At the start of each round you will receive via email a Scenario Package
which contains the scenario and army set for that round, a starting gamefile, 
and a ReadMe file with any additional information you may need.  The starting 
gamefile is included because the ruin contents have been edited to 
improve the scenario balance and we want all games to start with the same
ruin contents.  The contents of the ruins will be indicated in the ruin
descriptions, or else a "Ruin List" will be provided showing the contents of
each ruin.

When it is time for the round to start, the Moderator will introduce himself
and set up your game in the Warlords Remailer.  When the game is set up you
will receive an introduction to the Remailer.  The first player then takes
his/her turn using the Starting Gamefile from the Scenario Package, 
and sends the game on its way with his first Turn Report.

We will use the Warlords 
Remailer for all game-related email.  Each game is considered
separate and independent - you will not have access to history files of 
ongoing games, and you may not discuss any other past, present, or future 
tournament games with the players in your current game.

The Remailer is usually reliable, but if you email the Remailer and get no 
response, do this:

1. Check the address and subject line and try again. If the Remailer doesn't match the subject line with a game, password, and command, it simply ignores the message.
2. If the Remailer still doesn't reply, check the game status with a "gamename, password, status" message. Make sure your *own* email address is correct in the status report!
3. If the Remailer still doesn't respond, notify Elam Birnbaum (elam@madness.net) that the Remailer seems to be down.
4. Wait until noon Eastern time (GMT -0500) on the next business day (to allow time for Remailer resurrection) and try sending your game or message through the Remailer then. When the Remailer is down, incoming mail is queued until it revives, so it may have processed your mail while you were waiting.
5. If it's *still* down (unlikely, but possible) then email Bob Heeter () and Elam again, and then send the messages via direct email (the old-fashioned way, without the Remailer) while we work on the problem.
6. When the Remailer revives, the downtime-delay may have messed up the game status (turn and player), the remaining turnaround time, and some players' timeouts. Fix everything except the timeouts via the Web interface and contact your moderator to have the timeouts fixed.

More information on the Remailer settings used is provided in later sections.

4 human players, no computer players.

Chosen to make the tournament go as fast as possible while still having the games diplomatically interesting and socially fun. Four-player games are faster than 5-8 player games, and are more interesting and balanced diplomatically than two- or three-player games. The main reason for excluding the AI is that whoever is responsible for skipping over the AI's move will have the ability to secretly manipulate the AI. (It's not possible to have a moderator run the AI because in the PC version of Warlords there's no way to save the game at the end of the AI's move.) Furthermore, the AI can't check to see if a player is cheating against him, and the AI doesn't play by the tournament rules and therefore confuses the game. And, since our goal is to have a tournament where the best player wins, we want to minimize the random aspects of the game. Also, the AI players do not understand the value of pillaging and will suffer tremendously in any game using the Tournament army set.

Assignment of Sides: Random for each game of each round

After the first round the assignment algorithm will try to give players a chance to play different sides in the turn order and it will try to avoid matching players against the same opponents as in earlier rounds. It will also seed players based on their overall rank.

Naming of Sides: Default for scenario

This is because most scenarios will have ruins and a generic starting game file must be created to preset the ruin contents so that all matches played with that game have identical setups.

Neutral Cities: Active

Razing Cities: Variable; declared in advance

Determined in advance by organizers on a scenario-by-scenario basis. Players should be competent with all variations!

Quests: Off

Necessary to prevent endless reverting to get good quests & allies; keeps game playable.

Diplomacy: Off

In the tournament, all players are always at war with each other, even if they choose to cooperate occasionally for a few turns. Diplomatic discussion will be via email, signposts, etc. And there's no need for diplomacy with the AI.

View Enemies: On

Players can revert to peek anyway; no need to make it a hassle! Allowing viewing will save time, make it possible to catch cheaters who change the contents of stacks, and make turns easier/faster/simpler.

View Production: On

Players can revert to peek anyway; no need to make it a hassle! Allowing viewing will save time, make it possible to catch cheaters who improve their build times, and make turns easier/faster/simpler.

Hidden Map: Off

Players can revert, view other countries, and pre-play the map anyway, so there's no need to keep it hidden. Also, this makes it possible for scenario designers to play on their own scenarios, as they will not have as much of a special advantage if other players can playtest the map before playing in the tournament.

Intense Combat: Off

Simplifies the tournament and allows players to gain an intuitive feel for the battle odds without being confused by two different sets of odds.

Military Advisor: Off

Players should use the Warlords Battle Odds Tool (WarBOT) instead; leaving the military advisor on would serve no purpose and also be confusing.

Quick Start: Off

Having QuickStart on balances out starting positions a bit and reduces the time it takes to play the game, but eliminates the enjoyable expansion phase of the game, and gives players who go first a chance to revert until crushing all nearby opposition, making the game unfair. With the fast tournament army set and the smaller scenarios, there's no need for a Quick Start even for a 20-turn game.

Random Turns: Off

Allows faster game play with less confusion.

