In 2018, when the ARMADA reconstituted itself after the long hiatus, a new scoring and rating system was adopted. This is used in all ARMADA group games. Why? Because it's the best. Here it is, in all its glory.

1. Game Conclusion Criteria

1.1. Draws Include All Survivors (DIAS)

All games are played until either a true victory is achieved (by a player owning 18 or more supply centers), or until all players owning one or more supply centers unanimously agree, by secret ballot, either to concede the game to a single other such player, or to share a draw (between all such players).

1.2. Time-Limited Games

The only games that are not subject to rule 1.1 are time-limited games, such as games in the final round of a multi-round tournament. For time-limited tournament games, the tournament director shall secretly determine a time-of-day or final-game-year after which any games still being played will be declared to be draws that include all survivors. For time-limited group games, the players play until an agreed-upon time-of-day, after when a draw including all survivors is declared.

2. Points and Scoring

2.1. Total Points Awarded

The total points awarded to all players in a game is 420 (the least common multiple of all numbers from 1 through 7).

2.2. Points Awarded to Losing Players (LPs)

The point award made to a player who is either eliminated or who survives but loses to a sole victor is:

(the player's elimination order) × (number of game-years he played) + (SCs owned by the player)
—or—
60 [whichever is less]

• The elimination order for a "surviving player" (one who is not eliminated but who loses to another player who either achieves a true victory or had the game conceded to him) is one greater than the number of eliminated players.
• Otherwise, a player's elimination order is the order in which he was eliminated, by game-year. That is, the first player to be eliminated — if he is the only player eliminated after that game-year — has an elimination order of 1, and that of the second such player to be eliminated is 2.
• When more than one player is eliminated during the same game-year, the elimination order of all such players is the average of the elimination orders that they would have had if eliminated in different years. For example, if the third and fourth players to be eliminated are eliminated after the same game-year, the elimination order for both players is (3+4)/2, which is 3.5.

2.3. Points Awarded to Winning Players (WPs)

The point award made to a player who is either a sole victor (achieving either a true victory or having had the game conceded to him) or who shares in a draw is:

420 − (sum of all points awarded to LPs) + (total SCs owned by WPs)
	− (SCs owned by the player)
(number of WPs)

2.4 Notes and Commentary

• In a Solo Victory...
  • A solo victory scores higher after each elimination. This is intentional, as it indicates that the eventual victor was able to falsely convince a greater number players of their eventual participation in a draw, and then deny it to them, while dealing with the likely increased size and the closer cooperation of a dwindling number of opponents.
  • A victor who holds more than 18 centers receives no more reward than one who holds 18 (or who holds fewer but to whom a game is conceded). This is intentional, to prevent pointless center-contributions in order to inflate a winning player's score.

• In a Concession...
  • An earlier concession scores higher than a later one.
  • However, this is not true after 1910, since all conceding players then receive the maximum number of points possible for an unsuccessful player (60), no matter how much longer the game might be prolonged; that is, after 1910, the scoring system encourages concession to an obvious solo victor rather than unnecessary prolonging of play.
  • As a counterpoint to this, though, a player seeking a concession even after 1910 is incented, at his own peril, to veto a concession to himself in order to receive a higher score, if he is confident that one or more players can yet be eliminated without putting his achievement at risk (but this incentive fades and disappears over time).

• In a Draw...
  • An earlier draw does not score higher than the same draw, agreed to later. That is, there is no reward to continuing play after the only players remaining are those who will participate in a draw.
  • The power(s) in the draw who have fewer supply centers are rewarded (minimally) more points than those who have a greater number of supply centers. This is intentional, and is meant to encourage eliminating opponents in order to achieve a higher score, and to reward those players who, despite a small size, make themselves so integral to a draw that they cannot be safely eliminated by the larger players.

• In an Elimination...
  • A player is incented to do his best to postpone his own elimination until one or more other players are eliminated, even if during the same game-year as his own elimination. This is intentional, not only to prevent playing with an air of resignation but also to encourage a small player to become useful to the larger players, which may perhaps lead to a change of fate.

3. ARMADA Members-Only Games and Ratings

3.1. Member Ratings

Each member of the ARMADA has a rating based on his or her point-awards in completed games played among the members of the group. Before playing any such games, each member holds an initial rating of zero points.

3.2. Player Game Ante (in ARMADA-members-only games)

Games that are played exclusively between ARMADA members are referred to as "rated games". In such games, each player contributes points as an ante from their rating to make up the game's 420-point "pot". Each ante varies according to each player's rating at the time of the game. The point-award received from a completed game is then added to the player's rating at the conclusion of the game. The number of points contributed by a player as his ante is determined as specified below.

• The "ante adjustment" used in the formula below is 210 (one-half pot-worth of points).
• Each player's ante is:

  	(player's rating) + (ante adjustment)
  420 ×
  	(sum of all player ratings) + (ante adjustment) × 7

3.3. Notes and Commentary

• The determination of ante points to be contributed by each player is calculated to act as a handicap, such that the higher-ranked players put more of their points at risk than do the lower-ranked players in a game. In this way, a top-ranked player will not gain many points by succeeding against a field of weaker players, but a low-ranked player who achieves a successful result in a game in which higher-ranked players do not will see his rating points well-rewarded from the contribution of the higher-ranked player(s).
• An absolute minimum rating exists at about -210 points. Once a player has a rating that is below this number, he will actually be rewarded rating points simply for playing. This is intentional.

4. Extraordinary Situations

4.1. Missing Man Games

Should only six players be available to play, a randomly-selected power will be chosen to be unplayed. Before each negotiation phase in which the missing power is eligible to participate, one of the other active players is chosen randomly to issue orders for the unplayed power (the same player will also issue any retreat and adjustment orders for that power following the movement phase). Once a power has done so, that power shall not do so again unless and until all other active powers have done so (at which time all powers again become eligible to be randomly chosen).

For the purposes of rating, this "Seventh Player" is considered to be a member of the ARMADA and shall ante into the game pot accordingly.

4.2. Player Replacement

A player wishing to leave a game early (that is, while still owning one or more supply centers) may be replaced by a human replacement or by Missing Man rules (see 4.1, above). In the case of human replacement, if the player finishes the game as a Winning Player (WP) and (in rated games) if the point-award exceeds the player's ante, then the point-award will be exclusively credited to the player finishing the game. Otherwise, the point-award (and responsibility to ante for the game) will go to the original player.

4.3. Abandoned Positions

A player wishing to leave a game early (that is, while still owning one or more supply centers) and not being replaced by a human or by Missing Man rules may choose to provide the other players with a "Last Will", indicating behavior to order for his unit(s) in upcoming turns. This document may be as simple or complicated as the player wishes, with conditional clauses ("if there is a foreign unit in such-and-so location, then..."), etc. Should no provision be made in the "Last Will", the player's intentions will be taken as pure civil disorder (HOLD in a movement phase, DISBAND in a retreat phase, WAIVE if allowed a build, remove in an order determined by the remaining players — or randomly if no agreement can be made — if forced to remove in an adjustment phase, and a vote to AGREE to any draw or concession proposal).

The writing of such a "Last Will" should be done "on the clock" during a negotiation period unless all players agree otherwise. The contents of a "Last Will" shall remain concealed from the remaining players until the orders for the next phase of the game are revealed for adjudication.