Club Rules

1. Philosophy

The Modern Battles Club (MBC) has been formed to provide members with an enjoyable and challenging environment for playing the Panzer Campaign, Modern Campaign and Squad Battles games produced by HPS and any future 20th and 21st Century land based wargames

The club encourages role play and aims at recreating the historical flair of the periods when these wars were fought. A friendly and co-operative atmosphere is the rule for everyone. Friendly banter is encouraged, but rude and antagonistic behavior will not be tolerated. The club keeps no "ladder", as a direct measure of the number of battles fought or victories gained, nor does it tolerate the competitive spirit behind such an instrument. Its sole purpose is having fun and fighting fair and spirited battles.

2. Organisation

The club is organised in national forces along historical lines. New members can enlist in any of these forces. However, in order to ensure that every member will find opponents, the club cabinet can assign new members to under-strength forces.

The national forces are organised from the lowest level up. Thus for a start all soldiers of one national force may form a single squad, under a squad leader with the rank of corporal. As the club expands, and members rise in rank, platoons may be formed, eventually even companies. Where only one Organisation of the highest level (one platoon, for instance) exists, the leader of this Organisation will usually also be responsible for all administrative duties in his national forces (but he may appoint another NCO for the staff work). Where several such Organisations exist (for instance several platoons, while due to the lack of a member eligible for an officer's rank no company has been formed), one NCO will perform the administrative duties for the entire force, independently.

New national forces can only be formed if they have at least three members and the necessary staff for command and administration.

The central Organisation of the club consists of a cabinet of up to seven members. They belong to one of the national forces, but are called upon to perform their club duties in an absolutely impartial way. The cabinet's deliberations are confidential. The majority vote decides. In case of a tie, the president has the casting vote.

The cabinet posts are as follows:

President (represents the club, tries to settle disagreements in the spirit of the club rules and philosophy)
Secretary of State (is responsible for the internal administration of the club and for amending and interpreting the rules)
Secretary of War (is responsible for all matters related to gameplay)
Secretary of the Interior (is keeping the club records)

3. Sanctioned games and points

Sanctioned games are fought between two (battles) or more (multiplayer battles) soldiers of different national forces. Members may play either side of any scenario and it is counted as a battle. You can start and play a sanctioned game, playing any side. The only penalties will be if you play against a member in your own army. (Any match between members of the same National force are considered maneuvers, regardless of side played.) All games should be registered with the club. A game ID is then provided, which will be used by the opponents to file the outcome of the battle.

The number of points awarded depends on three factors: The game series being played, the number of turns completed and the victory level achieved. Modern Campaigns, because of their additional complexity, are awarded more points per turn than Squad Battles Games as below:

For Every game turn completed

Squad Battles games are awarded 1/4 point per turn.
Modern Campaigns and Panzer Campaigns are awarded 1/3 point per turn.
To calculate the number of points awarded in a game the following formula is used:

_{(Turns x Points)x Victory level modifier= Total number of points}

Victory level modifier:

Major Defeat = x 1
Minor Defeat = x 1.2
Draw = x 1.4
Minor Victory = x 1.6
Major Victory = x 1.8

Thus for a Minor Victory in a Squad Battles game with 24 turns completed, In the above example:
_{(24 x 1/4 ) x 1.6=9.6 Points}

The opponent in the same game would receive
_{(24x1/4) x 1.8=10.8 points}

The club's philosophy is to reward the victor without punishing the vanquished. Fighting a battle to the end and losing it honorably, gaining experience on the way, is a contribution to the club life on the part of the vanquished which thus finds its expression in points awarded.

Games between soldiers of different armies are considered Battles. Full points are awarded for these games.
Games between soldiers of the same Army are considered Maneuvers. In this case, the victory level modifier isn't applied. (ie: you get fewer points if you play a maneuver game)

4. Administrative Points

Members may contribute to the club life in other ways than by fighting battles. Members who assume a military command, or perform administrative duties for the club (like maintaining websites, or game databases), or serve on the cabinet will be rewarded with administrative points, which count the same as points for sanctioned games, on a monthly basis, as follows:

Squad leader: 5 pts
Platoon leader: 10 pts
Member of cabinet: 15 pts
Administrative duties, club level: 10 pts
Administrative duties, lower level: 5 pts

6. Promotions

Each member enlists with the lowest rank, and may henceforth be promoted when having accumulated a certain number of points. (See Table below) Enlisted men or NCO's who assume command positions can be awarded a higher brevet rank, commensurate with the command level, by their respective commander, with cabinet approval. Brevet ranks may not be higher than two levels above the rank the soldier would be eligible for, according to his point total. An NCO holding a brevet rank may not be further promoted or breveted before he has accumulated the number of points commensurate with his present rank.

7. Member's duties

- Reading and complying with club rules
- Respecting superior ranks, and obeying orders given by immediate superiors
- Minimum agreement to participate in one sanctioned on-going game
- Being present for duty
- Reporting to their superior commander once a month

8. Member status

- A member who answers roll calls and has at least one sanctioned ongoing game is considered active.
- A member who fails to answer two consecutive roll calls and/or has no sanctioned ongoing game is declared absent without leave. An AWOL member keeps his rank, points, and unit affiliation.
- A member who fails to respond to a third, personal call after having been declared AWOL, and/or fails to start at least one sanctioned game is declared missing in action and stricken from the club roll. A MIA member loses his rank, points, and unit affiliation.
- A member can request to be moved to the reserve for up to six months for personal reasons. A member in reserve keeps his rank, points, and unit affiliation.
- A member can declare his retirement from the club. A retired member loses his rank and points, but keeps the right to his unit affiliation.

9. Leader's and Commander's duties

- Ensuring communication up and down the chain of command
- Being available for any questions subordinates may have, or advice they may need
- Keeping track of the subordinates' activity
- Reporting to the higher levels about their commands' activity, on a monthly basis

Leaders and commanders are also encouraged to maintain websites for their commands which show the ranks, point totals, games played etc. of their subordinates.