CSR Awards Charter

Statement of Mission

  1. The Charles S. Roberts Awards (“CSR Awards”) recognize excellence in tabletop conflict simulations.
  2. In keeping with the words and wishes of our Founder, Charles S. Roberts, the CSR awards shall strive to be “accomplished in a manner and in a context that is ‘independent’ of any commercial connection and ‘free’ from any conflict of interest.”
  3. The CSR Awards shall be presented annually in a variety of categories to reward excellence in the design, publication and presentation in the field of tabletop conflict simulation.
  4. The final winners of the CSR Awards shall be selected annually from among the nominees by a public vote open to all members of the wargaming hobby, industry and community.

I.            Board of Governors Rules & Responsibilities

  1. The execution of the CSR Awards shall be the collective responsibility of the Board of Governors (“the Board”).
  2. The Director of the CSR Awards shall be a member of the Board of Governors and shall chair all meetings of the Board, said meetings to be scheduled and implemented on a regular basis by the Director.
  3. All members of the Board will be notified in advance of the occurrence of a board meeting, and effort shall be made to accommodate schedule conflicts and other attendance challenges.
  4. Members of the Board shall be expected to attend formal meetings of the Board, with reasonable exceptions made at the discretion of the Director.
  5. Meetings of Board shall be limited to no more than ten (10) per year. No vote of the Board may be deemed binding unless conducted at a meeting called under this section.
  6. Each Board member shall have 1 (one) vote in all Board meetings, and all votes pass by simple majority of the Board members present at a formal Board meeting.
  7. The Board may pass motions by consent if no objection is raised.
  8. Changes to the content or text of this Charter may be made by a vote of the Board.
  9. The Board may assign responsibilities to individuals who are members of the Board, as well as to other officers of the CSR Awards, at its discretion. This may be done by the Director unless there is an objection from the Board, in which case the matter shall be settled by vote.
  10. The Board may form committees at its discretion. Members of committees are not required to be members of the Board unless the motion to form specifies this.
  11. The Board may, by vote, choose to admit a new member to the Board. Any Board member may nominate a new member. The new member must be present at the formal meeting in which that vote is conducted.
  12. The Board may remove, by vote, a Board member who is unable to fulfill the responsibilities as outlined or assigned as above.
  13. An effort shall be made to include global representation on the Board.

II.         The Awards Year and Eligibility

  1. The Awards Year shall be defined as one calendar year, January 1 through December 31, for which the CSR Awards are being presented. The Awards process will occur in the following calendar year.
  2. The nomination process as defined in Case III shall be completed and announced to the public no later than April 30 in the year after the Awards Year.
  3. The CSR Awards recognize conflict simulation games, not general board games. However, this charter recognizes that this boundary is often blurry, and this definition includes simulations of non-military conflicts and related historical topics. If a candidate for nomination is challenged on this point, the determination will be made by the Nominating Committee.
  4. All games considered for award or nomination shall be manual, tabletop games, except in categories specifically allowing other types of games. The presence of additional digital aids for a manual, tabletop game shall not be cause for exclusion.
  5. Boxed, magazine and ziplock or folio games are all eligible unless otherwise excluded in a category.
  6. Solely digital products are not eligible unless a category specifically allows them.
  7. Print and play, web published and postcard games are not eligible unless a category specifically allows them.
  8. A wargame shall be eligible for nomination in the calendar year of its release.
    1. For this purpose, “release” shall be defined as the delivery of the final product to customers and/or players during that calendar year.
    2. Where the date of release cannot be determined directly, the question shall be referred to the designer or publisher of the product. If this method produces no answer, the decision shall be made by the Nominating Committee.
  9. Reprints and reissues of existing games shall not be eligible for CSR Awards, except in categories that specifically allow them, or if one of the following applies:
    1. Significant changes from the original release in terms of components are seen in the reprint or reissue. Errata corrections do not qualify as significant for this purpose. A significant upgrade to component quality would qualify.
    2. Significant changes from the original release’s rules or mechanics. Errata corrections to rules do not qualify as significant for this purpose.
    3. “Significance” for this purpose shall be determined on a case-by case basis by the Nominating Committee.
  10. Final determination of eligibility shall be the responsibility of the Nominating Committee.

