Waterloo 2018-2019 E-mail Tournament Format

Home Updated September 26, 2022.

Tournament Eligibility: This will be a BPA sanctioned event. The GM and all entrants must be members of the BPA the year the tournament starts. You do not have to renew in subsequent years to remain active in the tournament. Those who are not currently members of the BPA http://www.boardgamers.org/ may sign up for a $10 PBEM membership. http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/MemberForm.shtml

Tournament Start:  Contact me at edmenzel@roadrunner.com. The tournament will start after BPA confirmation of membership – anticipated to be around the first of June.

Rules: Second edition rules http://watgame.com/rules/rules.html are in effect. The game modification of non-cooperation between the Anglo Allies and Prussians used at WBC will also be used in this tournament. See Tournament Rules and Clarifications. Also, the Anglo-Allied unit Wissel that normally enters the game on 16-0900 will be delayed until 18-0700 to be consistent with the change made at the 2018 WBC.

Format, Seedings and Pairings: This is a Single Elimination format. Winners advance to future rounds. An eliminator will be used in case of an odd number of players in any round up until the quarterfinals. The lowest remaining seeded player will play the eliminator. The eliminator will be chosen by the GM from volunteers and is not eligible to advance based on the game for which he is an eliminator.  If there are five players remaining for the quarter finals then the bottom two seeds will play to determine the 4th player for the semifinals. If there are seven players remaining for the quarter finals, the lowest seed will play an eliminator chosen by the GM from volunteers.

Tournament seeding will be by AREA ranking as of the start of the tournament. The list will be divided in half with the top half playing the second half. (Player seeding for those with identical AREA ratings, will be determined by random die rolls.) For example, suppose there are 16 players. 1-8 are the top half, 9-16 are the second half. #1 plays #9, #2 plays #10, etc.

Round Length: Players will have a nominal ten weeks to complete each round. The exact end date will be specified at the beginning of each round.

If your game will not finish on time, please try to come to an agreement with your opponent as to the most likely result by the end date for the round. If that's not possible, the game will be adjudicated. In that case, please submit complete details of your game (including bid, sides, turn, current position of everything and comments including the amount of time used) by the round deadline for adjudication by the Gamemaster. Note that the amount of time used by the players will be a factor in deciding the winner. The general guideline is that a player must be considered the favorite by an equal or greater amount than the percentage of time used for the game. For example, if a player uses 75% of the time allotted, then they need to be considered at least 75% likely to win from the game position at the end of the round.

Sides: This tournament will use an auction style format for determination of sides. The lower seeded player tells the higher seeded player which side he prefers. If the higher seeded player prefers the opposite side, play proceeds. If both players want the same side, the lower seeded player bids for the preferred side. The bidding represents how many combat factors he will give up to play the preferred side. Bids may begin at zero or any whole number. The second player may either accept the incentive to play the non-preferred side, or bid a higher number for the preferred side. The option passes back and forth in this fashion until one player accepts the non-preferred side and the incentive. Combat factors equal to or greater than the bid must be removed from the preferred side at the start of the game. (For example if the winning bid was 3 for the PAA, you may remove one 4 factor unit instead of a 2 and a 1 factor unit.)

PBEM Sequence: The following sequence is recommended to help reduce illegal moves:
1. The appropriate player makes their move, specifies all combats and sends it to the opponent.
2. The opponent reviews the move and either approves it or notes errors.
3. The move is then corrected, if necessary, as desired and again sent to the opponent for approval.
4. Once the move is approved, then attacks may be rolled by either the attacker or the defender. However, it is recommended that the defender roll the attacks once the attacker’s move has been verified as legal.
a. Roll die for first attack.
b. Attacker/defender indicates retreats and any advance (if applicable).
c. Repeat steps a-b for each additional attack.
d. Alternately, the attacker may specify in advance all defender retreats & attacker advances in which case all attacks may be rolled together.
e. Once the defender has accepted the move and dice have been rolled, the move and stated attack odds stand even if an error is subsequently discovered.
5. If the player making the move rolls attack dice without allowing the opponent to review the move and an error is found it must be corrected and the attack(s) rerolled at the defender’s option.

D10 CRT: Please be aware that the VASSAL Waterloo module d10 CRT is NOT to be used. The official Waterloo CRT is posted on this web site. There are two differences in the CRTs. This tournament uses the same CRT as used at WBC.

Die Rolling: Accepted Internet die rollers are https://dice.brickmillgames.com/, http://www.pbegames.com/roller/#theRoller and ACTS. Players may use any other mutually agreeable Internet die roller. Players are not required to use the same die roller. Use of the VASSAL Waterloo module die roller is not recommended as it can be manipulated.

Delayed Die Rolls: Die rolls are occasionally delayed beyond what is normally expected. If so, check to see if your opponent has received them. If not, the following procedure may be used.

The die rolling player may declare the first set dead and do a reroll clearly labeling it as such. The reroll must be sent prior to either player receiving the first set of die rolls. At that point only the reroll set is counted no matter what order the two requested die rolls sets arrive.

Alternately the die rolling player may declare a reroll but specify that whichever set arrives first is to be used. Since players may not receive the same set first, a careful examination of the time that the die roll server sent the die rolls may be needed to determine first arrival.

PBEM Errors: If the attacker rolls too many dice, use the first correct number of die rolls and discard the rest. If the attacker rolls too few dice, use the ones already rolled and roll the balance.

Having noted the official protocol above, please extend every courtesy you yourself would appreciate.  If a unit is moved illegally and it does not affect combat, allow the unit to be moved correctly.

Gaming Software: VASSAL software is the default method of play. Players may use any other mutually agreeable method including text.

Results: The results of all games will be submitted to the AREA rating system.

Tournament Finishing Positions: Third place will be awarded to the semifinal player who lost to the eventual champion. Fourth place will be awarded other player eliminated in the semifinals. Fifth and sixth places will be awarded to the two highest seeded players who lost in the quarter finals.

Waterloo eM Tournament Administrative Personnel:
Gamemaster: Ed Menzel edmenzel@roadrunner.com
Assistant Gamemaster: Greg Smith greg.docsmith@gmail.com
Assistant Gamemaster Marty Musella 7210bully@gmail.com
Webmaster: Marc Menzel marcmenzel@roadrunner.com