DA RULES

North Atlantic Tankery Organization

Rules and Regulations

Tournament Format

1.	The Organization is split between two Leagues. Western (Continental North and South America) and Eastern (Europe, Africa, and Asia). In the Leagues there are three divisions each. Eastern has North, Central, and South. Eastern has West, Central, and East.

2.	Each weekend will feature two matches on Saturday and Sunday before playoffs. The total number of matches in the regular season will be 22.
a.	There will be at least sixteen matches between league divisions and six interleague matches.

3.	For playoffs, there will be three division winners and two wild card winners for each League.
a.	Winning the Division requires winning the most games in that division.
b.	Winning the Wild Card requires having the second and third best record despite not winning division. Both Wild Cards can come from the same division.
c.	Wild Cards will face interleague rivals in a single elimination match.  The winner will face their Division rival in the Division playoffs.
d.	Division winners and Wild Card winner will face each other in the Divisional Matches, winners will advance to their respective League Championships
e.	Winners of the League Championships will advance to the NATO World Championship.

NATO Match Format

1.	There are two formats for matches: Elimination and Flag Battle. In NATO Regular season, the first match will always be Elimination. The second match will always be Flag Battle.
a.	Elimination Battle Objectives: Render inoperable all of the opposing team’s vehicles. Match will end when all opposing team’s vehicles are rendered inoperable OR one team forfeits.
b.	Flag Battle Objective: Render inoperable the opposing team’s Flag Vehicle (designated by NATO Judges).
ADDENDUM: In the case where the Judges perceive that one team has the obvious advantage (e.g. one team has ten heavy tanks versus the other’s two light tanks) over another in battle, the Judges may call a pause and allow teams to negotiate surrender. It is to the discretion of the crews as to who surrenders. Tanks are not permitted to move or fire during this pause and deliberate firing of weapons at tanks and crew during this period will result in automatic disqualification in the match and from Tournament playoffs. At least one hour has to have elapsed before a pause can be called.

2.	In NATO Tournament Playoffs, all playoff matches will be Flag Battles.

Number of Participating Vehicles

1.	The maximum number of allowable vehicles is 20 in the regular season.

2.	In the Playoffs, this number is expanded by 10 for a total of 30 tanks.

3.	Each team may not field more than the maximum number of vehicles.

4.	It is possible to field less than the maximum. The minimum number of participating vehicles is 1 on each team.

Match Locale

1.	The boundaries of the battlefield will be determined by NATO Officials .

2.	Access to the battlefield is restricted 72 hours prior to the match. Participants shall receive maps and details of the area.

3.	If there is objection to the battlefield of choice, they must be filed to NATO Officials within 24 hours of announcement upon which deliberations will be made.

Participating Vehicle Specifications.

1.	The vehicles allowed to participate are the following:
a.	Vehicles whose designs were completed before August 15, 1945
b.	Vehicles that had begun prototype trials by the aforementioned date.
c.	Vehicles whose construction was planned using only materials available before the aforementioned date.

2.	Vehicles which meet these requirements must be confirmed to be constructed using materials that were available at that time and authenticated by a NATO Official.

3.	For vehicles that never advanced from the planning stage, NATO will decide on eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

4.	For vehicles with variants beyond the August 15, 1945 cutoff date, their eligibility will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

5.	Replicas and reproductions of existing designs are allowed, provided the following conditions are met:
a.	A NATO Official oversees constructions of the replicas.
b.	That the original materials that were available to the manufacturers be used.
c.	That the specified design be followed to the letter. Error in reproducing the tank, intentional or unintentional, is prohibited.

6.	For vehicles which were historically open-cabin, armored compartments will be allowed to make them safe to use. Self-propelled artillery vehicles such as the M7 Priest, the Hummel, and other examples will be eligible for armored cabins.
a.	The armored cabins will be only 5 millimeters thick, to make sure performance is not in any way affected.

