|
Boardgame Players
Association |
The 18th annual BPA March Madness PBeM tournament (2019-2020) will start with the draft around December 1. I'm taking over for Bruce Monnin this year as he handles some health issues. This year we will be using teams with
ratings between 90 and 100.
43 entrants signed up last year.
The tournament uses the Advanced March Madness rules. The 17th annual BPA March Madness PBeM tournament (2018-2019) was won by Bruce Monnin, whose
11th seeded 1994 Arkansas squad defeated Ron Emch's 27th seeded 2018
Gonzaga team by a score of 70-54 in the championship game. The tournament format will be
two single elimination brackets. Each player will receive one team in each
bracket. A random die roll will determine the order in which the players
draft their teams. The draft order will be reversed for the two
brackets. The bracket is currently set up for 42 entrants, but will be
adjusted to the actual number of people who sign up. You will be responsible for
submitting your draft picks within 24 hours after the person before you
picks. Players are encouraged to email conditional picks where their turn
to draft is approaching. A player whose draft time limit has expired will
be assigned the highest seed remaining. There will be a four week
time limit on each game. That means a game can usually be completed if
one of the players does a turn each weekday. I would expect that most
games will finish in less than three weeks. Since these are single
elimination brackets new games will start as soon as the opponents are both
available. In case adjudication is
needed, I will be resolving all positions starting with the lowest numbered
position (Center) and moving upward. Timeouts will only be used if a 1-6
resolution occurs or on the last position if it could affect the outcome of the
game. If a close game, during
adjudication GM will play out the game to GM's best ability. Each game must begin within
one week of when the matchup is made by the GM, unless they receive special
permission from both participants and the GM. Failure to comply will lead
to a forfeiture of the match. Any games exceeding the time
limit will be adjudicated by GM Sean McCulloch and/or assistant GMs Bruce Reiff or Peter Stein. March Madness rules
clarifications to be used are found on the Rules
Clarifications page. We will be using the original rule that the
bonus for the player guarding the Offensive Specialist card is ONE letter
grade, as specified on the card. Please
familiarize yourself with the ACTS module before using it. There are a
couple of procedural hints which must be followed: 3)
Anytime an improper number of dice are rolled, the roll is voided and all dice
must be rerolled 4)
If the resolving player fails to declare which scoring die rolls belong to each
player, the first roll(s) will belong to the resolving player and the last die
roll(s) will belong to the non-resolving player. If either player has a bonus roll (due to a
Hot Shooter, Fast Break, etc.), the Position resolution roll will be first and
the bonus roll second. Example:The LF is being resolved, with the Resolving
player having a Hot Shooter in play and the non-resolving player having a Fast
Break in play. The resolving player sends
4 die rolls but does not specify which die roll is which: 1st die roll = Resolving player's LF 2nd die roll = Resolving player's
Hot Shooter 3rd die roll = Non-resolving player's
LF 4th die roll = Non-resolving player's
Fast Break 5)
You signal the end of your turn by adjusting your clock down to the next
number. To sign up, email the GM (Sean McCulloch). The teams for each of
the two brackets will be listed on the team's page. (The list currently there will be pruned once I know how many players we have.)
Thanks once again to
Stuart Tucker and Terry Coleman who made many of the teams for this tournament.
These extra teams allow me to keep teams of similar ratings in the event.
The 3rd place player will
be the person in the Final Four who lost to the champion. Likewise, 5th
place will be awarded to the Elite Eight player who lost to the champion and
6th place to the Elite Eight player who lost to the runner-up.
This year's bracket is setup for 44 entrants.
You can check out the teams in this year's tournament.
For recent event history, check out the 2017-18
bracket and the 2018-19 bracket.
All entrants are required to be a member of the Boardgame Players Association. See the BPA Website for details
about joining.
Rules and stuff
All games will be played using the March
Madness module of ACTS.
ACTS was kind enough to make the March Madness module for use in this
tournament. Please show your appreciation by letting them know if you
enjoy it and by following all ACTS guidelines.
The higher seeded team in each game (The Favorite) is responsible for setting
up the game in ACTS. Please set up the GM (My ACTS account is "Sean") as Moderator and
Owner for the game.
1) When
rolling your dice vs the clock to start your turn, the first die is considered
to be the white die that determines which position gets scored.
2) After a Technical Foul
is played, add 2 points to your score, then return the card to your hand so you
can discard it. Then remember to reshuffle the deck. Also note on
your scoresheet that your opponent has one less coaching move both in this and
future periods..
6) If a position is resolved which should not have been, it is difficult
to undo. Your best bet is to pick up all of your cards, start a new half,
click to resolve all previously resolved positions, and replace your cards on
the gameboard. This requires a certain amount of trust, so be sure to
contact the GM if necessary.
7) When a Timeout occurs, preferred procedure is for the resolving player
to perform all rerolls. In case both players send a Timeout reroll, the
first set of rolls to appear in the ACTS journal for tee game will be official.