Rules of The MetaGame

[masterjskye]

This is going to be quite a bit different from the original Game of Games, so you may want to read the rules carefully.

Essentially You play a collection of games, over the course of many months, the results of which determine whether or not you take or hold territories on the main map, which I have dubbed The metagame. The metagame plays in rounds, first with move orders being submitted and then with the battles played out simultaneously. Then there is a ceasefire for 2 days where you scramble to decide your next moves and submit them before your time runs out. This is also a good time to collect valuable Intel on your enemies. As time passes, you will see change on the main metagame map as and when it happens.


How does this differ from the original Game of Games?

* The over-arching map is Classic Evolved.
* This is a 2v2 Head To Head Tournament.
* You get the chance to defend any territory you own.
* Initial deployment is the choice of the players, not random selection.
* Map selection is chosen by the players, not by the territory on the main board.
* Defending teams issue 3 different maps (including all settings) to their attackers. Attackers may then choose which one they wish to play. The only limitations on this are that they have to be maps you have both agreed you want to play on, and it must be casual / chance.
* You get one move order per territory, per turn. Commands provide additional move orders. Unused moves will be reserved for later use.
* You can spend your move orders on certain special attacks.
* Eliminating a team means gaining any unused move orders they own. If they use a doggy card you get 50% of their unused orders. Eliminating a team on their doggy card, or one that has already used a doggy card will result in gaining 100% of their remaining orders.
* You submit your moves out in the open on the forum. Even submitting moves will be tactical.
* Once a country has been attacked, it is under siege and may not attack or be attacked by another team.
* There is to be no diplomacy in this war. It is an all out battle to the death, and it's every team for themselves. There is to be no Cahoots here. If anyone asks you to team up, or if you are thinking about trying to rig the game by weaving a little web of diplomacy behind the scenes I urge DO NOT Do It. Play the game honourably and you will be playing it properly. So that also counts for diplomatic agreements and messages as well - there are to be none of them. Consider this another unique aspect of the MetaGame.


What do I need to do to play?

* Obviously you will need a partner and you will need to sign up your team. Post on this thread if you definitely want to play. At least one of your team should be a regular forum-checker, preferably both, and you'll need to keep a keen eye on your inbox as well.

* All participants need to have an avatar.

* Due to the amount of games played each round you must have an upgraded membership with unlimited games.

* Map Selection: Before the game begins, all teams must decide which maps they wish to play on. This is to make sure it is fun for everyone. So, all teams must submit at least 13 maps that they would be happy to play on. That eliminates your 8 least favourite maps. You may submit more than 13 if you are happy to. Once these choices are in I will design some kind of chart that has this information. Then, once we're playing, any time you play a game you are guaranteed to be playing on one of those pre-selected maps. You may change map preferences at any point during the metagame.

* Forum participation: At the start of the round, I need you to post a link (proper link not just game number) for each game you're playing. There will be a post at the beginning of the thread that I will be constantly editing and updating, and that is where you should be looking for the latest state of the game. It will have an ever-changing main map and a list of all games currently active. That way people can actually watch the games as they are happening. It's also a great way to quickly check who we are waiting on.

How will it work?

* Initial Deployment: Every team gets to choose territories to drop into to start the game. Exact amount of drop territories will depend on how many teams there are. Contestants are mailed and told to get their team's orders in on the forum within a set amount of time. Once the time has passed, moves are made. If two or more armies invade the same neutral land, a game is played between the teams for control, with the team that got their move orders in first being considered the defenders.

* Attacking & Defending: Once the drop has been established, you get 1 move order for each country you occupy. You can either choose to use these move orders to attack, or save them for later. A normal attack costs 1 move order, and can be used to try to move into any region connected to yours. If it is neutral you will automatically take control of the country, for free. If it is occupied then you must engage the defenders in a 2v2 battle for control.

Once you have control of a territory, after that if anyone else tries to take it from you, you will always have the right to defend it with a game. The defending team sets up 3 games and sends invites to attackers, who then select one. Only two teams may battle over a particular territory at a time.

