Subject:  Essential Rules Information for Round C -

Warlords of the World Tournament -

This message outlines all of the essential reference information
about the rules variants that will be used in Round C.
There are some significant changes in the diplomacy and hero
rules, so please read carefully!

Round C is open to all players still active in Round B.

BE SURE TO DELETE, ZIP, OR STUFF ANY EXISTING ROUND C SCENARIOS
BEFORE INSTALLING THE NEW SCENARIO!  (We don't want anyone getting
confused because they have the wrong scenario installed!  And you get
more gold in the new scenario. :)  )


*** Combat Rules for Round C:

We will be using WarBOT 1.5 for Round C.  Continue using WarBOT 1.0
for Round B.  Aside from the user interface changes in 1.5, there is one
major change in the battle odds:  the bonuses of naval units
actually *do* apply, but only to *non-naval* units in the battle.
So, an archer navy will still give a +1 bonus to a flying bat in his stack.
And an elephant navy will give a -1 to a flying enemy hero.
A devil navy will cancel the bonus of a flying enemy hero.  And so on.
As allies will be scarce in Round C, the effect of the new WarBOT
on your tactics should not be great.


*** Diplomatic Rules for Round C:

For Round C, we would like to tighten up the diplomacy rules a bit.
We hope that varying the diplomatic rules will test the range of
your diplomatic skills, just as changing the scenario, razing,
and hero rules each round has tested your range of tactical skills.

It's the spirit of the tournament that each player should play for
himself, and for Round C, we ask you to do this without suggesting
actions or moves to the other players in your game.  You can still
direct general diplomatic comments to the other players,
and discuss your own moves and plans in your role-playing.
Just don't tell others what they might, can, or cannot do - let
everyone think up their own moves.  Keep your diplomacy vague and
general, so that the other players must use their own skill to
figure out what you mean, and to decide what to do each move.
(We find that this happens naturally in most games, particularly if
players create characters for their actual Warlords, and role-play
their diplomacy as well as their turn report narratives.)

In addition, no diplomacy is allowed at all until your Turn 3 move.
This is to give everyone a chance to get going before any alliances
are formed.

Thus -
  * Turn 1, you start moving.
  * Turn 2, you get your second half-hero if you like.  (see below)
  * Turn 3, you start diplomacizing as well as maybe fighting.

Finally, the "Doves and Swords" diplomacy system will be *on*.
Everyone starts out at peace, and can use the traditional system
for declaring neutrality and war.  (In a game with no computer players,
Doves and Swords is mostly just a simple way of communicating your 
diplomatic state to the other players, and can be used in place of
any diplomatic emails if you wish.)

Hopefully this is clear, but examples are given below.  In case of
doubt, or if you feel there's a problem, ask your moderator.
And as always, if you are unhappy with the moderator's ruling you
can appeal to the entire group of moderators and Rules Gurus.

Let's all work together to make Round C the most fun and exciting
round of the Tournament!  Remember that the overall Tournament
rankings are supposed to reflect each player's individual ability
(both tactical and diplomatic), as determined in fair combat.

For reference, here are some examples:

(1) Your ally's ruin is about to be searched by an enemy hero,
and you want him to protect it.  Instead of saying:

   (Not Allowed)
   "Ally, send your speedy elemental to protect the ruin from
    the enemy hero; he can't attack it with the ruin defense bonus,"

You should limit yourself to something vague and general that the
player has to interpret, like:

   (Allowed)
   "Ally, protect your ruins!  We can't afford letting our
    mutual enemies get free stuff without a fight!"

(2) Instead of this:

   (Not Allowed)
   "Ally, in your upcoming battle for City 49,
    why don't you change your fight order to keep your valuable
    but weaker dwarf units alive, since the griffins can easily win
    without any losses?"

You could say this:

   (Allowed)
   "Ally!  Don't use peons when attacking cities, if you don't
    have to!  You and I can defeat our mutual enemies without
    breaking a sweat!"

(3) Allowed: "Player 2, I think we should join our forces and fight
              against the two nations in the south."

(4) Not Allowed: "Player 2, move your hero to the South Temple,
                  to keep Red from getting a blessing there."

(5) Allowed: "Player 2, I am planning to move my elemental stack to
              the western front to add pressure to our mutual enemies."

(6) Not allowed:  "Player 2, I am planning to move my elemental
                   stack to the western front to add pressure to our
                   mutual enemies.  I suggest that your Devil stack
                   join us for the festivities."


*** Hero Rules for Round C:

"One-and-a-half heroes":  On Turn 2, you are allowed to get a
second hero in any of your cities, for at least 1000 gold.
The hero may NOT come with an ally.
In addition, by the end of your move on Turn 7, you may have
at most *one* hero left alive.  So, you can have a second hero
from Turn 2 through Turn 7 *only*!  (But it might be worth it!)

