First CanAm

Annual Full Thrust Battle: Canadians v. Americans

GZG ECC IV, Lancaster PA, March 4, 2001

At GZG ECC IV, the finest admirals of Canada and America will gather to do battle. The winners will go home covered with glory, honor, and fame--proud possessors of the CanAm Cup.

The referee for this event is Chris DeBoe, known to the GZG Mailing List as Laserlight. Rules questions and bribe offers may be sent to laserlight(at)quixnet(dot)net.

The Rules

Rules: The CanAm Tournament will be played using Fleet Book 1 (FB1) rules unless otherwise noted. This includes:

Cinematic movement using inches
Cinematic "side slips"--using a left turn and right turn (L1R2, for example) in the same move.
Aft-arc fire during turns when the ship is not thrusting (FB1 p4).
Rerolls (FB1 p5).
Core systems (FB1 p5).
Expanded fighter rules (FB1 p6, Fleet Book 2 p4) including endurance, morale, and squadron regrouping (FB2), but not aces or turkeys.
Up to two non-conflicting Fighter Upgrades--e.g. Fast, Long Range, etc.--may be added per squadron
Fighters may screen other fighters as well as ships.
PTorps do not require a separate fire control system from other weapons firing on the same target.
Questions not resolved here should rely on the relevant answers in the FTFAQ until the referee responds.
The order writing phase will be timed (tentatively: ten minutes). Players may make measurements during this phase, but don't get extra time for it. Players may bring and use markers to help plan their movement.
Players may hastily measure the distance to their targets during the firing phase, as long as they do not significantly delay the game.

Registration: Players who register for this event should contact the referee, clearly stating their nationality and their level of desire/ability to serve as team captain. Quebec separatists still count as Canadian; Confederate sympathizers are nonethless Americans. The referee will inform all players of their team's composition. In the event of overwhelming response, the referee will determine some irrational method of selecting team members. Each team should elect an captain, who will be responsible for coordinating fleet design. Fleet organization and ship designs must be submitted not later than February 1st. extended for Team Canada
Experience: Players may consult with each other freely; due to the nature of the event and the time constraints involved, however, it is suggested that inexperienced players may wish to invest their time in other events.; Spectators are encouraged to attend--particularly enthusiastic, partisan, and vocal spectators.
Fleets: Each fleet will total not more than 6000 points, including at least 1200 points each of NAC, NSL, FSE and ESU ships. Further, each fleet must have no more than 2400 points of any Mass classification: Escorts (mass 1-49), Cruisers (mass 50-99) or Capital ships (mass 100+). Carriers include their fighter costs for these purposes.
Ships: Ships' weapons may be modified from the FB1 listings as follows.; a. Any combination of Fire Control Systems, ADFC, Submunition packs, Beam 1, Beam 2, Beam 3, Beam 4 (ESU only), Needle Beam (ESU only), and Pulse Torpedo launchers (NAC and NSL only) may be exchanged for any other combination of systems in this group, as long as the total Mass used remains the same.; b. Fighter bays and Salvo Missile Launchers (including magazine) may each be exchanged for an equivalent Mass of the other system.; c. Salvo Missile Racks may not be exchanged.; Weapons not listed above may not be used. No other systems--screens, FTL drive, etc.--may be modified.; Each ship should be named, not merely numbered; obscene or profane names will be edited into more acceptable forms at the referee's whim.; Each team can have an ESU player, a NSL player, etc., or each player can have a mix of nationalities within his squadron. As long as the team fleet list is valid, the ships can be divided among the players as they wish.
Miniatures: It is hoped that participants will be able to bring their own (skillfully-painted) GZG miniatures for use in this battle; however, non-GZG ships will be permitted (exceptions: no Death Stars, no Star Wars fighters, no Star Trek ships). Non-GZG ships (or GZG ships of other nationality, such as UN or IF) must be of approximately the right size for the class of ship they represent, and players who use non-GZG miniatures must announce the GZG class their ships are intended to represent. Miniatures must be painted with at least a primer coat. My minis--mostly FSE and ESU cruisers and escorts--will be available for player use if needed
Terrain: As currently planned, the table will be approximately 72x144". In the center of the space will be a planet of 6 inch radius. The planet's gravity well makes FTL transit to or from the battle impossible--the "suicidal FTL jump in the midst of the enemy" ploy won't work. Collision with the planet is uniformly fatal.; The planet blocks line of fire for direct-fire weapons such as beams. Missiles and fighters may go around the planet, counting the full distance they travel rather than the direct distance; and they are subject to gravity just as ships are.; The effect of gravity is to accelerate a ship in the direction of the center of the planet by an amount shown in the table:

Inner Radius	Outer Radius	Gravity Effect
0	6	Crunch
6	7.5	4 inches/turn (still crunch)
7.5	9	3 inches/turn
9	12	2 inches/turn
12	19	1 inch/turn

The effect is applied at the midpoint of a move. If that would result in a crash, the player may apply half the effect at midpoint and the other half at the end of his move. The direction is still the same as if it had all been applied at midpoint. If the half-effect at midpoint still causes a crash, you may be consoled by knowing that your bold and clumsy navigation will become a legend in the annals of the fleet.; There may be other terrain on the table including rings (purely decorative) and moons.
Set Up: Each team has four arcs and two distances for deployment, for a total of eight areas available per team. Counting center of the long edges of the table as 12 and 6 o'clock, the American team's arcs are 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5; the Canadians get 7-8, 8-9, 9-10, and 10-11. The distances are Near Orbit (from the surface of the planet out to 36 inch radius) and High Orbit (from 36 to 60 inches from the center of the planet). Each player's squadron must set up entirely within one area; no area may have ships of more than one player. Fighters may begin the game already deployed. Minimum starting speed is 12inches/turn, maximum is 30inches/turn.
Initiative: Initiative will be according to the written rules, or maybe not. We'll all find out before noon Sunday 4 March.
Victory Points: Each ship's NPV will be divided among its hull rows: first row 10% of NPV, second row 20%, third row 30%, fourth row 40%. If adjustments are necessary to make the sum of the rows match the ship's total NPV, those adjustments will be made to the third (30%) row. The player whose fire destroys the last box of a hull row receives the associated NPV total in victory points.; Fighters destroyed convey VP equal to their point cost.; Victory points for each ship will be precalculated by the referee during the verification process.; Note that you get points only for destroying the enemy, not for preserving your own ships.