Triple A Rules for Revised Tournaments

[Deltium]

TOURNAMENT RULES

** IMPORTANT NOTE ** the default rules will be STANDARD Revised rules (as documented in the Revised rule book exactly). Players may jointly and mutually agree to play with Larris Harris Tournament Rules (LHTR), but if players cannot agree, STANDARD Revised rules shall prevail (and as always tech remains optional and allowed only if BOTH players agree). The map in the system is World War II Revised. I do encourage players to consider LHTR as it is a deeper rule book, outlining many contingencies, and hence minimizes potential conflicts, but again STANDARD rules shall be the default if players cannot agree. Do note that there are some specific rules applied below as well.

The default style of play shall be PBEM (play be email) and/or PBF (play by forum). Of course, if both players prefer, live gameplay is certainly allowed, but if not, PBEM / PBF shall be the standard. Given the preponderance of live gameplay at TripleA, it is worth highlighting that PBEM / PBF is really easy. Please check out this link for additional info:

https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/43/how-to-play-online-and-pbem-videos/2

HOWEVER, despite the fact that PBEM and/or PBF will be the standard method of play, it will be quite likely that LIVE play may be required due to the updated time constraints in the Tournament itself (see the rules concerning game-play frequency and time limits below). THEREFORE, please communicate with your opponent beforehand to try and play live whenever possible, in order to ensure that the game finishes within the specified limit.

In addition, the other default options will apply (again, players may mutually choose to opt-out):
• Projection of Power (9 VCs to win at end of the USA turn)
• LL dice, including LL for anti-aircraft and territory damage
• Territory Turn Limit (TTL)
• NO tech
• Units repair hits end of turn.
• AA always on; opponents can select air casualties

Bidding rules for Revised Edition
• You are bidding for the Axis, that means the player with the lowest bid is playing the Axis.
• In order to determine who bids first, players shall roll a "test Marti die" to randomly select who begins bidding. For example, Player A may choose 1-3, and if the test Marti die is 1-3 then he/she begins the bidding, and if 4-6, then the opponent shall do so. Bids shall then be exchanged by email initially, and bid responses must be replied to with 24 hours. If your opponent fails to respond to the bid, please copy Deltium (5683deltium@gmail.com), and I will issue a warning.
• Additional sea units may only be placed in sea zones where already units of the same power are present
• Only ONE unit per territory is allowed with the bid units
• Additional land units, naval units and industrial complexes can only be placed in areas belonging to the same nation as the to be placed unit, which means russian units in russian areas (red), english units in english areas (brown), american units in american areas (dark green), etc.

Order Of Loss in battles (OOL):

In general, first the inexpensive and weaker defending units (as determined by IPC value) are removed, and only after that the more expensive units are removed. The software automatically removes both attacking and defending units according to the standard-OOL (Order of Loss). The attacker has the possibility to manually correct the OOL for his/her units. The player may do this by manually correcting the appropriate fields. For example: Attack on GER, 4th battle round: 1arm 4ftr 1bmb (attacking) vs 1inf 2ftr (defending). Say the defense scores two hits, then the software will automatically remove the tank and one of the fighters as losses. If the attacker prefers to conquer the territory instead of just clearing it, the player will rather want to keep the tank and sacrifice a second fighter. The player changes this manually,and then continues rolling. Of course, the attacker is not allowed to change the order of loss for the defender, unless the defender specifically had told the attacker to do so beforehand.

• Under certain circumstances an "OOL-stop" is mandatory. This is in the case of a bomber present in a land battle, or multi-national forces, or in naval battles involving an AC. In this case the attacker rolls the dice for his attacking units and then must ask the opponent for the OOL. Only after the OOL has been communicated shall the battle continues. This principle holds for every round of combat unless the defender states an OOL for the entire fight. The reason for this rule is that, in certain battles, the OOL may make a material change in the game. As this is a sensitive decision, please ensure that you communicate proactively about this.

