Battle Rules

A. A battle begins when one faction invades a territory belonging to another faction.

B. When one faction is invading a territory of another faction, they are considered to be in a “state of conflict”; whether or not they are in a “state of war” is decided only by the factions. They are not mutually inclusive. Upon invasion, one country may decide it is in a state of war, while the other may decline to declare they are at war. Either way they are deemed to be in a state of conflict. Alternately, a country may declare war but not invade any territories; in that case it is in a “state of war” but not in a “state of conflict.” In other words, “state of war” is when countries say they’re fighting and “state of conflict” is when countries are actually fighting.

C. While in a “state of war,” a country is presumed to have lost that war when it no longer controls any territories or if it surrenders.

D. Upon declaration, all battles are assigned a “timestamp.”

E. “Timestamps” exist so that battles can be conducted in a chronologically accurate way. All battles declared during a certain time are given the label “timestamp 1”; after that time, all battles declared during the next certain time are labeled “timestamp 2,” and so on and so on.

F. Battles are resolved in order of their timestamp. Simply said, all battles labeled “timestamp 1” are judged first; then, after all those have been judged, all battles labeled “timestamp 2” are judged, and so on and so on.

G. Diplomatic actions are not given timestamps and can be made at any time. So, even if battles are already being assigned “timestamp 3” country leaders can still concede battles that are “timestamp 1” or “timestamp 2.”

H. Characters cannot participate in more than one battle with the same timestamp. (This rule is supposed to represent that all battles with the same timestamp are happening at one time.)

I. Once a timestamp has started to be given, no more timestamps of a previous number may be issued.

J. After all “timestamp 1” battles are made, the timestamp automatically moves to 2 at the end of the day. After that the Forum Team sets a date for when the timestamp changes.

K. Each “conflict” has different timestamps. If there are two “conflicts” going on at the same time where no party is in both conflicts, they are treated as entirely separate and as such given timestamps differently. (There would be, in that case, two sets of timestamps, one for each conflict.) If, however, one party is in both conflicts, they are treated as one massive conflict and only one set of timestamps issued.

L. Instead of having multiple timestamp battles, the opposing sides in a conflict may choose to have one single battle instead to settle the entire conflict. In such a battle, all parties on each side are allowed to input their soldiers into that one side’s army, but that side still has to select one tactician for the battle. Whoever wins the battle wins the conflict, and all parties on the losing side are treated as conquered territories of all parties on the winning side. The different countries of the winning side may then choose how to split their gains.

M. Example

Let’s say Country A, B, and C simultaneously invade different territories of Country D. This triggers three battles, all of which would have Timestamp 1 because they occurred relatively within the same time of each other and were made in unison.

The timestamp automatically changes now.

Country D responds by invading a territory of Country B. That would trigger only one battle, which would have Timestamp 2 because it occurred after the timestamp changed. (The reason for the timestamp changing after all timestamp 1 battles is because all battles arranged after those will almost always be reactions to the timestamp 1 battles.)

The three Timestamp 1 battles would be resolved first, and then the Timestamp 2 battle.

N. Clarification: The concept of this system is basically “time applies to our wars.” If you keep that in mind, the system will be easier to understand.