BLUFOR Ammendments to the Rules & Guidelines

The following ammendments are considered to be official rules in addition to those listed in the Global Thunder Game Guide. Where there are any discrepancies between the two documents, these ammendments will prevail. Please note that these rules may contain sensitive information about BLUFOR forces and objectives and have therefore been released only to the BLUFOR team.

1. Rulings on forces

From time to time players will request rulings on whether or not certain units or aspects of technology are officially sanctioned by the umpires. While this curiosity is of course understandable, these requests require a great deal of time on the part of the umpires in terms of research and organization. The fact of the matter is the US military is simply too big and too complex, to say nothing of too secretive, for us to be able to track down every piece of information we would need in order to answer all of these requests -- especially since the mere mechanics of running this MBX take up just about every moment of free time as it is.

To circumvent this problem, the following SOPs will be in effect. They may seem cold-hearted and inflexible, but it was necessary to implement these guidelines so that we will have a fighting chance of moving the game forward and not bog down in responding to e-mails and researching details that are often inconsequential, at least relative to the level of command that you and your teammates are supposed to portray in Stage I.

1) Any order of battle, TO&E or data on any unit or weapon already included in this game (see the various Orders of Battle at your team headquarters) is considered to be officially sanctioned by the umpires. Any combat forces, units or weapons not already sanctioned by game documents should not be counted on in this MBX unless explicitly allowed by the umpires.

2) Umpires are no longer required to research the availability of equipment that is not already sanctioned in this game.

3) If players feel strongly that certain equipment that exists in real life should be included in this MBX they are free to do their own research and present the results of their data and their sources to the umpires. Even then, the umpires are under no obligation to furnish a ruling. If there is no response or ruling, the player must assume that the request has been denied.

Just to be clear, these rules are not trying to dissuade players from requesting forces that should legitimately be included in the game. In fact, such requests should be encouraged, especially if the units or data in question are truly substantial forces. The point is that the players must also furnish the research and make it easy for the umpires to check out in order for them to allow it into the game. If allowing the forces or units into the game means our having to do our own research, it will probably never be allowed.

2. Working with the President and the State Department

The CJCS is your team's sole link with the rest of the US government and the governments of other countries. If your team has a request or proposal that requires Presidential approval, it must first be submitted to the through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

It may be assumed that the Chairman of thte Joint Chiefs of Staff is keeping the President abreast of your planning and that the Administration will be complying with your plans whenever possible. At no time will the players communicate directly with the President except under rare circumstances, as proposed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

While an occasional need to involve politics is understandable, generally, communication between the BLUFOR team and other branches of government, even through proper channels, will be discouraged both for game manageability and authenticity reasons. While there will certainly be times now and then when cooperation with the Executive branch is desperately needed, a continued preoccupation with political matters will be seen as being outside of your area of responsibility and will not be viewed favorably by the CJCS. While this may not affect your final score, it may affect the CJCS' willingness to provide you with that extra SEAL team or JSTARs when you need it most. :->

3. Working with Allies (non-NATO)

As players in a game of global warfare you will understandably want to be involved in creating a liason with your allies. Unfortunately, due to the immense workload involved with this MBX, liasoning with allies needs to be kept to a minimum. We therefore need to think of BLUFOR allies as conceptually as possible.

While allied countries may be more than capable of taking care of defending their own borders and airspace, the BLUFOR team is not to involve or depend on their allies to relieve the US of its role as the world's policeman. Politically speaking, even if an ally succeeds in fending off an OPFOR threat the US military will not look good in the eyes of the American public or the world if that ally is seen as the sole defender of democracy while the US is meanwhile nowhere to be found. Thus, an ally should be thought of as a blocking force to keep enemies from using their country to attack you, but not as an organic part of BLUFOR's command. (The one exception is NATO, which to some degree is committed to working in a more or less coordinated fashion. This coordination primarily exists between the Atlantic Alliance countries, however, and less so with the nations of the WEU.) [GM's NOTE: Also, giving any and all US allies a central role in this game would require much more work on the part of the umpires.]

Still, you will need to have some understanding of how your allies intend to operate so that you can plan for contingencies in the event of an attack. To this end, all allied countries will abide by the following SOPs.

1) All allied countries will be responsible for vigilantly patrolling and defending their own territory.