Also, replacement heroes may not come with any allies.
(Because the scenario is small and allies are scarce.)
If you lose your last hero, you can get a replacement on Turn Y.
You don't need to declare Turn Z in this round.


*** Other Game Settings:

* Diplomacy (Doves and Swords) is *On*
* Razing is *Off*
* Quests are *Off*  (the rule worked well in Round B, but no temples in C!)
* All capital cities have pre-installed standard archer production
* Players will start Turn 1 with 2052 gold.
* There are 4 demon ally ruins, 4 battle item ruins, and 8 gold ruins.

Role-Playing is again up to the players; there are no named cities;
each city just has an identification number.  As in Round B, cities
may be renamed, but the number must be kept and all name changes
must be reported.

Holidays and Prizes will be handled as in previous rounds:

* Each player starts with 4 timeouts and 14 vacation days.
* Additional vacations will be allowed at major winter holidays.
  (U.S. Thanksgiving and late December/early January.)

* The four Warlords who write the most entertaining game history will
  each receive a prize from SSG!

* The one Warlord who writes the best individual roleplay will also
  receive a prize from SSG!

* The awarding of both prizes will be determined after the round ends
  by a team of volunteers (who cannot receive prizes).


*** Important Reminder - No Discussion of Round B until all games finish

All Round B game histories will be kept secret until every game is done.

Remember that each round of the tournament, and each game within a round,
is a separate fantasy world.  Warlords in Round C know nothing of the
exploits of Warlords in Round B until the Tournament Messenger brings the
weighty scrolls of the Round B game histories to all Warlords at once.

So until Round B has officially ended and all games have been made public,
the rule is that we may *not* discuss any Round B games via Round C messages.

However, it's perfectly allowable to discuss the Round A and earlier
games, since those are already available publicly on the Remailer.
The first mention of a Round B game will be a minor rules error, and the
second will be a major error.

-----------------------

Enjoy the war!  Additional reference information (repeated from
Round B) is included below.

-- The Tournament Moderators and Organizers


===========================================================================

*** Rules Carried over from Round B:

1. The resign option is off-limits.  If you decide to give up at some point,
   set up your final defenses (razing *some* (not all) cities if 
   "raze any time" is on), and go into "Standing Orders".  When the time comes, 
   see the official rules (recently revised) for details on how this works.  
   (There's no point in planning for defeat before the game even starts!)  


*** Reference Notes on the Vacation System ***
(From a W2WT Message; provided here for reference.)

There is a new procedure for declaring vacations; it's very easy.
The new system makes use of Elam's "Remind Me" service.

*** Ten Steps to a Warlords-Free Vacation:
(1) Go to http://www.pixgen.com/elam/reminder/
(2) Enter your desired user name and password, to create an account.
  (Your tournament alias makes a good username; choose the password wisely,
   and don't forget it!)
(3) Select "Add an Event"
(4) For "Describe the Event", enter:  WCVac: <alias>, <game>, <dates>
    [ Example - If Hindquarters is going on vacation in Q01, he puts:
          WCVac: Hindquarters, Q01, 16Nov97-22Nov97  ]

    (This goes into the subject line of the reminder message, and
      has all the key information.  WCVac = World Championship VACation.)

(5) For "When does the event occur?", use the day *before* the absence starts.
(6) For "Is it a yearly event or a one time event?" - choose one time event
(7) For "When should the Reminder be sent?"
     - Set Reminder #1 far in advance of the vacation, such as the day
         after you set up the Remind Me entry. (So you can check it.)
     - Set Reminder #2 to be 2 or 3 days before the vacation starts.
         (So no one forgets that you're going on vacation.)
(8) For "What email address do you want the Reminder sent to?",
    enter 4 addresses, separated by commas with spaces:
        - ijb@nbnet.nb.ca,                     [ Vacation Guru Database ]
        - rfheeter@phoenix.princeton.edu,      [ Headquarters Archives  ]
        - the address of your current moderator,   [ Notifies Moderator ]
        - your own address        [ Allows you to check that it worked. ]

    [ If you don't know your moderator's email address, send
      the "Intro" command to the Remailer, and you will get the info...]

(9) "What do you want the message to say?" - more vacation info:
        - Your name, alias, and email address are helpful
        - Your game number(s), (especially if more than 1 game)
        - Your vacation dates
        - Whether you'll have email access while gone.
(10) Press the "Add Event" button

*** The RemindMe service will:
(1) Send out Reminders #1 and #2 for each player's vacation, to each
    address entered.  (Ideally on the day after the vacation is set up,
    and 2-3 days before the vacation starts.  To Ivan, HQ, and the Mod.

*** The Vacation Guru (Ivan) and Headquarters (Bob) wiil:
(1) Archive all RemindMe messages in the official database,
    and answer any questions that come up.
(2) Check existing vacations at the start of the round, and notify
    moderators if a player is on vacation when the round begins.

*** Your Moderator will:
(1) Sit back and wait for vacation reminders to come in.
(2) Keep track of vacation day usage, and notify players
    if an announced vacation will put them into "Additional Absence" time.


