Table of Contents

Cabinet Declarations Text

#28 - April 27,2006 - Maneuvers / Battles

In the interest of fairness, all playtesting of new scenarios shall be considered maneuvers for the purpose of game reporting. Once the scenario has been approved and published to the webpage it will then qualify to be played as a battle for the purposes of game reporting.

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#27 - April 27,2006 - Monthly Game Schedules

The First Sea Lord and Chef of the Admiralstat shall publish a schedule of what scenarios shall be played during the regularly scheduled Sunday 15:00(z) game and the Saturday Night (Sunday, 02:00(z)) game. The choice of the games shall continue to be on an alternating basis one week by the Kaiserliche Marine the next by Royal Navy. Also the choice shall alternate by days; ie. the Royal Navy on Saturday Night, the Kaiserliche Marine on Sunday Morning. The schedule for the upcoming month shall be published not later than one week before the first of that month. By mutual consent the First Sea Lord and Chef of the Admiralstat may choose to play a long scenario to be split between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (ie. Jutland at four hours in length.) The schedule shall be posted on the Announcements board at Heligoland Tavern.

The schedule shall include two scenarios for each date, one large and one small, so that either can be played depending on the turnout for the game. All scenarios shall be from the approved scenario list on the club webpage, and once scheduled cannot be altered in anyway. In order for a scenario to be considered it must be published on the club webpage prior to the monthly schedule being published.

The method in which the Navy Commanders choose the scenarios shall be at the discretion of the individual commanders.

Declaration #27 will become effective on 1-Jun-06.

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#26 - January 8,2006 - Adjutant to the Webmaster

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#25 - February 1, 2005 - Punative Action

The cabinet has amended the club rules with the following stipulation, to be added at the end of section #8, Member's Duties:

For the cabinet: Konteradmiral Graf von Walter, Secretary of State.

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#24 - February 3, 2005 - Graf  Designation

A resolution honoring President Emeritus Konteradmiral Graf von Walter.

•  

• And, whereas on the occasion of his retirement as President we his peers desire that he know just exactly how we feel about him.

• Further, Konteradmiral von Walter is required to include in his signature "NCC Past President 2002/2005".

For the cabinet: Captain Rich Mercer , President.

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#23 - June 6, 2004 - Member Status

The Cabinet has resolved the following amendments to the member status definitions.

1. Commissioned officers who hold at least two TOD-relevant positions of which at least one is a command higher than squadron, a school ship division command, or a cabinet position, will be considered active without participating in sanctioned games.

2. When a commissioned officer with an outstanding service record requests to be moved to the reserves, he can instead be appointed to a honorary command (ship or shore) for up to one year, at the cabinet's discretion, and subject to prolongation.

3. Upon announcing his retirement from the club, the senior flag officer of a navy, regardless of his actual commissioned rank, can be promoted Admiral of the Fleet (or the equivalent in another navy), at the cabinet's discretion, so to recognize his contributions to the club. The vote has to be unanimous. Admirals of the Fleet always have active member status and can never be stricken from the club rolls, except on their own request.

The club rules have been updated to reflect these changes.

For the cabinet: Konteradmiral D.S. Ritter v. Walter, President

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#22 - November 18, 2003 - Campaign Medals

For completed NCCCS campaigns, campaign medals can be awarded to the participants at the discretion of the cabinet. Participation is defined as having actually submitted movement plots. The rules for battle honors as per cabinet declaration #16 apply, with the exception that there is no minimum number of players required.

For the cabinet: Konteradmiral D.S. Ritter v. Walter, President

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#21 - November 1, 2003 - Awards for Gallantry in NCCCS Campaigns

In order to allow more leeway for the awarding of orders for gallantry in NCCCS campaigns, the cabinet has resolved to amend the requirements of sections 1.2. and 1.3. of cabinet declaration #6 so that the first sentence in both sections will end "... in a victorious fleet action (i.e., a multiplayer battle), or a victorious non-tactical action in a NCCCS campaign (if the campaign would meet the requirements for a battle as per section 3./f. of the club rules)".

