Rules for COOL - Season 6

1. About the notion of « Season »

The COOL rests on one season per calendar year.
Each season results into a ranking of the participants, which in turn leads to ‘Division’ promotion or relegation for some players as well as the attribution of the ‘season [X] championship title for Division [ ].


2. About the notion of « Divisions » and « Pools »

The COOL organisation is based on 4 hierarchical Divisions :
1^st Division named « Excellence » is composed of only 1 pool of 12 players.
2^nd Division named « Perfection » is composed of 2 pools of 12 players.
3^rd Division named « Challenger » is composed of 2 pools of 12 players.
4^th Division named « Rookie » is composed of 2 pools of 12 players.

All the players from one pool within one division will meet on a single match (1 scenario) including two games (each player playing one camp or side of the scenario)
Therefore, each player will have a minimum of 11 matches to play i.e. 22 games.

Remark: The number of pools by division can be revised after the registration closing date, depending on the number of registered players.


3. About the notion of a championship « Journée »
(That is a COOL’s neologism which means a ‘day’ of competition lasting one full week)

At the beginning of each season, a meeting schedule is to be set and published for each pool. The scenarios to be played will be available at the latest the Friday preceding a championship « Journée ».

Every « Journée » of the championship will take place from the Sunday at 20:00 until the following Sunday evening.
We recommend that players define their availability for the « Journée » to come as soon as the preceding Saturday.

Providing two players scheduled to fight for one « Journée » cannot agree on a appointment during the corresponding week, they will be entitled to schedule their match during the following weeks, notably during the so-called ‘off weeks’ i.e. weeks outside COOL « Journées ». Anyhow, the play must take place before the deadline specified at the beginning of the season.

All the players from one Division will play the same and unique scenario on each « Journée ».

Concerning the scenarios to be played, these will be « experts » scenarios from the Scénariothèque of FFM44, approved by the Arbitration Committee of the COOL and the FFM44.


4. Notation and ranking

The players will score points for each« Journée » according to the following principles :

- Victory on the two games of a match: 4 points
- Victory on one game only but with more medals in total than his adversary: 3 points
- Victory by forfeit i.e. when the adversary failed to turn up for the agreed scheduled match: 3 points
- Full equality with one victory each and the same number of medals: 2 points
- Victory on one game but with fewer medals in total than his adversary: 1 point
- Double defeat i.e. defeat on the two games of one match: 0 point
- Defeat on forfeit: 0 point

The difference between the number of medals won by one player and by his adversary on the aggregate matches will allow to decide between players who would still stand equal after point rankings.

In case of persistent ranking equality at this stage, that’s the number of medals that will be taken into account. Yet, if the equality persists again, that’s the difference between the number of destroyed figurines and the number of lost figurines on aggregate matches that will be taken into account.


5. Promotion to an upper or relegation to a lower division

The decisions of promotion to an upper division or relegation to a lower division are made at the end of the tournament, i.e. when all the matches have been played.

Excellence division: There is no way of going up, of course, but the last four players of this division automatically get down to the Perfection division.
The seventh and the eighth players of the Excellence division will have to win a unique play-off match against the third of the Perfection division pools.
In case of victory, the player will stay in Excellence division but if he loses he will go down to the Perfection division.

Perfection division: The first and second players of each pool will go automatically up to the Excellence division, but the last four players will automatically go down to the Challenger division.
The third-best player will have to win a play-off match against the eighth of the Excellence division. The other play-off will oppose the third player with the least points to the seventh player of Excellence division.
In each play-off match and, in case of victory, the perfection player will win his place in the Excellence division.

Challenger division: The four best players of each pool will go automatically up to Perfection division. The last four players of each pool will automatically go down to the Rookie division.

Rookie division: The four best players of each pool will go automatically up to the Challenger division.

Remark: The number of players concerned with promotions and relegations can be revised between the registration closing date and the beginning of the tournament, depending on the number of registered players.


New rule supplement for ‘promotion as a result of desertion’ :

If a player who was registered in the previous season doesn’t re-enrol for the following season, he loses his place that is therefore vacant.
A player who has already participated in a previous COOL season but wasn’t registered for the preceding season can then take this place.
Yet, he will be downgraded of as many divisions as the number of years of absence.

Would a place still remain vacant after that, it would be given to the most deserving player of the lower division, in regard to his ranking in the preceding COOL season, that will be automatically promoted.


6. Season’s awards

The winner of Excellence division is the winner of the COOL 2019.
He will be qualified to play the world championship of the same year (CHAMPIONS TROPHY).

Then, in the other divisions, the first in each pool will meet together in a final round to compete for the honorary title of champions in their division.
And last, a title will be awarded to the leader of the general classification, all divisions combined.

In short, after one championship season we’ll have five players with titles.
- Champion Excellence
- Champion Perfection
- Champion Challenger
- Champion Rookie
- Champion all divisions combined

Theses players will be awarded by the FFM44.


7. Management of not played matches

All the matches that were not played during one championship journée can be played during the next championship « Journée » or during the weeks called « off », but in any case before the deadline that was indicated at season’s beginning.

