WDC XIII
Schedule and Rules

Welcome

Thank you for coming to the fourth ARMADA Regatta, host of the 2003 World Diplomacy Convention (World DipCon XIII). This convention was organized by the Association of Rocky Mountain Area Diplomacy Adversaries (ARMADA), one of the largest regional player associations in North America. In its second year, the Regatta hosted the 2001 North American Championships at DipCon XXXIV, and is now honored to be hosting the 2003 World Championships.

We are proud to have in attendance quite a few of the most recognizable names in the worldwide Diplomacy hobby! We hope that everyone will get the chance to get to know everyone else. Remember, this is a convention, not just a tournament. Yes, the World Championship tournament is a big part of the convention, but it's just one part. The more important part is the convention -- the largest annual gathering of international Diplomacy players. When you're not occupied by the tournament, be sure you don't miss the chance to participate in the convention!

This document covers the event schedule and our unique tournament playing system, one that results in many exciting games.

Merchandise

World DipCon XIII t-shirts and mousepads can be ordered from the tournament director. Participants who have pre-ordered one or more t-shirts will be able to pay for these and pick them up from the tournament director.

Convention Schedule

Tuesday 11 February
Thursday 13 February
Friday 14 February
Saturday 15 February
Sunday 16 February

Tournament Rules

  1. Player Seeding

    1. The tournament director will assign players to specific tables in each round, and will assign each to a specific power.
    2. Placement in the first round will be random, except that members of the same family (father/son, husband/wife, etc.) and members of other known relationships will not be placed on the same board.
    3. In subsequent rounds, an attempt will be made to minimize the number of players who play against opponents they had faced in earlier rounds, with the same strong preference against co-placement of players having off-board associations, such as familial kinship.
    4. Each player will play a different power in each round, and seeding will ensure as much as possible that each player will play a power from a different geographical area in each round, with the areas being Austria/Italy, England/France, Russia/Turkey, and Germany.
    5. The tournament director will publicly announce the table and power assignments of all players before each round. Players are asked to keep noise to a minimum during this announcement.
    6. Games will be filled with preference to those players who have traveled furthest to attend. That is, if the tournament director is not able to draft enough players to round out the player count to a multiple of seven, ARMADA members will be asked to sit out.

  2. Tournament System

    1. A game will end in a victory at the beginning of an adjustments phase, if the following three conditions are all met:
      1. There is a single power owning more supply centers than any other power, and
      2. The largest power has increased its supply center count in the just-completed game-year, and
      3. The largest power 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 provided to each table):
        Game-Year: 1901-190519061907190819091910191119121913+
        SC's to Win: 1817161514121086

      If all three of the above conditions exist, then the power with the greatest supply center count is awarded the victory.

    2. A game will end in a victory if all players who control 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.

    3. A two-way draw vote can be called for if for two consecutive game-years, both players satisfied victory criteria 2 and 3 as listed in rule II.A, and (while not satisfying criteria 1, because their supply center counts were tied) both owned more supply centers than all other powers. In the draw vote, the only balloted players will be the two players that would be involved in the draw.

    4. A game will end in a draw shared equally among all surviving players (that is, all players who control 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.

    5. A game will end in a draw shared equally among all surviving players (that is, all players who control at least one supply center) if the tournament director calls an end to the games. This eventuality could occur, if need be, on the final round of play, to ensure that the scheduling of the final day is followed well enough for players to depart on time, and for the facility to be vacated as required. The tournament director will only make such a call at the beginning of an adjustments phase, and the call will apply to all games still being played.

    About This System
    • This system of play, developed by David Norman of the U.K., is intended to accelerate the arrival of the end-game, such that the entire range of play, from opening to mid-game to end-game, can be experienced in a compressed timeframe.
    • The system rewards end-game play in the same way that the standard rules do. If players are successful in preventing the leader from growing and are successful in preventing a non-leader from overtaking the leader and reaching the victory threshold, a draw can result.
    • Like the European C-Diplo system, the objective is to become the single largest power on the board at the proper time. Like the standard rules, if every player is prevented from claiming a victory, all of the players who survive the attempt share equal credit for the draw.
    • Like all tournament systems, this system chooses to preserve some part of the standard terminating conditions and modify other parts to ensure that the game can be played in the time allotted. Some systems choose to modify the rule that all draws must include survivors by allowing players to vote themselves out of a draw, and/or to be voted out by a sufficient number of opposed supply centers. Other systems choose to modify the rule that the game must end in a solo or a draw, instead assigning ranks to the players by their supply center count after a specific game-year. The ARMADA system chooses to preserve the "draws include all survivors" rule and simply take a different approach to fitting the game to the time available.
    • Players should be aware that (as in C-Diplo and systems in which surviving players can be voted out of a draw by the vote of a sufficient number of opposed centers) this system does 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 a place in the draw as long as no other player reached 18 centers. Here at the Regatta, however, an opponent could claim a victory with a smaller number of centers, which would make the English stalemate line useless.