2) Any ally detecting a major threat to its security will immediately report that threat and any other information it has concerning that threat to your team by way of the DIA. In most cases, it may be assumed that the US will be invited to provide military assistance in driving out the threatening force. This invitation will include full basing rights and harboring for all US air and naval forces. Again, this permission will not be given unless an attack is clearly imminent or already under way.

3) Until such time as the allied country is under attack, or about to come under attack, the US may not have full basing rights. However, a visit by a naval group of no more than 10 ships will usually be welcome for a short period, say 1-2 weeks, especially if a joint training exercise is offered between the US and the ally's military. The drawback to offering such exercises is that they are less efficient in upgrading the proficiency of the US officers and crews, something that could prove telling over time. A joint exercise could be beneficial, however, if the two forcess really do join forces in combat later on, executing the same type of operation (eg, ASW ops, amphibious landings, etc.)

4) It is assumed that the intelligence services are continually providing information to the DIA. To the player it may not appear as such only because DIA intel reports tend to be subject-driven, not region-driven. Hence, foreign data are often mixed together with several different sources and compiled into a single report. For example, any report on a Middle-Eastern terrorist group can assumed to have been formed, in part, by information provided by the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, but there may be no indication of this in the report. The point is, you do not need to worry about issuing requests to various countries asking for intel. Such information is assumed to be included in DIA reports whenever possible.

5) At no time will the BLUFOR team contact a World Leader, unless expressly permitted by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Generally, such meetings will be frowned upon, however, as world politics is usually outside the purview of the Operations staff. The CJCS reserves the right to disregard or deny such requests without explanation. [GM's NOTE: This is not meant to be a buzzkill, it is simply necessary in order to prevent the sheer chaos and "ballooning" of the game which would undoubtedly occur if the two teams were allowed to talk to world leaders.]

6) Still, if players feel strongly that an ally must be alerted about a certain plan or piece of intel, players may put forward the request for communicating this information through the CJCS.

4. Working with NATO

NATO forces can be controlled through SACEUR, one of the five US joint (unified) theater commands who also wears the supreme allied commander's hat at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Keep in mind that SACEUR only has absolute control over US forcese. He does not have total control over the forces of other nations, as SACEUR's orders are still subject to approval by SHAEF, which represents the leadership of each of the member nations. Those nations will often find themselves divided on certain issues (with the dividing line usually occuring between the AA and WEU).

All NATO countries can be assumed to provide both basing rights and overflight rights during both peacetime and wartime. A buildup of US forces in a NATO country will usually be accepted without any major ruffles from the host country or SHAEF.

6. Upgrading the BLUFOR Defense Posture

In Stage I, it is possible that not just one war may break out, but several. This is not even something that the umpires can necessarily control, since much of the decision-making in this regard is in the hands of the World Leaders. It is quite possible, in fact (though not probable) that we could see a worldwide Armageddon involving as many as a dozen different OPFOR countries going to war, either allied or separately against the US or its allies. This means that BLUFOR, whose job it is to contain, and if necessary, defeat these outbreaks, must have some process by which it can upgrade the size of its militlary in order to match the scale of the threat. This is done by upgrading its Defense Condition (DEFCON) status. The benefits and drawbacks will be discussed below.

7. DEFCON levels

At any time, the BLUFOR team may recommend to the CJCS that a unified command, a numbered fleet or the entire US military upgrade its DEFCON level. This essentially increases the size and the staying power of the US military, and allows BLUFOR to take on more opponents around the world. The downside is that these measures are hugely expensive as well as alarming to the American public. An unnecessary call-up or deployment is therefore subject to severe penalties if the perceived threat turns out to have been non-existent or small enough that it could have been defeated by local forces already on-station.

There are five levels of alertness for the US military, which are as follows:

DEFCON 5 -- Normal peacetime readiness. This is where the BLUFOR team starts out at the beginning of the MBX. At this level the team must deal with limited resources and poor response times for intelligence but if they can successfully defend against all of the OPFOR threats at this level they stand to gain the most points in their Stage I umpires' evaluation. (BLUFOR automatically gets bonus points if they succeed in defending against all OPFOR threats without upgrading their defense posture. The maximum number of points is still 20, however.)

