2009 BtB PBEM Tournament

Official Tournament Rules Clarifications

Special Turn 1 Mulligan for Allies

The "Turn 1 Mulligan" (the last paragraph of 4.4) is superceded by the following for this tournament.

If the Allied player did not draw either Soviet Front reinforcement to start the game, then use the following procedure:

If the Allied player still has not drawn a Soviet Front reinforcement card, then during any Action round in turn 2, he can play the Soviet 3 Front Reinforcement card by playing a 3OP card or higher as OPs (so the opposing player sees what card is being used). He should not discard a 3OP card at the beginning of the turn nor announce that he has failed to draw a Soviet Front reinforcement card. Note that this procedure is not entirely consistent with the rules and supercedes the rules in this case. When the Soviet 3 Front reinforcement card is drawn later in the game, the Allied player should play it as an event immediately and draw a replacement card.

OPs/Event sequencing

When a card is played as a Dual action card ("OPS/Event"--either as a Yellow event or Provisional Yellow event), the event takes place before OPS are spent. Some events impact combat only so they will not have effect until combat.

Playing Yellow Events during Spring Thaw

Many yellow cards are specifically prohibited from being played during Spring Thaw. For those that aren't, some must meet their event pre-requisits to be played as events while others can be played as "events" during spring thaw to allow the OPS to be used (e.g., the US 3rd Army does not need to be on the map nor make an attack to play Patton as a yellow event to allow the Allies to use 5OPs during the Spring Thaw turn).

Play of Round-up not allowed if P-51, Strangle or Shingle are played as Yellow Events

If P-51, Strangle or Shingle are played as Yellow events, Round-up is no longer playable as an event. If Round-up has been played as an event, P-51, Strangle and Shingle may not be played as Yellow events.

Yellow Invasions

If Shingle or Anvil-Dragoon are played as Yellow events, the combat marker placed for the invasion does not count as one of the OPs. The invasion is exectuted as its own event and then the Allied player may play the full value of the card for OPs elsewhere.

Timing of announcing DoW against Sweden or Turkey

At the start of a player's own action round, he may declare war on Sweden or Turkey. All spaces in the country immediately convert to the opposing side and the active player may now move and attack in the targeted country.

Timing of the +1 hand size for Industrial Evacuation

During the Draw Strategy Card phase 8 turns after IE is played as an event. Because cards are drawn at the start of a turn on ACTS (not at the end of the previous turn as per the sequence of play), this effectively means the hand size increases 9 turns after IE is played.

Timing of the 2 card minimum hand size for the Axis

During the Draw Strategy Card phase of turns 15 to 17 (turn 18 has no Draw Strategy Card phase).

Examples of activation costs for Axis units in the Caucasus and the Middle East

Winter 42 German combat penalties

During Turn 4 (winter, 1942), an Axis space under attack that contains both German and non-German Axis units suffers the Winter 42 combat penalties (i.e., no terrain benefits apart from Trenches and 1L shift)?

Removing Stand Fast markers

A stack of units under a SF marker move together to an enemy space to remove the SF marker and then "split-up" (i.e., move to different spaces).

Retreat Priorities

A unit must retreat through or into an enemy controlled space to end the retreat in supply if the only alternative path is retreating to a friendly space to end the retreat out of supply. In other words, ending a retreat in supply takes precedence over avoiding enemy controlled spaces.

Avalanche/Shingle as Reinforcements

If the Allied player declares he is performing no further invasions, Avalanche or Shingle can be played as a reinforcement card if the US 7th Army is on the map.

Desert Army replacement

If the Desert Army is reduced (but in full supply), it can be replaced if by the BR8 which always enters at full strength.

SRing through Marseilles

After Vichy has entered the war, an Axis unit can SR through neutral Vichy hexes including Marseilles to convert them and continue to SR to a different location.

Maquis Partisan placement

The partisan placed with the Marquis event can go to any eligible space including those in the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey.

Discard Order

If the order of declaring discards matters to either player, then both players will email their game moderator to indicate which cards, if any, they want to discard. The GM will announce both players' decisions about how many cards to discard in the ACTS log.

Easily Forgotten Rules