For the cabinet: Kapitän z.S. D.S. Ritter v. Walter, President

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#20 - November 1, 2003 - Points for NCCCS Campaigns

The cabinet has resolved to award points for NCCCS campaigns, as follows:

1. For each completed turn in a NCCCS campaign, 1 club point is awarded to each player and 2 club points to the umpire, retroactively for each 100 turns completed, or the remaining less than 100 turns to the completion of the campaign. Upon completion of the campaign, a bonus of 0.2 club points per turn played is awarded to all players who served for the entire duration of the campaign, and a further bonus of 0.2 club points per turn played to all players in the winning team, if the campaign would meet the requirements for a battle as per section 3./f. of the club rules.

2. The umpire in a NCCCS campaign is rewarded with 3 SP's per month of service, of any duration.

The club rules have been amended accordingly.

For the cabinet: Kapitän z.S. D.S. Ritter v. Walter, President

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#19 - April 19, 2003 - TOD Completion upon Promotion

The cabinet has added the following stipulation to the TOD and Service Points section of the rules:

When the holder of a TOD-revelant position is promoted to a position of higher responsibility within the same organization, the original TOD can be completed on the new position, and SP's are awarded proportionally.

For the cabinet: Kapitän z.S. D.S. Ritter v. Walter, President

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#18 - April 19, 2003 - Re-enlisting of Retired or MIA Members

The cabinet has added the following stipulation to the membership status section of the rules:

A member who is found missing in action or retires from the club can only be reinstated by re-enlisting. A member can not re-enlist more than once.

For the cabinet: Kapitän z.S. D.S. Ritter v. Walter, President

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# 17 - March 24, 2003 - Revised Promotion Rules

The cabinet has reviewed the promotion rules and has resolved to implement the following changes:

1. The point requirements for promotions are raised by about one-third throughout (for details, refer to section 6 of the club rules).

2. The monthly administrative point awards for all positions are doubled, and the ceiling is raised to 100 points per month.

3. Length-of-service requirements for promotions from Captain (jun.) upwards are re-introduced, as follows:

Captain (jun.) - 3 months
Captain (sen.) - 6 months
Rear Admiral - 12 months
Vice Admiral - 18 months
Admiral - 24 months

4. The TOD requirements for promotions are replaced by Service Point (SP) requirements.

4.1. SP's are earned for completed 6-month TODs, as follows:

Secretary of the Interior - 20
Club webmaster - 18
President, Secretary of the Navy, or Secretary of State - 16
School Ship Division Commander - 16
Navy commander - 14
School Ship Captain - 12
Further cabinet member - 12
Station commander - 10
Squadron or Flotilla commander - 8
Division or Half-Flotilla commander - 6

Chief of Staff etc. to any position - SP's for that position minus 2
Acting in someone's stead - proportionally (TOD has not to be complete)

and for other services to the club as follows:

Seat in a club commission, until completion - 5
Chair of a club commission, until completion - 7

4.2. The SP requirements for promotions are set as follows:

Commander - 5
Captain (jun.) - 20
Captain (sen.) - 30
Rear Admiral - 60
Vice Admiral - 100
Admiral - 150

5. These changes are effective immediately. If, by virtue of a TOD completed or a one-time TOD equivalent awarded not later than June 30, 2003, an officer would have been eligible, under the old system, for a promotion for which he would not be eligible under the new system, this promotion will be granted nevertheless.

