************************************************************************** Round B Official Rules and Information 16-Feb-98 ************************************************************************** Contents: - Important Diplomacy and Vacation Reminders - Special Rules for Round B - Prizes for Round B - Important WarBOT and Scenario Advice (on flight items and navies!) *** Important Diplomacy Reminder *** All Round A game histories will be kept secret until every Round A game is done. Remember that each round of the tournament, and each game within a round, is a separate fantasy world. Warlords in Round B know nothing of the exploits of Warlords in Round A until the Tournament Messenger brings the weighty scrolls of the Round A game histories to all Warlords at the same time. So until Round A has officially ended and all games have been made public, the rule is that we may *not* discuss any Round A games via Round B messages. (Yes, this means you can't say how you or anyone in your round did. If you see a familiar face in your Round B game, pretend you never saw them before. However, it's perfectly allowable to discuss the Practice Round and playtesting games, since those are already available publicly on the Remailer. The first mention of a Round A game will be a minor rules error, and the second will be a major error.) *** Reference Notes on the Vacation System *** (From a W2WT Message; provided here for reference.) There is a new procedure for declaring vacations; it's very easy. The new system makes use of Elam's "Remind Me" service. *** Ten Steps to a Warlords-Free Vacation: (1) Go to http://www.pixgen.com/elam/reminder/ (2) Enter your desired user name and password, to create an account. (Your tournament alias makes a good username; choose the password wisely, and don't forget it!) (3) Select "Add an Event" (4) For "Describe the Event", enter: WCVac: , , [ Example - If Hindquarters is going on vacation in Q01, he puts: WCVac: Hindquarters, Q01, 16Nov97-22Nov97 ] (This goes into the subject line of the reminder message, and has all the key information. WCVac = World Championship VACation.) (5) For "When does the event occur?", use the day *before* the absence starts. (6) For "Is it a yearly event or a one time event?" - choose one time event (7) For "When should the Reminder be sent?" - Set Reminder #1 far in advance of the vacation, such as the day after you set up the Remind Me entry. (So you can check it.) - Set Reminder #2 to be 2 or 3 days before the vacation starts. (So no one forgets that you're going on vacation.) (8) For "What email address do you want the Reminder sent to?", enter 4 addresses, separated by commas with spaces: - ijb@nbnet.nb.ca, [ Vacation Guru Database ] - rfheeter@phoenix.princeton.edu, [ Headquarters Archives ] - the address of your current moderator, [ Notifies Moderator ] - your own address [ Allows you to check that it worked. ] [ If you don't know your moderator's email address, send the "Intro" command to the Remailer, and you will get the info...] (9) "What do you want the message to say?" - more vacation info: - Your name, alias, and email address are helpful - Your game number(s), (especially if more than 1 game) - Your vacation dates - Whether you'll have email access while gone. (10) Press the "Add Event" button *** The RemindMe service will: (1) Send out Reminders #1 and #2 for each player's vacation, to each address entered. (Ideally on the day after the vacation is set up, and 2-3 days before the vacation starts. To Ivan, HQ, and the Mod. *** The Vacation Guru (Ivan) and Headquarters (Bob) wiil: (1) Archive all RemindMe messages in the official database, and answer any questions that come up. (2) Check existing vacations at the start of the round, and notify moderators if a player is on vacation when the round begins. *** Your Moderator will: (1) Sit back and wait for vacation reminders to come in. (2) Keep track of vacation day usage, and notify players if an announced vacation will put them into "Additional Absence" time. *** Important Notes on Time-Limit Rules and Emergencies: You can go "on vacation" at any time without penalty. If there are only 2 players left alive in a game, then the turnaround time limit will be increased to 3 days (1-day weekend still) Vacation days may still be converted to timeouts (2 vacation = 1 timeout). Emergency Phone List (from East to West) ========================================================================== ** Call these numbers only if there's a crisis and you can't send email.** ** If you have to leave a message, be sure to leave your complete phone ** ** number so we can call you back to confirm that we got the message.** Ivan Baird: (Eastern Canada) (GMT -0400) Work: (506) 363-3349 (Deitech Computing; 24-hour answering machine.) Gary Best: (US-East Coast) (U.S. EST = GMT -0500) Work: (617) 737-0234. (In 9:30 am to 6 pm; voice mail x116 otherwise) Home: (508) 583-1094. (10 am to 10 pm weekends.) Elam Birnbaum: (US-New York) (U.S. EST = GMT -0500) Home: 212-877-6104 (5 pm to 10 pm only) Work: 212-645-5879 (10 pm to 5 pm; just leave a message) George Hulseman: (US-West Coast) (U.S. PST = GMT - 0800) Work: (541) 482-2037 ** numbers will change in the spring. ** Home: (541) 482-1301 ** at both places, ask for George ** Bob Heeter: (international) Home: +44-958-302787 (GMT; won't be around late March through April) 609-921-6483 (EST; late March and April.) Can leave messages. Please call only from 8:00 am to 11:30 pm. *** Special Rules for Round B *** 1. Razing is allowed anywhere, anytime! 