* Winning & Losing:

If you win as an attacker, you will take the country you were invading.
If you lose as an attacker you will lose one move order.
If you win as a defender, you will gain one move order.
If you lose as a defender you lose your country.
​

* Move Orders: As I said you do not have to use your move orders if you don't want to. What will happen then is any unused moves will be added to your team's count (a lot like reserves in the normal game). Holding commands grants even more move orders - the same amount as shown on the brief of the original evolved map. A country may attack any number of adjacent territories if they have enough move orders, but they cannot then progress further on the same turn (I.E say you attacked Mexico from Colombia, you could not then carry on to attack Cuba on the same round. However, attacking Mexico, Peru & Amazonas from Colombia in the same turn is perfectly acceptable. It will just cost you 3 move orders).

1 Move Order: Normal Attack: The basic attack of an adjacent territory.

2 Move Orders: Surprise Attack: Under normal circumstances, the defender gets his pick of map settings to offer to the attacker. This gives the defender a natural home-field advantage. However you can perform a surprise attack that will catch them off guard and allow the attacker to choose the map & settings (As long as the map is within the accepted 13 of your competitors). Surprise attackers only need pick one map and the settings they prefer; the defenders will then have no choice in the matter. You may not "upgrade" a normal attack to a surprise attack once it has been issued. Be aware that a surprise attack used against a neutral will be counted as a valid attack and will still cost 2 move orders, even though no settings selection was involved.

4 move orders: Blitz Attack: Using a blitz attack against someone means they do not get a chance to defend their land. you take it from them outright. The only time you cannot blitz attack someone is if it is their last territory. You must always have a chance to fight for survival. Blitz attacks can only be done to adjacent territories. The blitz attack happens instantly, and allows you to attack again from the land you just conquered without having to wait till the next round. This is not a free attack, you may attack but it will still cost you move orders. You can travel a good distance per turn, if you are willing to pay for it. Once a territory has been blitzed, it may not be invaded again on the same turn. Normal attacks, surprise attacks and even stormtroopers are all useless against a recently blitzed territory. however, it may still be nuked. Blitzing cannot overwrite previous attacks on a territory. Only Nukes may overwrite/cancel out move orders. If a territory has already been attacked by someone, you may no longer blitz that country.

4 move orders: stormtroopers: The Stormtroopers are an elite unit capable of infiltrating any country anywhere on the map. However, unlike a Blitz attack, these brave souls must still battle for control of a territory from their defenders. If you use the stormtroopers on a neutral country you gain immediate control and may issue further attacks from that location on the same round. You may stil use stormtroopers even if your team is completely under siege.

5 Move Orders: Ninja: The ultimate master of subterfuge. This deadly agent represents a combination of the Surprise attack & Stormtrooper attack. He goes where he wants, and he calls the shots when he gets there.

6 Move Orders: Nuke: Nukes may be dropped on any territory, even your own, to reset ownership to neutral. Dropping a nuke will cancel out any battles that were due to occur on said territory, with any move orders used there being lost. The nuke only cancels any incoming attacks on the country you drop it on. It can not undo previous attacks that have already left that country, since all attacks happen instantly if they are valid. a territory that has been nuked becomes irradiated and may not be invaded or captured on the same round as the nuke was dropped. The nuke is the only thing that will harm a country that has been blitzed already, as it is usually invulnerable. You may not nuke a teams last territory. You may still use a nuke if your team is completely under siege.

* Submitting Moves: You make moves by submitting your orders out in the open here on the forums. You will have 2 days between rounds to get your moves in. The first day will be a ceasefire, and really just to make teams aware that they need to submit moves soon. On the second day, after the countdown has reached zero, you may begin attacking your opponents. Again, you have 24 hours to get your moves in before the game moves on. Moves may be submitted all at once, or bit by bit - it's up to you. All moves are final and you may not edit your moves once they have been posted. The moment you make a move your army will begin attacking in the Metagame. This is important, because it means that your army has already invaded your neighbour and their country is now under siege.

* Siege: When a country comes under attack, it comes Under Siege. If one or more of your countries is under siege you lose the ability to do normal attacks, surprise attacks and blitz attacks from that country during that turn. You may still use the Stormtroopers and nukes while under siege. You can also still issue attacks from elsewhere - unless all your countries get attacked before you have a chance to get your orders in. A team completely under siege that does not get to use any move orders at all will still receive the move orders for use on the next round. Please note that Neutral countries do not come under siege, they are taken immediately and become the property of the first invading army. As such, a territory that was neutral but was just taken may still be re-attacked with any type of attack, including Blitz attack.