The club rules have been updated to reflect this change.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#16 - March 11, 2003 - Battle Honors

To recognize service in large, hard fought battles, the respective Navy commanders will, at the direction of the Cabinet, award Battle Honors. To be eligible, the following requirements must be met:

1. The action in question must be a sanctioned multiplayer game, class "B" or higher.

2. Ten or more players must have participated in the battle, with four or more on each side.

3. As this is recognition for participation in a major fleet action, both sides are awarded honors.

4. The Cabinet at its discretion, may or may not award honors for a particular battle.

5. By definition, maneuvers and training games are not eligible.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#15 - January 22, 2003 - Orders for Gallantry

The cabinet has revised the requirements for orders for gallantry as follows:

1. For all orders for gallantry, the single player / multiplayer distinction henceforth applies only to the side of the officer who is to be nominated for a medal. An officer fighting alone against a team is eligible for the orders mentioned in section 1.1. of cabinet declaration #6. Officers of a team fighting against a single officer are eligible for the orders mentioned in sections 1.2. and 1.3. of cabinet declaration #6.

2. In the requirements for the Victoria Cross or Pour le Mérite (section 1.4 of cabinet declaration #6), the words "or alternatively for a single most conspicuous act of gallantry in a fleet action" are stricken with immediate effect.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#14 - January 15, 2003 - Forming New Club Navies

The cabinet has issued the following guidelines on forming new club navies:

1. Forming a new club navy is a coherent, one-time initiative. A new navy will neither be formed successively from new enlistments, nor from successive transfers from existing navies. After a new navy has been founded, no new transfers from another navy will be allowed.

2. Forming a new club navy is a membership initiative. The cabinet will neither initiate, nor encourage, the formation of new navies. Those members willing to form a new navy have to present a proposal to the cabinet that proves that the necessary preconditions are met.

3. A new navy has to be formed by at least 10 club members. A majority of the founding members has to be active club members in that they are commissioned officers and have not been found AWOL for the preceding six months.

4. Ordinarely, no founding member can currently hold a command or staff position in an existing navy. Exceptions can be made by the cabinet. No navy that would be transferring members to the navy to be founded can be left with less than 10 active members in the sense mentioned above.

5. A new navy cannot be formed if it does not have at least three members who are willing to assume a command or staff position with the new navy. The navy must have an overall commander, and a school ship division commander.

6. Commissioned officers other than those with the lowest rank (Sub-Lieutenant etc.) incur a one-step reduction in rank upon transferring to the new navy. They also revert to the lowest level of club points commensurate with the new rank. Tours of Duty are not lost. Awards for gallantry are voided, but those for service for the club (as different from service for the former navy only) can be transferred to the equivalent award in the new navy.

7. The members willing to form a new navy have to provide the club webmaster with the necessary information (orders of battle, rank structure &c.) and graphical material (ship pictures, rank insignia, medals &c.) needed to present the new navy on the club pages.

8. If, at any time, a navy (other than the K.M. or RN) that has been founded for at least two months is down to five active members for two consecutive reporting periods, the cabinet shall take a vote on if that navy should be disbanded. If the cabinet so decides, then all active officers will be transferred to the navy of their choice, under the same restrictions as officers transferring to a new navy.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#13 - January 4, 2003 - Game Completion

The cabinet has resolved that completion points for a game shall also be awarded if all the ships of one side have been eliminated. The club rules have been updated to reflect this change.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#12 - January 2, 2003 - Temporary Commissions

In order to avoid delays that may occur before a warrant officer who has fulfilled the necessary requirements can be commissioned, the school ship division commanders are hereby entitled to issue temporary commissions, pending approval by the cabinet. The rules have been updated to reflect that change.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#11 - January 2, 2003 - Commodore Ranks

Effective immediately, the rank of Commodore 2nd Class (or the equivalent in other navies) is abolished. Officers who currently hold that rank continue to do so until the requirements that have hitherto entitled them to its use are no longer met. The rank of Commodore 1st Class (or the equivalent in other navies) will henceforth be used without that distinction. The club rules have been updated to reflect that change.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#10 - December 8, 2002 - Integrating New Games

The cabinet has resolved to modify section 3, paragraph f, of the club rules as follows to allow for the integration of new game titles in the club:

Sanctioned games in which
- each team consists only of officers of the same navy,
and
- the opposing teams are from different navies,
and
- each navy in the game is either played by its own officers, or officers of a navy that was historically allied to the navy played, or officers of a navy that was historically not a party to the conflict,
are considered battles.

