ARMADA Year 2000 Regatta
Schedule and Rules

Welcome to the Regatta!

Thank you for coming to the Y2K ARMADA Regatta! This tournament was organized by the Association of Rocky Mountain Area Diplomacy Adversaries, and the fact that it is our first tournament may be all too apparent. With your help and suggestions, however (be sure to fill out the comments form!), the regatta will assume at least a humble place among the other regional U.S. Diplomacy tournaments.

To help kick us off properly, we're proud to have in attendance a few of the more recognizable names of the national hobby: Larry Peery, Edi Birsan, and Chris Martin! In fact, we've even convinced them to say a few words, and we hope you can make it to the scheduled lectures on Saturday afternoon.

Take a look at the rules -- we're using a unique playing system, one that should result in some exciting games. Remember, to qualify for most of the prizes, you'll need to participate in at least three of the four rounds of play. In addition to crowning the Rocky Mountain Champion, we will be awarding a bunch of other prizes on Sunday afternoon (and not all of them will go to the winners!). Best of all, we'll be having a lot of fun all weekend.

The organizing committee has worked hard to make the regatta a success, and they deserve a heap of thanks for their efforts. So if you run into Sean Roberts, Dave Scully, or Robert Steinke, smile while you stab them. For all their work, though, the success of the regatta is now out of their hands and in yours. Enjoy!

Merchandise!

ARMADA and ARMADA Regatta T-shirts and mousepads can be ordered from the tournament director to help defray the cost of the regatta. Your purchases will be greatly appreciated, and the prices are very reasonable.

Schedule

Friday 11 February

6:00 P.M. Welcome and registration for all rounds.
6:30 P.M. Orientation for new players.
6:45 P.M. Registration for round 1 ends.
7:00 P.M. Round 1.

Saturday 12 February

7:45 A.M. Registration for round 2 ends.
8:00 A.M. Round 2
12:00 Noon until 4:00 P.M. Social time/organized luncheon (some round 2 games may still continue until 2 P.M., at which time those players join the fun)
4:00 P.M. Lectures:

"Conventional Wisdom" by Chris Martin (1998 World Champion)
"Escalation Diplomacy and Unconventional Wisdom" by Edi Birsan

6:45 P.M. Registration for round 3 ends.
7:00 P.M. Round 3.

Sunday 13 February

7:45 A.M. Registration for round 4 ends.
8:00 A.M. Round 4.
2:00 P.M. Awards Ceremony.

Regatta Rules

Player Seeding
The tournament director will assign players to specific tables in each round, and will assign each to a specific power.
- Games will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If a player does not register for a round in time to be in a group of seven, he will not be able to play that round unless he drafts enough players to fill another table before the round's registration deadline.
- Placement in the first round will be random.
- In subsequent rounds, an attempt will be made to minimize the number of players who play against opponents they had faced in earlier rounds.
- Each player will play a different power in each round.
- The tournament director will publicly announce the table and country assignments of all players before each round. Players are asked to keep noise to a minimum during this announcement.
- A scoring sheet for the game will be provided to each table.
Game Format
Each game will terminate:
- In a solo victory if any single player:
  1. controls more centers than each other individual player,
  2. controls more supply centers than he or she had owned at the conclusion of the previous game-year, and
  3. controls at least a specific number of supply centers (the number required is based on the game-year and is shown in the table below and on the game scoring sheet):
    
    Game-Year: 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
    
    Centers to Win: 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 DIAS
  NOTE: Players should be aware that this system does accelerate the arrival of the end-game and take away some of the strategy of stalemate lines. For example, in a normal game, England could set up the Gibraltar stalemate line and guarantee himself a place in the draw as long as no one reached 18 centers. Here at the regatta, however, an opponent could win with a smaller number of centers, which would make the English stalemate line useless.
- In a solo victory if all players controlling at least one supply center vote (unanimously) to concede the game to a specific single power. Such a vote shall be supervised by the tournament director (who shall be summoned to the table by any player), and shall be conducted in secret.
- In a draw shared equally among all players controlling at least one supply center if all such players vote for such a result. This vote shall be supervised by the tournament director (who shall be summoned to the table by any player), and shall be conducted in secret.
- In a draw shared equally among all players controlling at least one supply center if the game-year 1913 is played to its conclusion without the game having terminated otherwise.
- In a draw shared equally among all players controlling at least one supply center if the game is played more than six hours without having terminated otherwise.

