ORGANIZATION
The tournament consists of usually ten players who will be randomly assigned into two even groups, typically Commonwealth & Confederation. Each player plays the heat matchs, and scores Victory Points for each match.
HEATS
In the preliminary phase, one group will play the Commonwealth side and the other group will play the Confederation side in each scenario. A schedule will be provided that shows the match-ups for each round of the tournament.
SEMIFINALS
After the preliminary rounds are completed, the two players from each group who won the most total Victory Points will play each other in a two-game match for the Semifinals, playing both sides of a single scenario.
FINALS
The winner of each Semifinal will then meet in the Finals, to play a two-game match for the championship.
Ties for most total Victory Points at the end of the preliminary phase or in a two game match are broken by determining which player lost the least number by least total blocks lost.
GENERAL RULES
- A game ends immediately when one player earns the required number of Victory Points to achieve victory. If the match ends by eliminating X (typically 8) units, each player records the number of VP scored.
- Once the schedule for the tournament is published, players are responsible for contacting each other and setting up a time to play their games. There will be a tournament page with the schedule of games, standings and player list with contact information provided.
- All players should use the current version of the Red Alert module and extensions available from the Vassal web page.
- Both players should start a logfile once the game is open, but prior to drawing cards. After the game is over, the winning player should upload the logfile along with a game report to the Tournament Results Forum on the Red Alert website.
- The logfiles should be named after the tournament, the round being played and the players involved, using Vassal names; for example, when uploading the log for the game between Mark McG and JBloggs in Round 3 of Mini-Tournament #1, this would be named:
MT1R3MarkMcGvsJBloggs
The report should be made by the winning player into the forum provided . The format for reporting results is as shown below:
Round # Scenario Name
Player 1 Vassal ID: # Victory Points won /# figures lost
Player 2 Vassal ID: #Victory Points won/# figures lost
Note: When counting figures lost, don’t include units that exit off the board due to any Victory conditions.
- All games should be played in adherence to the official Red Alert rules and the current FAQ. In addition, players should also familiarize themselves with the “VASSAL Conventions” given here.
- It is up to the individual players to arrange and play their games. The schedule will give a deadline in which all the games in a round should be completed. If a player does not respond to emails, please contact the tournament referee. It is important to keep the referee informed of problems as they occur. Generally, if a deadline passes without communication to the referee from either player involved in a game, both players will be counted as having forfeited the game
- The tournament referee will be the final arbiter of disputes. If the referee is playing in a tournament and is involved in a dispute, a mutually agreed assistant will arbitrate. Hopefully, this rule will not be necessary as this tournament is being set up for people to play games and have fun. Most problems that arise in a game can be easily solved with good sportsmanship.
VASSAL TOURNAMENT CONVENTIONS
Setup
1. Draw a Taskforce card into your hand, usually randomly but by choice in some cases. If not otherwise stated, each player rolls 5 dice. The player that rolls the most stars with 5 dice selects first. Re-roll ties.
2. Deploy the Taskforce units into your hand
3. Purchase Support vessels and deploy to your hand
4. Each player announces how many units he has. Player with most units places the first Hidden deployment, and then players alternate until all hidden units are placed.
5. Players then reveal their Task Force card onto the map. If either or both players have units not yet on the map, the player with the highest task force card number will place his remaining unit markers on any hex that is adjacent to one of his faction markers. These makers will be visible to his opponent. After all these unit markers are placed, the player with the lower task force card number will then place his remaining unit makers on a hex adjacent to one of his faction markers.
6. When both players have deployed all markers, players will then remove all faction markers from the battlefield, leaving the unit markers, and return these to the faction marker pools.
7. Players should not check their opponents Task force to check the correct units were deployed, and how many Support points have been spent.
8. Remaining Points & Stars:
The number of points remaining after a player purchases his support vessels will affect the number of stars a player has at the start of a scenario.
After support units are purchased:
• When a player’s remaining purchase points are over
the scenario points allowed:
- Lose 1 star for the 1st point over, or
- Lose 
for 2 points over
- A player cannot go over 2 points.
• When a player’s remaining purchase points are under
the scenario point total allowed:
- Gain 1 star when 1 point under, or
- Gain
when 2 or more points under.
9. If a player has made an illegal setup, replace TF card units with the correct unit, and remove any excess Support units. Note that under purchase is legal, so there is no opportunity to add new units.
10. First turn. Both players play a Command card face down on the map. Once both players have selected and played a Command card, they are revealed to determine first player. (Setup Step 10)
VASSAL CONVENTIONS
1. To play a card, drag it from your hand window to the map board. Wait for your opponent to place the card on the discard pile, allowing him time to read the card.
2. Units which are ordered but not moving should be highlighted before the battle phase of your turn by right-clicking the unit and selecting “Order Unit” from the pop-up menu. The same process will remove the highlight from a unit, if necessary (Shortcut CTRL-O).
3. Active player should pay star tokens to remove Red Alerts prior to movement.
4. When moving units multiple hexes, make sure to move them a single hex at a time to generate an accurate movement trail. When using Full Impulse move, the 2 Star tokens are paid immediately after the extra movement.
5. To battle, right click the attacking unit and select “Attack Marker” from the menu to place a yellow attack marker on the attacking unit (Shortcut CTRL-A), and then right click the target unit and select “Target Marker” to place a red target marker on that unit (Shortcut CTRL-T). Once the markers are placed, the attacker should notify his opponent of the number of battle dice to be rolled in the chat window (by typing “3d” for a 3 battle dice attack, for example). The defender will then confirm the attacker’s note (with a “y” for yes, or similar) or will play a First Strike card (reversing the order of attack) or similar response Combat card. Of course, if the attacker has entered what the defender believes to be an incorrect number of dice, he should instead advise his opponent of this.
6. Rectify any one Red Alert by paying 2 Star tokens. Resolve any Battleback by Defender (Combat Step 10). Defender should similarly state number of Battleback dice, and Attacker confirm.
7. Once the attack is resolved, the attack marker should be converted to a “Battled” (blue) marker via the right-click menu (Shortcut CTRL-N). To avoid confusion, there should never be more than one yellow attacker marker and one red target marker on the board.
8. If you roll too many battle dice, simply use the results of the correct number of dice, counting from left to right, from the roll already made and ignore the excess results.
9. After your combat phase is complete, draw a command card, and either 2 Star tokens, or 1 Combat card and 1 Star token, then push the “Ends Turn” button to delete the combat markers from the board and to remove all the highlights and movement trails from the units on the board. This ends your turn and signals your opponent that it is his turn.
10. When returning to a game after losing connection with the Vassal server, the player who returns should synchronize to the player who remained connected and has an uninterrupted logfile.
Have a great time!