III.      Categories & Nomination

  1. The Awards categories, and their definitions, shall be set forth in the Awards Categories Addendum. Awards categories shall otherwise be subject to all rules of the Charter, except where defined otherwise in the Awards Categories Addendum.
  2. Dates given in period definitions should be understood as guidelines, not firm restrictions. Final determination of the category of eligibility shall be made by the Nominating Committee.
  3. Wargames can be eligible for nomination for multiple Awards. No individual game shall be eligible in more than one Period Category. Where necessary, the most appropriate category shall be determined by the Nominating Committee.
  4. A game shall be eligible for annual Awards for only one Awards Year. Where necessary, the date of release for purposes of Award eligibility shall be determined by the Nominating Committee.
  5. The nominating process for all Awards is set forth in the Nominating Process Addendum, save for any exceptions noted in the Charter, and such exceptions shall be defined here in this Case.
  6. The Clausewitz Hall of Fame Award shall be granted annually to an individual who has made significant, transformative, and enduring contributions to the wargaming hobby, industry or community, over the course of their life and career.
  7. Individuals may receive the Clausewitz Hall of Fame Award only once, as it is an award for lifetime achievement, not for a single item, act or product.
  8. The process for granting this award shall be as follows:
    1. A three-member Clausewitz Award Jury shall be formed on or before April 1 each year by agreement of the Board of Governors. The Chair of this Jury shall be the Director of the CSR Awards. A secretary will also be appointed. The Clausewitz Award Jury will determine the most suitable candidates for admission to the Hall of Fame in two meeting sessions, held in April or May. If a decision can be reached in the first meeting, the second meeting need not be held.
    2. Each Jury member may propose three candidates for the Clausewitz Award. Any member of the Clausewitz Award Committee can veto any one candidate proposed by the others, for any reason.
    3. Of the remaining candidates, the Clausewitz Award Jury shall determine by discussion and/or vote of the Committee which single candidate shall receive the Award. This decision must be unanimous. If a unanimous decision cannot be reached, no Clausewitz Award shall be awarded for that year.
    4. The results of the Clausewitz Award Jury shall present their result to the Board for final ratification.

IV.      Award Winner Determination

  1. The final determination of the winner in each category shall be determined by the result of a ballot open to the public.
  2. The Nominating Committee shall submit the final Nominees for all categories no later than April 15th of the year following the Awards Year.
  3. The public ballot shall be opened to the public no later than May 1st, and close no later than June 30th of the year following the Awards Year.
  4. The Director shall assign the task of tabulating the final ballots.
  5. The final winner shall be announced no later than July 1st of the year following the Awards Year.

V.         Conflicts of Interest

  1. The process of determining nominees and final winners of the CSR Awards should be free of any undue influence from publishers, designers and other prominent entities within the board wargaming hobby, industry and community. As such, sponsorship from game publishers, of offers of affiliation with a publisher or publisher-affiliated convention shall not be accepted, and other matters which might represent conflicts of interest shall be governed by this Charter.
  2. It is expected that members of the Charles S. Roberts Awards team will be persons involved and invested in the wargaming hobby, industry or community, in the legacy of Charles S. Roberts himself, or otherwise associated with conflict simulations or board wargaming. Such persons may naturally be, or come to be, prominent within the wargaming hobby, industry or community, as designers, commentators, publishers, developers, or artists.
  3. The following policy shall apply to members of the CSR Awards Board of Governors, and to all officers of the CSR Awards:
    1. A designer, developer, artist, or publisher of a wargame shall recuse themselves from any vote of the Board of Governors regarding the eligibility of that wargame.
  4. The following policy shall apply to members of the CSR Awards Nominating Committee:
    1. A designer, developer, artist, or publisher of a wargame shall recuse themselves from any vote of the Nominating Committee in the category in which that game is a nominee or candidate for nomination, or in which its eligibility is being decided. They are not expected or required to recuse themselves from the final nominating ballot.
  5. For any individual who is a member of the Board of Governors and a member of the Nominating Committee, both policies (V.3 and V.4) above shall apply.
  6. Members of the Board are expected to report potential conflicts of interest as defined in this section to the Board. Members of the Nominating Committee are expected to report potential conflicts of interest as defined in this section to the Secretary of the Nominating Committee.
  7. A designer, developer, artist, or publisher of a wargame shall not be expected to recuse the game itself from eligibility for a nomination or Award.
  8. A designer, developer, artist, or publisher of a wargame shall not be expected to recuse themselves from voting in the public ballot in the categories in which a wargame they were involved in or contributed to is nominated.

