Bitterwoods 9th BPA PBEM Tournament – Dec 16, 2017 

 1) Players must be members of the BPA for 2017 in order to enter the competition. Once entered, an entrant may finish out the tournament regardless of whether they keep up their BPA membership. (This is a BPA requirement.)

2) All games will be AREA rated. (This is a BPA requirement.)

3) The tournament will follow a single elimination format.

4) Match Assignments will be made by AREA Rating as follows. In the first round, the highest seeds will be listed in Group A and the lower seeds will be listed in Group B. Then players out of each group will be selected randomly to determine opponents.

5) After the first assignments are determined, the field will be split into brackets – the matches in each bracket will be selected randomly. Thereafter, later round assignments will be based upon success in each bracket, as in tennis.

6) Awards for players in Group A: The BPA championship plaque and a WBC Vendor $50.00 gift certificate for winning the championship plaque.

7) Awards for players in Group B: The BPA championship plaque, a WBC Vendor $50.00 gift certificate for winning the championship plaque and a WBC Vendor $50.00 gift certificate for finishing highest amongst those who start in Group B.

8) There will be no byes. When an uneven number of participants advance into a round, an eliminator will be enlisted to fill out the round.

9) The length of each round will be 13 weeks. Each player should respond with his next e-mail (see the pbem procedure outlined below) within three days of receiving the opponent’s last e-mail. Each player will be able to declare one week ‘off’ in which he will not have to make a move. That said, players may make any arrangement between themselves as long as the match is completed within the time limit.

10) Adjudication and Advancement. If a game goes beyond the specified time limit, the game will be adjudicated by the GM and the Assistant GM’s. Both the current position on the board and the relative speed of play of the two players will be considered. It would be good for players to save their emails.

11) The GM will be Bruno Sinigaglio. Any and all questions, disputes, situations, etc. should be reported to him first at brunofjs@hotmail.com. The Asst GM’s will be: Bob Ryan – bobmryan@aol.com and Ed Witkowski – edwski@comcast.net.

12) Scenario: Six turn 16AM or 8 turn 16AM. If both players agree, they may choose the scenario. Otherwise, it will be determined randomly.

13) The Six -Turn Scenario German Army Arty . The Germans get the three army artillery units. See Rule 37.1. Rule 37.2 is not used.

14) The GM will make the initial side determination by die roll.

13) Shark Repellent – After the GM roll for sides, a player with an AREA rating that is more than 999 points below his opponent has choice of sides.

15) No Shark Repellent – After the GM roll for sides, a player with an AREA rating that is 1 to 999 points below his opponent may request bid for side.  Start Bid Procedure. The higher rated player starts with the side as rolled by the GM. The lower rated player may bid to take the higher rated player’s side away from him.

 1. If the lower rated player wants to take the Germans away from the higher rated player, he must state so and make a bid from 1 to 5, as follows:

         (a) Bid 1. Give the Americans an extra air unit on 17AM.

(b) Bid 2.. Give the Americans an extra air unit on 17AM and 17PM.

(c) Bid 3. Infantry Regiment 4/8-22 and Arty 422 enter on 17AM at B, C or D.

(d) Bid 4. Infantry Regiment 1/16 enters on 17AM automatically.

(e) Bid 5. Options #3 and #4 combined.

2.  If the lower rated player wants to take the Americans away from the higher rated player, he must state so and make a bid from 1 to 5, as follows:

(a) Bid 1. Give the Germans an extra air unit on 17AM.

(b) Bid 2. Give the Germans an extra air unit on 17AM and 17PM.

(c) Bid 3. Fuhr Gd begins the game in Bitburg with the 7th Army.

(d) Bid 4. The 15PG Division begins the game in Bitburg with the 7th Army.

(e) Bid 5. Options #3 and #4 combined.

3.  If the higher rated player has his side taken away, he may overbid the lower rated player to take it back. This can continue until a bids of 5, which ends the bidding.

16) The printed sequence of play is to be utilized. The German Player must allocate reserves after the Allied Interdiction Phase, not during the German Movement Phase.

17) Die Rolling. Players should use a random number utility which usually provides die roll results by e-mail in less than one minute. ACTS is the best.

18) Before the start of the game, the Allied Player must receive the location of the hidden fuel dumps from the GM.