I Am The Greatest: On

For no good reason other than that it's the tournament.

Email Game (Deluxe/CD versions): Off

Does not permit easy reverting needed for getting correct battle and ruin outcomes.

In order to minimize the duration of the tournament and make it as fun as
possible, players must make their moves reliably in as little time as possible.
However, some allowances for vacations and emergencies must be made.
The following rules embody this philosophy:

1. The turnaround time limit is 48 hours, enforced by the Warlords Remailer.
2. Saturdays do not count in the 48-hour limit. Any event (file receipt or turn deadline) that would fall on Saturday is set to the same time on Sunday. (The "1-day weekend" rule.)
3. Players may not suspend the game; the moderator controls the flow of the game. >>* Players have up to 2 weeks of vacation per round, and up to >> 2 weeks of "additional absences". > >That 4 weeks per player per round. If they all decide to use it, that could >double the length of a game. Ouch! No, because during the "additional absence" time their move is skipped, and in fact the game would actually go quicker. That's the reason for the distinction between "vacation" and "additional absence". If all four players take two-week vacations the game could be 50% longer, but that's unlikely to happen now that most of the summer vacations are out of the way. And by the time next summer rolls around everyone will be moving swiftly anyway. :)
4. "Vacations": During the first three rounds, you are allowed a single absence of around 1 week which must be announced at least 1 week in advance. The game will be suspended by the moderator when your turn comes up after you leave, and will be revived one week later. If you expect to be away longer than 1 week, the "additional absences" rule (see below) will apply, unless you request beforehand to use timeouts instead (see below). After the first cut you are allowed a second 1-week absence. Depending on the length of the tournament more absences may be allowed.
5. "Additional Absences:" You can take additional 1-week absences in addition to the allowed vacation, if you announce the absence before you leave, but in this case the game must continue. For up to 1 week your turn will simply be skipped by the next player. In this case it's your responsibility to position your forces for defense (and live with the damage afterwards!). After 1 week you start using up timeouts (see below), unless you announce during the week that you wish to renew the absence for another week.
6. You have four 1-day "timeouts" to extend your turn in case of crisis. These do not need to be announced in advance and will be used one at a time automatically by the Remailer whenever your move becomes overdue. You do not need to use the whole day; however, once a timeout is started, it is gone.
7. If you are out of timeouts and cannot finish a move in time, you must announce an absence, and have your turn skipped. No substitutes are allowed.
8. Players who run out of timeouts and miss a turn without announcing an absence forfeit the game and are out of the tournament. If this happens the Lost Player rules (see below) will be applied by the moderator.
9. Moderators may "suspend" the game during discussion of rules issues. Please check the Moderators' Bible before bringing rules questions to the moderators.

1. "No Secrets:"  All game-related discussion must be sent to all participants
   	via the Remailer.  Diplomacy must be carried out in public or else semi-privately 
   	via game features (signposts, etc.).  PRIVATE MESSAGES TO DISCUSS
   	AN ONGOING GAME ARE CONSIDERED CHEATING.  THERE ARE NO SECRET TREATIES.
   	If you are offered a secret treaty, turn that person in immediately or you
   	will be considered a cheater too.

2. "Everyone Gets the Gamefile:"  You are entitled, but not required, 
   	to receive any and all gamefiles sent in your game.  Change the 
   	Remailer 
   	setting as you wish.  By default all players receive all game files; we
   	recommend that you use the time during other players' moves to check 
   	for cheating and plan your own strategy, so that you may make a better 
   	move in less time when your own turn comes up.

3. "Every Warlord Stands Alone:"  You may neither give nor receive advice 
   	about ongoing games to/from anyone in the tournament, except through diplomatic 
   	messages sent via the Remailer (only) to players in your own game.  You must 
   	turn in those who attempt to cheat by violating this rule (which will then
   	eliminate an opponent in your current game and in the tournament).  You are
   	still allowed to discuss the tournament with anyone who is not involved in it.

4. "Private Histories and Public Archives:"  The Remailer will archive your 
   	game email in a History file.  The Privacy feature of the Remailer will be
   	used, so that during a round only the players (and moderator) who know the 
   	password will be able to view the history file for a given game.  
   	However, once
   	the round is finished, each game's history will be put into the public archive 
   	of finished games, and all tournament players can read what happened in each
   	of the other games.  The one exception is the final game, which will be
   	public.

5. "Limited Diplomacy:"  You are limited to two diplomatic email messages 
   	per turn.  Your turn-change message is always considered a diplomatic message. 
   	You may send one other diplomatic message at any time between your last 
   	turn-change message and your next one.  Non-diplomatic email (such as rules 
   	clarification questions and messages to point out rules errors) may be 
   	sent as often as you wish.

6. "No Impersonations:"  It goes without saying that falsifying messages is 
   	considered cheating.  You can lie in your own messages, but you can't 
   	change what others have written or pretend to be someone else!

7. See the Moderators' Bible for more details.