General Guidelines and Fair Play

1.      Please provide your feedback or comments directly to only the Game Master and not other players.

2.      All rules of Twilight Imperium II are used unless superceded here.

3.      The Game Master will determine optional rules and/or house rules in effect prior to game start. (See Optional and House Rules Section below for rules specific to the current game).

4.      The Game Master maintains the official count of all game variables. This includes, but is not limited to, Credits, Resources, Influence, Action Cards (both in hand and not), Political Cards, Progression, Technologies, and Minister Posts.

5.      All game variables are available at any time by e-mail from the Game Master. The Game Master will strive to keep the web site updated daily, but this is not guaranteed.

6.      Players are expected to have a matching game board set up.

7.      Please assist the Game Master by being thorough in your e-mails. For example, if you are buying a technology, also state the exact cost (with bonuses), so as to not increase the Game Master's workload.

8.      The timing of Action Cards will be strictly enforced. Be aware that there are not always "breaks" in PBEM play at the time an Action Card is valid in the face-to-face game. Therefore, make sure you are familiar with the timing of Action Cards in the PBEM game. Some Action Cards have had the specific timing of their play adjusted to fit into the Play By E-Mail Game. Please see the next section "Political and Action Card Adjustments" for a full explanation.

9.    Played action cards should be e-mailed to everyone, not just the Game Master or the person you are playing the card against.

10. Any time an action card is played within 1 day of the deadline, the deadline is moved to 24 hours from the time the card is announced (based on the time it is read by the Game Master as determined by the Game Master). Please note any extended deadline as orders received after that time will be ignored, even if the move is processed later due to the Game Master's schedule. The point of this rule is that players will always have at least 24 hours to respond to an action card being played (example: a player could retaliate with a sabotage card).

11. Please do not wait to play Action Cards until the middle of the night in the hopes that it will catch other players off-guard and slip by. Also note that there is no advantage to waiting until the deadline is close to turn in Action Cards. This will only slow the game down.

12. Action Cards and Transactions are announced immediately. This includes Trade Agreements and Credit trades for Action Cards, and Credit gifts (pay-offs), etc.

13. The Game Master has final say on all issues.  

14. Should a player take over another players position, this may only happen at the beginning of a turn (at the start of the Political Phase), not in the middle.

Political and Action Card Adjustments

1.      The "timing" of some Action Cards have been adjusted to account for the flow of a PBEM game. Below is a list of all cards whose timing of play in a PBEM game is different than what is listed on the card.

• Council Dissolved: Play during the Technology Phase

• Determine Policy: Play during the Technology Phase. Selected Agenda is not announced until the Political Phase.

• Discredit: Play during the Political Phase before votes are announced.

• Flank Speed: Turn in with your move orders.

• In the Silence of Space: Turn in with your move orders. The target fleet must be specified in the e-mail, but this information is not given to the other players.

• Local Unrest: Play during the Political Phase.

• Luck Shot: Play during the Movement Phase. Action occurs before movement begins.

• Plague: Play during the Movement Phase. Action occurs before movement begins.

• Rally of the People: Play during the Technology Phse. Action occurs during the Place New Units Phase.

• Signal Jamming: Play during the Movement Phase.

• Skilled Retreat: The retreat must follow all retreat rules as detailed below in the space battles section (Rule V). The lone exception to this is when the retreat may occur. The retreat can occur before ANY round of combat, including before any shots are fired.

• Space Dock Accident: Play during the Technology Phase.

• Spatial Jump: Play during the Movement Phase.

• Stellar Criminals: Play during the Political Phase.

• Successful Spy: Play any time

• Thugs: Play during the Political Phase.

• Trade Agreement: Play during the Movement Phase.

• Transit Diodes: Play during the Movement Phase.

• Uprising: Play during the Movement Phase.

• Veto: Play during the first 24 hours after the Political Card is announced.

• Voluntary Annexation: Play during the Movement Phase.

2.      The "application" of some Action and Political Cards have also been adjusted. The following is not meant to be a comprehensive list. The Game Master has final say on all card issues.

• Some cards impact the way a "defender" fights in space or invasion combat. A "defender" in a PBEM game is defined as the following:

During an Invasion: The owner of the planet

During Space Combat: Any ship that has not moved, or will not be used in Invasion in this same turn - OR - any ship in it's Home System.

All P.D.S. units are considered "defending" regardless of when/how they are firing.

Any unit not defending is considered to be attacking for die roll purposes. (This ruling specifically applies to the Public Execution Political card, but may apply elsewhere)

Optional and House Rules in Effect

1.      Manifest Destiny – Players will be allowed to “purchase” adjacent planets.

2.      Assault Cannon – if more than one fleet has the assault cannon then both sides’ dreadnaughts fire before regular combat. They do not cancel each other as stated in the official FAQ. For clarification, please see the FAQ on my web site - www.users.qwest.net\~sdmers.

3.      Races and starting location will be determined randomly prior to game setup.

Map Building

1.      The Web Site will contain an image of all map hexes and where they are placed. Starting location will be randomly determined and placed on the map with Mecatol Rex at the start.