All sanctioned games in which one or more of these requirements are not met are considered maneuvers.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#9 - December 7, 2002 - Promotion Requirements

After careful consideration and evaluation of the playing habits of the club members, the cabinet has approved of and published the promotion requirements. Please refer to section 6 of the club rules.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#8 - December 7, 2002 - Tours of Duty

The cabinet has approved of the following Tour of Duty system for the club that will be effective immediately.

a. Any service rendered the club other than serving as a commissioned officer and fighting battles will be considered a tour of duty (TOD) if the prescribed minimum length of service is fulfilled, unless the conduct of the officer in question has been found wanting.

b. A regular TOD is usually six months.

c. The following regular administrative positions qualify for a TOD:
- Member of cabinet;
- half-flotilla, flotilla, division, squadron, station, fleet, or navy commander;
- chief of staff or second-in-command to anyone holding one of these positions;
- commander of the school ship division;
- school ship captain;
- any other administrative position, for instance maintenance of an official club website.

d. At the discretion of the cabinet, and upon suggestion of the commanding officer, a completed TOD can be awarded to a commissioned officer in recognition of a special, one-time service rendered the club, for instance for having organized a club tournament. For lesser services, fractions can be awarded (half a TOD, etc.).

e. For each promotion from Lieutenant-Commander, or the equivalent rank in other navies, upwards, in addition to club point and length of service requirements at least one completed TOD is necessary for being eligible. The details are found in the promotion requirements matrix.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#7 - November 23, 2002 - Monthly Reports

As provided for in the club rules, with the end of this month we will begin to require a monthly report from every club member. The report forms are now up and linked both to a general report form page as well as to a button at the bottom of each command on the OOB page. (Officers of both the K.M. Küstenschutzdivision Jade/Weser and the K.M. 1. U-Boot-Halbflottille are a part of the K.M. Marinestation der Nordsee.) As the output of the report form is sent directly to the commanding officer, please make double sure you have opened the right report form for your command, as indicated by the header.

Reports are due on the first day of each month for the preceding month. There will be no roll calls in this club. It is the own responsibility of each club member to remember to file a report, so to remain in good standing in the club. For failure to file a report, the following stipulations from the club rules apply:

- A member who reports to his superior officer and participates in at least one sanctioned game per month is considered active.
- A member who fails to report to his superior officer in two consecutive months and/or does not participate in at least one sanctioned game per month is declared absent without leave. An AWOL member keeps his rank, points, and unit affiliation.
- A member who fails to respond to a personal call after having been declared AWOL, and/or fails to play at least one sanctioned game in the following month is declared missing in action and stricken from the club rolls. A MIA member loses his rank, points, and unit affiliation.

All commanding officers are hereby requested to inform their subordinates about the need to report, and the consequences arising from failure to do so.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#6 - November 16, 2002 - Awards

The cabinet has approved of the following awards system for the club which will be effective from now.

1. Orders for Gallantry

1.1. Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse (German) / Mentioned-in-Dispatches (British)

Awarded for gallantry in a victorious ship-to-ship action (i.e., a single-player battle). The opponent (!) has to report the act of gallantry to the CO of the officer in question, with a brief description of the action. Criteria are superior ship-handling and proper use of historically sound tactics. The award is at the discretion of the CO, subject to approval by the cabinet. The EK II can only awarded once; for further acts of gallantry that would qualify for it, the Kronenorden and the Roter Adlerorden can be awarded instead.

1.2. Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse (German) / Distinguished Service Cross (British)

Awarded for gallantry in a victorious fleet action (i.e., a multiplayer battle). The action cannot be a “D” class battle. The senior naval officer for one side in the game has to report the act of gallantry to the CO of the officer in question, with a brief description of the reasons for the suggestion; in case of a the commander of a navy, the suggestion has to be addressed directly to the cabinet. Criteria are superior ship-handling, proper use of historically sound tactics, obedience to orders, proper use of signals, and cooperation with teammates, with the main emphasis on the last point. The award is at the discretion of the CO, subject to approval by the cabinet. Can be awarded only once; for further acts of gallantry that would qualify for it, the Order of the British Empire, and Kronenorden and Roter Adlerorden, respectively, can be awarded instead.