* Eliminating: At the time of a team being wiped off the board, any teams who engaged that team in a battle anywhere that round will gain an equal share of the eliminated teams move orders. The orders are shared evenly, with anything that cannot be divided equally being discarded. Blitzing or nuking does not give you a share of the eliminated team's move orders. If the team uses a doggy card, they will keep 50% of their moves regardless of how many people attacked them.

* AWOL: If you fail to make any declaration of intent on the forums regarding your moves (or lack of such) for the round, your team will be considered AWOL. You will still get to keep your move orders for that round, but after that you will not receive any move orders until you re-join the game. There is no other penalty for going AWOL other than that, and when you return you do not skip a round like in a normal game. AWOL teams still pay the buy-in each round, unless they make it known they have decided to forfeit. If you forfeit you may not return to the game, but you do not have to keep paying in either. Generally though, going AWOL or missing rounds is going to be very bad for your chances.

* Time Limits: Attackers have a maximum of 30 days to eliminate your opponent (or for the defenders to survive). If it goes past 30 days since the round began and you are still playing, the game becomes null & void and no longer counts for the purposes of the metagame. The defenders have effectively won by sustaining their defense, however, as a disincentive to play for the stalemate, they will get 1 move order deducted, unless it is their last territory on the map. They also will not receive the usual +1 for beating their attackers. Attackers will lose 1 move order as per usual for a loss. The game must be finished completely by the end of 30 days, Any games that are declared Null & Void for any reason will no longer count as part of the metagame and may be played as if they were a normal game with regards to diplomacy and strategy.

* The "doggy card": If you are eliminated, you will be asked if you want to buy back in, for 25 points per player, and get one game on a territory of your choosing. By buying back in you get to keep 50% of your move orders from before being eliminated. If a team has a red number in their move order box it means they have chosen to use their doggy card.

The only places you may not choose to attack (or surprise attack, if you can afford it) on a doggy card are ones that have already been attacked, or a teams last remaining unattacked territory. If you win the doggy card game, you're back in the game. If you lose you are out completely.. and you only ever get one doggy card. In that case, the team that you attacked with your doggy card would recoup the remainder of your unused move orders. You will also get last pick of territories (i.e your move will be counted last in the final loop).

* Winning the Game: You win the game by killing everyone, and taking every territory.

* Buy-In & Prize: For each round you play, each player puts in 5 points each to the kitty. It won't be taken off your total until either you are knocked out or when the competition ends. There may have to be an upper limit to the prize fund, if it gets too big then the buy-in's stop. But It will be a BIG prize whatever happens, I guarantee it.

* The "No Diplomacy" rule: Simply put, do not team up or collude with any other teams in either the metagame itself or any metagame related games. No agreements, no messages, no secret diplomacy. Anyone found to be doing so risks ejection from the competition, and permanent shame.

For breaking the No Diplomacy Rule there will be a 3 Strikes & You're Out system. Each team member has 3 strikes each to last them the whole competition.

Since we are no longer including anything larger than 2v2 battles, I removed the In-Game penalties for breaking the diplomacy act. Basically if you are found to be discussing metagame tactics with other teams it will count as a strike.
If you break the no diplo rule three times throughout the course of the competition you will be disqualified, Your team-mate will then have a one-time option to bring in a new partner.

If they decide to continue, the person that just left the competition still has to pay in whatever he owes to the kitty, with the new person taking over in any subsequent rounds and them being the ones who would ultimately get any prize if their team finishes in the top 3.

If they decide not to continue, their territories will be reverted to neutral - Unless they were under attack in which case they will be taken by the attackers. Your move orders will be dumped unless your last territory was under attack at the time of the violation, in that case they get split between anyone attacking you that round.

Teams that break the rules will receive their warnings and instructions by mail, and expected to comply. Any messages that were sent covertly should be posted in the game chat for all to see.

And if any "incidents" occur in the future, I want everyone to slow their play down to a crawl, and make a conscious effort to contact the effected parties so everyone is on the same page before action is taken. It saves turns being taken that are impossible to take back.