For some battles, the defender may, depending on strategy, wish to give an OOL that is different from standard OOL. The defender has to declare this special OOL when ending his turn. To do this, the player may either state a specific order of loss (e.g.: OOL = trns, bb, 1st ftr, ac, 2nd ftr) or set a general stop signal. Please take great care when using this latter option - it is very time consuming and causes quite a delay in the game.

For Multinational defense, that being units of different nations defending one attacked territory. If the attacker plans to withdraw, depending on the circumstances it can make a big difference to which nation the surviving units may belong. In this case the attacker may ask the defender what units of what nation the player wants to lose first and then base the decision whether to withdraw or to continue the fight. If the attacker does not use this option, the defender is entitled to freely chose what units of what nation are taken as losses before commencing the turn. Of course, this only applies to units of one kind (e.g. inf), otherwise standard OOL applies.

Example: Russia is attacked defended by 20inf 2ftr RUS; 10inf 2arm 2ftr UK; 6inf 3arm 3ftr USA.

Suppose the attacker hits 20 times and then pulls back, the defender then may freely choose whose infantry is lost before the player commences the next turn. For example, the player could chose to lose all Russian inf, or 10 British + 6 American + 4 Russian, or any other combination of 20 infantry. The Player may not, however, chose to lose armor or fighter as losses, unless as stated above, a pre-determined OOL is indicated, which may include different OOL for different multinational forces, again for emphasis, an OOL that is communicated BEFORE the battle begins.

Frequency of playing: this is a VERY important rule in the Tournament, and a particular rule, which if not followed, causes the entire tournament to slow down and frustrate the other players. BEFORE you choose to participate in the Tournament, or agree to start a new game, please ensure that you can set aside enough time to meet these requirements.

For SINGLE-ELIMINATION TOURNAMENTS:

• Hard Deadline for every game: 14 days
• Hard Deadline for each turn for every opponent: 24 hours

For DOUBLE-ELIMINATION TOURNAMENTS:

• Hard Deadline for the game who are in the WINNERS bracket: 14 days

• Hard Deadline for the game who are in the LOSERS bracket: 14 days

• Hard Deadline for each turn who are in the WINNERS bracket: 24 hours

• Hard Deadline for each turn who are in the LOSERS bracket: 24 hours

NOTE: it is very important to notifier the Tournament Director if there are any violations to the frequency of game play.

Process for violation of these rules:

1st violation: The opponent should be notified of the violation and asked nicely to comply with the tournament rules, Deltium should be copied (5683deltium@gmail.com)

2nd violation: Notification to Deltium. If the violation is confirmed the opponent will receive a warning

3rd violation: Notification to Deltium. If the violation is confirmed the opponent will be disqualified. Admittedly, this is quite strict, but we cannot delay the entire tournament for an individual that is not playing swiftly. As such, please make the time to simply make one move within the time limits stated above.

Vacation / Real Life Conflicts

For Vacation and/or material Real Life conflicts, you have to inform Deltium and your opponent by email. The maximum amount of such time in one tournament round is ONE week. Please make every attempt to play during this period, but flexibility is granted. Mistreatment of this rule can lead to disqualification.

Adjudication of tournament games
If both players maintained the turn rhythm, game rules, etc., and the game has still not been finished by the deadlines stated above, the game has to be adjudicated to see who enters the next round of the tournament. Deltium shall send a mail to all players who have not finished their games yet, in order to inform the players about the upcoming final deadline to finish the game. In such situations, it is strongly recommend to just play as swiftly as possible, or ideally to play live as much as possible, in order to finish the game swiftly. By the deadline, if the players can not agree on a winner, an adjudication is needed and both players have to send to Deltium at least the following:

• Recent Map (preferably the two players complete the full round, after the USA turn before submitting)
• Comment on future strategy.

The comment should contain which strategy will lead the player to victory. To ensure anonymity the players should only talk in terms of "the Axis" or "the Allies" and should not use their player names. Voluntarily the players can send the maps of the complete last round, plus the written game log.

