Index

The 2005 PBEM

Barbarossa to Berlin

Tournament

The Boardgame Players Association

and GMT Games

GM: Tom Gregorio

Status as of JAN-18-2006

We have a winner! Congratulations to Stefan Mecay, BTB PBEM Champion!

Overview

This is a Play-By-Email tournament for GMT's "WWII: Barbarossa to Berlin" card-driven game covering the Second World War. As the Allies, you must endure the Axis assault and then utilize your superior resources to crush the Third Reich. As the Axis, you must make try to knock out the Soviet Union; failing that, you must trade force and space for time as you try to stave off attacks from all sides!

Tournament Statistics

Games completed: 50 Axis Wins: 29 Allied Wins: 21 Axis AVs: 20 Eliminators (E): 2

Round Six:

December 1, 2006 - March 15, 2006

Game Allies Axis Bid Winner Current Status

Finals Stefan Mecay Hans Frey +0 Axis Completed

Round Five

November 1, 2006 - November 30, 2006

Game Allies Axis Bid Winner Current Status

1 Mark Sundlie (E) Hans Frey +0 Axis Concession, Turn 4

2 Tasos Tsoufis Stefan Mecay +1 Axis Concession, Turn 3

Round Four

June 12 - October 31, 2006

Game Allies Axis Bid Winner Current Status

1 Hans Frey Tom Gregorio +2 Allies Complete, Turn 18

2 Tim Tow Tasos Tsoufis +1 Axis Complete, Turn 18

3 Stefan Mecay Philip Watkins 0 Allies Complete, Turn 9

Round Three

March 20 - June 30, 2006

Game Allies Axis Bid Winner Current Status

1 Ed McGran Tom Gregorio -2 Axis, Tom Gregorio AV, Turn 3

2 Hans Frey Doug Mercer 0 Allied, Hans Frey Complete, Turn 12

3 Rick Byrens Tim Tow +1 Axis, Tim Tow AV, Turn 4

4 Stefan Mecay George Young +1 Allies, Stefan Mecay Adjudication, Turn 3

5 Dominic Smyth Philip Watkins 0 Axis, Philip Watkins AV, Turn 3

6 Moritz Eggert Tasos Tsoufis 0 Axis, Tasos Tsoufis AV, Turn 7

7 Andrew Taylor Niek vanDiepen (E) +1 Axis, Niek van Diepen AV, Turn 3

Round Two

December 1, 2005 - March 19, 2006

Game Allies Axis Bid Winner Current Status

1 Tom Gregorio Tim Hughes +1 Allies Complete, Turn 16

2 Doug Austin Hans Frey +1 Axis Complete, Turn 18

3 Paul Nied Tim Tow +1 Axis Complete, Turn 11

4 Stefan Mecay Lin Parkh +1 Allies Complete, Turn 6

5 Dominic Smyth Robert Ford +1 Allies Complete, Turn 8

6 Chuck McAllister Rick Byrens 0 Axis Complete, Turn 3

7 Ed McGran Patrick Duffy +1 Allies Complete, Turn 8

8 Scott Burns Doug Mercer 0 Axis Complete, Turn 6

9 Philip Watkins Martin Nelmes 0 Allies Complete, Turn 17

10 Scott Tasos Tsoufis +1 Axis Complete, Turn 6

11 Moritz Eggert Nick Pei +1 Allies Complete, Turn 2

12 Andrew Taylor Daniel Gagnon 0 Allies Complete, Turn 15

Note: George Young received a bye.

Round One

August 15 - November 30, 2005

Game Allies Axis Bid Winner Current Status

1 Geoff Albutt Tom Gregorio +1 Axis AV, Turn 6

2 Doug Austin Jeff Taylor +1 Allies Complete, Turn 15

3 Paul Nied Treveor Dietrich 0 Allies Complete, Turn 3

4 Martin Friel Lin Parkh +1 Axis AV, Turn 2

5 Ron Fedin Tim Tow +0 Allies AV, Turn 5

6 Bob Jamelli Robert Ford +2 Axis AV, Turn 3

7 Tim Olson Nick Pei 0 Axis AV, Turn 2

8 George Young Allan Bell 0 Allies Adjudicated

9 Chuck McAlister Bob Sohn 0 Allies Adjudicated

10 Ed McGran Erik Estep -2 Allies Complete, Turn 17

11 Scott Burns John Wetherall 0 Allies Complete, Turn 7

12 Mauro Faina Philip Watkins 0 Axis Complete, Turn 9

13 Michael Mitchell Tasos Tsoufis +1 Axis AV, Turn 3

14 Roberto Sanchez Martin Nelmes +1 Axis AV, Turn 3

15 Ken Gutermuth Scott Sturrock +1 Axis AV, Turn 3

16 David Glenn Hans Frey +1 Axis Complete

17 Tim Hughes Michael Parkhurst +1 Allies Complete, Turn 6

18 Tobias Kriener Doug Mercer 0 Axis Complete, Turn 12

19 Randy Mac Innis Andy Taylor +1 Axis Complete, Turn 8

20 Moritz Eggert Lance Roberts +1 Allies Complete

21 Kenn Dunn Patrick Duffy +1 Axis AV

22 Gregg Spingola Stefan Mecay +1 Axis Complete, Turn 16

23 Dennis Nicholson Rick Byrens 0 Axis Complete, Turn 13

24 Domenic Smyth Tim Gagnon 0 Allies Complete, Turn 11

25 Marc DeRoo Daniel Gagnon 0 Axis AV

Game Rules

The GMT Living Rules to BTB (9/24/2003) are considered to the official version of the rules. The Campaign game scenario is being used. Players can agree to play a different scenario but, in case of disagreement, the campaign scenario must be played.