These rules will continue to be tweaked and improved upon in the future. We are literally writing the rulebook as we go. The whole thread should be considered the rules and you'll want to keep yourself up to date because this post may not always be.

 

[masterjskye]

If another series of bug strikes/server problems happen, and players miss their turns, whats the over all ruling? Gonna be a huge mess if some players start to miss turns and there is no pre tourney ruling on this. Maybe just tough luck and carry on? or do you want every one to skip their turns to even things out?

I think in the spirit of fairness it should be agreed that if the site goes through something like that then the honorable thing to do would be to miss the same amount of turns. Just as good sportsmanship.

But, not everyone plays 100% honourably all the time (this is a war after all) and there might come a time where it is too great of a gift to turn down, and a team goes ahead and ruthlessly murders their idle opponents. I want it to be known this is Not against the rules. But it's one of those ones that you can come back to the metagame thread and tell everyone about the dirty deed.. everyone loves a bit of drama after all.

Although, to do this to someone's last territory... that would be considered really shitty.

what happens if someone posts his move then edits his post?

No editing allowed. Any moves made are final. If you see anyone has changed a move then call them out for it.

 

[masterjskye]

How about keep seige as is ... but change the way moves are ordered:

Currently, we all fire our posts in and the first one to arrive all their moves are done, then the second one to arrive ... all their moves are done ... etc.

What if moves on each post are ranked ...

Each team can fire one move post in and put as many alternative moves as they like, eg. ranked 1 to 9, with move 1 the one you most want to do, down to move 9, the one you will do, if all others fail and you still have moves left over.

The team whose post arrives first gets to do their move 1, then the next team to fire in their post gets to do their move 1, or if their move 1 is not allowed because of the first team's move, they get to do their move 2. Then the third team's post gets to do their top ranked move, or highest ranked move that is still legitimate, all the way down to team 14.

Then it circles back round to the first team who got their post in and their next highest ranked move that is still legitimate is made, followed by second team's next highest ranked move that is still legitimate, and so on and so on.

This way everyone gets a fair crack of the whip, while there is still an incentive to get posts in quickly, but it's not a "winner takes all" scenario in terms of getting all the most choice moves you would want to make., just because your post arrived a millisecond before.

I would just keep it simple ... it all stays out in the open.

I agree that part of the interest tactically is seeing what everyone else is up to.

So, here we go ....

You can still put your move requests in more than one post. For example, nukes are the kinds of moves you might want to throw in at the end of the 24 hours countdown.

So how would this work, alongside my ranking proposal? Like this ...

Teams A, B and C

Team A is fastest to press the "send" button and fires off three moves ranked 1, 2 and 3. They have some ideas for other moves, but hold back to see what the other players are going to do. Team B is next off the starting blocks and sends in five moves, ranked 1 to 5. Team C then gets in with a post listing six moves, ranked 1 to 6. Team A then fires off a second post with another couple of moves ... these would be ranked 4 and 5. The idea that attacks posted can't be changed will still stand, so Team A's second set of moves don't replace their first set, they get added to the bottom of their move requests.

Then we start to circle round the teams - so Team A's first move is done, then Team B's highest ranked legitimate move, then Team C's highest ranked legitimate move. This circles round up to three times, ie. the number of moves in Team A's first post. Then when it comes to circling round the fourth time, Team B's and Team C's are considered before Team A's, as Team A posted their fourth and fifth moves later.

Right, I've thought a bit about this now and here is what I'd like to try moving forward. We'll change the way move orders are processed and submitted. Trailblazer came up with the idea of moves being ranked in order of importance, and then implemented one per team in a "loop", as quoted above. It should make things quite interesting.

A lot will stay the same - we all get warned that the next round is commencing soon, then we get the countdown to open the submission period of 24 hours. Teams can issue their moves in any order they like, in as many posts as they like within that 24 hours.

The game will still give the advantage to the team who attacked first, in that they can still put their neighbour under siege. You can submit all your moves at once and lock them in position in their respective "loops" but this will then expose your moves to the waiting eyes of everyone else, and if they haven't yet submitted their moves it might be beneficial for them to wait and see what you're up to first and make a counter-play. So, it's a bit of a fine balance. It will also be really hard to figure out how things will actually pan out, and I've had to come up with a special graph just to be able to effectively manage these moves when they come in. I will be able to do it but it won't be as easy to just look at the thread 2 minutes after it opens and know what's going to happen already.