Game-Year:	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913	1914
Centers to Win:	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	DIAS

Negotiation and Timing
We're going to be moving pretty quickly! To allow a game to reach the final scheduled game-year in the six hours allowed for each round, two full game-years would have to be played in an hour! This will be difficult at the beginning of the game, but will become easier as the game goes along. Games are free to lag behind schedule in the early game, but all games must complete the first eight years of the game in four hours. In addition to announcing the time each fifteen minutes and the game-year that an on-schedule game should be entering at each half-hour interval, the tournament director will be monitoring the games to ensure that all games can conclude in the six-hour timeframe.

Scoring Sheets and Order Booklets
Each game will be scored individually.

It shall be the duty of the players at each table to fill out a scoring sheet for the table and submit it to the tournament director at the conclusion of the game.
Before the scoring sheet is submitted, each player must initial the line of the scoring sheet that applies to him.
Each player in a game will be given an order booklet that is to be used to issue all his orders in that game. These booklets are to be turned in with the game scoring sheet, so that a complete record of the game can be archived.

Scoring System

The following points will be awarded to each player after each game.
- 750 points to a solo victor
- 330 points to a participant in a two-way draw
- 190 points to a participant in a three-way draw
- 120 points to a participant in a four-way draw
- 80 points to a participant in a five-way draw
- 50 points to a participant in a six-way draw
- 30 points to a participant in a seven-way draw
- 0 points to a player achieving any other result
- For each solo victory or draw result achieved by the player:
  - 1 point is subtracted for each year of game-play in that game.
- For each elimination, loss, or concession to another player:
  - 1 point is added for each year of game-play by the player before the elimination, loss, or concession.
  - 1 point is added per victorious or drawing power in that game (that is, one point for a solo victory, two points if the game ended in a two-way, etc.)
At registration, each player will be assigned a number known only to that player and the tournament director. The sum scores of all players will be posted after each round, but players will be identified in these posted rankings only by number. Players are free and encouraged to keep their player numbers secret.
Each player's three highest-scoring rounds are summed to obtain the player's score for the tournament. Players must finish three rounds to be eligible for the championship and other prizes (second place, etc.) that are based on the tournament rankings.
Players shall be ranked by score at the conclusion of the tournament. Ties will be broken in favor of the player having the highest score obtained in any game in which the tied players opposed each other. If a tie remains, the players will be declared tied.

Prizes
- El Capitán -- Year 2000 Regatta Champion. Awarded to the player with the greatest point total for his or her highest-scoring three rounds played.
- First Mate -- Second Place. Awarded to the player finishing second.
- Boatswain -- Third Place. Awarded to the player finishing third.
- Best Countries:
  The Nicholas Horthy Award -- Best Austria
  The Horatio Nelson Award -- Best England
  The Gauchet Award -- Best France
  The Alfred von Tirpitz Award -- Best Germany
  The Andréa Doria Award -- Best Italy
  The Aleksandr Kolchak Award -- Best Russia
  The Hayreddin Barbarossa Award -- Best Turkey
  These awards, all named after naval leaders of the nations, are awarded to the players who achieve the highest score playing each of the seven powers. (A player need not finish three rounds of play to qualify for these awards.)
  Best Stab. Awarded to the player who performed the best stab (as selected from among the write-ups provided by players on the game scoring sheets).
  Other Awards. Yes, there are other awards. No, you won't find out what they are until Sunday.
Rules of Common Courtesy
Players are asked to bring the expression or commission of any profane, obscene, offensive, or violent language, gestures, or acts to the the attention of the tournament director. Tournament expulsion (after a single warning) is the only penalty for such behavior. This rule applies at all times, not just during game play.
Regatta Games and ARMADA Player Ratings
All games played at an ARMADA tournament are ARMADA-sanctioned, and will be (separately) rated for purposes of individual ARMADA member ratings, using the ARMADA EIDRaS rating system.
All non-ARMADA members participating in a game shall be considered to be provisionally rated at ARMADA EIDRaS rating of 1000 for the purposes of rating any and all such games.

ARMADA Year 2000 Regatta Schedule and Rules

Welcome to the Regatta!

Merchandise!

Schedule

Regatta Rules

Scoring System

Prizes

Rules of Common Courtesy

Regatta Games and ARMADA Player Ratings

ARMADA Year 2000 Regatta
Schedule and Rules