Supplementary Equipment and Modifications

1.	All tanks will be fitted with NATO-sanctioned referee and safety equipment, including:
a.	Penetration calculation computer.
b.	Knockout flags on all axes of the tank.
c.	GPS Beacons
d.	Emergency flares
e.	Emergency medical kits

2.	All tanks will be fitted with NATO-approved armored compartments to further increase survivability and safety of crews.

3.	Ahistorical modifications are allowed within reason. Common modifications allowed are:
a.	Armored skirts no greater than 10 millimeters in thickness.
b.	Applique weld-on or riveted armor no greater than 20 millimeters in thickness.
c.	Modified gunsights and addition of historical infrared spotlamps and sights.
d.	Floodlights and searchlights. Must be historical models.
e.	Bulldozers and hedgerow cutters.
f.	Pintle-mounted machine guns.
g.	Camouflage netting.
h.	Decoys such as inflatable tanks, cardboard cutouts, and stereo sets for audio decoys.
i.	Snorkel equipment.
j.	Smoke and flare launchers.

Permitted Armament

1.	All tanks will use NATO-approved reproduction live ammunition.
a.	The ammunition is designed to disintegrate harmlessly if fired into the air and out of the field of play.
b.	The ammunition will curve away from human targets OUTSIDE of a tank.

2.	Machine guns and secondary armament and along with specialized ammunition approved by NATO Officials are permitted.

3.	Specialized artillery such as rocket artillery and spigot mortars are allowed at NATO official’s discretion.

4.	Production of custom warheads or charges is not allowed.

ADDENDUM: As of January 1st, 1989, flamethrowers will no longer be permitted armament across all practicing Tankery organizations.

Conditions for Victory

1.	Elimination Battles: The Team that renders all the opposing team’s vehicles inoperable is the winner.
a.	Should there be a tie in which the last two vehicles render each other inoperable at the same moment, the tie will go to the side which fired first.
b.	One team may request timeout be called in the event in which they believe they have the upper hand, so that they may request the surrender of the other team. If the other team accepts, the match is over with the team accepting the opposing team’s surrender victorious.

2.	Flag Battles: The team that renders the opposing team’s Flag Vehicle inoperable is the winner.

a.	Subsection rules in Elimination Battles apply here.
b.	If a crew tampers or otherwise attempts to deliberately hide the Flag designating the Tank as such, the crew will be ejected from the match, whereupon that crew’s team will have to either sub in a new crew or forfeit.

Conditions for Defeat

1.	The Judging Equipment has determined a tank to be inoperable. Inoperable conditions include:
a.	Complete loss of power from the engine.
b.	Simulated crew death.
c.	Fire which equipment judges to spread throughout tank and kill crew.
d.	Flipping or capsizing tank. In the event that a crew believes they can right the tank, they must be able to in their own power right the tank with no outside assistance.
e.	Simulated ammo rack explosion.

2.	All crew members have abandoned their tank.
a.	Crew members are permitted to dismount from their tanks provided:
i.	They stay within the boundaries of the field.
ii.	At least one crew member stays within the tank.
iii.	They carry only permitted equipment.
iv.	They not directly engage tanks.

3.	The Judges determine that a match can no longer proceed.

4.	The Judges determine that a rule violation has taken place.

On Disabled Vehicles.

1.	A tank may no longer participate if it has been declared inoperable. Any radio equipment inside of the tank will be shut off save for the radio link between judges and crews.

2.	Participants will wait for Grounds Crew to pick them up. The inoperable tank will be left as it lies until the match is over or a Judge orders it to be moved.


On Prohibited Actions

1.	Using parts or equipment not sanctioned by NATO.

2.	Voluntarily leaving the competition area.

3.	Firing directly on humans.

4.	Attacking a vehicle that has been declared inoperable.

5.	Disrespect towards judges or other participants.

6.	Actions judged to be “throwing the match”

Engaging in any of the above acts will result in disqualification from the playoffs.