Bounding Fire Blackpool Tournament Rules

BOUNDING FIRE BLACKPOOL

TOURNAMENT RULES

General Etiquette

·       Smoking is strictly prohibited inside the hotel.

·       Drinking is definitely NOT prohibited but please be mindful of equipment in rooms and other attendees concentrating on playing games.

·       Similarly please avoid noisy conversation close to games which are in play.

·       Strictly no “kibitzing” unless expressly agreed by both players involved in the game.

Tournament Rules (General)

All ASL players of any ability are very welcome at Bounding Fire Blackpool this November and Tournament play is strongly encouraged. By entering any of the Tournaments detailed hereafter you are agreeing to abide by these General Tournament Rules and the rules detailed for that specific Tournament.

·       The Tournament uses the official ASLRB 2^nd Edition including all current errata.

·       Copies will be supplied of any specific BFP Rules / unpublished maps required for play.

·       Dice towers or an appropriate alternative must be used.

·       A7 Infantry Fire Table is the default. The IIFT (A7.37) may alternatively be used if agreed by both players.

·       Rules disputes should be resolved by the players (by dr if necessary), involving the Tournament Director only as a last resort.

·       Due to the nature of the scenarios being played at BFB there may be occasions when a specific Unit / SW / Gun etc. counter is not yet available. Players should apply common sense and use a suitable replacement from the existing counter mix.

·       For any unpublished scenario played over the weekend, please complete an AAR / Feedback sheet and hand to the TD. As these will be scanned and sent directly to scenario designers, please keep comments constructive and use neat handwriting.

·       There will be a prize for the most Snake Eyes / Boxcars over the weekend. Update the TD after each game played either through the AAR / Feedback sheet or Crusader Ladder chit.

·       Players are welcome to take any scenario cards with them and play a game at their leisure whether F2F or VASL. Please complete an AAR / Feedback sheet (which I can email to you) and return to boundingfireblackpool@outlook.com.

·       Prizegiving will be at 10.30am on Sunday to enable an early getaway for those who wish to do so. Many of you I know have a long distance to travel home.

·       Where required, the Tournament Director’s decision is final.

Tournament Rules (Main Tournament)

The Main Tournament will consist of 2 Divisions (assuming sufficient players):-

The “Heroic” Division will consist of the first 16 tournament entrants by rating on The  Crusaders Open ASL Ladder (https://www.vftt.co.uk/ukladder.asp) *

The “Fanatic” Division will consist of up to 16 additional tournament entrants, ideally in a multiple of 4 as this makes life easier for the TD! Any additional players will be accommodated where possible at the TD’s discretion.

*The TD reserves the right to use the ASL Player Rating System (http://asl-ratings.org/) to accommodate players not on The  Crusaders Open ASL Ladder.

The “Heroic” Division Tournament will consist of 4 Rounds, straight knockout, which replaces the Group format of previous years.

Opponents for each Round will be determined by “FA Cup” style random draw with the winner of each game progressing to the following Round until, ultimately, a final is played and the winner / runner up are determined. Round 1 losing players will go into the repechage tournament which will see those 8 players compete over 3 Rounds on the same basis and with the same scenarios as the winning players.

Prizes will be awarded to the players finishing in the first four places, for the winner / runner up of the repechage tournament (see above), and for the winners of the two “BFP Special Minis” (see later).

The draw / scenario release for Round 1 will take place at c8pm on Thursday evening. Although the official start time for Round 1 is 9am Friday morning, players are free to commence play if they so wish. As the Round 1 scenario(s) are being released well ahead of the scheduled start time, practice games are STRICTLY VERBOTEN. Any such playing will result in immediate forfeiture of the forthcoming game.

Each Round will provide a choice of 1, 2 or 3 scenarios. To determine which scenario is played, proceed as follows:-

1 Scenario available. Players make a secret choice for sides. Should both wish to play the same side make a dr. The higher roll gets their choice of side with the other player getting the opposing side and balance.

2 Scenarios available. Players secretly choose their first preference scenario. If both players chose the same first preference scenario that one is played. Proceed as detailed under “1 Scenario available”. Should the players wish to play different scenarios make a dr. The higher roll gets their choice of scenario with the other player getting choice of side. Any balance provision is NA.

3 Scenarios available. Players secretly choose their first and second preference scenarios and which one to discard. If both players chose the same first preference, or after “discards” only one scenario remains, that one is played. Proceed as detailed under “1 Scenario available”. If two scenario choices remain, proceed as detailed under “2 Scenarios available”.

