Campaign Manager: Referee Guide

Referee's guide for the campaign manager.

Creating a Campaign

Create a new campaign by clicking "Create new Campaign" on the main page.  You will be guided through the steps and options available.

Type and Genre

Select whether the campaign is map-based (where you move battleforces around on a strategic map) or a tournament.

General Settings

Specify all the options that applies for all types of campaigns:

Specify a name for the campaign, which factions and unit categories are available, which result types are possible, and optionally a start and end date.  If no start or end date is specified, the campaign can be started and stopped manually.

Select a campaign display style; Choose something that matches the campaign genre - for instance, 'Science Fiction' for WH40K and 'Parchment' for WHFB.

Optionally, select a sponsor logo and link (both should be provided as URLs, the first to an appropriate image, the second to the sponsors home page).

Select which scenarios the application should select from, when battleforces engage in battle. Note that each scenario specifies a point value range - this indicates the point values where random scenario generation will allow the selection of the scenario - thus, Bunker Assault will never be selected for battles less than 1500 points, and Sabotage will never be selected for battles above 1500 points.

Map Settings

If you selected a Mapbased campaign, you must also set some options that applies only for this type of campaign.

Select which map to play on, from the drop-down list. The following maps are available:

• Planet Beta, a small map suitable for up to 7 players in a science fiction setting.
• Gemini, or Bevin's World, a moderate map for up to 10 players, also in a science fiction setting. Here's a sample background story for use with a Bevin's world campaign.
• Young Kingdoms, a map of the world of Elric at the time of the Stormbringer.  It is suitable for 5-15 players playing in a fantasy setting.
• Bulderhaven is a generic fantasy map suitable for 3-7 players.
  

Only the maps relevant for the Genre chosen are presented (so you can't play Warhammer 40K in Bulderhaven!)

Select which logos should be available to choose from as battleforce logos for players, and also which logos should be available to select from as control logos.  There must be at least one logo for each player, since the application will prevent different players from using the same logo.

Special Rules

Select which special rules (see below) are in force for the campaign, and which settings applies to the selected rules. All special rules have default settings, so to get a default campaign, just leave all the special rules unselected.

Invite players

Select the campaign from the front page.  For each army to make room for, click "Create new army for campaign" and choose whether the invitation is open to all, or specific to a particular player (you don't have to do this for Open Tournaments, see below).

Once the invitations are ready, notify your intended players that they may join the campaign (using this guide).

Start the Campaign

If all goes well, there shouldn't be anything to do from now on until the campaign completes.

Tournament Rounds

Tournaments, in particular swiss draw tournaments, require the referee to start each round. This allows the referee some leeway to give all battles a chance to resolve, and to speed up the rounds if the battles complete early.

The referee can choose to select the scenario from the list of allowed scenarios, or let the computer select a scenario at random.  All games in the round will use the same scenario.

Ending the campaign

It is possible to cancel a campaign; This ends the campaign without awarding honour icons.

Dispute Resolution

The main job for the referee during the campaign is to arbitrate disputes.

Invalid Units

The referee can Invalidate any unit in the tournament, if it has wrong points, contains copyrighted material (like listing the cost of each upgrade) or is otherwise marginally valid.  An invalidated unit can be edited by the player, but may not be selected for battles.  Once the unit is in order, the referee can revalidate it.  This is a less harsh way of dealing with mistakes than summary dismissal, and should be preferred for honest mistakes.

If a unit is found to be completely illegal, it can be dismissed by the referee.  The referee can do this while the unit is locked in battle.  A unit with a too high point value can usually be left in; The owning player can correct the mistake at his or her leisure.

If a unit us found to be invalid in the specific battle (eg, being a seventh Troop choice), it should be excluded from the battle by the players, but no further action is needed.

Combat Results

If two players disagree on the outcome of a battle, they will mark the battle "disputed" and implicitly call on the referee to resolve the situation.  The referee should investigate, letting each player present their position, and choose one of the following actions:

• Cancel the claimed result, letting the players enter a new result. Click "Cancel claimed result". The players now have 24 hours to enter and approve a corrected result, otherwise the battle is resolved randomly. This would be done if the disagreer is right, or if the claimer made a mistake.  In case of abuse, a VP penalty may be imposed on the claimer.
  
• Forcibly approve the claimed result (overruling the disagreeing player). Click "Forcibly approve result". This would be done if the claiming player is in fact right.  In case of abusive disagrees, a VP penalty may be imposed on the disagreer.
  
• Force an immediate random resolution.  Click "Force Random Resolution". This would be done if there is no way to determine which player is right.

Adjustments

AP adjustment

VP adjustment

This would typically be used if a player wilfully abuses the campaign or the other players, by cheating or posting spam in the fluff section.  If a player persists in being a nuisance, he or she can be effectively expelled by adjusting their AP to a large negative number.

Bad Fluff

Abusive fluff , such as storylines that take unwanted freedoms with another player's stories, or personal attacks, or unsolicited advertising, can be deleted by the referee.  This requires that at least two players agree that the fluff piece is bad.  Wilful abuses of the fluff entry system can be penalized by removing AP or VP or both from the offending player.

Special Rules

The referee can, when starting a campaign or tournament, set a large number of special rules.  This sections lists the special rules available, and details their effects.  Note that availability is varies depending on the type and genre of campaign - movement costs are irrelevant for Tournaments, and Retreat to Warp is irrelevant for Fantsy.  Irrelevant optional rules are not shown in the list. Click the checkmark next to rule name to have it in effect.

Most of the rules have a default value which will be used even if the rule is unchecked.

Some special rules have an [+1] marker: Click on this marker to increase the number of entry fields for the rule.  This is used for rules that have multiple values.

Most multi-value rules have a value that varies by faction. These are marked with an [F] in this list, and have a dropdown listing faction names when creating a new campaign. Create a copy of the special rule for each faction to which it applies, and if different from the default, also one for (All). Factions with no explicit rule use the (All) default value for the rule, or if that is not set, the system default.