The way Trail suggested is great and will be the framework for how moves are processed. Basically you make a list, one move per line and it gets processed top to bottom. You can add any move you like, if it is valid it will be locked into the correct loop and await execution at the end of the phase. If the move is invalid, for whatever reason, it is just skipped and you go on to the next move in line. This way you can add in some back-up moves in case things don't pan out completely to plan.

Thinking about back-up plans is where I really took the ball and ran with it. I've come up with a system, for fun let's call it the Cypher, basically a code you can use to submit attack orders in a chain. By using this chain you can have a plan for every contingency. To demonstrate, I made this:

The lines represent the links to the next move in the chain. If the move is successful, you follow the green line, if it is unsuccessful you follow the red line.

So, the first move in the chain is represented by A. If move A goes according to plan, then the next move will be move B. However, if for some reason move A is not successful then the next move in line will be move C. If move C was successful, the next move processed would be move F, etc. You can have as many different chains as you want, you just have to clearly separate them on the post and make sure all moves are marked properly with their correct letters. You also don't have to write a contingency plan for every letter if you don't want to. I'll accept moves submitted using the Cypher or just the "simple" way of a list in order of preference.

One other small consideration when thinking about moves, I'm not being fussy about teams saying exactly which country an attack is coming from. so, if you have multiple countries bordering your intended target, I will process the attack if it is valid from any of them. So just saying "attack Mexico" instead of "attack Mexico from Colombia" is perfectly fine.

Wait.. there's more?

* From round 4 onwards:

if a defending team wins they will gain 1 move order.
Attacking teams that do not win will lose 1 move order.
​

* Surprise Stormtroopers are now available for a cost of 5 move orders.

* Nukes will not refund move orders. Any invading forces (move orders) will be lost in the devastation.

 

[masterjskye]

For breaking the No Diplomacy Rule there will be a 3 Strikes & You're Out system. Each team member has 3 strikes each to last them the whole competition.

Strike One - The person that broke the rule must Miss a turn

Strike Two - Offending Team must cease activity in the game immediately, preferably by starting turns and letting the time run out without deploying.

Strike Three - If you are foolish enough to break the no diplo rule three times throughout the course of the competition you will be disqualified, Your team-mate will then have a one-time option to bring in a new partner.

If they decide to continue, the person that just left the competition still has to pay in whatever he owes to the kitty, with the new person taking over in any subsequent rounds and them being the ones who would ultimately get any prize if their team finishes in the top 3.

If they decide not to continue, their territories will be reverted to neutral - Unless they were under attack in which case they will be taken by the attackers. Your move orders will be dumped unless your last territory was under attack at the time of the violation, in that case they get split between anyone attacking you that round.

Teams that break the rules will receive their warnings and instructions by mail, and expected to comply. Any messages that were sent covertly should be posted in the game chat for all to see.

And if any "incidents" occur in the future, I want everyone to slow their play down to a crawl, and make a conscious effort to contact the effected parties so everyone is on the same page before action is taken. It saves turns being taken that are impossible to take back.

 

[Cardinalsrule]

*best Monte Python voice*
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:

I was noticing that the points have grown rather quickly, and I was thinking that it's better to decide the final outcome earlier rather than later. It was discussed rather quickly earlier, but no real final decisions were made regarding distribution. Since the total is likely to be north of 3000 points, I'm in favor of making the payout for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. Say, 70%, 20%, 10%?

 

[masterjskye]

You're right Cards the points are rising quickly. I made that decision to let it rise quickly with the intention of letting it get to a maximum of around 3000, and then cutting off the buy in entirely. That was just 100% to the winners, with 1500 each being considered absolute maximum. That wasn't set in stone so I never wrote it down.

I do quite like what you're suggesting though, that there be a prize for 2nd & 3rd too. So just basically survive to the last 3 and you're guaranteed a prize. I'll let the kitty get high enough that the winners should get roughly what was intended (if it even goes on that long).

So yeah a 70/20/10 split for the winners and the last 2 teams to die sounds good to me.

