BPA SQLS 2009 PBEM Championships

EVENT: 2009 Boardgamer Player Association’s SQUAD LEADER Series (SQLS) Play by Email Championship tournaments. This event is being administered by Squad Leader Academy (SQLA). SQLS refers to Squad Leader and its extensions, Cross of Iron (COI), Crescendo of Doom (COD), and GI: Anvil of Victory (GIA). Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) is considered an distinct and separate game system.

REVISED START DATE: October 5, 2009.

FORMAT: Single elimination format. Any vacancies in round 2+ will be filled by the highest seeded player eliminated in the previous round. No penalty is assessed to the replacement player rejoining the tournament.

SEEDING: Players will be seeded in one pools of 16 players. Top seed positions are filled by the most recent WBC champions in reverse chronological order. Balance of players will be seeded by AREA ratings. Players will be matched each round by top vs bottom (ie in round 1; #1 vs #16)

INTERFACE: The VASSAL application version 3.10.0 using the VSQL module 4.1.5 will be used as the standard interface for this event. SQLA has several VSQL mentors standing by assist any new user to rapidly become proficient in VASSAL/VSQL.

DIE ROLLS: The inherent die roller within vassal will be used for all die rolls. Although it is possible to cheat, those few players with that tendency have already been identified and banned from SQLA play. If you do not feel you can be trusted, pick another hobby.

ELIGIBILITY: To meet the requirements for BPA sanctioning, a minimum field of 16 players is required. All participants must have 2009 BPA memberships paid and validated to be considered entered. See the Boardgamer Player Association website for the 2009 membership form ($10 Associate membership entitles you to entry any BPA event starting in 2009).. Plaques will be awarded at least to the first place finishers with all BPA accolades.

MATCH RULES LEVEL: Similar to the WBC event, players in a match will play at lowest rule level of the two players in the pairing. Players cannot be forced to play at a higher rules level than an either player agree to.

APPLICABLE RULES: As a function of the rules level used in a match, all non-optional rules will be used. The last published rulebooks are: SQL 4th edition; COI 4th edition, COD 1st edition; GIA 2nd edition; contact Bill if you lack the latest edition(s). All Squad Leader Academy (SQLA Rule conventions are in effect. Due to their use in all SQLA FTF (Avaloncon/WBC/other) and PBEM play, they have become the standard tournament rule interpretations. The SQLA compiled Q/A is a reference but it contains many suspect answers. Bill Thomson will serve as the Rules Czar with Alain Chabot and Scott Bramley used as warranted (ex: any issue in a game Bill is involved in). Players may confer with each other or resolve any issue. However once a czar ruling is requested, the result is binding. House rules from your house have no merit. From extensive SQLA tournament experience, most rule issues with potential problems have already been incorporated into the SQLA rule conventions.

PERSONAL LEADER COUNTERS: The standard SQLA tournament feature is not used in this single elimination event.

TIME LIMITS:This will be a four round tournament. Given changes in life priorities, player attrition is a real possibility if rounds take too long or players are inactive for extended periods of time. If you cannot continue at a reasonable pace regardless of the circumstances, it is your responsibility to concede the match so the tournament can continue seamlessly. A maximum of 10 weeks per round is reasonable. The GM staff reserves the right to adjudicate matches with a binding result if a match lags. Weekly reporting of game status will be requested.

AREA and SQLS LADDER STATUS: All games are AREA rated and will be treated as SQLS Ladder games (SQLA is creating a new ladder as the old one is several years defunct).

THE BOARDGAMER PLAYER ASSOCIATION'S

2009 SQUAD LEADER SERIES PBEM CHAMPIONSHIPS