  3. Scoring System

    1. The following points will be awarded to each player after each game.
      • 104 points to a single victor
      •  80 points to a participant in a two-way draw
      •  56 points to a participant in a three-way draw
      •  40 points to a participant in a four-way draw
      •  32 points to a participant in a five-way draw
      •  24 points to a participant in a six-way draw
      •  16 points to a participant in a seven-way draw
      •   0 points to a player achieving any other result
    2. For each victory or draw result achieved by the player, a reduction is made to the point award based on the final game-year. The number of points subtracted from the score is determined by the table below:
      Game-Year: 190119021903190419051906 1907
      Game-Year Points 1.002.013.034.065.10 6.157.21
      Game-Year: 19081909191019111912 1913 1914
      Game-Year Points: 8.289.3610.4511.5512.66 13.78 14.91
      and in general, by the formula yrs + yrs × (yrs - 1) / 200 (where yrs is the number of game-years played).
    3. For each elimination, loss, or concession to another player, the "Game-Year" points (from the table above) are added to the player's score, according to the game-year in which the player's elimination, loss, or concession occurred.
    4. Players shall be ranked by total score at the conclusion of the tournament, with the player's single lowest score from among the four rounds of play not being considered in the total.
    5. Ties will be broken:
      1. in favor of the player with the highest score obtained in any game in which the tied players opposed each other.
      2. in favor of the player with the highest score considering all four rounds of play.
      3. in favor of the player whose highest single-game score is greater.
      4. in favor of the player whose second-highest single-game score is greater.
      5. in favor of the player for whom the average tournament game score of all of the opponents faced is highest.
      6. in favor of the player for whom the tournament is furthest from home.
      If a tie remains, the players will be declared tied.

    About This System
    • This scoring system, developed to complement the system of play at the Regatta, rewards players who succeed quickest while encouraging players to play a poor position as long as possible.
    • The point differentials are based on the average player game length at prior Regatta tournaments, which is between seven and eight game-years.

  4. Negotiation, Adjudication, and Deadlines

    1. Negotiation and submission of orders for a particular movement phase must be completed on or before the same time-of-day on all boards.
    2. The time remaining before orders must have been submitted for a particular movement phase will be visible throughout the tournament play area at all times on computer or projection screens.
    3. The time allowed for negotiations and order-writing before orders for a particular movement phase must be submitted is shown in the following table:
       1901-19051906+
      Spring20 minutes18 minutes
      Fall17 minutes15 minutes
      Note that the clock is always running! As soon as the time period leading up to Spring 1901 expires, the time leading to the deadline for Fall 1901 begins. Yes, this means that the time you spend adjudicating a movement phase on the board, and submitting and adjudicating any retreats and adjustments does indeed eat into the time you have before the orders for the next movement phase must be submitted.
    4. Players are to limit game conversation to those players involved in their own games. Violations are to be reported to the Tournament Director, who shall instruct the players against this behavior and take other action for repeated violation.
    5. The deadline clock may be interrupted for the purposes of meal or restroom breaks. If such an interruption occurs, the tournament director will inform all players of their responsibility and the time at which the clock will re-start. Any meal breaks will take place after submission and before adjudication of a Spring movement phase.
    6. Each table will be provided a box or box-top into which all orders are to be submitted. Players are expected to rigidly obey the deadlines, and to have their orders submitted before the deadline expires.
    7. Responsibility for adjudication lies with the players. Players may freely determine (in any manner) which player at each turn is to read the submitted orders. This player is to read his own orders before all others.
    8. Any players who have failed to submit orders for their units into the box on the table at the time the deadline expires will see all their units hold (with the ability to receive support).
    9. Some leniency will exist, allowing players to submit their order set up to thirty seconds late before the above penalty is applied, but this is guaranteed only once per game per player -- repeat offenders will be tolerated only as determined by the other players in the game. If any player on a board objects to a second or subsequent request or attempt by another player on that board to take advantage of the thirty second extension, the player will not be afforded the extension, and his or her units will all hold if the player fails to submit orders on time. Players whose orders have been submitted before the deadline may not request their additional thirty seconds be granted to another player.
    10. If all players have submitted orders before the deadline expires, the players are free and encouraged to adjudicate their board (and any retreat and adjustments thereafter) and begin the next negotiation phase early, taking advantage of the time they have gained.