Addendum: Awards Categories

Awards Categories for the CSR Awards shall be defined in this Addendum. Modifications to this addendum may occur by vote of the Board of Governors.

Period Categories
  1. Best Ancients Wargame, for a wargame set in the ancient period, including late antiquity, up to roughly 800 CE.
  2. Best Medieval Wargame, for a wargame set in the medieval period, before the decisive use of gunpower, in the period roughly from 800-1500 CE.
  3. Best Gunpowder Wargame, for a wargame set after the decisive use of gunpowder weapons including the renaissance and Age of Reason, but before the era of industrialization, in the period roughly 1500-1800 CE. Excludes Napoleonic topics.
  4. Best Early Modern Wargame, for a wargame set in the period between roughly 1800 and 1910, or during the Industrial Age. Excludes Napoleonic and American Civil War topics.
  5. Best Napoleonic Wargame, for a wargame set in the period 1789-1815, and treating topics related to the French Revolution or Napoleonic Wars.
  6. Best American Civil War Wargame, for a wargame set during the American Civil War, or dealing with its immediate causes or aftermath.
  7. Best Early 20th Century Wargame, for a wargame set between 1910, up to the beginning of World War II. Excludes World War II topics.
  8. Best World War II Wargame, for a wargame treating World War II or related topics, in the period 1936-1945.
  9. Best Modern Wargame, for a wargame dealing with a post-World War II, post-1945, Cold War (including the Korean and Vietnam conflicts), or Post-Cold War topic, up to the modern day.
  10. Best Hypothetical Wargame, for a wargame with a topic that is contrafactual, contra-historical, alternate history or hypothetical, set in the past to immediate near future.
  11. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Wargame, for a wargame in a science fiction or fantasy setting.
Form & Function Categories
  1. Best Solitaire or Cooperative Wargame, for a wargame designed primarily to be played in a solitaire or cooperative mode.
  2. Best Expansion for an Existing Wargame, for an expansion, supplement or add-on to an existing wargame, Stand-alone products are excluded.
  3. Best Wargaming Magazine, for a wargame magazine, containing coverage of wargaming or otherwise specifically relevant to a wargame or wargames. This award is to recognize the quality of the magazine, and any included wargames should be judged separately in their appropriate categories.
  4. The Redmond A. Simonsen Memorial Award for Outstanding Wargame Presentation, for a wargame that exhibits excellence in all aspects of wargame presentation, including the quality of the rules, packaging, art, components, physical systems design, playing surface, and visual interface.
  5. The James F. Dunnigan Award for Playability and Design, for the designer who has, through excellence of design, had the most positive impact on playability and elegance in wargaming.
  6. The Charles S. Roberts Memorial Award, for the new designer or design team whose first or second game was released in the Awards Year, who best exemplifies emerging excellence in wargame design, and who has not previously received this Award.
  7. Wargame of the Year, for the wargame that best exhibits the highest standards of excellence in design and execution. Reprints and reissues are not eligible for this Award.