2.   Each player will e-mail to the Game Master AND ALL OTHER PLAYERS the specific location (by number on the Map web page) and hex that he/she wishes to place. In this way, even if the web site is not updated quickly, the next player(s) can place tile(s) without delay.

General Turn Sequence

1.     Political Phase - Players turn in votes and any initial action cards they would like to play during the Political Phase AND the draw action card and receive credits segments portions of the Economy Phase as there is no "break" before these segments.

2.   Economy Phase - Players give unit purchase orders (including which space docks are building which units) and initial action cards to be played during the purchase units segment of the Economy Phase.

3.   Simultaneous Turns Phase - Players turn in movement orders and initial action cards to be played during the Movement Pase). Players will be prompted for space combat and invasion segment orders as necessary.

4.   Technology Phase - Players turn in technology purchase orders and any initial action cards for the Technology Phase.

5.   Place New Units Phases - No player interaction during this phase.

6.   Progression Phase - No player interaction during this phase.

Specific Turn Sequence

Political Phase

1.      The Game Master draws a political card and the resolution is distributed via e-mail or web site. The Game Master will include a deadline for voting on this resolution.

2.      Players who do not turn in votes will abstain from voting that turn.

3.      The Game Master will process transactions between players only upon receipt of an e-mail confirmation from all involved parties.

4.      The Game Master does not send out confirmation notices. The Game Master only acts upon received e-mails. Example: Player A and Player B want to trade some credits for an Action Card. Both players must send an e-mail to the Game Master during the Political Phase saying exactly what is being transferred from player to player for the transaction to be valid. I recommend that the initiating player sends an e-mail to the player and the Game Master stating the exact trade and asking for the player to confirm. The confirming player then merely "replies to all", which copies the initiating player and the Game Master.

5.   Should players work out deals during other phases, such that the Political Phase is needed to complete the transaction, the Game Master needs to receive a confirmation e-mail from the player during that phase. Example: Player A makes a deal with Player B to attack another player during the Movement Phase in exchange for 30 credits. Since no credits may change hands during the Movement Phase, the Game Master needs a  confirmation e-mail during the Political Phase (and needs nothing during the phase when the deal is actually done) from both players.

6.      Players must notify the Game Master of any Action Cards they wish to discard during the Political Phase (in case they already possess 7 and want to draw in the next phase).

Economy Phase

1.      Draw Action Card

 i.      The Game Master will determine the cards drawn by each player.

ii.     The Action Card list for each player, including the new draw, will be posted in the password protected area of the web site.  

2.      Receive Credits

 i.     The Game Master will determine each player’s resource production.

ii.     The resources this turn, and resulting new credit total will be posted to the Player Statistics section of the web site. 

iii.  The deadline for the Purchase Units phase will be posted on the web site.

iv.  The Game Master will send out an e-mail notifying all players that the web site has been updated.

3.      Purchase Units

 i.   Players not sending in unit purchase orders will not build any units that turn.

ii.   Purchase orders must include the specific space dock from which the units are being built. (During the Place Units Segment, any space ships built at blockaded Space Docks are destroyed – you may not build them elsewhere).

iii.  Space Dock production also requires that the player name the planet on which the dock is being built. This production can also be blockaded. If an enemy fleet controls the system in which the Space Dock is being built during the Place Units phase, the Space Dock is destroyed.

iv.  The Game Master will update the Player Statistics section of the web site with the individual player unit purchase.

v.   The deadline for Movement orders will be posted on the web site..  

vi.  The Game Master will send out an e-mail notifying all players that the web site has been updated.

Simultaneous Turns Phase

1.      Movement Phase

 I.      Movement orders need to be thorough and complete – listing all ships and quantities that will move – and the exact path that they will take if their movement is greater than one hex.

 II.      Movement orders need to include any action cards that you wish to play for this movement.

III.      Movement for all players happens simultaneously as follows (additional action cards may not be played during the execution of movement):

                                                  i.      The movement  segment is broken into three segments. Each segment is an opportunity for a fleet to move a single hex (assuming it has three movement points). Units may not “pass” and then move in a later segment.

                                                ii.      Each moving fleet moves one hex per segment.

                                              iii.      If fleets of different races are in the same hex at this time, the following logic applies:

a)     If no fleet has Light//Wave Deflectors then both fleets' are interdicted and movement immediately ends as per regular rules.

b)     If one fleet has Light/Wave Deflectors and at least one enemy fleet does not, that fleet can intercept any fleets that do not have Light/Wave Deflectors – ending both fleets’ movement immediately. It is assumed that fleets with Light/Wave Deflectors will NOT interdict other fleets. If you have this technology and want your fleets to interdict, you must state this in your movement orders each turn. (The Game Master will NOT prompt players for interception orders mid-turn).

c)      Fleets that have Light/Wave Deflectors are not impacted by the presence of other fleets. i.e. They have freedom of movement.

d)     There is no limit to the number of fleets that can be interdicted by a single fleet.

e)   Fleets moving into each others hexes do not impact the movement of the other fleet. Example: Hacan fleet moves from Arnor to Lor - Sol fleet moves from Lor to Arnor. This movement would be successful for both fleets and neither would be interdicted by the other fleet. 