  5. Retreat and Adjustment Phases

    1. Negotiation is prohibited during the retreat and adjustment phases.
    2. After adjudication of a movement phase, players at each board should immediately submit and adjudicate any retreats and then, if necessary, submit and adjudicate adjustment orders. Remember that the clock for negotiation of the next movement phase has already begun!
    3. During these phases, if a player has orders to submit, these orders must be written down and revealed simultaneously with any other players, as during movement phases.
    4. Players should submit retreat and adjustment phase orders as quickly as possible. If a player is thought by others on the board to be taking too long to submit retreat and adjustment phase orders, the tournament director may be called to the table and he will allow up to 30 seconds for the submission of all orders before calling for the adjudication of the phase.
    5. Players who fail to properly submit and reveal written orders for a retreat or adjustment phase (that is, players who simply manipluate their pieces to execute their intentions) will receive one warning against doing so from the players on the board. If the same player repeats such an act a second or subsequent time, the penalty shall be disbanded retreats, waived builds, or removals by the "furthest from home, fleets before armies, alphabetical by space-name" rule.
    6. Despite the above rule against negotiation and discussion, during the retreat phase, a player may ask to be told the legal retreat options. If a player asks for these options, the other players should answer only by listing the adjacent locations to which the dislodged unit cannot retreat, and may not make any suggestions about which other option to take. However, it is still considered the individual player's responsibility to know and understand the legal options. If a player requires further assistance, that player may call the tournament director to the table, and the tournament director will answer any question regarding retreat possibilities. Once adjudication of the retreat phase begins, an order may not be changed, even if the player was given incorrect information concerning the legal retreat options.

  6. Recording Game Results

    1. Each game will be scored individually. A scoring sheet for will be provided to each table.
    2. It is the duty of the players at each table to fill out the scoring sheet and submit it to the tournament director at the conclusion of the game.
    3. Before the scoring sheet is submitted, each player must sign the scoring sheet on the line of the power that he or she played.
      1. Players are not to clear the game board or pieces from the table until the scoring sheet has been delivered to the tournament director and the tournament director has reviewed the board in the presence of the players.
      2. A player who is not present when the tournament director reviews the board shall be considered to have signed the scoring sheet.
      3. Any player who has not signed the scoring sheet may protest the result at the time the tournament director reviews the board. The tournament director may personally re-adjudicate the most recently played game phase to verify the reported result, and will determine whether to accept the scoring sheet or instruct that the game should continue.
      4. Once the scoring sheet has been accepted by the tournament director, the reported result cannot be altered by protest.
    4. Each player in a game will be given order pads or sheets that are to be used to issue all orders in that game.
    5. Scores and rankings of the players after each round will not be posted or otherwise available for viewing.