Nominating Process Addendum

  1. The Nominating Committee will be formed by the Director, with consultation from the Board, in the final quarter of the Awards Year. The members of the Nominating Committee will be selected based on knowledge of the wargaming industry, hobby and community.
  2. The Nominating Committee shall have two officers: the Chair, which will be filled by the Director or the Director’s delegate, and the Secretary, who shall be responsible for maintain the record of submissions for nomination, for the Nominating Ballot, and for the publication of a report after each meeting of the Nominating Committee.
  3. There will be three (3) meetings of the Nominating Committee, held on or around January 10th, February 20th, and March 30th. All members of the Nominating Committee are encouraged to attend all three meetings, and are expected to attend at least one.
  4. The process for consideration for nomination shall be as follows:
    1. Any member of the Nominating Committee can submit a wargame for consideration for nomination. This may be done during a meeting of the Nominating Committee, or by submission to the Secretary before one or more of these meetings. The submission of nomination should include:
      1. The title, publisher and designer of the submission
      2. The category or categories in which the wargame will be considered.
      3. Demonstration that the wargame was released in the Awards Year.
      4. An explanation of why the wargame is felt to be worthy of nomination for Charles S. Roberts Award or Awards.
      5. Additional information to forestall any objections raised.
  5. Any member of the Nominating Committee can raise an objection to any wargame under consideration, at a meeting of the Nominating Committee. This may not be done by email, but an objector can ask an attending member to object on their behalf. The objection will be followed by a discussion period on the merits of the objection, followed by a vote to sustain or overrule the objection. Valid causes for objection shall be as follows:
        1. Objection that the submission was not released during the Awards Year.
        2. Objection that the submission is not eligible for one or more categories for which it was submitted, based on the constraints upon that category.
        3. Objection that the submission does not meet the standards needed to warrant consideration for nomination.
        4. Objection that the submission does not fall within the purview of the CSR Awards.
        5. Objection that the submission does not meet other criteria for eligibility per the rules established in the CSR Awards Charter.
  6. A submitter may choose to amend their submission, after which the objection may be withdrawn, at the option of the submitter and objector.
  7. At the close of each meeting of the Nominating Committee, a vote shall be held on each individual submission for nomination raised during that meeting, provided that no objections were raised, or all objections were overruled. An “aye” vote will result in that wargame being added to the Nominating Ballot under the appropriate Categories. The Chair shall not vote in this process except to break ties.
  8. The Nominating Ballot will be assembled by the Secretary from the complete list of candidates for nomination after the final meeting of the Nominating Committee, and distributed to all members of the Nominating Committee.
  9. The Nominating Ballot will be made available for voting for a period of no less than ten (10) and not more than thirty (30) days. Those candidates receiving the most votes in each category shall become the nominees, and the Secretary will inform the Director and the Board of the full results.
  10. Each category shall have a minimum of three (3) nominees and a maximum of six (6). Where this is not possible due to ties, the Director may determine a higher or lower number of nominees. The Director shall not have authority to drop individual nominees who are tied in votes, but may submit such a proposal to the Board.

Special Awards Year 2022 Timeline Amendment

  1. This amendment modifies the Charter in the specific manner detailed below. It shall only be applied to the Awards Year 2022, and will be removed from the Charter after the conclusion of the Awards process for that year.
  2. Formation of the Nominating Committee shall occur in January 2023.
  3. The meetings of the Nominating Committee shall be held in February, March and April of 2023.
  4. The Final Nominating Ballot shall be conducted in the period between the conclusion of the final meeting of the Nominating Committee and the end of May 2023.
  5. The Public Ballot to determine the CSR Awards winners shall be opened no later than June 1, 2023.
  6. The announcement of the winners of the CSR Awards will be made no later than August 15, 2023.

Special Awards Year 2022 Hall of Fame Amendment

  1. This amendment modifies the Charter only for Awards Year 2022. It will not be in effect for Awards Year 2023 unless it is again passed by vote of the Board.
  2. This amendment modifies section III.8.iii, to allow multiple inductees for Awards Year 2022.
  3. The Hall of Fame process is not otherwise changed. This process allows up to three inductees, provided that the decision of the jury is unanimous.
  4. The inductees will be ratified by a vote of the Board following the usual process.

 

 

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