2. The resign option is off-limits. If you decide to give up at some point, set up your final defenses (razing *some* cities if you wish), and go into "Standing Orders". When the time comes, see the official rules (recently revised) for details on how this works. (But there's no point in planning for defeat before the game even starts!) Some minor changes have also been made to the Static Defense rules, but we hope we won't have to use them now that everyone has already invested 6 months in this tournament! 3. Hero Rules: 1. As in Round A, you can get a hero with ANY ally on Turn 2, for 1000 or more gold. 2. If at least one of your 2 initial heroes is still alive on Turn 7, you may also get a 3rd hero on Turn 7 (but with NO ally), for 1000 or more gold. ( If both your heroes are dead before Turn 7, the normal hero-replacement rules apply from then on (with one restriction indicated below). ) 3. As before, you only get a replacement after your existing heroes die. However, REPLACEMENT heroes may only come with a GHOST or ELEMENTAL. (This discourages players from disbanding heroes to get many allies.) 4. The six central cities all have preinstalled Spider builds. When you attack these cities, two special rules apply: 1. The cities are to be treated as ENEMY cities in WarBOT. (This makes the spiders defend at 7, so they're immune to blessed ghosts and elementals, and some work is needed to capture them.) 2. The spider production *must* be PILLAGED when the city is first taken. (These cities have not been "standardized" to have normal stats, and we don't want anyone building super-spiders.) 5. Quests are ON! Here's how they work: * When you receive your quest at the temple, you must: 1. Revert until you get a "Sack and Pillage" quest with value between 900 and 1100 gold. (On average this takes 10 reverts; not too bad.) 2. Announce the new quest as a hero activity. ( example: "Ramen receives quest to pillage 1024 gold" ) * When you complete your quest, you must: 1. Revert until you receive DRAGONS or ARCHONS for the quest. ( On average it takes about 6 reverts to get your choice. ) 2. Disband all but *one* ally. You can only keep 1 ally. (We trust that one dragon/archon is plenty in this game! :) ) 3. Report the completion of the quest and the ally received. In other words: sack-and-pillage quests are allowed, with a mighty flying ally as the reward! 6. Role-Playing is up to you! There are no predefined sides or pre-named locations in this world. You can name (and rename) your side and describe your nation's exploits however you like. But officially, for turn-report purposes, you must always report at least the COLOR of every enemy fought. The idea behind the scenario is that an old, tranquil world has grown decadent, and new moral, spiritual, philosophical, and military forces - you and the other players - now arise to challenge one another for control of the world. You can be any religion, philosophy, or cult of personality that you wish, but please be tasteful about it and try not to offend anyone too much, as usual! :) 7. Cities may now be renamed!!! Each city has been given a standard number. You can't change the number, and must always include it in turn reports. But you can change the names of the cities as much as you like, as long as you leave the number there - and report any name changes in your turn reports! (Some players are looking forward to taking a city from an enemy, renaming it ("George's Folly"), and then razing it... :) Others will write about how the inhabitants of the city were so eager to throw off the foul rule of the oppressors, that they renamed the city in honor of the liberating power... :) ) In case there's any confusion about the original city number, it can be found in the city description. (The city numbering scheme is partly coded to the geography so just by seeing the number you'll have a good idea where the city is.) 8. Scenario Gold Information: There are 4 sides that start with about 13,000 each (total: 52,000) There are 4 ruins that can be searched for 1250 each (total: 5000) There are 40 cities that can be pillaged for 175 each (total: 7000) There are 6 cities that MUST be pillaged for 350 each (total: 2100) City incomes are generally higher than in Round A, so more expensive armies can now be supported. 9. Holidays: There are no official holidays scheduled this round. All players receive 2 weeks of vacation for Round B, plus 4 timeouts. Round C will start shortly after all Round A games are completed and the first Round B game reaches Turn 21 (similar to the start of this Round after the Practice Round ended and the first Round A game reached Turn 21). All Round B players get 8 more vacation days when Round C starts. If you expect to be taking a long summer vacation between May and September, please notify Headquarters to make special arrangements. (We'll allow extra vacation for summer holidays requested well in advance.) *** Prizes for Round B *** The four Warlords who write the most entertaining game history will each receive a prize from SSG! The one Warlord who writes the best individual roleplay will also receive a prize from SSG! The awarding of both prizes will be determined after the round ends by a team of volunteers (who cannot receive