1.3. Ritterkreuz des Hausordens von Hohenzollern (Knight Cross of the Household Order of Hohenzollern) (German) / Distinguished Service Order (British)

Awarded for superior leadership qualities in a victorious fleet action (i.e., a multiplayer battle). Only the senior naval officer for one side in the game is eligible. The action cannot be a “D” class battle and the SNO must have had at least three subordinates. The suggestion has to come from at least two officers of the same side who have been the SNO’s immediate subordinates in the action in question, and has to be addressed to the CO of the officer in question, with a brief description of the SNO’s conduct of the battle. Criteria are superior control of the fleet, excellent formulation and execution of a battle plan, proper use of historically sound tactics, and encouragement and support for subordinates. The award is at the discretion of the CO, subject to approval by the cabinet.

1.4. Pour le Mérite (German) / Victoria Cross (British)

Awarded for an outstanding military record over an extended period of time, or alternatively for a single most conspicuous act of gallantry in a fleet action (i.e., a multiplayer battle). (Such acts of gallantry can be reported by every officer of the same side in the battle in question to the CO of the officer in question.) Suggestions can be made by the CO of the officer in question to the cabinet. The order is awarded by the cabinet. Awards are limited to one per navy per six month-period.

2. Orders for other services

For contributions to the club life, other than fighting in naval engagements. These can include service in command and staff positions, training recruits, designing scenarios, organizing club tournaments, and any other service, at the discretion of the cabinet. Awarded by the cabinet, with choice of appropriate degree/class at their discretion; the CO of the officer in question can make suggestions. Especially the lower classes of these orders can be awarded instead of the orders for gallantry for further acts of gallantry that would qualify for them. Where an order confers knighthood, the recipient is entitled to use a “Sir” or “von” with his name henceforth.

2.1. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (British)

Knight Grand Cross (GBE) (confers knighthood)
Knight Commander (KBE) (confers knighthood)
Commander (CBE)
Officer (OBE)
Member (MBE)

2.2. Kronenorden 4. Klasse (Order of the Crown, 4th Class) (German)

Considered lower than the Roter Adlerorden.

2.3. Roter Adlerorden 3. Klasse (Red Eagle, 3rd Class) (German)

- 3. Klasse mit Krone, Schleife und Schwertern (with crown, bow, and swords)
- 3. Klasse mit Krone und Schleife (with crown and bow)
- 3. Klasse mit Krone und Schwertern (with crown and swords)
- 3. Klasse mit Krone (with crown)
- 3. Klasse mit Schleife (with bow)
- 3. Klasse mit Schwertern (with swords)
- 3. Klasse (without anything)

The "mit Schwertern" (with swords) awards are used for gallantry.

3. Orders for other services, combined with gallantry

For outstanding contributions to the club life and an excellent military record over an extended period of time (highest decorations).

3.1. The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (British)

- Knights Grand Cross (GCB) (confers knighthood)
- Knight Commander (KCB) (confers knighthood)
- Companion (CB)

3.2. Schwarzer Adlerorden (Black Eagle) (German)

One class; confers knighthood.

4. Nobilitations

For continous outstanding service in the club, usually not before completion of three years of service, the cabinet can ennoble officers. Only flag officers are eligible. Nobility is conferred in the historical grades; a suitable name title will be chosen by the cabinet in each case.

British:

Duke
Marquis
Earl
Viscount
Baron

German:

Herzog
Fürst
Graf
Freiherr

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#5 - November 12, 2002 - Training Regulations

The cabinet has resolved that the following training regulations will be added to the club rules and will be effective for all members who enlist after November 15, 2002. Commanders of the school ship division have been selected for both sides and will be appointed this week.