• This information will be sent to 3 judges (experienced players) by Deltium.
• The judges will not know whose game they are judging nor who the other 2 judges are.
• This is to ensure that the decisions are independent and not influenced by personal preferences. The adjudication (which side will win the game) will be sent to Deltium who will inform the players about the result. The winner by this majority-decision reaches the next round.

Note: Games that did not at least reach the 6th round (after US 5) cannot be judged. If both players are not responsible such that a game doesn't proceed to US 5 in the given 45 days, both players will be disqualified. If only one player is responsible for the delay, his opponent has to report that fact to Deltium in time, as was mentioned above.

Important: The decision of the judges is only for the tournament, and is final. No appeals.

Additional Questions that occur frequently on ACs and fighters:

Do note that irrespective of which rule set you are playing with, we shall utilize the very specific rules in LHTR with respect to attacking figs, and that "kamikaze" attacks are NOT allowed. As per page 25 of LHTR:

You cannot send air units on “suicide runs”, deliberately moving them into combat with no place to land afterward. If there is any question about whether an attack is a "suicide run", then in the combat move phase, you must declare, prior to rolling any battles, some possible way (however remote the possibility is) for all your attacking air units to land safely that turn. This could include a combination of combat moves. It could also include noncombat moves by a carrier. If it does include noncombat moves by a carrier, then the carrier may not move in the combat move phase. In order to demonstrate that an air unit MAY have a safe landing zone, you may assume that all of your attacking rolls will be hits, and all defending rolls will be misses. You may NOT, however, use a planned retreat of any carrier to demonstrate a possible safe landing zone for any fighter. If you declared that a carrier will move during the noncombat move phase to provide a safe landing zone for a fighter moved in the combat move phase, you must follow through and move the carrier to its planned location in the noncombat move phase unless the fighter has landed safely elsewhere or has been destroyed before then.

As stated previously, a pair of players may opt out out of this base case, but both must agree for the rule to change. Otherwise, this will be the default rule, in the absence of any different agreement therein.

Questions: "Does this apply to RL and LL"
Answer: Yes. It should be stated that, again, players can opt of this rule, if there is mutual agreement, but the rule shall be implemented accordingly in the absence of an agreement therein.

Question: "Do ACs have to move to pickup location during CM?"
Answer: No. Since you have the option to move the carrier there in non-combat, you do not have to move the AC solely in combat to a sea zone where the figs can land safely, but for clarification, it must be possible in either combat or NCM.

Question: If above is false, then does the ACs have to move to pickup location during NCM, even if the fighters that were supposed to land have been killed?
Answer: No they do not if ALL the fighters were destroyed, but if one or more figs survived, then the appropriate number of ACs need to be moved there (e.g. one AC for 1-2 figs, 2 ACs for 3-4 figs, etc.)

Question: If point 1. is false, then what is the rule on a double enemy block of ACC, e.g. the ACC begins the turn in sz A and wants to pickup fighters in sz C. However sz B has an enemy ships blocking the path to sz C, and there is also enemy ships in sz C (pickup location).?
Answer: good question! If sz B is blocking sz C, then there is only one possibility to go to sz C to land the figs, and that is the case where other naval or air units clear both sz B and sz C, so that the AC in question can then legitimately move to sz C in non-combat. This is consistent with the rule book, but for avoidance of doubt, that AC in question cannot be involved in combat, as it cannot move in both CM and NCM.

Question: Does the software automatically address these contingencies, or do we need to monitor and enforce this rule ourselves?
Answer: As this is a complex set of contingencies, you will need to monitor and enforce this manually.

In summary, the best thing to do is to be very careful with your combat and non-combat moves in order to avoid a dispute like this. Each opponent should proactively communicate with their opponent in such scenarios.