 

[trailblazer]

The way Trail suggested is great and will be the framework for how moves are processed. Basically you make a list, one move per line and it gets processed top to bottom. You can add any move you like, if it is valid it will be locked into the correct loop and await execution at the end of the phase. If the move is invalid, for whatever reason, it is just skipped and you go on to the next move in line. This way you can add in some back-up moves in case things don't pan out completely to plan ...


... I understand this is pretty deep stuff, any questions about it or if you are unsure about something ask me and I will try to explain it better.

Hi masterjskye, can I check my understanding of what this will mean for a team wanting to do a Blitz Attack move and then a follow up attack move from the Blitzed territory. Firstly, that the follow up attack is defined as a separate move, ie. it wont be included in the same loop as the Blitz attack for that team and should be put on a separate line in their list of move requests. Secondly, the follow up attack doesn't have to appear immediately after the Blitz attack in the team's list of move requests, ie. the team can choose to rank some of their other planned moves higher than a follow up attack from the Blitzed territory. Is this correct?

 

[masterjskye]

All what you said is accurate. Think of blitzing just as gaining another country instantly, that may not be attacked by others that round (except by Nuke) but may still attack outwards at any time after said blitz. All attacks are separate and will be on separate loops.

 

[trailblazer]

Wait.. there's more?

[/I]* From round 4 onwards if a defending team wins they will steal 1 move order from their attackers.

* Surprise Stormtroopers are now available for a cost of 5 move orders.

* Nukes will not refund move orders. Any invading forces (move orders) will be lost in the devastation.

Just wanted to be crystal clear about the new rule for winning defending teams stealing 1 move order from their attackers.

I assume this is awarded for a successful defence, irrespective of the type of attack launched, ie. gaining 1 move order when winning against any of normal attack, surprise attack, stormtrooper attack or surprise stormtrooper attack.

 

[masterjskye]

Just wanted to be crystal clear about the new rule for winning defending teams stealing 1 move order from their attackers.

Firstly, I assume this is awarded for a successful defence, irrespective of the type of attack launched, ie. gaining 1 move order when winning against any of normal attack, surprise attack, stormtrooper attack or surprise stormtrooper attack.

Yes, you'll always get 1 for defending from any type of attack.

Really the rule is this:

* If you lose an attack you will lose 1 move order. If you win a defence you will gain 1 move order.

If a game goes over the time limit it is neither counted as a win or a loss, but the defenders get 1 move order deducted.

 

[masterjskye]

I have just thought of another change I think will be for the benefit of the game. I apologise for moving the goalposts so much.. but my ideas come kind of spontaneously.

This will be a purely 2v2 tournament from here on...

The new rule for attacking is this:
Once a country has been attacked, it may not be re-attacked by another team by anything less than a nuke.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly, it should make each round go by a lot quicker as it has been the 2v2v2's in general that have been slowing us down. It should also eliminate any desire to play for the stalemate by the defending team, as could theoretically happen in anything larger than a 2v2 - since they keep control of a territory if nobody has won after 30 days.

Secondly, it makes the No Diplomacy rule a bit of a moot point in game - you are unlikely to be naturally inclined towards making agreements or sending diplomatic messages in a 2v2 head to head match. Obviously discussing metagame tactics or messaging is still prohibited.

Round 4 should be interesting.

 

[trailblazer]

* Blitz Attacks: There is a special attack you can use that costs 3 move orders, called a Blitz Attack. A blitz attack against someone means they do not get a chance to defend their land. you take it from them outright. The only time you cannot blitz attack someone is if it is their last territory. You must always have a chance to fight for survival. Blitz attacks can only be done to adjacent territories. The blitz attack happens instantly, and allows you to attack again from the land you just conquered without having to wait till the next round. This is not a free attack, you may attack but it will still cost you move orders. You can travel a good distance per turn, if you are willing to pay for it.

Hi masterjskye, I assume a team could launch a Blitz Attack on a neutral territory if they wished to?

 

[masterjskye]

Yep.

 

[trailblazer]

The way Trail suggested is great and will be the framework for how moves are processed. Basically you make a list, one move per line and it gets processed top to bottom. You can add any move you like, if it is valid it will be locked into the correct loop and await execution at the end of the phase. If the move is invalid, for whatever reason, it is just skipped and you go on to the next move in line. This way you can add in some back-up moves in case things don't pan out completely to plan.

