2007 BtB PBEM Tournament

PBEM Primer

Overview

This guide is aimed at players who know how to play BtB in a face to face setting but have less experience playing the game over the internet (via PBEM). While there are many ways of doing this, the approach discussed here is suitable for competitive play against someone you’ve never met. It is repeatable, transparent, and flexible. It does not require you to be a technical wizard, you do not have to be a guru of any of the PBEM aides, and the approach has successfully withstood hundreds of playings.

Prerequisites:

The assumption is that you have the following:

A PC (or a MAC with PC emulation)
A connection to the internet and ability to access e-mail
Cyberboard and the BTB gamebox.
An ACTS account.

Getting the Game Going: Bidding

The first thing to do is to determine which side you’ll be playing. (Optional rules are not recommended for starting out and must be agreed upon before any bidding is attempted.) You and your opponent will be ‘bidding’ for sides. If both players have AREA ratings, the player with the lower rating will bid first, otherwise players should roll to determine who bids first randomly. For example, one player should request an ACTS die roll and specify that on a 1-3 = Player A bids first, 4-6 = Player B bids first.

If you feel more comfortable playing the Allies, then let your opponent have the Germans for a zero or higher bid. If you want the Germans, it’s quite possible you’ll need to bid a VP or two. Does that mean the Germans have the edge? Not necessarily: It may just mean that both players are more confident about playing the Germans! Once you and your opponent agree to sides, you’re ready to begin. (Make sure the final bid is evident in the ACTS journal!) Hint: The vast majority of games featured a winning bid of zero or one VP for the Axis.

Playing the Game

General Sequence of Play

Players conduct their turn using ACTS by using the interface to “Play Cards”, “Roll Dice”, and “Send Messages”. When playing a card, players must identify if that card is being used for RPs (Replacements), Events, OPs (Operations), or SRs (Strategic Redeployments). Each transaction within ACTS is captured in the journal which is viewable by everyone and is to be considered the official record of the game.

Here is the general play sequence:

ACTS Action 1: Player A plays a card and selects how it is to be played. In the space provided for comments, he details any moves and attacks, and indicates if any combat cards are being used.
ACTS Action 2: Player A plays one or more CC cards.
ACTS Action 3: Player B plays one or more CC cards, resolves combats and declares his losses/retreats
ACTS Action 4: Player A declares his losses and advances

Deviations & Details for the General Sequence of Play

After each player draws cards, the German player starts the turn. He should roll for Mandatory Orders (except on turn 1) and identify Stalin’s Orders if necessary.
The Allied player should identify Hitler’s Orders, if appropriate, BEFORE the German player begins his move.
When moving units, identify the spaces traversed as this is important for identifying control.
Once a combat is identified by the attacker, and any combat cards applied by the attacker, the DEFENDER should identify his own CC’s and then call for an ACTS dice roll.
After seeing the results, the defender should apply his own losses and identify an retreats or standfasts.
The attacker should then apply his results, including losses and advances.
Once the defender rolls, he has implicitly accepted as legal the attacker moves and attacks made thus far.
After the Allied player does his last round, he should apply his replacements and then do his discards.
After the Allied player does his RPs and discards, the German player should apply his replacements, discard cards, AND THEN end the turn.
Important If both players do not do their discards before the turn ends, then discarded cards may not be appropriately included in any deck reshuffles
After the turn ends, both players can draw cards for the next turn. Please be careful about drawing the right number of cards as various game events can cause hand size to vary. Note that ACTS turns begin with the card draw which is different from the rules as written but this has no impact on play.
Turn 1 Note: If the Allied player doesn’t have a reinforcement card in his hand, during the draw cards phase, and wishes to ensure that he has one on turn 2, then he can only retain 1 card at most.
- After discarding ALL his cards, or all but 1, the Allied player should immediately communicate if he DID NOT draw a Soviet reinforcement card (#2 or #24).
- At that point he should “play” a 3-OPS or better card.
- In this case, he will thus start Turn 2 with SIX cards plus a "virtual" 3-Front Russian Reinforcement card.
- During one of the six rounds in Turn 2, he can play the "virtual" 3-Front Soviet Reinforcement card by just sending an ACTS message to that effect along with the placement of the units.
- Once this card is drawn on a subsequent turn, the Allied player should immediately play it as an event and draw a substitute card.
Adding the Total War Cards: On the turn the Total War deck is added the Allied player is allowed to select one card from the Blitzkrieg deck to add to his hand.