DEFCON 4 -- Normal, increased intelligence and strengthened security measures. Combat forces will generally have a sharper edge of alertness. Intelligence requests will be processed somewhat faster. Roughly 10-20% of the US Reserves (depending on the size and scope of the conflict) will begin training up to provide replacement forces and prevent a longterm "burnout factor" (BLUFOR will get to choose which units). All normally scheduled exercises under the unified command that has been issued the upgrade will be suspended, as the units taking part in these exercises refuel, resupply and prepare to receive their new orders. A moderate penalty (in points) will be assessed against the team if this upgrade is deemed unnecessary by the Umpires.

DEFCON 3 -- This represents an increase in forces above normal readiness. All combat units will be brought to full strength. Strategic air command (B-52s, B-1s) will be on full alert and ready to strike. SSBNs and strategic missile command silos will be alerted and ready to receive targetting data. Up to 40% of the US Reserves will be called up and upgraded to active status (again, BLUFOR can choose the units), while all active units will be supplied and staffed to Tier 1 status. All units currently designated as Tier 1 reserves (ERFOR) will be ready to deploy to bases and ports of embarkation on command. Sealift and airlift will be maximuzed for ferrying several divisions or more of troops overseas. A heavy penalty will be assessed against the team if this level of upgrade is deemed unwarranted.

DEFCON 2 -- Further increase in force readiness, including preparations for strategic strike/counterstrike. Strategic air command will initiate racetrack bombing runs over enemy territory with orders to strike on command. SSBNs and missile silos will be given targeting data and test launch sequence. Maximum sealift and air lift will be marshalled in preparation for deploying an army or more of forces or more. Even faster intelligence response. Up to 70% of the US Reserves will be called up and upgraded to active (Tier 2) status. An even heavier penalty will be assessed against the team if this upgrade turns out to be unwarranted.

DEFCON 1 -- Maximum force readiness, with the entire defense community operating at wartime levels -- from intelligence, to logistics, to merchant marines to manufacturing. All reserve units will be available for upgrading to Tier 2. Wartime manufacturing production levels will increase sealift and airlift assets as well as overall military strength over time. A severe penalty will be assessed if this level of alertness is deemed unwarranted.

Just as it is important to match an increase in threat with a higher level of defense readiness, it is also critical to scale down the defense if it is merely adding costs without providing any additional security. If, for example, an enemy or potential enemy begins to stand down or withdraw its forces from a contested region, BLUFOR may be left with a much higher level of defense readiness than necessary. Leaving the military at a heightened state of readiness for too long when there is no actual threat will be deemed costly and unnecessary by the umpires and will incur a penalty at the conclusion of Stage I. (Besides, downgrading the BLUFOR defense posture will increase the ability of the diplomatic corps to take over and seal the peace.)

Only the side commander, or his Executive Officer (in the side commander's absence) may order a change in DEFCON levels. To execute an upgrade (or downgrade) the CINC or XO simply submits a request for the new DEFCON level together with a brief reason for the change. The request is submitted to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. In most cases the CJCS will approve the new DEFONC level.

A change in DEFCON level does not have to apply to the entire US military; it can instead be assigned to one or more of the unified theater commands or a numbered US fleet. This reduces some of the home-based defense and logistics benefits of the alertness level, but greatly reduces the cost as well. This in turn means there is less chance of incuring a penalty due to "overkill" in the Stage I evaluation.

The rest of the military, however, may not be lower than one level of readiness from that of any individual fleet or joint theater command. For example, if the US 2nd Fleet is put on DEFCON 2, the rest of the US military is by definition on DEFCON 3.

8. Working with the DIA

Some players have the idea that any request for intelligence is going to be instantly available simply because it is "on file" and does not have to be created from scratch, or that the request should be fulfilled in a matter of hours or within a couple of days simply because that's what seems logical to them. These players should keep in mind the following: 1) The J3-6 staff is just one of many planning cells in the Pentagon requiring assistance from the DIA, 2) During peacetime, the urgency for each assignment and the number of personnel on staff who are available to process the request is not going to be the same as it is during wartime conditions, 3) this is an MBX, not real life, which is constrained by the number of umpires and their limited free time for processing orders, and finally 4) It is simply a rule of the game, designed for challenge -- not necessarily realism. If the rule seems unfair you may console yourself with the fact that your opponent is being equally chaffed by such compromises of reality that seem, in his eyes, to always favor your  team. :->