Grognardcon is a special Pre-con consisting of an amalgam of ten of the old classic hex-style wargames under the watchful eye of GM Bruno Sinigaglio: Afrika Korps, Anzio, Bulge '81,Gettysburg, Panzerblitz, Panzergruppe Guderian, the Russian Campaign, Waterloo, Wooden Ships and Iron Men and 1776. 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 Tuesday for resolution in the normal manner-the only difference is that participation in Grognardcon gives you three 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.

1. 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 preliminary Swiss segment during either the PRECON segment which begins during the PRECON on Saturday, 2 August 2008 and which concludes during the CON on Friday, 8 August 2008. Best performances will be determined as described below in paragraph 17.

2. SCHEDULE. The schedule consists of three segments, GROGNARD PRECON Swiss, CON Swiss and CON Playoffs (Semifinals and Final).
a. GROGNARD PRECON SWISS. The PRECON Swiss Segment consists of four daily heats: Saturday 1400, Sunday 0900, Monday 0900 and Tuesday 0900. The PRECON Swiss Segment continues through Tuesday, 1800 hours, 5 August, whereupon the CON Swiss Segment begins. Essentially, the PRECON Swiss Segment simply continues unabated into WBC.
b. CON SWISS. The CON Swiss Segment consists of four daily heats: Tuesday 1800, Wednesday 1000, Thursday 0900 and Friday 0900. The Swiss Segment ends on Friday at 2300 hours, at which time the four players with the best performances during the Swiss Segments will advance into the Single Elimination Playoffs.
c. CON Playoffs. All games played during the Swiss Segment, which includes the PRECON Swiss and the CON Swiss, will be used to determine the four top players. The two-round playoffs begin Saturday with the semi-finals at 1000 hours.

3. Entrants need not participate in Grognardcon preliminaries to play and win the tournament. For their part, Grognardcon players will not be able to win the tournament unless they also participate in the Single Elimination portion of the event at the end of WBC.

4. Entrants may play every day during the Swiss segment, if so desired. Entrants may play multiple games during the Swiss segment.

5. The GM will determine match pairings for each round. You must be present at the kiosk at the start of any round you wish to join. If you wish to play more than one game in a day, the GM will attempt to arrange two games for players who want them-this is subject to availability of opponents.

6. Each player will be given a Match Sheet, which will list the game, opponent and start time.

7. When opponents are assigned, they must inform the GM when they will start their game and when they expect to finish. If the players cannot agree on a reasonable start time, they will be required to begin the game within one hour.

8. If an assigned opponent does not appear for a mutually agreed upon start time, the GM will forfeit the game to a player who is waiting. The player who is waiting must alert the GM that a forfeit is imminent within 15-minutes of the start time listed on the Match Card. If the tardy opponent fails to appear, the game will be forfeited to the player who is waiting at 20-minutes past the start time on the Match Card. There is no deviation from this procedure; therefore, if a waiting player alerts the GM beyond the specified 15-minute alerting period-there will be no forfeit-instead, the game will be cancelled.

9. The results of completed games should be reported to the GM as soon as possible using the Match Sheet. If game results are not reported to the GM by the end of a Swiss round (2300 hours), both players will be credited with a loss. EXCEPTION-Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, but not Friday: The GM will permit players to continue past 2300 hours, but they must inform the GM beforehand that they expect to finish after the 2300 deadline.

10. The GM (or assistant GM if the game involves the GM) reserves the right to adjudicate any game at the end of the time limit for the round. If one player is moving at a significantly slower pace than the other, this will be taken into account in the adjudication.

11. WBC rules require submission of a Winner's Claim with the top six players listed in order (although there may be no prizes for some of these finishes for this event). At the end of the Swiss, players will be ranked in order from 1 to 6. The final 5th & 6th places will be determined from these standings.

12. The GM will submit the results of ALL games played for inclusion in the AREA ratings.

13. The four players with the best performance during the Swiss will advance to a Single Elimination Semi-Final at 1000 on Saturday. The 1st place finisher will play the 4th place finisher, and the 2nd place finisher will play the 3rd place finisher.

14. The GM will post the match assignments for the semi-finals by midnight, Friday. If players qualifying for the final round do not intend to participate on Saturday, they should alert the GM by midnight Friday, so that lower ranked finishers may be moved up to play in the final round.

15. If any of the four players qualifying for the Semi-Final fail to appear at the Kiosk by 1015, Saturday, they will be dropped from further participation. Players who finished lower than 4th in the Swiss segment may move into the Single Elimination rounds, if they are present at the Kiosk on Saturday at 1015, when higher rated no-shows are officially dropped.

16. After players report to the kiosk on Saturday morning, they may mutually arrange to play their final game at a convenient time, subject to approval by the GM; however, all semi-final games must be completed by 1600, Saturday. The winners will then play for the championship. The results of the final game must be reported to the GM by midnight, Saturday.

17. PLAYER PERFORMANCE RATINGS.
a. All game results and player ratings will be posted and updated as results are reported.
b. Performance ratings will be based upon the best three games played by a participant.
c. Games in excess of the three best will not affect a player's performance rating.
d. A player must play at least three games to advance to the single elimination phase.
e. Performance ratings for a player will be obtained as follows:
(1) A player receives 10 points for each victory.
(2) A player receives 1 point for each loss.
(3) A player receives 2 points for each victory tallied by an opponent that he defeats. All of the defeated opponent's games will qualify for the scoring of these points, but only the first game against a particular opponent will qualify for these bonus points.

Bonus Point Examples: if player A defeats player B, then player A receives 2 points for all games won by Player B during the Swiss segment; however, if Player A and B play each other a second time, no bonus points will be awarded regardless of who wins.

18. PERFORMANCE RATING TIEBREAKERS:
a. Head to head play is the 1st tiebreaker.
b. Points scored VERSUS mutual opponents is the 2nd tiebreaker.
c. Points scored BY mutual opponents is the 3rd tiebreaker.
d. Points scored BY all defeated opponents is the 4th tiebreaker.
e. Points scored BY all opponents is the 5th tiebreaker.

19. Waterloo Tournament Instructions:

TURN MODIFICATION
A 7PM turn is added to each day. Thus, the Prussian lV corps arrives two turns later. Only the first four days are played. This results in a maximum game length of 28 turns. The addition of the 7PM turn is not only realistic (Ligny and Mont St. Jean raged until after 9PM) but also helps play balance; however, experienced players believe that the PAA player still retains the advantage.

CRT MODIFICATION
The French player may choose to use the official Avalon Hill ten-sided die roll combat results table. The PAA must also use the ten-sided CRT, if it is chosen by the French player. The ten-sided CRT slightly favors the French side. When a 1/2-Attacker Elim result is rolled, the surviving attackers DO retreat. The GM will provide ten-sided dice and the CRT.

DETERMINATION OF SIDES
Which side you played in previous games will not have a bearing on who you play in the current round. Players will have an opportunity to play whichever side they prefer or believe holds the advantage. First, the players must secretly choose sides. If they choose different sides, the French player must then choose the CRT. If they choose the same side, the process will continue by bidding. Each player will secretly bid the side he wants to play and the number of factors that he is willing to give up to play that side. If players bid opposite sides, they will play those sides with no loss of factors. If both players bid the same side, the higher bid plays that side. He must remove factors from his INITIAL FORCES equaling his bid. After sides are determined, the player that eventually plays the French side must chose the CRT.