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The long-awaited return of the greatest Diplomacy tournament
ever held this side of (and this close to) the South Platte River!

ENTRY FEE: $0.00!

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Tournament Director, Assistants, Support Staff
  • Manus Hand, Jacob Hickey, Tony Kerstiens, Gabe Melchor, Tyler Scherpenseel.
Confirmed Players
  • Traveling: Edi Birsan (California), Matthew Crill (Washington), Cameron Higbe (Missouri), Ben Kellman (Michigan), Karthik Konath (California), Dariusz Murakowski (Pennsylvania), Edward Prem (Texas), Ed Sullivan (Texas), Kate Sullivan (Texas), Keith Worstell (North Carolina).
  • ARMADA: Rob Ancona, Bob Andrew, G. Paul Bailey, Derek Bassett, Troy Bettinger, Darren Bolding, Clark Brace, Alisha Cardin, Jason Clymer, Eber Condrell, Chris Hiles, Dawson Kern, Chris Nicholson, Gabe Racz, Brian Rhodes, Pierce Thompson, Emmett Wainwright, Russell Weisfield, Caleb Wohn.
Standby Players
  • ARMADA: Andy Carr, Jameson Hand, Chris Lavalette.

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Playing Site
  • 7600 East Orchard Road, Greenwood Village, Colorado [Google Maps]
  • This is a multi-story office building with ample parking, with the signage "BELLCO" on its top floor.
  • Registration and gaming area is in the lower level (one floor down from the entrance).
  • More Site Details and Events:
    • Food and Drink:
      • Condrell Cookout: Between rounds on Saturday, the ARMADA's very own Eber Condrell will be grilling up burgers, brats, and dogs on an outdoor grill at the venue's plaza.
      • Sunday Sandwiches: After the Sunday round, the ARMADA will provide sandwich fixings. Any and all leftovers from Saturday's Cookout will also be looking for bellies to fill.
      • Snacks and Soft Drinks and Beer: The ARMADA will provide plenty of snacks, soft drinks, beer, coffee, etc.
      • Anything Else You Want (BYO): Any and all other food and drinks must be brought in (UberEats, etc.). The ARMADA will contribute to pizza (etc.) orders.
    • Silent Auction: Many games (provided by Renegade Game Studios and others) will be offered for silent auction.
    • Board Raffle: (if sufficient refundable tickets are sold at $20 apiece)
      • First drawn ticket (grand prize): The ARMADA's Big Wooden Board!
      • Second drawn ticket: A pre-release edition of Diplomacy, supplied by Renegade Games Studios!
    • Open Board Gaming: Plenty of table space is available for open gaming between rounds; many games and jigsaw puzzles provided.
    • Other Games: Outdoor putting green, sit-down Pac-Man (both free)!
Hotel (and Welcome Dinner location)
  • DoubleTree by Hilton Denver Tech Center
  • 7801 East Orchard Road, Greenwood Village, Colorado [Google Maps]
  • The hotel is walking distance (literally catacorner, across a single set of stoplights) from the playing site.
Transportation From and To the Airport
  • Player-pickup by an ARMADA member (ask us; we can help!)
  • Light Rail — 1 hour 20 minutes — FREE!
    • Take the A ("Austria") Line from Denver International Airport — 37 minutes
    • At Union Station (end of the line), transfer to the E ("England") Line — 33 minutes
    • Leave the train at the Orchard Station [Google Maps].
    • The hotel is a very short walk south, without even crossing any streets.
  • RTD Bus (FREE!) and rental car are also options.
  • Uber or Lyft — 30–40 minutes — $85+ each way.

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Friday, July 14
  • 7:00 PM: Welcome Dinner at Zink (restaurant located inside the nearby hotel) — be sure to RSVP in time to ensure a seat!
Saturday, July 15
  • 8:00 AM: First round registration begins; seedings posted and announced at 8:45
  • 9:00 AM: First round play begins
    • To accommodate coverage by the Diplomacy Broadcast Network (DBN), a player in every game of the tournament will be expected to record the game using backstabbr.
  • Afternoon: Condrell Cowboy Cookout. Burgers, brats, and dogs! Come and get it!
  • 3:30 PM: Lecture by Edi Birsan: The Immaculate Concession.
  • 4:00 PM: Second round registration begins; seedings posted and announced at 4:45
  • 5:00 PM: Second round games begins
Sunday, July 16
  • 8:00 AM: Third round registration begins; seedings posted and announced at 8:45
  • 9:00 AM: Third round play begins
  • 11:00 AM-1:00 PM: Silent Auction tables close; winning bidders collect purchases
  • Afternoon: Sunday Sandwiches. Cold cuts and condiments. Come and get it!
  • 1:45 PM: Board Raffle winners drawn and announced
  • 2:00 PM: Awards ceremony
    • Regatta Champion, 2nd Place, and 3rd Place
    • Best Powers
    • Other Awards (Best Stab and a few surprises)

