Awards Year 2023 Charter – Charles S. Roberts Awards

Presented below is the current governing Charter for the Charles S. Roberts Awards, as voted upon by the Board of Governors on 10 December, 2023. Previous charters can be found at:

Statement of Mission

The Charles S. Roberts Awards (“CSR Awards”) recognize excellence in tabletop conflict simulations. 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.” 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. The final winners of the CSR Awards shall be selected annually from among the nominees by a public vote open to all enthusiasts of the conflict simulations and wargaming hobby, industry, and community.

I. Board of Governors Rules & Responsibilities

The execution of the CSR Awards shall be the collective responsibility of the Board of Governors (“the Board”).
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.
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.
Members of the Board shall be expected to attend formal meetings of the Board, with reasonable exceptions made at the discretion of the Director.
Meetings of the 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.
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.
The Board may pass motions by consent if no objection is raised.
Changes to the content or text of this Charter may be made by a vote of the Board.
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.
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.
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 meeting in which the membership vote is conducted.
The Board may remove, by vote, a Board member who is unable to fulfill the responsibilities as outlined or assigned as above.
An effort shall be made to include global representation on the Board.

II. The Awards Year and Eligibility

The Awards Year shall be defined as the 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.
The nomination process as defined in Case III and in any procedural amendment shall be completed and announced to the public no later than April 30 in the year after the Awards Year.
The CSR Awards recognize conflict simulation games, including “wargames”. This charter recognizes the subjective nature of the boundaries of this space, but the governing domain of the CSR Awards is “conflict simulations”, which explicitly includes simulations of non-military as well as military conflicts, as well as simulations of related historical topics. The determination of relevance for CSR or category eligibility shall be made by the Nominating Committee.
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.
Boxed, magazine, and ziplock or folio games are eligible unless otherwise excluded in a category.
Solely digital products are not eligible unless a category specifically allows them.
Print and play, web published and postcard games are not eligible unless a category specifically allows them.
A game shall be eligible for nomination in the calendar year of its release. For this purpose, “release” shall be defined as the delivery of the final product to customers and/or players during that calendar year. 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.
Reprints and reissues of existing games shall not be eligible for CSR Awards, insofar as they align with category scope, unless a category specifically allows them.
Final determination of eligibility shall in all cases be the responsibility of the Nominating Committee.

III. Categories & Nomination

The Awards categories, and their definitions, shall be set forth in the Awards Categories Addendum. Awards categories shall be subject to all rules of the Charter.
Dates given in period definitions should be understood as guidelines, not rigid boundaries. Final determination of a category or categories of eligibility shall be made by the Nominating Committee.
Games can be eligible for nomination for multiple Awards, but no individual game shall be eligible for more than one Period Award. Where necessary, the most appropriate category shall be determined by the Nominating Committee.
A game shall be eligible for Awards for only one Awards Year. Where necessary, the date of release for purposes of Award eligibility shall be determined by the Nominating Committee.
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.

IV. The Wargaming Hall of Fame

The Charles S. Roberts Awards Wargaming Hall of Fame Jury (“the Jury”) will determine the most suitable candidates for admission to the Hall of Fame. Individuals may be inducted only once, as it is an award for lifetime achievement, not for a single item, act or product.
The Wargaming Hall of Fame is not considered a Charles S. Roberts Award, but a separate honor administered by the Charles S. Roberts Awards organization, and governed as such by this character.
The process for determining induction shall be as follows:
1. A three-member Jury shall be formed on or before April 1 each year by agreement of the Board of Governors.
2. The Director of the CSR Awards shall serve as the non-voting chair of this Jury. A secretary may also be appointed.
3. The Jury will determine the most suitable candidates for admission to the Hall of Fame in meeting sessions, held in April or May. If a decision can be reached in the first meeting, additional meetings need not be held.
4. Each Jury member may propose three candidates for Hall of Fame induction.
5. The Chair may propose for consideration past candidates not inducted in previous years.
6. The Jury shall determine by discussion and/or vote of the Committee which candidate shall receive the Award. This decision must be unanimous. If a unanimous decision cannot be reached, no induction shall be made for that year. Inductees shall further be limited to no more than three (3) per Awards Year.
7. The Director shall present the results of Hall of Fame Jury deliberation to the Board for final ratification.

V. Award Winner Determination

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

VI. Conflicts of Interest

The process of determining nominees and winners of the CSR Awards should be free of undue influence from publishers, designers and other prominent entities within the conflict simulations hobby, industry, and community. As such, sponsorship from game publishers, 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.
It is nevertheless expected that members of the Charles S. Roberts Awards team will be persons involved and invested in the conflict simulations hobby, industry, and/or community, in the legacy of Charles S. Roberts himself, or otherwise associated with conflict simulations. Such persons may naturally be, or come to be, prominent within the hobby, industry or community, as designers, commentators, publishers, developers, or artists.
The following policy shall apply to members of the CSR Awards Board of Governors, and to all officers of the CSR Awards: A designer, developer, artist, or publisher of a game shall recuse themselves from any vote of the Board of Governors regarding the eligibility of that game.
The following policy shall apply to members of the CSR Awards Nominating Committee: A designer, developer, artist, or publisher of a game shall recuse themselves from any vote of the Nominating Committee concerning its eligibility for a CSR Award. They are not expected or required to recuse themselves from the final Nominating Committee ballot, or from the final public ballot.
For any individual who is a member of the Board of Governors and a member of the Nominating Committee, both policies (VI.3 and VI.4) above shall apply.
Members of the Board and/or Nominating Committee are expected to report potential conflicts of interest as defined in this section to the Board or Nominating Committee.