Thinking about back-up plans is where I really took the ball and ran with it. I've come up with a system, for fun let's call it the Cypher, basically a code you can use to submit attack orders in a chain. By using this chain you can have a plan for every contingency ...

... You can have as many different chains as you want, you just have to clearly separate them on the post and make sure all moves are marked properly with their correct letters. You also don't have to write a contingency plan for every letter if you don't want to. I'll accept moves submitted using the Cypher or just the "simple" way of a list in order of preference.

Just double-checking - so if my team was using the Cypher system and we wanted to add further moves on to the end of one of the bottom rung Cypher moves, eg. Move X, the way we would do this is to start a second Cypher chain and rename Move X as Move XA, then w could add Moves XB and XC, etc. onto this second Cypher chain, ie. further moves all emanating from Move X. And if I wanted more moves to follow after Move Z on the first Cypher chain, I could likewise set up a third Cypher chain and rename Move Z as Move ZA, then I could add Moves ZB and ZC, etc. onto this third Cypher chain.

 

[masterjskye]

Yeah alright that is a good way of extending it out. Please just try and clearly label the distinction between different chains. Technically the XA, XB, XC etc are still part of the original chain so keep them within it. Once you're done, mark as a new chain and start over again from A.

 

[trailblazer]

Wait.. there's more?

* From round 4 onwards:

if a defending team wins they will gain 1 move order.
Attacking teams that do not win will lose 1 move order.
​

Here's a scenario - two teams both put as their top ranked move to attack a neutral country. Only one of them can get the neutral country and automatically become the defender, the other team who submitted their moves a fraction later are then currently assumed to be an attacker. The second team are then in jeopardy of losing a move for a failed attack, whereas the first team are not in jeopardy of losing a move for a failed defence. However, neither team had neceesarily planned to launch an attack on another team, they were both intending only to move into a neutral country.

So now there is the potential for losing a move for a failed attack, I propose that in the case of submitting moves which include the intention to attack a neutral country, teams can specify whether or not they want this move to only take place if the country is still neutral when the move is actioned by masterjskye.

I would put the onus on the team to specify this in their move posting, ie. it will be assumed they still want the attack to go ahead even if the territory is no longer neutral, UNLESS they specify that they do not wish to attack in this case.​

 

[masterjskye]

Well you say the first team are not in jeopardy of losing a move for a failed defence but that's not really true as they just spent at least 1 move to capture the neutral in the first place. If it is then taken from them on the same round that was a total loss with no gain whatsoever.

And I've thought about the option to specify whether to allow attack conditions, but in this case I do not think that you should be able to. There should be a risk involved when different teams are trying to grab neutrals. The risk being in this case that your attack proceeds no matter what state of occupation the territory is in currently.

 

[trailblazer]

* stormtroopers: The Stormtroopers are an elite unit capable of infiltrating any country anywhere on the map, for a cost of 4 move orders. However, unlike a Blitz attack, these brave souls must still battle for control of a territory from their defenders. You may get the stormtroopers to perform a surprise attack for an extra 1 move order. If you use the stormtroopers on a neutral country you gain immediate control and may issue further attacks from that location on the same round.

In the case that stormtroopers gain immediate control of a neutral country and then issue further attacks from that location (see rule above), are these further attacks the same options as for a normally occupied territory, ie. either a regular attack, a surprise attack, or a blitz attack on adjacent territories?

 

[trailblazer]

And a follow up query ... in the same case that stormtroopers gain immediate control of a neutral country, can this territory then be attacked with the same options as for a normally occupied territory, ie. by either a regular attack, a surprise attack, a blitz attack or a stormtrooper attack?

 

[masterjskye]

In the case that stormtroopers gain immediate control of a neutral country and then issue further attacks from that location (see rule above), are these further attacks the same options as for a normally occupied territory, ie. either a regular attack, a surprise attack, or a blitz attack on adjacent territories?

Yes, they are the same. It just counts like any other country you own.

And a follow up query ... in the same case that stormtroopers gain immediate control of a neutral country, can this territory then be attacked with the same options as for a normally occupied territory, ie. by either a regular attack, a surprise attack, a blitz attack or a stormtrooper attack?

Yes, the country is completely open to any type of attack.