A few tweaks from last year, but otherwise much the same:

Heat 1 Monday - Duchess of Richmond's Ball:
Class A, though may be able to accommodate new players depending upon arrangements.

Heat 2: Wednesday - Collingwood
This heat will be a Class C with beginners welcome; the demo will be two hours beforehand.

Heat 3 Thursday - Bagration.
Normal Class B rules apply.

Rules: 2nd Edition Rules with the current FAQ will be the default. st Edition will only be acceptable if there are not enough 2nd Edition sets.

House Rules and Pacing: GMs will review the pace of the games throughout the tournament. Games are intended to finish within the time indicated; going beyond this will only be acceptable if all parties are in agreement. We will attempt to put those with the same preference in the same game but this is not guaranteed, as noted above the planned finish time will be the default.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: Any game not finished by midnight will finish at the end of the current turn
Thursday: Any game not finished by 1800 will finish at the end of the current turn

From precedent this suggests that games with a time limit will go to three turns.

Balancing/Setup changes: There are no plans to make any changes for this year, however I am collecting data.

Side determination and drawing: Draws and side allocation for Heats will be random based upon desired finish time.

Semifinals: There will be four or five semifinals of 4- or 5-player games depending on the number of qualifiers and size of the field. Those best performing in the heats will have pick of sides and gaps will be filled in by wild cards. Based on last year's numbers and results, anyone winning two heats can expect a first pick. Anyone with a win will get 1st to 3rd pick. Two second places can expect to get 3rd, one second place 4th to 5th. No shows will of course bump this up, though anyone coming as a wild card will be lucky to get better than last pick. Wild card assignment will be by GM specific trivia challenge.

Tie-breakers and place assignment will be as follows:
3 wins + overall VP count
2 wins + overall VP count
1 win + overall VP count
3 second place + overall VP count
2 second place + overall VP count
1 second place + overall VP count

Second place in a 3-player game, if any take place, will not count towards advancement . Win or 2nd place in a game you are coaching still counts, but at 0 VP.

Final: Winners of semis proceed; side determination in the Final will be based on performance in the semis. 6th place will be credited to the best performing semifinalist. If one semifinal winner is not available for the Final, the best performing available second place semifinalist will go the Final and the non-available winner will be credited with 6th place. If two or more semifinal winners are not available, the best performing available second place semifinalists will go the Final and the best performing non-available semi winner will be credited with 6th place.

Our Euopean GM will supplement the usual GMT vendor credits wih a selection of items from the Waterloo battlefield gift shop: a pair of T-shirts, one not actually bronze lion, a bust of Nappy, and government regulations permitting, a jar of soil from the battlefield.