  7. Rules of Play

    1. Governing Rules
      1. The 1976 (USA-Avalon Hill) edition of the rules of Diplomacy will govern play in this event, with exceptions only as noted here. The Tournament Director will have a copy of these rules which a player may borrow at their request.
      2. Although the occasion to use this power is not foreseen, the tournament director is empowered to alter any of the rules listed in this document at any time, and his decisions and rulings shall be final.
    2. Convoys
      1. Players are encouraged to indicate the path of any convoyed army by listing the fleet or fleets involved (for example, A WAL — ENG — NTH — NWY) but are not required to do so. If the path is not indicated, the unit will move by land (without convoying) if possible, and if not possible, then if any fleet that has issued a convoy order to transport the army to its destination (through any complete and possible oversea route) is dislodged, the convoy will be disrupted. This includes fleets that would convoy the army through an unnecessary step in its path, including backtracking (for example, Skagerrak participating in a convoy of an army from Yorkshire to Belgium).
      2. To ensure resolution of paradoxical situations, all support orders that are offered for or against a convoying fleet cannot be cut by the action of any convoyed army under any circumstance, including dislodgement of the supporting fleet. For the purposes of this rule, a fleet is considered to be a convoying fleet if and only if it has issued a valid convoy order, and if (assuming that no other fleets are dislodged),
        1. the army that the fleet is ordered to convoy will attack (that is, successfully attempt to move to) its destination if the fleet is not dislodged, and
        2. the army that the fleet is ordered to convoy will not attack its ordered destination if the fleet is dislodged.
    3. Order Syntax
      1. It is not necessary to designate the unit type (Army or Fleet) except in build orders for coastal provinces. In all other cases, any army or fleet designation will be completely ignored and will not affect the validity of the order.
      2. It is not necessary to specify the nationality of a piece in any order to support or convoy that piece. Any listed nationality will be completely ignored and will not affect the validity of the order.
      3. The Hold order and the Stand order are identical. A unit ordered to "move to 'H'" (as in Army Belgium — H) will hold and does not attempt to move.
    4. Coastal Fleets
      1. Failure to indicate a coast on a St. Petersburg fleet build order will result in a waived build.
      2. Any fleet move or retreat order from Portugal to Spain, from the Mid-Atlantic Ocean to Spain, or from Constantinople to Bulgaria which does not include a coast specification will be considered an invalid order. In all other cases, any specification of a coast will be completely ignored when considering the validity of the order.
    5. Multiple Order Submissions
      1. If a player submits multiple order sets for a phase, and if any of the submitted sets have not been used in an earlier phase, then and only then will any and all of the player's submitted but previously used order sets be ignored and considered to have not been submitted for the current phase.
      2. If (after applying the rule above) multiple order sets have been submitted by a player, the orders on all such order sets are considered, unless any season and game-year specified on the sets of orders differ, in which case only the correctly-dated (or, should no orders be correctly dated, the latest-dated orders) are accepted. In all other cases, the season and game-year specified on a set of submitted orders is completely ignored.
    6. Movement Phase Misorders
      1. A unit ordered to move to its current location will be considered to have been ordered to hold, even if the order contains a convoy route.
      2. A unit that is unordered or is given more than one order (be they valid, invalid, or any combination of the two) in a movement phase will hold unless all orders issued to that unit are identical.
      3. All units that receive invalid orders in a movement phase will hold.
      4. A unit that receives any movement order (even if it is an invalid order or if the order is countermanded by reason of the unit having received multiple orders) is ineligible to receive support to hold its position.
    7. Retreat and Adjustment Phase Misorders
      1. Any dislodged unit which does not receive a retreat order, or which receives an invalid retreat order, or which receives two or more different retreat orders will be disbanded.
      2. If too many builds or removals are submitted on each single order set, these will be taken in the order written, from top to bottom, and any orders that appear too far down the list will be ignored and will not be considered to have been included in the submitted set.
      3. If a player has submitted two or more separate adjustment phase order lists that would result in different builds or removals, only those common to the lists will be taken; any others will be considered to have not been ordered.
      4. Any builds for which a player is eligible but for which no order was received will be waived.
      5. Failure to remove the required number of units will result in the requisite number of additional units being removed using the "furthest from home, fleets before armies, alphabetical by space-name" rule. In all cases where this rule applies, the distance from home shall be the quickest route of a unit to a home supply center using the unit's own movement capabilities except that armies are considered to be amphibious (they may move through water spaces). If need be, the tournament director can be asked to determine or verify the unit(s) to be removed by this rule.
    8. Spurious Units
      1. Flying Dutchmen (pieces that should have been removed, but were left on the board due to error on the part of the players, or pieces that were improperly added to the board through subterfuge) shall be removed immediately by the players as soon as it is detected, except that any extra piece that was on the board erroneously but was used used in any subsequent phase that was accepted as completely and properly adjudicated by all players shall remain in play.
      2. Pieces removed from the board by subterfuge shall be replaced immediately when noticed, provided that the piece was on the board either before, and participated in, the most recently adjudicated movement phase, or (if a Spring movement phase is next to be adjudicated), if the piece was properly on the board after the most recent adjustment phase.
      3. If need be, the tournament director (when called to the table) may remove a spurious piece by re-adjudication of the most recent phase.
    9. Unit Control
      1. Players may not proxy their units to be ordered by any other player.
      2. A player may issue perpetual orders and leave the game.
        3. To do so, the player must inform the tournament director of this intention and must provide the tournament director with the perpetual orders. Unless the player informs the tournament director otherwise, an absent player will vote against any draw proposal and against any concession to another player.
      3. A player who vacates a position without perpetual orders will be replaced by a player drafted by the tournament director. Unless the absence is of a nature involving extenuating circumstances (as decided by the tournament director; for example, the player takes ill or must leave the game early for the airport to make a flight), the replacement player will receive the full score for the game.

  8. Prizes

    1. El Capitán -- 2003 Regatta and World Diplomacy Champion.
    2. Second through Seventh Places.
    3. Best Performance by Each Power Awards.
    4. Team Championship -- The World Team Championship will be awarded to the three-player team (declare your team to the tournament director at registration) that scores the most points in the highest-scoring two rounds of individual play for each player in which no team member was an opponent. Seeding will ensure that all team members will be able to play at least two rounds without facing a member of the same team.
    5. Fletcher Christian Award -- Awarded to the player who performed the best stab (as selected by the tournament director).
    6. Other Awards. The other usual Regatta awards, and some new ones as well....