Question on Edits:
Edits are typically requested for common oversights including, but not limited to, forgetting to place new units, moving an AA, non-controversial NCM moves, etc. Some other edits are more controversial in nature, such as material non-combat moves, changes in builds, combat, etc. As each and every situation is different, common oversights will tend to be allowed, and I encourage each player to be reasonably flexible. However, certain edits will NOT be allowed if they are more sensitive in nature. As there are hundreds of contingencies, please try to sort this out amongst yourselves, but if you vehemently disagree, you can write to me at 5683deltium@gmail.com for a ruling. However, do take note that I am not fond of edits, as it is the player's responsibility to be careful during each step of the move. However, I will be reasonable for the simple ones. As a final note, in HIGHLY SENSITIVE battles, where OOL can make a difference, you should BOTH communicate the intent of your attack (as noted above in the OOL section), and be exceptionally careful when "clicking" the results thereafter. Intent and communication will bear weight in such disputes, but extreme care is suggested in order to avoid any nasty disputes requiring adjudication.

CRITICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF PLAYERS

In every PBEM and PBF game, there are two critical components for BOTH players to monitor closely:

(1) Marti dice results: while it is possible that individual players may not receive the full Marti dice results for various reasons (e.g. technical issues with various email servers like Yahoo, etc.), it is ABSOLUTELY the players' responsibility to check the dice results EACH AND EVERY move BEFORE completing your turn. For absolute clarity, the Marti dice results MUST be received and be accurate before a player is required to begin his/her turn on that game file. For example, if you receive a game file, but incomplete or nonexistent corresponding Marti dice, and furthermore, if that player cannot forward you the emails that he/she did receive for the battles, then the game file is NOT valid, and those battles where Marti dice have not been received must be rolled again with verified Marti dice in order to proceed. HOWEVER, for additional and absolute clarity, IF a player chooses to ignore this rule and to continue playing anyway, THEN the game file is valid at that point, and the game may continue. A player does not have the right to retrospectively look back and dispute the validity of the game if he/she accepted the game files previously. This is to ensure that the player takes responsibility at the exact point in the game and not later.

(2) Game files: correspondingly, it it is ABSOLUTELY the players' responsibility to check the game file EACH AND EVERY move BEFORE completing your new turn. Players are encouraged to do various simple checks, all of which are easy to do:
Edits -- where there any edits on my opponent's turn? Edits are easily tracked in the game file History section, and during each turn, the player should check the history section. As per the rules on edits, edits need to be agreed by BOTH players, and it is important to exhibit a high duty of care to ensure that edits are not necessary.
Consistency with Marti dice results -- did all of the battle results match those of the Marti dice? This is also easy to verify in the history section and against the Marti dice results. This is very fundamental to all PBEM / PBF games.
As with the Marti dice, IF a player chooses to ignore this rule and to continue playing anyway, THEN the game file is valid at that point, and the game may continue. A player does not have the right to retrospectively look back and dispute the validity of the game if he/she accepted the game files previously. This is to ensure that the player takes responsibility at the exact point in the game and not later.

While this is not an exhaustive list, a core premise in any tournament is for both players to take full responsibility for any game file discrepancies by catching them early and notifying the other player promptly. When such an event occurs, write a professional and factual email to your opponent, cc'ing the Tournament Director (5683deltium@gmail.com). Your opponent should respond promptly (e.g. within 24 hours) and remedy the issue asap.

If the problem continues (for whatever reason), the Tournament Director has the right to arbitrate the situation, solely if it appears that there is a pattern of inconsistencies and poor gameplay. The Tournament Director retains the right to issue also issue a forfeit in excessive circumstances.

[prastle]

Revised-Submerge-Withdraw-Order
written by @LouisXIVXIV

Hey everyone. This is a little follow up on the rules debate I mentioned in my recent post. They are changing the rules/program to follow what I describe here, different from the way it works now. I'm sure there is a rules section to somewhere to get a fuller scoop but here's the main stuff:

The Rule: The attacker ALWAYS chooses to withdraw or press the attack BEFORE subs choose whether or not to submerge in the combat sequence.

