gun j121 Batch 1: pre-register the 6-arm Pattern-panel tournament and the decision rules

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# Gun campaign — ledger
**Goal (owner's mandate, 2026-09-26 overnight):** the movement campaign produced
a replicated champion (`TR_MOVEMENT=strafe`, `docs/movement_campaign.md`) which a
parallel job is shipping. *"Continue until you found an amazing movement. When
found do the same over for a gun."* This file is the GUN campaign's single source
of truth: later jobs **append** a `## Batch N` section and never edit an earlier
one (a wrong earlier number gets a correction line, not a rewrite). This file is
the gun successor to `docs/movement_campaign.md`; read that first, then this.
---
## 0. The question
The shipped rack admits **`Pattern` only** (`onlyPattern`). That decision was
taken because the virtual-fitness selector measured **negative value** at every
rack size tested, and Pattern is the best single gun by the DrussGT hit-rate
table (`docs/selector_negative_value.md`, `docs/gun_rack_analysis.md`, commit
`e0666a5`). But every one of those measurements — like every pre-campaign
movement claim — is **DrussGT-heavy**, and the movement campaign's standing
lesson is that a one-opponent result is not a result.
So Batch 1 asks the direct question, on a frozen 15-opponent panel:
> **Does any rack gun, or any small gun configuration, beat the shipped
> `Pattern` on damage/run AND round wins across 15 opponents — or is
> `onlyPattern` CONFIRMED rather than merely assumed?**
A **null is a successful outcome here**: it upgrades `onlyPattern` from an
assumption to a measured verdict across the panel, which is itself valuable.
---
## 1. Protocol (identical to the movement campaign; the instrument is reused verbatim)
`tools/ab/tournament_run.sh` + `tools/ab/tournament_analyze.py` +
`tools/ab/panel_movement.txt` (frozen panel), reused **unchanged**. The unit of
evidence is the **number of opponents**, not the number of runs.
| Element | Rule |
|---|---|
| Subject | ONE frozen binary built from `git archive HEAD` (`tournament_run.sh` records commit + binary sha256 in `session.json`) |
| Arms | env dicts only — **no per-arm rebuild, ever**; the arm file is a committed file (`tools/ab/arms_gun_b1.txt`) |
| Panel | the **frozen** `tools/ab/panel_movement.txt` (15 opponents). Adding/removing an opponent starts a new batch number |
| Pairing | per opponent: average the arm's runs, subtract the reference's average for that same opponent → one delta per opponent; then aggregate |
| Isolation | per-run bot dir + classic data dir, ephemeral ports, own process group; cleanup only by this session's outdir |
| Serialization | **one battle fleet at a time** via `--wait-arena`; never a broad `pkill robocode_shim` |
| Liveness | every declared env token must appear verbatim in OUR bot's own raw-env report, else the run is excluded and named |
| Never shipped | this is a measurement campaign: `git status` clean, shipped defaults untouched, `.gitignore` untouched |
### Movement is PINNED in every arm: `TR_MOVEMENT=strafe`
**Reason (hard rule).** A movement-default flip is landing from job j120 during
this run, so the default engine can change underneath us. Every arm therefore
sets **`TR_MOVEMENT=strafe` explicitly**. This (a) removes movement as a
confound, (b) makes all arms share exactly one movement, so every delta is a pure
**gun** delta, and (c) satisfies the analyzer's liveness rule for every arm
(each declared token must appear verbatim; an *undeclared* leaked `TR_MOVEMENT`
is fatal, but here every arm declares it). The reference arm is therefore the
shipped **gun** rack under the pinned movement, not under the (mutable) default.
---
## 2. Pre-registered decision rules (fixed BEFORE Batch 1 ran)
1. **Primary metrics:** **damage/run** and **ROUND WINS**. Secondary/explanation
only: damage taken/run, incoming hit rate, mean distance. **Never hit rate
alone** — that trap has inverted six verdicts in this project.
2. **BETTER than the reference** iff one primary metric is up with a
cross-opponent **sign test p < 0.05** while the other does **not** go down;
the mirror image for **WORSE**. Anything else is **NOT DISTINGUISHABLE** (a
real answer, not a failure). Both the strict reading (the other metric's mean
delta `>= 0`) and the substantive reading (not *detectably* down: not
significant **and** smaller than that metric's MDE) are printed.