To handle this in ACTS, the Allied player announces which card he will hold from the Blitzkrieg deck and then draws one fewer card than he is entitled.
For example; if the Axis played Wolfpacks as an event to impact the current turn, the Allied player could announce that he would hold Torch (or any other Blitzkrieg card which hasn't been removed from play) and would draw 4 cards.
The Allied player can play the held card by sending an ACTS message to that effect along with the execution of the card event or however the card is played.
Once the held card is drawn on a subsequent turn, the Allied player should immediately play it in the same way (Event, OPS, etc) as it was played earlier and a replacement card should be drawn.

Cyberboard Integration

It is NOT required, or necessary, to mail Cyberboard BTB move files back and forth with your opponent.
If you know how to apply Cyberboard move files, you may do this, but, ultimately, the ACTS journal ABSOLUTELY prevails over a situation of conflicting CB maps & unit dispositions.
The GMs will NOT review Cyberboard files, any game reviews will be based on the ACTS journals.

Communication Conventions

Do not use direct e-mail with your opponent to handle game-related issues; i.e., assume that the ONLY record of the game is that contained in ACTS. One common reason to go to direct e-mail with an opponent is if you wish to discuss a strategy or tactic or have a communication that isn’t visible to the public.
It’s common to refer to units by nationality and identifier. Parentheses are used to indicate flipped units. For example: The flipped 1st German Army in France might be designated as"GE1(A)." A Russian Tank Army would be RUTkA.
It is a generally acceptable procedure for opponents to issue “Out of Supply” warnings; Germans usually do this on their round 6 move and Allies do this on their round 5 move.
When pulling units from, or putting units into, the Reserve Box or Eliminated Units Box, it’s important to keep track of what’s left in these boxes. For example: After eliminating an Army, the Russian player might say “RB(5,2)” indicating that there are FIVE full strength RUa’s and TWO flipped RUa’s in the Reserve Box. This should minimally be done at the end of each turn.
When Victory Points are adjusted, it’s important to identify what’s going on. For example, at the end of turn 1 the German player might move it +1, to +8, and say “+1 VP for Minsk”.
During the Attrition phase, it’s important for each player to clearly identify all spaces that change control. Please spell correctly!

Gaming Etiquette

If you’re going to be ‘away from the game’ for an extended period, > 3 days being a typical duration, it’s polite to let your opponent know about your planned absence. That way he can plan and not worry that you’re not getting the ACTS messages.
If you are waiting for your opponent to respond, and he hasn’t indicated he’ll be away, don’t hesitate to drop him another message if you haven’t heard back from him in a reasonable time. More than a few games have long breaks because both players think it’s the other guy’s turn!
If you have any disagreements with your opponent about the game rules, feel free to post on CSW or contact the tournament administrators to get a ruling. In organized competitions, the GM rulings are final and authoritative, for that event.
If you and your opponent have any concerns about the format of the tournament or the playing process, communicate directly VIA e-mail to the event administrator.
Do not count on any GMs to be keeping up with your ACTS journals!
It is quite acceptable, even encouraged, to review ACTS journals for other games. This helps eliminate any ‘mystery’ about Axis openings and initial Allied responses.

Resolving Errors

If your opponent makes an illegal move, but it favors you, it is extremely poor sportsmanship to let the move go if you know that it is illegal.
Similarly, if your opponent misstates the odds, you need to correct them.
If a move or attack is illegal, the defender must ‘reject’ it. This is done by informing his opponent about the error at which point the attack should redo his move and/or attacks.
It is poor sportsmanship to accept an illegal attack, roll for it, and then point out the illegality of the attack. In this case, it is the option of the ATTACKER as to whether or not to redo the attack.
A typo, such as misspelling the name of a space, is not sufficient by itself to render a move illegal.
Under no circumstances can a player decide how to resolve an error with foreknowledge of dice rolls that might impact how the error is resolved. (Dice should be rerolled from the point of the error.)
General principle: Once the defender receives a move, rolling dice is implicitly accepting the move as legal.
General principle: The GMs have the ultimate discretion on how to resolve an error situation when brought to his attention.

Ending the Game

Once the game ends, make sure the event administrators are informed.
Prior to a game being resolved, BOTH players must confirm the VP count.
Once a concession offer is made, and accepted, the game is OVER. A player can not later come up with a saving move (or die roll) and ‘restart’ the game.
General principle: Failure to respond to communication in a timely manner (>two weeks) to your opponent or GMs, without a prior warning of a prolonged absence, is sufficient for the GMs to declare an outcome. (Mitigating circumstances may come up.)