The M.Z.U.K.C @ MEGAZONE-UK.COM -- ( News update ) -- 01-09-2006
=========================================
Okay, So its been more than a month since their was an update, and I suppose your wondering if you missed anything in the last three months, well you have unless you were there. So I guess your now wondering what you might have missed, well have a read.

2006 UK Regional Leg 1 - June 18th.
2006 UK Regional Leg 2 - July 16th. "Just below Leg 1"
2006 Australian Nationals in Campbell Town - July 29th till August 4th.
2006 Australian Nationals Team Tournament.
2006 Australian Nationals Women's Solo Tournament.
2006 Australian Nationals Masters Tournament.
2006 Australian Nationals Solo Tournament.
2006 UK Armageddon - August 11th till August 13th

2006 UK Regional Leg 1 - June 18th.
The first leg of the 2006 UK Regional was held on a warm Sunday at Wellingborough Laser Maze, though the arena was a reasonable temperature, thank to Stan the owner. Six teams attended the event from across the midlands, bringing with them six players and sometimes a reserve or two. The event started around 4:00pm in the afternoon and carried on until just after 22:00pm. Some teams were good, some were bad, and one team was unstoppable. The marshalling was reasonable, though not all players liked receiving warnings for high speed, along with some other things, but most seems to adapt reasonably well. Sadly not all players were thinking team work, down to the organiser's excellent "NOT" choice of giving awards to players for highest score & accuracy for the day, causing some players to not work with there team mates towards the end.

So I suppose your thinking who won, well the Leicester Inferno's did. That's right, they won 10 games out of 10 games, making them the tournament leaders after the first leg. So you may be woundering who the team were, well it was: FIREST@RTER as Captain, followed by R@IDER, DIABLOS, ROCKY, CH@OS, & DEADMAN.

Did any one write up the results, well the organiser did, kind of, but their just how many points each team received through out the first leg, which is not really able to show how close or not some games were between certain teams results

Thanks to the organiser CH@OS and Stan the Wellingborough Laser Maze site owner, for an enjoyable event, which will be remembered.

2006 UK Regional Leg 2 - July 16th.
The organiser failed to write the results up or choose not to. Northampton decided they were not going to attend the second leg of the regional, and so didn't. The Leicester Inferno's once again won all 10 games out of 10 games, but this time on home ground. The Devils Rejects, Leicester's B Team, may have ranked 4th after the first leg, but managed to rank second for the final results.

Because there was no results written up by the organiser, there are no results to show, though the Leicester Inferno's won the 2006 UK Regional event, Hurrah!

2006 Australian Nationals in Campbell Town - July 29th till August 4th.
I was thankfully able to make the Australian Nationals again this year, which was held in Campbell Town, New South Wales, Australia. It's said that this years Zone Nationals event at Campbell Town, is the best nationals in 7 years of running, and I think many would agree. Each player that attended the nationals received there own unique 2006 Campbell Town metal engraved key ring with its own member button, which if shown, gave discounts at certain restaurants & fast food outlets located near zone 3.

Thank to Doug Burbidge, Andrew Larkin "Campbell Town Site Owner", Mel "Electronics & hardware technician" & the other members of staff, all the tournaments were held very well, making an enjoyable and competitive tournament event, which every one seemed to enjoy. The unique bases installed at Campbell Town made a positive change to the Australian Nationals that I'm glad I was able to enjoy. The packs functioned perfectly though out the event, and the style of phaser cable & hand sensors only used by Campbell Town, worked flawlessly, and even better than the typical zone-empire standard when it came down to the phaser cable. The Campbell Town maze was probably the best arena I have ever been lucky enough to play in, and I would be surprised if I play in a maze that could match it.

Australian Nationals 2006 Team Tournament:
There were 19 teams that were originally entered for the team tournament, 6 players per team, though that dropped to 18 teams after Bathurst a new team from New South Wales pulled out. The team tournament event started on the Monday of Nats week and was the main event to continue through most of the week.

Organiser Quote "Team competition was 18 teams of 6 players plus substitutes. Main part of team competition was 162 games; each team played 27 games. First 54 games was a round robin in which every team played 9 times, every team played on each colour 3 times, and every team played every other team approximately once. Next 108 games were three "cascades" of 36 games each. In each cascade, each team played 6 times, each team played on each colour twice, and every team played opponents of rank similar to theirs. 3 victory points for 1st; 2 for 2nd; 1 for 3rd."

Organiser Quote "Semifinals was a Skip Ascension: bottom 3 teams play, loser is eliminated, second place goes into next game, first place skips a game. Top team before semifinals (Campbelltown A) got a free ride through to the finals."

Click Here for Semifinals Results!

Friday was the toughest day of the team tournament, depending on your team's success through the week. If you were down at the bottom of the team rankings, your team would play more games, and you would have to rank 1 or 2 to continue on, otherwise you were eliminated. Some strong team's, but it always comes down to three teams.