                                              iv.      Allowed units can embark at any time unless a fleet has been interdicted. Embarking takes no time. Interdicted fleets may not embark units. Include embarking commands in your movement orders.

                                               v.       This entire movement procedure is repeated three times. A fleet with a movement of one moves only in the first segment. A fleet with a movement of two moves in the first or the first and second segment. A fleet with three movement  points moves in up to all three segments. All spatial jumps occur in the first move segment.  

 

Here is a sample movement order submission:

1st Phase:

2 Ground Forces, Arnor->Carrier

Carrier, 2 GFs, Arnor->Mecatol Rex

3 Cruisers, Resculon->Arnor

2nd Phase

3 Cruisers, Arnor->Mecatol Rex

3rd Phase

None

2.      Space Battles Phase

                                           I.       All P.D.S. units may fire once on each player with fleets in the SAME SYSTEM as the P.D.S. unit. This means that a single P.D.S. unit could fire more than once if more than one player moved ships into the system containing the P.D.S. Example: If the Hacan and Jol-Nar both moved fleets into a system containing a Sol P.D.S. unit, the P.D.S. unit could fire twice - once at each player. The P.D.S. unit may not fire on multiple fleets belonging to the same player. Players will be prompted for P.D.S. fire opportunities. If multiple player's fleets are in the P.D.S. system, the player will be able to state which fleet it will target.  

                                          II.      The Game Master will send out an e-mail of all space combat to occur that turn. Space battle occurs simultaneously in all hexes.

                                       III.       Players send in their orders for combat each round. Space Battles involving more than two Players are possible. Players may fire on any other player’s ships each round – including firing at more than one player by splitting up his ships. Players may change the target player from round to round. Players are not obligated to return fire directed at a player firing on him/her.

                                       IV.     Players are not obligated to fire at all. Multiple players can simultaneously invade a system though only one can remain after the Space Battle Phase (note that interdiction would still occur during the movement phase when they enter the same hex). Example: The Hacan and the Jol-Nar both enter a system controlled by the Letnev. During the Space Battle Phase, the Hacan and Jol-Nar both fire upon the Letnev. Several rounds later, the Letnev fleet is completely destroyed. Both the Hacan and Jol-Nar decline to fire in the subsequent round and one or the other MUST retreat. Should neither players wish to retreat, the Game Master will declare a fight to the death where neither fleet can retreat..

                                       V.       Any ships that have movement points remaining from the Movement segment can retreat after the first round of combat. All ships, regardless of movement points remaining, may retreat after any combat round beginning after the second round. Retreating fleets move to an adjacent hex as determined below:

a.      A retreating fleet may not retreat to a hex containing another player’s fleet or a hex that hosted space combat this turn, even if the space combat is already completed.

b.      If the fleet moved that turn, it retreats to the hex from which it moved. If that hex is occupied as described above, then the fleet may not retreat at all.

c.      If the fleet did not move that turn, then it retreats to a hex designated by the retreating player.

                                       VI.     If no one withdraws, then combat continues until only one player’s fleet remains in the hex.

                                      VII.     Losses will automatically be taken from the fleet in the following order unless otherwise stated in the combat orders (I recommend that player's turn in the order in which they want to lose ships for each battle for each round of combat):

a.      Fighters before Cruisers before Carriers before Dreadnaughts. Note that this order will occur, even if it results in the loss of transported Ground Forces or P.D.S., unless a player specifies a different loss order.

3.      Invasion Combat Phase

                                             I.      Players will be prompted for their Invasion Combat orders. If no orders are given, no invasion takes place. All Invasions occur simultaneously.

                                           II.      Attacker announces the units taking part in the invasion. and any bombardment by Dreadnaughts.

                                          III.      Bombardment results are determined. 

                                          IV.    P.D.S. Defensive fire vs. invading units. This occurs automatically. If Fighters are participating in the Invasion, P.D.S. losses will be taken in Fighters before Ground Forces, unless the attacker states otherwise in the invasion orders.

                                        V.      Withdrawal is not allowed.

                                         VI.    All P.D.S. units that did NOT move during the Movement Phase this turn may fire on fleets WITHIN RANGE (adjacent hex if the player has Deep Space Cannon). The P.D.S. unit may fire once only, not once per player within range. Players will be prompted for P.D.S. fire opportunities during Invasion Combat. 

Technology Phase

1.      Player submit their technology purchases to the Game Master (please include the cost as you calculate it).

2.      The Game Master sends out a notification of the purchased technologies for all players.

Place New Units Phase

1.      Units are placed in the same hex as the space dock to which they were assigned during the Purchase Units phase. Any space ships built at blockaded Space Docks are destroyed. Any Space Docks built in blockaded systems are destroyed.

Progression Phase

1.      The game master will automatically determine the progression of players and update the web site.