3. **A verdict must survive the between-opponent spread:** the pooled mean delta
is reported with the SD across opponents, its SE, a 95% CI, and the **MDE**
(α=0.05 two-sided, 80% power). An effect smaller than the MDE is reported as
*not detectable* — never as *absent*, never as a win.
4. **Somewhere to stop:** if no arm beats the shipped `pattern` by rule 2 in
Batch 1 **and** no arm shows a `>= +MDE` damage gain with p<0.10, then the
gun stage's first phase is closed with *"the shipped `onlyPattern` rack is the
best gun configuration we have measured across the panel"* — that is a
**successful** outcome, and the campaign moves to a named next axis rather
than inventing more arms. See *What would make us stop*.
5. **No promotion off a single metric, a single opponent, or a single run.**
A change that wins damage by losing wins (or vice-versa) is not a win.
6. Every batch is shot with a **pre-registered prediction** stated in its section
*before* the battles finish; a prediction that turns out wrong is recorded as
wrong.
---
## 3. Stage 0 — what we already know (given, not re-derived)
| fact | value | source |
|---|---|---|
| shipped rack | `onlyPattern` (id 5), all other guns `off` | `common_libs/gun_harness/selector.nim` |
| why | selector measured negative value at every rack size (16, lean8, lean6, pairPC/PK/PL) and 10/10 adversaries | `docs/selector_negative_value.md`, `docs/gun_rack_analysis.md` |
| Pattern hit rate vs DrussGT | ~10.8% | given |
| KNN / Linear / Circular / WallBounce / GF vs DrussGT | 5.6 / 3.0 / 2.9 / 2.7 / 2.1 % | given |
| BitBrain when idle | == Pattern (30 runs/arm: 97/210 vs 97/210 wins) | `docs/bitbrain_vs_tmhorizon_ab.md` |
| BitBrain across 32 legacy opponents | neutral: **-3.6 dmg/run**, +0.02 wins/run, p=0.53/0.91 | `docs/gauntlet_bitbrain_vs_pattern.md` |
| lead **amplitude** | dead axis — full gain sweep {0, 0.25-1.0, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 2.0} run, nothing beats Pattern | `docs/bitbrain_campaign.md` |
| offline prediction checks | **veto-only** — may kill a design, never select one | `docs/offline_harness_trust.md` |
| spinner-specific claim | **UNTESTED**: no constant-turn spinner exists in the legacy roster (a note for a later job, not built here unless nearly free) | `docs/gauntlet_bitbrain_vs_pattern.md` |
**Movement context (why the pin):** the movement champion is `TR_MOVEMENT=strafe`
at its current defaults (range 325, tol 25, tilt 15/0.10); it replicated its win
over the shipped `tfil` in four independent sessions (Batch 4: 52.6% vs 38.5%
round-win rate). Movement is held constant at that champion for every gun arm.
---
## Batch 1 — does anything beat the shipped `Pattern`?
**Design.** One frozen binary, six env-only arms, one frozen panel
(`tools/ab/panel_movement.txt`, 15 opponents: 5 dodger, 3 pattern, 1
wall-follower, 1 corner-camper, 1 spinner, 1 rammer, 1 brawler, 2 aggressive
megas), **3 runs × 3 rounds per (opponent, arm) = 270 battles**. Arm file:
`tools/ab/arms_gun_b1.txt`. Reference: `pattern`.
| # | arm | env | what it isolates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | `pattern` | `TR_MOVEMENT=strafe` | the arm to beat (shipped `onlyPattern` rack) |
| 2 | `bitbrain` | `+ TR_RACK_PATTERN=off TR_RACK_BITBRAIN=both TR_BITBRAIN_GAINS=1.0,1.25,1.5,2.0 TR_BITBRAIN_MEM=decay` | BitBrain-only, learned gain (panel replication of the 32-opp gauntlet at the pinned-movement standard) |
| 3 | `tmhorizon` | `+ TR_RACK_PATTERN=off TR_RACK_TMHORIZON=both` | TMHorizon-only corrector (predicted to lose; never panel-tested) |
| 4 | `knn` | `+ TR_RACK_PATTERN=off TR_RACK_KNN=both` | best non-Pattern single gun (never panel-tested) |
| 5 | `rack_pk` | `+ TR_RACK_KNN=both` | Pattern + KNN, **selector ON** (different-family hedge) |
| 6 | `rack_pt` | `+ TR_RACK_TMHORIZON=both` | Pattern + TMHorizon, **selector ON** (corrector-family hedge) |
*(`+` = the pinned `TR_MOVEMENT=strafe` is present in every arm; see §1.)*
**Pre-registered prediction (written BEFORE the battles finished):**
1. **No arm beats `pattern` on BOTH primaries**, and the point estimates sit
inside the MDE. `onlyPattern` is confirmed across the panel.
