Competition

A competition is a basic form of activity in the Emperor's Hammer and its subgroups. All competitions are listed in the Emperor's Hammer Competition Center.

Competition Guidance

Competitions provide a fun and exciting way for members to engage in club activities. Competitions may take place across a nearly unlimited variety of activities, including gaming, trivia, puzzles, or creative works (graphics/fiction).

Competitions can be recommended/submitted via the the Management Panel on your Emperor's Hammer profile. You will need to provide certain mandatory information about your proposed competition, such as start and end dates, medals/awards that can be won, and a full description of the competition and its rules. When completing the competition submission form, you should complete each field to be display-ready for members when your competition is approved. Correct spelling and grammar helps provide clarity to your competition. The competition form support Markdown-based formatting, enabling you to organize the information well and provide emphasis where needed.

If you are new to submitting competitions, it can be very helpful to have another experienced member, such as a Squadron Commander (TC) or Quaestor (SO), proofread your proposed competition prior to submission. They can also provide feedback on the rules and scoring for your competition. Reviewing existing approved competitions within the Competition Center can also help a new competition runner understand what makes a good competition listing.

Duties of a Competition Runner

Competition runners (i.e., the person proposing a competition) are responsible for the competition from inception through completion. This includes:

• Recommending the competition through the web site interface.
• Making corrections to the competition listing, if necessary.
• Collecting results, scores, or other applicable performance metrics for the competition.
• Announcing mid-competition standings, if applicable (typically for longer duration competitions).
• Announcing the final competition results.
• Initiating medal recommendations for the winning members.

While running a good competition can take some time and energy, it is a great way to create a fun atmosphere within the organization and provides additional opportunities for the competition runner to be recognized for their contributions.

Common Errors

• The competition details omit information that a member will need to fully participate in the event. For example, failing to explain how the competition will be scored, how or where to submit their results, etc.
• The proposed awards for the competition are not consistent with the respective subgroup's criteria for those awards.
• Excessive spelling, grammar, or formatting errors that impact the clarity of the competition listing.

Competitions in the TIE Corps

As a rule of thumb, the TIE Corps prefers not to duplicate competitions that are already in existence at a wider level (other than trivia). For example, a squadron or battlegroup version of Ace of the TIE Corps would not be approved as it is essentially double dipping with regards to medals. We do though allow similar competitions and if you can use a different metric (e.g., Legion of Combat/Legions of Skirmish with a certain number of your own squadron present instead of a flat count of LoCs/LoSs) then it would likely be approved. If in doubt please contact the Warfare Officer for guidance.

Fleet-Wide Competitions

While most competitions are limited to the members of a specific subgroup, some competitions may be made open to the Emperor's Hammer fleet as a whole. These competitions are typically created by fleet-level officers, for example members of the Command Staff.

• Service awards for fleet-wide competitions must be made in accordance with each subgroup's requirements for the proposed service/competition award. Refer award policy questions to the Warfare Officer (TIE Corps) and Master-at-Arms (Secret Order). Fleet-wide competitions do not usurp the award criteria for subgroup-specific service/competition awards. Fleet-wide competition runners will submit a matrix of proposed awards delineated by subgroup.
• In the case where a member to be awarded is a member of multiple subgroups, they may receive competition recognition for one character/subgroup only. Members will not receive duplicate awards for multiple subgroup memberships.
• The Internet Officer, Executive Officer, or Fleet Commander will normally serve as the approval authority for fleet-wide competitions.

When it comes to medals, please remember:

• Platinum Iron Stars may only be awarded for first place in Corps-wide competitions that either last at least four months or for more complex events like Raise the Flag.
• Gold Iron Stars are awarded for first place in battlegroup, ship, and wing competitions. They’re also awarded for Corps-level competitions that last less than a few months and to the runner-up for an IS-PW. Competitions at the Corps, battlegroup, ship, and wing levels that run for less than a month or have rounds that last less than a month should not award IS-GWs to keep them from becoming too common.
• Silver Iron Stars are awarded for first place in squadron-level competitions that last at least one month. They’re also awarded to the runner-up for an IS-GW.
• Bronze Iron Stars are awarded for first place in squadron-level competitions lasting less than one month or to the runner-up for an IS-SW.
• Copper Iron Stars would never need to be a first place award, with other Iron Stars fulfilling that purpose. Any competition awarding the IS-BW or IS-BR may award an IS-CW or IS-CR to the runner-up.
• Operational Readiness Award: These should not be awarded as a simple “participate in the competition, get a medal”. The idea for the ORA is that pilots can make achievements in a competition without placing, for example completing a certain number of tasks. If in doubt please reach out to the WO for advice.

Competition Submission Examples

Poor quality submission

• Competition description contains irrelevant information ("I think it would be a great idea if...").
• Competition description doesn't contain enough information to participate. For example, does the pilot have to submit their score somewhere?
• As a general rule, 'blanket' or 'placeholder' competitions where the actual activity to be performed (in this case, which battle will be flown) is unknown are not preferred except in special circumstances.
• Grammar impacts clarity of the description.
• Awards are listed in the description section (which is unnecessarily duplicative) and also does not match those listed in the awards section. If the IS-GW is being proposed, it is not supported by the TIE Corps policies for awarding the IS-GW in a squadron-level competition.

Good submission

• The competition is creative and not a rehash of other common competitions.
• The competition description is robust and provides specific details to the member on how to participate and submit their results.
• The competition description uses paragraphs for clarity.
• The awards are in accordance with TIE Corps policies for the Iron Star and Operational Readiness Award.