1. Upon enlistment, warrant officers are assigned to a school ship. They have maximum three months to complete three training games and gain their commission. They are not eligible for regular club games (battles) during this period.

2. For each navy, a commissioned officer shall be appointed as commander of the school ship division. His tour of duty is six months and counts against the promotion requirements. He reports to the national commander for his side.

3. Additional commissioned officers can be appointed captains of school ships. Their tour of duty is six months and counts against the promotion requirements. They report to the commander of the school ship division.

4. The commander of the school ship division shall welcome new warrant officers, oversee their training, and shall recommend them for being commissioned when they have completed three training games.

5. The school ship captain, or if none is appointed, the commander of the school ship division shall walk new warrant officers through one short training game to make sure they can connect to a game and know the basics of handling ships. He shall then arrange for two more training games with other warrant officers, preferably from the same school ship. At least one of those games should be a multiplayer game.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#4 - October 29 - Commission Requirements

The cabinet has decided to change the commission requirements. Effective from November 15, the "or one victory" stipulation will be stricken from the club rules and completing three games will henceforth be the only way to gain a commission.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#3 - October 23, 2002 - Game Registration Open

Gentlemen, the cabinet has moved forward the beginning of sanctioned gaming. The game report form is up, and all games started from this moment can be reported and you will be awarded club points for them. Note that no games played and completed before this October 23 can be reported.

Please make sure you fill the form in correctly, especially the player info. Note that the form asks for both the club navy affiliation (2nd line) and the side played (4th line) for every player; this will be the same only in case of a battle, not in case of a maneuver, so please be sure not to confuse these two pieces of information. Check your entire input before you submit the form; if you are using a wheel mouse and you are scrolling down without having clicked on an empty space after entering something in a pulldown menu, the input will change.

Be advised that confirmations will not be sent out before next week. All forms will be processed, but not necessarely very quickly for a start.
Please make also sure that only one of the players of a specific game submits a game report, i.e. talk about this before you quit your session. Likewise, don't resubmit if you think your form has not been processed; rather, check back with the staff. We have no means to determine if two identical submissions are for one game or for two different games with the same players, so please help to spare us double recording.

In short, please try to be as careful as possible when submitting a report, and if there seems to be a problem, talk with us. Game record keeping is a lot of work and very tedious, too. Commodore Hargreaves, our record keeper, has also been the record keeper of the Modern Battles Club for 15 months now and he and I know three things about it, one, it needs a very dedicated person to do it (I can't thank god often enough that we have one), two, it needs the cooperation of the players, and three, there is very little chance for errors with lost forms, but a lot of room for trouble with forms filled incompletely, carelessly, filed double, etc. Please try to make the work easier for Glyn, will you?

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#2 - October 17, 2002 - Sanctioning Games

The club cabinet has decided to terminate the initial training and mobilization phase on Sunday, October 27, 2002. From 0000 GMT that day, games can be registered and the battle/maneuver distinction applies. Games cannot be registered retroactively. All games started before this deadline are non-scoring training games.

Club points will be awarded for sanctioned games according to section 3 of the club rules. Promotion requirements will not be published before January 1, 2003, and no officers will be promoted before that date. Warrant officers who have fulfilled the necessary requirements (note that these requirements are not yet final) will be commissioned and assigned a command.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President

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#1 - September 30, 2002 - Mobilization and Training Period

Gentlemen, you are probably aware that HPS has scheduled the release of the game for Friday, October 4. That means the lucky US residents will have it early next week while the ROW will have to wait two more weeks at least.For this reason, and some others, the cabinet has decided to impose a mobilization and training period in which no games can be sanctioned. This will allow us all some time to get a little training, to have the Europeans catch up with the Americans, and to let the cabinet come up with rules for game sanctioning and scoring based on at least some rough knowledge of the game. If all goes well and as planned, we expect to have a more or less final club rule set and start game sanctioning in late October.

For the cabinet: Kommodore D.S. Walter, President