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Game Scoring ("Duct Tape", as described and defended by Eber Condrell in DW #161)
  • For a solo victor and for each participant in a draw: 10 pts.
  • For the single player (if any) owning more supply centers than any other player: 5 pts.
  • For each supply center owned at game-end (solo victors are credited with all 34 centers): 1 pt.
EXAMPLES:
  • A solo victor will receive 49 points.
  • A player participating in a two-way draw will receive 27 points.
  • A player owning 17 centers in a larger draw will receive 32 points.
  • A player owning 3 centers in a draw will receive 13 points.
  • An eliminated player, or a player surviving to see a solo victory by another player, receives 0 points.
For tie-breaking purposes only, the number of game-years played will be factored in, with fewer years-played being adjudged better in the case of a solo or draw result, and with more years of play being adjudged better in the case of a loss or elimination.

Tournament Scoring
  • A player's tournament score is the sum of the scores achieved in all three rounds of play, counting a score of 0 for any round not played.
  • Ties for any awarded prize (1st, 2nd, etc.) will be broken based on years-played (see above), then by highest game score, then by second-highest game score, then by highest score in any game played by all players involved in the tie, and finally by highest power-difficulty, considering the powers played, with France=2, Turkey=3, England=5, Russia=7, Italy=11, Germany=13, Austria=17.
  • Should any tie remain unbreakable, the prize (or first choice of prize, if multiple are to be awarded) shall go to the player who travelled furthest to participate in the event.
  • Ties for other rankings and prizes will not be broken.
Timing and Deadlines
  • An optional Central Clock (15 minutes for movement phases, 3 minutes for Spring retreats, and 5 minutes for Fall retreats and adjustments) will be projected throughout the tournament.
  • Only During Game-Year 1901 of First Round Games:
    • All first round games must use the Central Clock throughout game-year 1901.
    • A Tournament Director must be called to read orders and adjudicate both 1901 movement phases in every first round game. The Central Clock will be paused, and some games may need to wait for a Director to visit the board.
  • After Game-Year 1901 of the First Round Games, and Throughout All Later Games:
    • Every game may choose to either continue to follow the Central Clock or to establish its own deadlines and use a separate timer. If consensus cannot be reached by the players, the game must use the Central Clock.
    • Players will be responsible for adjudicating all orders (although assistance of a Tournament Director may always be requested).
  • Each game may decide on its own rules for deadline enforcement. That is, writing or grace time may be allowed or forbidden, according to the decision of the players. If no decision can be made, deadlines shall be strictly enforced, with orders that are not submitted by the deadline deemed to be too late to be submitted.
  • The Central Clock will not...
    • ...be paused for the conduct of any game's draw votes, unless that game is the only game following the Central Clock.
    • ...be restarted for use by any Second-Chance game if any ongoing game is following that clock.
Draw and Concession Rules
  • All draws must include all survivors (votes may only be called for draws including all players owning 1+ supply center).
  • Votes to concede to a single player may be called.
  • Only one draw vote (and/or one concession vote) may be called for in any single game-season.
  • A Tournament Director must be called to officiate each draw/concession vote.
  • A forced draw will be declared in any game that reaches the end of game-year 1918, and in any game during Round Three that does not complete by a time-of-day that will be secretly determined and left unannounced by the Tournament Director. Any such game shall be drawn as of the end of the most recent game-year for which all players' Fall orders had been submitted (even if not adjudicated yet).
Replacement and Double-Duty Players
  • If a player must leave a game before its conclusion, the player must be replaced, unless owning only a single supply center, which entitles the player to declare any owned unit to be in civil disorder for the remainder of the game. The departed player will be considered to vote to AGREE to any proposal that the power is eligible to vote on after leaving the game. Should such a player become eligible to build, the build shall be considered WAIVEd.
  • If a power that is replaced is eliminated or loses to a solo victor, the game score will be awarded to the original player. However, if such a power wins or shares in a draw, the game score will be awarded to the replacement player.
  • If a person plays two games in the same round (with any Second-Chance game counting as a first-round game), the player's score for the round shall be the greater of the two scores that the player may have achieved.

