Oh, those big ones are a lot of fun. I have fond memories of the battles for the inner sphere!
Something to note though, 5 rounds of a mixed 14 vs. 14 will take a lot of time. Slight bugs, some player error, someone buying the wrong thing, someone getting squished by the hanger doors, someone getting stepped on, someone's connection dropping. All these little things.... they get more likely to happen the more people you have. Comms are another issue to think of in advance, how will you handle the 3 or so involved units. If they are all in one big room, expect some chaos (which takes time).
I do believe I speak for a sizeable amount of the EU people when I say that those times... may be problematic. If it starts at 5pm EST that may work. A later start.. will face time problems most likely with a 5 rounds system. 6pm EST is midnight in central EU time, and this being a Sunday (meaning work the next day) people can often not stay terribly long. Perhaps the latest end time would be around 8pm EST. If you have 5 rounds and count 20 minutes a round (a reasonable guesstimate, might be even a bit optimistic considering 3 units per side involved) means a match starting at 6 pm EST would end 7:40 pm EST. That is with no more problems then a 5v5 might encounter. So... definitely do not want to start later then 6pm EST if you want EU players around I say.
/Merf - Some input...
