starts today. And by today I really mean today, since the first match of the season will be played between the Nr4 and the 33rd later this evening.
Before matches start playing, I want to give a few last instructions. They are not rules, but form a code of conduct, just a bunch of good sense, that I'm going to want everyone to follow very clearly. I'm asking regimental leaders, and match organizers, to read it carefully. These are made to make you understand the spirit of the competition a lot easier, and to prevent you from any penalty later in the league (I don't want to have to give any, but I definitely will if need be).
Read the spoiler below. If you have any question, find me on Steam or post on the thread.
Important instructions before the CNWL starts kicking
→ Match weeks are from Monday to the next Monday. That gives you 8 full days to organize your match. You should be able to find a common ground with whoever you're dealing with. Doesn't matter if it's not your perfect day, it won't be for them either. But set a date and hour. I don't want to have to give extra days, and I will do so under special circumstances only.
→ If one of your regimental member is a referee, and has agreed to ref a match on a day that your regiment could play, that's not an excuse to say you can't play. We have more than enough refs for all the matches, so your man can let another ref take it, and play your match.
→ This season is going to be extremely tense and hard. For all regiments involved, both in league 1 and 2. You have nine matches to play. So if you happen to lose a match, show some spirit and keep your motivation and hopes high. You never know what the other match-results will be, anything can happen. I don't want to see regiment losing it midway through the competition because they got beaten once or twice.
→ No invites. I know this is a rule, but I must remind it again, because this is going to be one of the most serious and important rules of all. It's simple, all regiments have a steam group, all regiments have a roster. Any member who is not in both the steam group and the roster, is considered an invite. I will not take reservists into account, as I don't recognize it as an actual member-status. In terms of rank, a member starts at Cadet, Recruit, or however you spell it. So forget about your reservists, they need to have an actual rank in your regiment to be allowed to play.
→ If one of your guys has played but one CNWL match in another regiment, doesn't matter if it's league 1 or league 2, or even if he played for a regiment in a different league, he can not play for you. This is to prevent, for example, a guy playing both in league 1 and 2, or a guy joining a reg just before a big match to play in it. Strictly forbidden. If you recruit someone midway through the competition, make sure he hasn't played in any other reg this season. These members are still allowed to spectate your matches of course.
→ Any regiment that has been found playing with invites will immediately lose the match they were playing by a 0-10 result, and will also lose 1 point on the table. This is written here and now, so there is no super evil calculations from me or anything, you were warned here. It's much better not to have any invite, than playing with one that may just make your regiment slightly better, but risking almost everything by doing that. Keep it in mind.
→ I will send a private message to all the referees today, to tell them their instructions during a match. But know that refs will be on your teamspeak servers during matches. You have to welcome them there, they have to be muted so they can't listen to what you say of course, they don't even need to be in your channel. But they need to see it and who's in it. This is one more way to prevent invites showing up, but it's also a way to check on your numbers.
→ Because yeah, you have to bring everyone you have on the game, and make them play. I won't accept regiments reducing their numbers on purpose, as I see it as a terrible lack of fair play and courage. If you have 15 men on teamspeak, the ref will expect 15 men in-game, and if the reg you're facing has the same amount of men, then your 15 men will play the match. This competition is made for the players to enjoy good cavalry matches. I won't tolerate anyone sitting in spec for an hour and a half, if he could spawn in if the balance allows it.
→ So bring everyone you have on the server. Tell your AFKs to go to another channel then rejoin when they come back, and in-game, spawn them all (as long as it's balanced). If you claim someone is in spec because he is AFK, but you could spawn in balance-wise, he'll be kicked from the server (which doesn't matter much as he is AFK).
→ I'm doing all this because I don't want to go Nazi Germany on you guys and ask for rosters and players IDs. So just make sure you have the right competition spirit, and you make your men play whenever you can. Keep the toxic tryharding for infantry competitions and other games.
→ Lastly, take it all easy. As I said, losing a match doesn't rule you out of the title race, you never know what might happen. But most importantly, just keep positive about things, and play for fun before all. This is a great competition and we all want to enjoy it. Keep it drama-free, give your best on the field, and see what happens. If everyone is on the same line about that, we'll all enjoy a great season.
Thank you for reading this. Now, enjoy your matches, good luck with them, and may the best win.