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ARMADA House Rules
  • Invalid Orders
    • Any order that is illegible, incomprehensible, illegal, impossible, or in conflict with another submitted order is considered invalid. A Tournament Director may, but need not, be called upon to assist players in determining if an order is invalid.
    • An invalid or unsubmitted movement phase or retreat phase order shall be deemed to be a valid HOLD or DISBAND order for the specified unit. If the unit in such an order is non-existent or illegible, the invalid order is simply ignored.
    • An invalid BUILD order shall be considered to be a valid order to WAIVE a build.
    • An invalid REMOVE order shall be ignored.
  • Surplus and Deficient Adjustment Phase Orders
    • If a player submits more valid BUILD or REMOVE orders than the player is eligible or required to issue, the surplus orders (those lowest/last in written order, or chosen by a Tournament Director if this is not clear) shall be ignored.
    • If a player submits fewer valid BUILD orders than the player is eligible to issue, the unsubmitted builds shall be declared to be WAIVEd.
    • If a player submits fewer valid REMOVE orders than are required, a Tournament Director shall be called to decide the remaining unit(s) to be removed by the power, with no appeal allowed. [Note that any REMOVE orders that are issued by a Tournament Director need not follow any particular written rule for Civil Disorder removals.]
  • Multi-Coast Moves, Supports, and Builds
    • An order for a fleet to move from the Mid-Atlantic Ocean or Portugal to Spain or from Constantinople to Bulgaria and that fails to specify a destination coast is invalid, and thus becomes a valid HOLD order.
    • An order for a fleet to deliver support across any of these same boundaries and that specifies any coast (whether correct or incorrect) as the location or destination of the supported unit is valid; such an order is treated as if the coast specification had been omitted.
    • A Russian order to BUILD a fleet in St Petersburg, and that does not specify the coast on which the fleet is to be built is invalid, and therefore becomes a WAIVEd build. Such an order also conflicts with (and thus also invalidates) any other submitted order to build a fleet on a specific coast of St Petersburg.
  • Convoy Paths and Handling Pandin's Paradox
    • Specification of the convoy path in an army's convoy order is encouraged at all times (ex.: A Bul–BLA–Sev) but is not mandated.
    • If an army can make its ordered move without being convoyed, and if no convoy path (or "by convoy") is written in the order, then the army move is by land, and any corresponding convoy order issued to any fleet is declared to be void.
    • However, if an army can only be convoyed to reach its ordered destination, and if no convoy path is specified in its order, then if any one or more convoying path that could be used consists entirely of fleets that were not dislodged, the convoy is successful and is not considered disrupted.
    • A convoyed army does not cut support given to an attack against one of the fleets along its convoy path.
  • Proxies
    • Proxy orders — specifying that some other, foreign, power is entitled to issue the order to be followed by the specified unit — are invalid. Play The Game yourself.
Regatta Penalties
  • Delay Of Game
    • If two or more players agree that another player in their game should be cautioned or penalized for excessive tardiness in submission of orders, they shall summon a Tournament Director, and if the Tournament Director verifies that the deadline agreed to by the players has indeed expired, the derelict player shall first be cautioned, and given one minute to submit the late orders, after which the orders shall be declared too late for submission. If only a single player wishes to call for a Delay of Game caution or penalty, the Tournament Director shall allow the tardy player(s) three minutes for order submission before imposing the penalty.
    • At this point, and/or immediately on any subsequent such complaints during the game, the player's orders shall be considered unsubmitted, and subject to the House Rules regarding invalid and unsubmitted orders.
  • Personal Foul
    • If two or more players (whether participants in the offending player's game or not) agree that any player is behaving inappropriately, they shall summon a Tournament Director, and if the Tournament Director also agrees, the offending player will be cautioned or ejected.
    • On the initial complaint against a player, the player shall be cautioned (unless the offense is deemed severe by the Tournament Director, in which case the offending player shall be ejected from the tournament with no appeal), and the Tournament Director will then determine if the inappropriate behavior has ceased.
    • If the inappropriate behavior continues after the caution, or (if it does not) immediately on any subsequent complaint lodged against a player who has been previously cautioned — even if the complaint is made in a later game —, the player shall be ejected from the tournament, with no appeal allowed.
    • The behavior of any ejected player will be reported by the ARMADA to the North American Diplomacy Federation for its consideration of any further disciplinary action.

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  • Because it's high time!

  • And why not?!

  • And so that we can...

    ...Stab you soon!