Fortress Italy - Few Good Men Tourney - Official Sign-Up Thread

Rules:

FIFI (Fortress Italy Few Good Men Invitational) Tournament – Rules v.0  September 1, 2026

Yellow – Revision

Blue – May change based on final # of players

1. Overview

This Combat Mission: Fortress Italy tournament is a non-elimination tourney where the ultimate winner is based on the best score over the course of five (5) 20-30 minute small battles that span the length of the Italian Campaign in WW2. The battles feature different nationalities, different ORBATs, different terrain types, and a mix of mission types (meeting engagement, attack, etc.).

Although the GM has done his best to maintain fairness, note that certain scenarios may be unfavorable to one side or the other. Play balance is not guaranteed, but has been playtested. However, the scoring system takes into account imbalance between sides by having scoring dependent on how much better players do than other players on the same side.

The tourney will last 5 rounds. Target time for each round is 45 days.

2. Participation Pre-Requisites:

• Players must have the Fortress Italy module AND all of the expansions (Gustav Line, Rome to Victory).
• Players must use Dropbox for file sharing. The CM PBEM++ file management system will NOT be used.
• A goal is to finish each battle (and the tourney) in a reasonable time. Players must be able to maintain a good rate of taking turns (at least 5 per week) and let their team and the GM know when they will be away for extended periods. Note that planning to play only on weekends by doing multiple turns is not a good strategy, as your opponent may be unable or unwilling to do so. If you can only play 1-3 days per week, please do not enter the tournament.
  1. Let the GM and your opponent know what to expect. Real life happens, and a quick PM to let others know you will be away for a few days or are in the middle of a major project at work, etc. really helps. Be a gentleman.
  2. If a player has not provided notification of being away, the GM will begin taking turns on the player’s behalf after 5 days with no communication or turns.
  3. The GM reserves the right to take turns on player’s behalf if their game begins to fall far behind the other games and is at risk of delaying the tournament.
• Players must be able to check the designated threads on FGM on a periodic basis. I recommend subscribing to the threads so you get automatic e-mail updates when there is a posting.
• Participation preference will be granted to those who have demonstrated #3 and #4 in prior tournaments.
• Players must use the password assigned by the GM, for their games.

3) Tourney Play:

• At the start of the tourney, the GM will assign players to the Axis or Allies team. The GM will try to take preference into account, but the GM’s goal is to have similar skill levels on both sides.
• The GM will assign passwords to each player which they should use for all games in the tourney.
• For each round, the GM will randomly pair up all players with players from the opposing team.
• All players will play the same battle, which will be initiated in a Dropbox by the GM so that they are “blind.” Players will use assigned passwords to begin their turns.
• The battles represent plausible actions from the Italian Campaign. You can expect “reasonable” Orders of Battle for each side. Think “Inspired by actual events,” as they say in Hollywood.
• Each battle is between 20-30 minutes in length, and tiny to small in size.
• Difficulty Level will be set to Elite.
• Battles will have a briefing for both sides. Generally, battle scoring is based on a combination of holding terrain objectives, and inflicting enemy casualties. In some cases there are other scoring conditions, but these will be clearly described in the briefing.
• If artillery is available on Turn 1, you may use it unless otherwise indicated in the briefing.
• If extra time is granted, it should be played. The scenarios have been set up to disallow extra time, but sometimes CM gives it anyway.
• Players should not surrender. Remember that a portion of your score is based on how well you do versus other players on your side. It is in your best interest to make the best of a potentially bad situation. Generally, casualties inflicted are worth at least some points.
• Players may elect to cease-fire. Players are not obligated to accept a cease-fire request.
• The map has no function other than cosmetic/communication of which Round of the tourney we are playing.

4) Tourney Scoring:

• The game scores of all the players on the same side will be ranked. The top five scores on each side will be given base points of 100, 90, 80, 70, and 60,*
• Within the top 5* on each side, a bonus will be applied for those players who scored above their side’s average score: (Base Points * (1+ Game score as a % of the Average)).
• Overall, you score tourney points based on how much better you do than your fellow teammates. It is possible to win your battle but score no points; it is possible to lose your battle and still score points.
• The overall tourney winner will be the player with the most points after all 5 battles.
• The top scorer for each side will also be tracked.

*Will change depending on final number of players

I'd be interested. One question. Sly's scoring scheme only awarded points for the top half of finishers from each side. Will that still be the case. I always thought that all players should get some kind of score so they can remain in the hunt for the duration of the tournament. I have no suggestions as to how that would work.

@timo - Are you the former JTimo, who played in the Cold War Cup and many other tourneys? If so, welcome and good to see you again! If not, welcome and nice to meet you!

I'm open to scoring adjustments. My scoring is not exactly the same as Sly's since I could not decipher exactly how he did it. I want to balance rewarding players who do better than average, while keeping as many people in the running as possible.

Hi, @onepingonly,

Thanks for this great work; count me in, I'm on board.

Best regards,

Manzcaser.

Cargol will fight. 

I’m in

I'm in!

I’m in.

Count me in !

You are a Gem of a man! Yeas please! Would love to be a part of this..

Not that you don't do enough for us but a humble request from me if you could once the tournament is over and you have access to all the files if you would make a video of the most spectacular match of the series and post it on youTube I would gladly scrounge some cash together and pay you to do it as I miss your videos...  Just a humble request not that your lacking in awesome...

Im in!

Sign me up

@shady-side YEEESSSS...Shady!

@onepingonly dont get to excited.. i am very rusty and was not all that good to start with

Im in with the caveat that im on exercise in november and so unavailable for most of it. If that doesnt interfere then im happy to join preferably on the axis side.

Posted by: @holoween

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Im in with the caveat that im on exercise in november and so unavailable for most of it. If that doesnt interfere then im happy to join preferably on the axis side.

@holoween 

Leopard time! You guys have the A8s yet?

I *think* I can work with that. It may be a situation where you end up having to play 2 rounds at the same time, but I'll try to find someone willing to delay their game that I can match up with you once we get to that point.

A7v

The newer ones are going to the lithuania brigade first.

Currently I am rostering the following: @nort @a-canadian-cat @markm @guardsman @cargol @timo @manzcaser @buckykatt @cleanercode @spoogles @ben-dover @shady-side @skelly @thegreatwhitenorth @nathangun @holoween . That's enough to move forward, and I will accept more . Let me know if I counted you as "in" by mistake 😀 .

I plan to get this rolling within the next week to try and fit at least 2 rounds in before the holidays.

Feel free to post and join up!