Organiser Quote "Finals was a 3 game series, with the top team before semifinals (Campbelltown A) plus the top two teams after semifinals (Hobart A and Sunny Coast A). Ranking was on total score, not victory points."

Australian Nationals 2006 Womens Solo Tournament:
The womens solo competition didn't have as many contenders entered as the typical solo event, so it only took two games for the 2006 Australian Nationals Women's Solo winner to be decided. Last years 2005 Australian Nationals Women's Solo winner didn't do so well this year, but I think the arena was harder for some players, down to its interesting design. Samaelette really took the show this year, though she was playing on home ground, I doubt that was the reason alone she won the event, and I wouldn't be surprised if she won next year's women's solo event. Tank Girl & Brain Dead were missing from the list this year, lets hope that they will return for the Women's Solo event in the future, along with some more women contenders to increase the competition. It's nice to see more women getting interested in the zone scene.

Australian Nationals 2006 Women's Solo Champion Winner Samaelette.

Australian Nationals 2006 - Masters Tournament:
The masters event was held on the same day as the women's event, and has an age restriction where by only players over the age of 30 years are allowed to take part. Last years Masters Winner was Billy, followed in second place by Guardian & third was taken by INFUZED. This year Billy didn't finish in the top three. The Guardian guy from Box Hill was keeping it consistent this year, and finished in a neat second place receiving a trophy. However INFUZED from Darwin has beaten his third place position from last year and finished at the top, taking first place this year. Mopar from Rockhampton finished up in a reasonable third place, giving him also a trophy to take back home, nice one. Someone said to me that the age limit for master's maybe increased next year, but only time will tell on that one.

2006 Australian Nationals Solo Competition:
In the Solo tournament event, 92 players entered round 1. By the end of round 1, 30 players were straight through to round 2, with 62 players continuing on to battle it out in repercharge round 1.

TOP 30 PLAYERS FROM ROUND 1 RANKINGS:

Rank	Player	Points	Average Score	Games
1st	Raiden	40	9,755	2
2nd	Shiny	40	9,160	2
3rd	Barbie	38	8,655	2
4th	<rC> fReAk	38	7,890	2
5th	Sinclair	37	8,690	2
6th	Slimey	36	10,065	2
7th	Puke	35	7,805	2
8th	Gero	35	7,205	2
9th	LyNx	35	7,010	2
10th	<rC> punk	34	9,315	2
11th	Bootza	34	7,760	2
12th	R@IDER	34	7,465	2
13th	<rC> Rev0lter	34	7,075	2
14th	Noobtastical	34	6,975	2
15th	Pezza	34	6,710	2
16th	TAIPAN	33	6,645	2
17th	Dark Rider	33	6,595	2
18th	Gumby	33	6,510	2
19th	<rC> PoTiOn CrAyFiSh	32	6,865	2
20th	Samael	32	6,800	2
21st	Gwai Lo	32	6,550	2
22nd	Snowidea	31	6,585	2
23rd	Jebadiah	31	6,540	2
24th	Mad Pup	30	6,530	2
25th	Shazz	30	5,895	2
26th	Minion	29	6,340	2
27th	BeLFast	29	8,805	2
28th	Blackadder	29	5,760	2
29th	T-Bird	28	5,235	2
30th	FireStorm	28	6,700	2

Solo Repercharge Round 1:
There were 62 players who entered the Solo repercharge round 1. At the end of repercharge round 1, the top 7 players from all 4 games making 28 players, continued on to round 2, eliminating the remaining 33 players.

TOP 28 PLAYERS FROM REPECHARGE ROUND 1 RANKINGS:

Rank	Player	Points	Average Score	Games
1st	<rC> Lepper	20	11,320	1
2nd	Mopar	20	9,870	1
3rd	INFUZED	20	9,330	1
4th	Guardion	20	8,390	1
5th	RETARD	19	9,290	1
6th	Candyman	19	8.810	1
7th	Wraith	19	8,540	1
8th	Ace	19	7,400	1
9th	Rand0m	18	7,220	1
10th	Cougar	18	7,210	1
11th	Deadpool	18	6,970	1
12th	Shadow	18	6,610	1
13th	Courgress	17	6.680	1
14th	Lil Sis	17	6,620	1
15th	^_Legionair_^	17	6,620	1
16th	Raven	17	5,940	1
17th	Vindicare	16	6,460	1
18th	<rC> Spitfire	16	5,750	1
19th	<rC> Master Billy	16	5,590	1
20th	Dalek	16	5,490	1
21st	Crazy_Eyes	15	6,050	1
22nd	Anno	15	5,650	1
23rd	Metal Gear	15	5,320	1
24th	fred	15	4,790	1
25th	Harliquin	14	5,660	1
26th	Duffman	14	5,520	1
27th	Arcain	14	5,110	1
28th	PriesT	14	4,650	1

Solo Round 2:
At the beginning of Solo round 2, there were 58 players still in the competition. By the end of round 2, the top 7 players from all three games making 21 players, continued straight on to round 3, leaving 37 players to battle it out in the solo repercharge round 2.

