[HLGK] Lance Commander Challenge

It's time once again, Gatekeepers.

League season is upon us, and our preparations have never been more complete.  By now you've heard all the buzz about the upcoming events.  Our inaugural event will be an in-house competition among the Sang-Wei (and a number of prospective lance officers) to double check our command structure and training efficiency.  Thus, the [HLGK] Lance Commander Challenge will commence tomorrow evening during battalion combat operations.

So, let's go over the procedure.  Each lance has been assigned, so check to see if your name is on the following leaderboard.  If it is, get with your lance commander and start practicing ASAP.  We also need a time you're going to be available this weekend.  Lance commanders, part of the test is to see if you can work all these logistics out.  

Technically, the challenge will run until it's completed but we would like to complete Round 1 on Friday evening, and finals on Saturday.

Now on the the rules.

First, if you're a Gatekeeper make sure you sign up on the Gatekeepers Challonge page.  DO NOT attempt to "Create a Team" as we have specific plans for those - you only need to sign up for the site at this point.  When you have done so, shoot the Zhong-Shao a message and he'll add you to the official House Liao Gatekeepers organization page.

After that, take a look at the Lance Commander Challenge page.  No need to do anything else here, as everyone is already signed up.  For all intents and purposes, the Lance Commander's Challonge account will be the "team".

Check-in will commence at 8:30 CST on Friday, January 16th 2015.  Please try to be on hand during the check-in, so we know you'll be there.  The Command Staff will be on hand to coordinate, but this is the itinerary for the tournament:

1. Round 1 will be a round-robin where all lances compete against all other lances.
2. Matches are best 2 of 3 drops, but play all three matches to completion regardless.
3. After every match, the losing Lance Commander must submit a screenshot of the end-game summary showing the team scores.  
• You can upload this in Challonge, right on the game's place on the leaderboard.  Command Staff will be on hand to coordinate.
4. Matches will consist of 3 drops with the following rules in place:
• 1st Drop Conquest, 2nd Drop Assault, 3rd Drop Skirmish.
• 15 minute time limit.
• Random Maps on all drops.
5. Three different lance types must be used by all commanders during each drop.  These must be reported to the Command Staff.  Commanders choose their lances roles and precise configurations.  [HLGK] Favored 'mech chassis only.
• First Drop:  Light or Medium lance weight class.
• Second Drop:  Medium or Heavy lance weight class.
• Third Drop:  Heavy or Assault lance weight class.
6. There are no specific tonnage limitations.

You will post wins / losses to the Challonge tournament site.  Overall wins will be determined by Challonge, but if you looked at the leaderboard above you'll see some serious statistics will be kept track of.  To let you know what this all means, we're placing it here for reference.

1. All statistics will be recorded from the match.  The leaderboard will be updated and all matches are cumulative.
2. Down is how many times that player was recorded as being destroyed.
3. Score, Damage, Kills and Assists track the cumulative match values for all pilots as taken from the reported screenshots.
4. Drop # shows how many sorties have been undertaken by that lance.
5. Victory shows how many sorties have been successfully won.
6. Effectiveness shows the lance's cumulative kill / death ratio expressed as a percentage.
7. Attrition shows the percentage of 'mechs that were lost across all deployments.
8. Lance Rating collates all this to show us a general value for each lance.  This is your "real" score. 
9. The numbers in blue on the Leaderboard show the derivative values for each column / statistic.  These are revealed here to show you how well you're doing in each category.

The overall winner will be determined by victory / losses as shown on Challonge.  However, the Lance Rating will be used to determine who's got bragging rights, and will definitely be used when we consider promotions - but it's not strictly indicative of who will and won't be receiving an officer's commission.  There's way more that goes into it than that.

During Round 2, each team that advances from Round 1 will have a "wild card" event outside the boundaries of the tournament expressed on Challonge.  This will be a mystery until Round 2 is underway - and it can happen at any time, depending on schedules and all.  We'll try to get these all rocked out on Saturday the 17th.

For more information, please contact the Command Staff.  Get your lances together, Gatekeepers!  Bring home the best Lance Rating and / or win the challenge bracket to show us our training has been taking hold!

Good hunting, L.C.C. mechwarriors.