Example: In Round 1, Germany moves the baltic fleet to 7 and UK attacks that fleet with all available units; the battle is 2 transports, battleship, 2 fighters, bomber, VS 2 subs, destroyer, and transport. After one round of combat the destroyer and transport have died and the battleship has taken damage. The attacker may choose to withdraw at this time to sz 8 or press the attack, thus exposing itself to submarine fire if the defender chooses to remain. What CANNOT occur is that the submarine first submerges and the attacker is forced to remain in sea zone 7. The attacker goes first.

Where is this rule written: Page 16 is the key page. Page 32 also mentions the subject.

Argument/Explanation/Interpretation of rulebook:

At the end of step 6 of the combat sequence in round 1 of the combat above neither side has been destroyed. Therefore, we proceed to the withdraw or repeat options specified in step 7. The thrust of this section is to describe the attacker's ability to retreat, but it also states this is the time when submarines submerge. The attacker can withdraw and attacking and defending subs can submerge all in the same step - There's no right of way specified for anyone. In practice someone needs to decide first, but they are not symmetric.

If the sub had to choose first, but the attacker could still retreat, that would not be simultaneous since the attacker would benefit from the information. (In the example above, the attacker may be worried about losing a boat. Knowing if the subs will stay or not could influence the decision to continue on to sz7.) If the sub chooses first and submerges forcing a forward movement (since the defender is therefore vanquished and withdrawal is not allowed), that is not simultaneous and denies the ability to withdraw.

On the other hand, if the attacker chooses first it will be simultaneous -- neither side benefits from advance information. Specifically, if the attacker chooses first and chooses to withdraw, the submarine has no decision to make - that's the key. The only question facing the submarine is "what do I do if the attack is pressed?" Answering that question after it is indeed pressed gives no profit to the sub; neither side is using advance knowledge of the opponent's thinking to further their cause.

This rendering of the rules is "simultaneous", but subs first is not. This rendering preserves the ability of the attacker to withdraw and for submarines to submerge. These are both consistent with the rules sdescribed on page 16, but subs first would be neither simultaneous nor preserving, and is therefore not consistent.

Additional thoughts:

I think it goes against the "feeling" of the game to give the defender the ability to force an action by the attacker by choice; the attacker is supposed to have the initiative.

It has been argued that page 32 of the rulebook implies subs should go first. I think the phrase "regardless of what other units do" supports our interpretation as the sub makes this decision not in isolation (first) but in consideration of the attacker's selection to withdraw or press their units.

Regarding page 32, the rule book explicitly states that step 7 is when subs submerge on page 16. So when it says "after the attacker and defender have fired" on page 32, that cannot mean it occurs before step 7. Step 7 does occur generically after the attacker and defender. In this sense, page 32 does not distinguish between attacker withdrawal and sub withdrawal - they both occur after the attacker and defender have fired - and specifically, they occur in step 7. Basically, the statements on page 16 imply something stronger than the statement on page 32 - namely that not only is it after the firing, but specifically in step 7. So you can actually just ignore 32 and try to decipher 16.

Official Discussion/Ruling: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/33353/revised-submerge-withdraw-order

[Deltium]

Just a point of clarification, this sub rule above will be the standard default rule for Revised Tournaments, unless BOTH players opt-out, and they may only do so at the BEGINNING of the game.

[Cernel]

@Deltium said in Triple A Rules for Revised Tournaments:

• Additional land units, naval units and industrial complexes can only be placed in areas belonging to the same nation as the to be placed unit, which means russian units in russian areas (red), english units in english areas (brown), american units in american areas (dark green), etc.

Is this an error, and it should, instead, be "Additional land units, air units and industrial complexes". Also, industrial complexes (the TripleA name is actually "factory") are land units too, so this is kinda redundant (at most, I would put it between parentheses, after "land units"). Side note, I would not talk in term of colours at all.