TOP 21 PLAYERS FROM ROUND 2 RANKINGS

Rank	Player	Points	Average Score	Games
1st	Guardion	20	9,470	1
2nd	Sinclair	20	8,540	1
3rd	Puke	20	7,740	1
4th	<rC> punk	19	9,160	1
5th	Samael	19	8,460	1
6th	Slimey	19	7,630	1
7th	^_Legionaire_^	18	8,250	1
8th	Noobtastical	18	7,580	1
9th	R@IDER	18	7,480	1
10th	Gwai Lo	17	7,790	1
11th	Minion	17	7,200	1
12th	Raiden	17	6,460	1
13th	Snowidea	16	7,370	1
14th	Ace	16	6,800	1
15th	<rC> Spitfire	16	6,120	1
16th	Barbie	15	7,020	1
17th	Gero	15	6,790	1
18th	<rC> Lepper	15	5,780	1
19th	INFUZED	14	7,010	1
20th	Mopar	14	6,600	1
21st	<rC> PoTiOn CrAyFiSh	14	5,540	1

Solo Repercharge Round 2:
In the beginning of the solo repercharge round 2 there were 37 players. By the end of repercharge round 2, the top 6 players from all two games making 12 players, continued on to round 3, eliminating the remaining 25 players from the tournament.

TOP 12 PLAYERS FROM REPERCHARGE ROUND 2 RANKINGS

Solo Round 3:
With 33 players remaining in round 3 of the solo competition, the game play became very interesting within the arena, and the game play picked up to a new frantic pace, down to increase of stronger players in each game. By the end of round 3, the top 7 players from both games making 14 players, were through to round 4 the final. The remaining 19 players entered repercharge round 3.

Repercharge Round 3:
Repercharge round 3 was brutal, and the final game of the day after a 6 hour competition. The final 19 players were either going to make it through to the final, or get wiped out trying. A lot of players shook hands in the arena before the game started, knowing not every one would make it through. Some of the really strong players were in this round, after not making it through round 3, so all the strong positions were taken on the ramps at the top of the maze. Some players including my self headed for the floor and attempted to make some kind emergency battle plan on foot, improvising as we went. Some players did better than expected, some players got smashed, some sticking to battle plans that worked from previous rounds did good & some didn't. It was a tough 12 minute round, with the top 6 players going through to the final out of 19 players.

19 PLAYERS FROM REPERCHARGE ROUND 3, TOP 6 PROGRESSED TO FINALS:

Rank	Player	Points	Average Score	Games
1st	<rC> punk		8,610	1
2nd	Gero		8,420	1
3rd	Ace		8,360	1
4th	Samael		7,390	1
5th	Minion		7,370	1
6th	INFUZED		6,250	1
7th	Mopar		5,850	1
8th	Sinclair		5,630	1
9th	Rand0m		5,330	1
10th	R@IDER		5,290	1
11th	<rC> Rev0lter		5,110	1
12th	Slimey		4,810	1
13th	Gumby		4,810	1
14th	<rC> PoTiOn CrAyFiSh		4,620	1
15th	Puke		4,190	1
16th	Courgress		4,070	1
17th	^_Legionaire_^		4,040	1
18th	Guardion		3,440	1
19th	Harliquin		2,830	1

The final was held on sunday the following day, with the final 20 players who had made it through the previous rounds.

Nationals 2006 Solos Finals Ladder - 30/07/2006 - HERE!

Gwai Lo was the 2006 Solo Tournament Champion with an average score of 8,373.

Overall I had a great time taking part in the Australian 2006 Nationals tournaments, and hope to take part in more to come. I send my thanks to Doug Burbidge, for putting on another great set of tournaments, and for adding stats to his website for future reference. If you would like to see more stats & results, from the other 2006 Australian Nationals tournaments not show on here, or previous Nats, then visit here. Oz Zone 3 Nationals.

Thanks, R@IDER.

UK Armageddon Tournament: (11-08-2006 - 13-08-2006)
This tournament was a multi system team competition spread over three days, starting on Friday 11th August to and finishing on the Sunday 13th August. The Armageddon competition is based around the idea of being a battle of adaptability, teamwork and pure laser tag skill. The competition is originally from the United States, and has been running successfully for the last five years, before Michael Turner kindly organised this UK Armageddon Tournament this year. This Team Tournament was drawn up to work with 4 - 5 teams, with 8 players per team, and seems to have been a successful competition.

These were the sites the competition was played at over the three days:

System	Version	Arena
Quaser Elite		Acocks Green, Birmingham
DarkLight	(v5)	Gloucester
Megazone	(T2 Infusion)	Northampton
Laser Force	(Gen6)	Peterborough
Q2000		Derby
Laser Quest	(LQX)	Stourbridge

Nice one to the organiser, and every one who attended the Armageddon event.

Well thats some of the news that happen in the last few months, so until the next update, keep zone tagging, hehe.