prizes). ******************************************************************** Round B Tournament Ruin Information ******************************************************************** The contents of all ruins should be clear from the ruin name and ruin descriptions within the scenario. :) There are 8 flight items, 4 command +2 items, 4 gold ruins, 4 temples, and 20 ally ruins (4 ghosts, 4 elementals, 4 demons, 4 devils, and 4 giant worms). All ruins are distributed symmetrically. ******************************************************************** Warlords Quirk/Bug/Feature Warnings for Round B ******************************************************************** I. Heroes with flight items may be *very* common this round (if you and your opponents choose to go and pick them up!). Warlords has a number of quirks when these flying heroes get into battles! Do NOT take anything for granted! (WarBOT will get the results right provided you get the terrain right and remember to indicate that the hero has a flight item.) The most important situation goes like this: 1. Suppose you have a hero stack over water/shore, or in the mountains, so that it must be flying somehow. (Note: mountain roads are *hills* terrain - you can see the hill stack and terrain bonuses applied.) 2. Suppose there are units in the hero stack that normally fly (pegasi, griffins, bats, etc.) Then: Even if the hero has a flight item, ONE of the flying units will fight *after* the hero. As a result, it is possible to assassinate a hero with a flight item without killing the entire stack. Three ways to deal with this are to leave your flying hero stack over land, to keep naturally-flying units out of your flying hero stack, or to keep that stack *extremely* well-defended! Furthermore, *which* flying unit fights last depends on your Warlords flavor, but it will probably *not* be the one you expect! You'll have to test out the exact battle to be sure. II. There are now bridges, coastal cities, and port-anchor squares. That means NAVIES!!! If you thought Warlords was quirky with flying stacks, you won't believe all the strange things that can happen with navies. Here are some important facts to remember: * You MUST MUST MUST indicate which units are navies in WarBOT! (It is possible to have ground units which are *not* navies in water/shore, so WarBOT needs to know this info. ) * The various different flavors of Warlords do *NOT* treat navies the same! You must remember to mark the correct flavor of Warlords in your WarBOT. * Navies fighting in bridge or city terrain fight as *ground* units. (not as navies). So Navies which attack into a city remain naval units for movement that turn, but defend as ground units if attacked. WarBOT handles this correctly. * In Classic, Ground units may "board" navies at any BRIDGE square, move with the navy, exit at any *other* bridge square (or join a flying hero) and *continue* to move as *ground* units. * Ground units taken out over water/shore sometimes become navies (or even drown) during the turn or at the start of your next turn, depending on which Warlords version you have. In other cases, they may stay over water/shore, defend as *ground* units (with *open* terrain bonuses), and then remain ground units on subsequent turns! (This is very bizarre; read the ongoing saga of the "h1-duel" prototype Head-to-Head game to see what some effects of this can be...) WarBOT can handle mixed ground/naval stacks, provided you tell it which units are navies and which aren't. * Navies may attack from bridge squares onto adjacent land squares, fight as ground units, and then remain navies for the rest of the turn (and move as navies afterwards). Similarly, navies which attack into cities may then attack onto land near the city, fight as ground units, and then move as navies for the rest of the turn. (These last two tricks have been dubbed "commando raids.") * If you attack a naval group with a flying hero stack that includes a navy in it, any non-hero ground units in your stack will fight as navies. (This may depend on the Warlords flavor.) * This is *not* a complete list of all Warlords naval quirks! (See the WarBOT documentation for some more quirks.) [ You can see why we kept navies out of the Practice Round and Round A! But now we will play Warlords in its true glory! ] III. In case of confusion, we will play by these 3 principles: 1. "Warlords is as Warlords does." No matter how strange the outcome, we play the game however it happens to work. 2. "Check the battle screen." The units that fight as navies have little blue water-splashes under them to make them look like boats. Everything else is not a navy. 3. "Trust WarBOT." If you enter the navy and flying item information correctly, it will match what Warlords does. If it doesn't, which will be very rare, then we'll (a) fix WarBOT, and (b) back the game up if necessary, so the defender can adjust his/her planning. We WON'T back games up to fix your mistakes - only mistakes that are strictly due to WarBOT bugs. IV. Finally, if you have a question about a particular situation, especially if you think there's a problem with Warlords and/or the WarBOT, you can send private email to your Moderator and they'll check with the WarBOT gurus (Mike Leung, Gary Best, and Bob Heeter). Any of your playing time that is lost while we do this will be returned to you. Good luck, and enjoy!!! -- The Tournament Team