*** Important Notes on Time-Limit Rules and Emergencies:

You can go "on vacation" at any time without penalty.

If there are only 2 players left alive in a game, then the turnaround
time limit will be increased to 3 days (1-day weekend still)

Vacation days may still be converted to timeouts (2 vacation = 1 timeout).

           Emergency Phone List (from East to West)
==========================================================================
** Call these numbers only if there's a crisis and you can't send email.**
** If you have to leave a message, be sure to leave your complete phone **
** number so we can call you back to confirm that we got the message.**

  Bill Irwin:  (U.S. Toll Free, no charge)  
  	Dial 800-225-3956, then 65566 to get to the voicemail and leave a message.

  Ivan Baird:  (Eastern Canada)                (GMT -0400)
    Work: (506) 363-3349  (Deitech Computing; 24-hour answering machine.)

  Gary Best:  (US-East Coast)                   (U.S. EST = GMT -0500)
    Work: (617) 737-0234.  (In 9:30 am to 6 pm; voice mail x116 otherwise)
	Home: (781) 784-5600    (10 am to 10 pm weekends.)

  Elam Birnbaum:  (US-New York)                 (U.S. EST = GMT -0500)
    Home: 212-877-6104  (5 pm to 10 pm only)
    Work: 212-645-5879  (10 pm to 5 pm; just leave a message)

  Bob Heeter:  (International)
    Home:  +44-958-302787  (GMT; won't be around late August through Sept.)
           609-921-6483 (EST; late August and Sept.)
           Can leave messages.  Please call only from 8:00 am to 11:30 pm.


********************************************************************
        Warlords Quirk/Bug/Feature Warnings for Round C
********************************************************************

There are still bridges, coastal cities, and port-anchor squares.
That means NAVIES!!!  If you thought Warlords was quirky with flying
stacks, you won't believe all the strange things that can happen with
navies.  Here are some important facts to remember:
  * You MUST MUST MUST indicate which units are navies in WarBOT!
      (It is possible to have ground units which are *not* navies
         in water/shore, so WarBOT needs to know this info. )
  * The various different flavors of Warlords do *NOT* treat navies the same!
      You must remember to mark the correct flavor of Warlords in your WarBOT.
  * Navies fighting in bridge or city terrain fight as *ground* units.
      (not as navies).  So Navies which attack into a city remain
      naval units for movement that turn, but defend as ground units
      if attacked.  WarBOT handles this correctly.
  * In Classic, Ground units may "board" navies at any BRIDGE square,
      move with the navy, exit at any *other* bridge square (or join a
      flying hero) and *continue* to move as *ground* units.
  * Ground units taken out over water/shore sometimes become navies
      (or even drown) during the turn or at the start of your next
      turn, depending on which Warlords version you have.
      In other cases, they may stay over water/shore,
      defend as *ground* units (with *open* terrain bonuses), and then
      remain ground units on subsequent turns!  (This is very bizarre;
      read the ongoing saga of the "h1-duel" prototype Head-to-Head game
      to see what some effects of this can be...)  WarBOT can handle mixed
      ground/naval stacks, provided you tell it which units are navies
      and which aren't.
  * Navies may attack from bridge squares onto adjacent land squares,
      fight as ground units, and then remain navies for the rest of the turn
      (and move as navies afterwards).  Similarly, navies which attack
      into cities may then attack onto land near the city, fight as ground
      units, and then move as navies for the rest of the turn.
      (These last two tricks have been dubbed "commando raids.")
  * If you attack a naval group with a flying hero stack that includes
      a navy in it, any non-hero ground units in your stack will fight
      as navies.  (This may depend on the Warlords flavor.)
  * This is *not* a complete list of all Warlords naval quirks!
      (See the WarBOT documentation for some more quirks.)
      [ You can see why we kept navies out of the Practice Round and
        Round A!  But now we will play Warlords in its true glory! ]

In case of confusion, we will play by these 3 principles:
  1. "Warlords is as Warlords does."  No matter how strange the outcome,
      we play the game however it happens to work.
  2. "Check the battle screen."  The units that fight as navies have
      little blue water-splashes under them to make them look like boats.
      Everything else is not a navy.
  3. "Trust WarBOT."   If you enter the navy and flying item information
      correctly, it will match what Warlords does.  If it doesn't,
      which will be very rare, then we'll (a) fix WarBOT, and (b) back
      the game up if necessary, so the defender can adjust his/her planning.
      We WON'T back games up to fix your mistakes - only mistakes that
      are strictly due to WarBOT bugs.

Finally, if you have a question about a particular situation, especially
if you think there's a problem with Warlords and/or the WarBOT,
you can send private email to your Moderator and they'll check with
the WarBOT gurus (Mike Leung, Gary Best, and Bob Heeter).  Any of your
playing time that is lost while we do this will be returned to you.

Good luck, and enjoy!!!