One « off » week will take place during the championship, and another one will take place after the last championship’s « Journée ».
If it turns out that the delayed match cannot possibly be played before the deadline, the COOL arbitration committee will analyse the situation and determine, as a last resort, the match score (points, medals and destroyed figurines differential).
Either the two players are judged to be both equally accountable for the impossibility of playing the match in due time, thus, in that case they will both get 0 point for the journée in question (forfeit for both) or, if it happens that the main responsibility for failing to play the match belongs to one player only, he alone will be penalised by a forfeit (0 point), 3 points being awarded to his adversary.

Finally, if a player declares forfeit for the rest of the season, all his matches are to be considered as retroactively lost (with o point) and each of his adversaries will be awarded a 3 points victory.

In case of forfeit on one match or for the whole season, the match score will be as follows :

The player who has declared forfeit : 0 point, 0 medal and 0 destroyed figurine.
The player who has won upon forfeit : 3 points, number of won medals equal to 75 % of the total possible medals on the scenario that should have been played, rounded to the nearest but with a difference of medals at + 6, 46 destroyed figurines but with a figurine differential at + 12.


8. About disconnection treatment

In the event of a player disconnection, the game is to continue in any case, the robot Ai replacing the player the time of disconnection and, if needed, up to the end of the on-going game. Yet, we are requesting as a rule of good behaviour that the still connected player waits at least 10 minutes before resuming his game so that his adversary may have a chance to reconnect if he cans.

In the event of a disconnection during the return game, when establishing the result of the match account must be taken of the result of the first game that was played in normal conditions as well as the result of the return game played against the robot.

In the event of a disconnection during the first round of the match it is necessary to continue playing against the robot till the end and to make a new appointment with his adversary for the return match.

If ever it is not possible to agree with the disconnected player on a new appointment to could take place before the end of the journée, i.e. Saturday night, the player that had kept the connection will be allowed to ask the COOL’ arbitration committee to authorise him to play the return match in solo. The authorisation request is to be submitted through the pool’s Chief Warrant Officer aka as pool’s Adjudant-chef.


9. Matches results publication

The player whose name is listed first for a match (Example for Gonzalan / Tank Commander : Gonzalan is player 1 and Tank Commander is player 2) is responsible for the publication of the match results and shall use the following format to do so:

Player 1 (Allies) / Player 2 (Axis) = Medals J1-Medals J2/ destroyed figurines by J1 – destroyed figurines by J2.
Player 1 (Axis) / Player 2 (Allies) = Medals J1-Medals J2/ destroyed figurines by J1 – destroyed figurines by J2.

Example:
Gonzalan (Allies) / Tank Commander (Axis) =6-3 / 19-17
Gonzalan (Axis) / Tank Commander (Allies) =2-6 / 12-21

The player 2 will have to validate the score so that the pool’s Adjudant-Chef can record the match results. This can be done with a simple post saying, ‘I agree with the indicated score’.

However, the approval by the player 2 is unnecessary if the player 1 as published the screenshot of the match final results.
In the event of the match results not being validated by the second player, the arbitral committee will be seized and will decide as a last resort on the final score to be taken into account.

But, since this is only a play and that the players are all passionate, no problems are expected.


10. Choice of the side

The player whose name is listed first (player 1) chooses the side he prefers for the first round.


11. Fair play attitude

So that the COOL remain a pleasure for all players, whilst striking a balance between personal and professional considerations, it is necessary that everyone respect a code of good social conduct.
That is not in any way to introduce unnecessary heavy constraints or to make the COOL not cool, but rather to ensure that every player can better organise his meetings.

As a consequence the players must commit :

Fair Play Nr 1 : To publish their availability for the active Journée at the latest Tuesday evening, before 10 PM, and ideally on the weekend prior to the Journée to play.

Fair Play Nr 2 : Never to have, at any time, more than two matches late i.e. not played within the intended weeks (Except in cases of force-majeure and after validation by the arbitration committee).

Fair Play Nr 3 : Not to make his adversary wait more than 15 minutes at the scheduled appointment and in any case ensure to attend in due time any agreed appointment.

Fair Play Nr 4 : Not to have any deliberate misconduct such as making improper comments, deserting purposely an on-going game or let the play to continue until the end without playing oneself, which would generate an abnormally high score in medals and destroyed figurines number for the other player and therefore skew the ranking of the pool.

Non-observance of these rules of proper behaviour may involve sanctions, decided by the arbitration committee at the end of the season, on the following basis: 1 loss point in the event of infringement of Fair Play Nr 1 and /or Fair Play Nr 3 at least three times in the season, and on the basis of 1 point lost in case of infringement of Fair Play Nr 2.
The arbitration committee will study infringement of Fair Play Nr 4 on a case-by-case basis. Sanctions could go from the loss of several points to as far as the exclusion from the COOL.

Of course, the arbitration committee will analyse each situation on a case-by-case basis and won’t pronounce any sanction before having taken into account possible mitigating circumstances
.
And, in the name of all the GO (Gentils Organisateurs = friendly organisers), we do hope never to have to remove points for lack of Fair Play.


12. COOL and FFM44

The COOL being supported and partly organized by the French Federation of Memoir' 44 (FFM44), it is mandatory to register to FFM44.
The amount of the subscription for 2019 is renewed at 10 €.
The registration form is available on the FFM44 website by clicking on the following link : registration form to FFM44


Thanks to GROUGNAFFE for translating the rules into English.