Indicative timings for the various Rounds are as follows:-

Round 1             Friday 9am – 2pm

Round 2             Friday 3pm – Sat 8am

Semi Finals       Sat 9am – Sat 4pm

Final                   Sat 5pm – Sun 10am

ALL TIMINGS WILL BE CONFIRMED BY THE TD AT THE START OF EACH ROUND, INCLUDING ALLOWED SETUP TIMES. NOTICE TO FINISH WILL BE CALLED OUT WITH AN HOUR, 30 MINUTES AND 10 MINUTES OF PLAY REMAINING.

The scenarios presented for play will have been played to ensure they can be completed, with a reasonable pace of play, within the time available. Hence, games are expected to finish on time.

If a player has already played any of the presented scenarios (generally through BFP playtesting), this should be declared to their opponent. If that opponent remains agreeable to play, proceed as indicated above. If that opponent is not agreeable to play, speak to the TD who will provide a substitute, comparable, reserve scenario for play.

Late arrivals for play (just in case):-

o   Up to 10 minutes late                Forfeit choice of scenario (where applicable)

o   Up to 20 minutes late                Forfeit choice of side

o   30 minutes late                           Forfeit game

At the discretion of the TD an extension to the finish time may be granted but players should be aware of the potential impact on their next game – see “late arrivals for play” above – as subsequent rounds will start on time. If the game has not finished at the due time then the players should agree a result. If they are unable to do so then an Adjudication will take place.

Any required Adjudication will be undertaken by a panel consisting of the TD and 2 other experienced players (neither of whom will be playing in the same “Division” as the Adjudicated game). Players will have 1 minute to “make their case” after which the panel will consider the game situation and individually secretly vote to choose a winner. Their decision is final. If either player so wishes, any Adjudicated game need not count as a result for the purpose of The Crusaders Open ASL Ladder and players are free to leave the game set up and complete it later, even post tourney if they so wish, for this purpose.

If players, having been given suitable notice by the TD, refuse to finish on time and / or cannot agree a result and / or will not agree to Adjudication, they will both be declared to have lost that game.

At the conclusion of two Rounds of play there will be:-

4 players remaining in the main tournament who will proceed to play a Semi and a Final

4 players remaining in the repechage tournament who will proceed to play a Semi and a Final

8 additional players who will go into a “BFP Special Mini”. Two groups of 4, random draw, straight knock out, playing the Semi and Final scenarios.

As players are eliminated from the tournament, they are strongly encouraged please to play the remaining scenarios to ensure the maximum level of feedback to BFP.

The “Fanatic” Division will proceed as above, suitably modified by the TD to accommodate a lower number of players should that be the case.

Tournament Rules (HazMo Minis)

Players will be divided into groups of four, drawn randomly, with Round 1 pairings also random. Each group will play two rounds, straight knock-out within the group, so that each group will have one winner (groups do not play each other).

Round 1 winners will play each other in Round 2; Round 1 losers are not required to play each other in Round 2 but are encouraged to do so. Scenarios will be ETO, although PTO scenarios will be available as well for separate group(s) if there is sufficient demand.

All scenarios are already-published, and three will be available for each round. All are small scenarios, with estimated playing times (from ASL Scenario Archive) of under 3 hours for Round 1 and under 4 hours for Round 2. For each round, players may decide scenario and sides by mutual agreement if they wish; otherwise, follow the procedure below:

From the three scenarios, both players secretly choose their first and second preference, and one to discard.

·       If both players chose the same first preference scenario then that one is played.

·       If the players reject different scenarios, then the remaining one is played.

In both of the above cases, players make a secret choice for sides, and if both wish to play the same side then a dr is made, with the winner getting their preferred side and the loser the balance.

·       If players reject the same scenario and choose different first preferences, then make the final choice by dr. Winner gets scenario choice, loser gets choice of sides (no balance).

Time rulings for late arrivers apply as for the main tournament.

Round 1 Scenarios will be released on Wednesday 15/11/23 at around 9pm. Players may discuss the scenarios but no practice playings are allowed.

Play to start 9am on Thursday 16/11/23 (or earlier if agreed between the players) – 1pm

Round 2 Scenarios will be released on Thursday 16/11/23 at around 12pm

Play to start 2pm (or earlier if agreed between the players) – 8pm

Set up times

Round 1: 30 minutes total (Defender 20 mins, Attacker 10mins)

Round 2: 45 minutes (Defender 30mins, Attacker 15mins)

Please respect these times to keep the Minis on schedule.

Pick Up and Go

A selection of unpublished scenarios will be available for play throughout the weekend, including those from the main tournament once they have been released.

Pick Up and Go is not a “tournament”, rather players are encouraged to give these scenarios a play and complete an AAR / Feedback sheet to help the scenario designers. They will be at various stages of the design process as the scenario card will indicate.

I would encourage as much play of these as possible. You never know, there might just be some form of prize available……