclusion of Friday's games, the top four Swiss round finishers will be identified and matched in two semi-final games to begin at 9 AM Saturday. The winners of the semi-finals will play immediately thereafter (or another mutually agreeable time). Swiss round competitors will be ranked using each player's three best games. (Counting only a player's top three games should generally serve as an incentive to play extra games, since a competitor has something to gain but nothing to lose by taking on extra opponents.)