Note: Special Turn 1 Mulligan for Allies: Per a 7/6/2005 clarification from the BTB developer, the Allied card 'redraw' takes place during the Draw Strategy Cards phase. (Not during the initial draw at the beginning of the game!)

Bids: Players will bid for sides; the GM will identify who bids first for the Axis. The bid represents how many VP are added to the Automatic Victory requirement, normally 20, and how many VP are SUBTRACTED from the Totaller Krieg 20 VP bonus.

Bidding Examples: Bidding +2 would mean that a player would need 22VP for an AXIS AV and would only get 18 VP from the Totaller Krieg card play. Bidding -1 would mean that a player would need 19 VP for an AXIS AV and would get 21 VP upon the play of Totaller Krieg.

Each subsequent bid must have an absolute value GREATER than the previous bid. Declining to bid is equivalent to accepting your opponent's bid at which point your opponent gets the AXIS at the declared bid. Note: If you want to play the ALLIES, bid low for the AXIS! Hint: Experience has shown that a balanced game, between equally experienced players, will exist with a bid between 0 and +2, inclusive.

Time Commitment

Expect to average about one card play per day. Exact speed of play is at the discretion of the participants. It is recommended that players establish some initial guidelines as to when to follow-up with their opponents regarding 'non-response' or to communicate anticipated lengthy delays.

Participation

All BPA members for 2005 are eligible. The BPA pays for the plaques and provides coverage on their web site. Non-BPA members for 2005 are eligible if you join the BPA in 2005 as an Associate member or higher. Note: Associate membership costs only $10, and allows entry into any and all BPA-sponsored email tournaments you choose to participate in..

Players must have internet access, and a valid email address. Changes in email address should be forwarded to the GM.

Gamemaster

Tom Gregorio will be the GM; Doug Austin and Paul Nied will be the Assistant GMs. All three will participate in the tournament.

Format and
Schedule

This will be a single-elimination tournament. Each round will be approximately three months in duration with an intention to finish the tournament within ~18 months. The first round will be slightly extended to give participants time to become familiar with the format and pacing while the final rounds will be shorter as it is expected that the now-experienced players will be able to play a bit faster.

Current Schedule
Round 1: August 15 - November 30, 2005
Round 2: December 1 - February 28, 2006
Round 3: March 20, 2006 - June 30, 2006
Round 4: July 1 - October 31, 2006
Round 5: November 1 - February 15, 2007
Round 6: February 16 - May 15, 2007

Note: If all matches for a round are completed, the GM has the right to "advance" the schedule. Late entrants will be accepted into the first round but their matches must still be completed by the scheduled completion date.

Advancing

The winner of each match will advance into the next round. There are no ties.

Pairings and Byes

Tournament match-ups will be randomly assigned at the start of each round. Byes, if required, will be randomly assigned each round; under no circumstances will a player ever be offered two byes in this tournament before every other player has been offered a bye. (Byes may be declined.)

A.R.E.A.

All games will be AREA rated and will contribute to BPA Caesar points. The GM will automatically report the results of all games upon the completion of each round.

Incomplete Games

If a game is not completed, the player who consumed the most time loses. There will be no adjudications. E-mails as well as the ACTs journal will be used by the GM and his assistants to determine which player used the most time.

Rules Disputes

Rules questions/disputes should be addressed to the GM. Neither the GM or his Assistants will rule on a game they are involved in. Players should be as descriptive as possible, including supporting evidence or diagrams of the situation in question as the answer will be based on the information provided. Questions may also be posted to CSW but the GM rulings are authoritative and final.

Recommended
Method of Play

It is required that players use the Automated Card Tracking Site to play their games. Matches conducted FTF, PBEM, or PBM are not considered valid matches unless there is an accompanying ACTS journal.

The ACTS site provides recordkeeping of moves, provides a die roller, and serves as a secure card dealer. There is no fee for use of the ACTS web site. It should be noted that all game journals are considered public and may only be deleted by the players when requested to do so by the GM.

Dice: Players may choose to use a subset of the requested dice as long as it is clearly identified, in advance, which rolls are to be used. For example, the Axis player can call for 8 dice for three battles and declare that only dice rolls 4-6 are to be used. The defending player rolls all dice; rolling the dice indicates that the attacking player's move was reviewed and validated. If too many dice are rolled, trailing dice are discarded. If too few dice are rolled, the player rolling the first set of dice should request additional results.

It should be noted that no specification of, or requirements for, PBEM aides (ADC2, CB, etc.) is being made. Players may also choose an alternate method for rolling dice but all results must then be posted into the ACTS journal.

Reporting

Both players should report the completion of the game to the GM.

Relevant information to be submitted includes: sides played, bid, final VP score, turn of game end, and method of victory.

Prizes

The tournament winner will receive:

A BPA "WWII: Barbarossa to Berlin" Championship Plaque
A tremendous amount of respect from fellow players
Puzzled looks from non-gamers when trying to explain the game.
And a copy of the Deluxe BTB map.

Web Site

Tom Gregorio will host and publish any information relevant to the tournament, any inquires related to the content of this website or the tournament itself should be directed to him.

Current Participants

Tom Gregorio (GM)

Doug Austin (Asst GM)

Paul Nied (Asst GM)

S.T. Sturrock

David Glenn

Dominic Smyth

Tim Gagnon

Daniel Gagnon

Marc DeRoo