2. `bitbrain` is a **wash** vs `pattern` (replicating the 32-opponent gauntlet:
±3.6 dmg/run, ≈0 wins) — the DrussGT-only gain-config penalty does not carry.
3. `tmhorizon` is **WORSE** than `pattern` (its own offline work predicts it
needs ~80% side accuracy and can reach ~60%); no damage win, no win win.
4. `knn` is **WORSE** than `pattern` on damage (its DrussGT hit rate is roughly
half Pattern's) and not better on wins.
5. The two small racks **do not beat `pattern`**; `rack_pk` lands closer to
Pattern than `knn`-alone does (the selector at least partially hedges back),
but the selector's poor ranking keeps it below the reference.
6. If any surprise exists, it is a **rack arm on damage without wins** — the
`ring`-mover mirror-image trap — and it will not be read as a win.
<!-- OUTCOME-ANCHOR -->
---
## What to try next
*(Rewritten after Batch 1 — these are recommendations, not results. Filled in the
results commit below.)*
## What would make us stop
* **Stop the first phase** once a batch's best arm cannot beat `pattern` beyond
the MDE, or when a gun arm's damage gain is bought with a detectable win loss.
At that point *"`onlyPattern` is the measured optimum of this rack"* is the
conclusion, not a failure (§2 rule 4).
* **Stop a single batch early** only for a contract violation (arena not free,
liveness FAIL, non-zero exit rate) — never because the numbers look boring.
* **Do not invent more arms on the same axis** once two consecutive batches fail
to improve on `pattern` beyond the MDE; move to a *named* new axis instead
(candidate list in "What to try next").
---
## How to run a batch (exact commands)
```sh
# 0. wait for the arena (j120's movement run may still be fighting)
TOURNAMENT_NIMCACHE=/tmp/nc_j121 \
tools/ab/tournament_run.sh \
--arms tools/ab/arms_gun_b1.txt \
--panel tools/ab/panel_movement.txt \
--runs 3 --rounds 3 --conc 6 --wait-arena 45 \
--reference pattern \
--outdir /tmp/ab/j121_g1
# 1. the paired per-opponent table, sign tests, MDE and the pre-registered verdict
python3 tools/ab/tournament_analyze.py /tmp/ab/j121_g1 --reference pattern
```
`--reference` may be ANY arm of the session: re-analyzing an old session with a
different reference is a free pairwise comparison with no battles.
## Session log (outdirs are in `/tmp` and are NOT committed)
| session | commit | battles | arms | verdict |
|---|---|---:|---|---|
| `/tmp/ab/j121_g1` | *(recorded at run time)* | 270 | pattern, bitbrain, tmhorizon, knn, rack_pk, rack_pt | *(Batch 1 outcome below)* |
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# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# arms_gun_b1.txt — BATCH 1 of the GUN campaign: does ANY rack gun or gun
# configuration beat the shipped `Pattern` across the frozen panel?
#
# Format: name | ENV=value ENV=value | label
#
# ONE frozen binary (tournament_run.sh builds it from `git archive HEAD`); every
# arm below differs ONLY by its env dict. No per-arm rebuild.
#
# MOVEMENT IS PINNED IN EVERY ARM (`TR_MOVEMENT=strafe`). Reason (hard rule):
# a parallel job (j120) is shipping a movement-default flip during this run, so
# the default engine may change underneath us. Pinning the engine in EVERY arm
# removes movement as a confound, makes all arms share one movement, and keeps
# the comparison a pure GUN comparison. Because every arm declares TR_MOVEMENT,
# the analyzer's liveness rule (a token must appear verbatim in the bot's own
# raw-env report) is also satisfied for every arm.
#
# Prior data this batch is built on (taken as given; NOT re-derived):
# * shipped rack = `onlyPattern` (Pattern id 5, all others off); chosen
# because the selector measured NEGATIVE value at every rack size tested
# (docs/selector_negative_value.md, docs/gun_rack_analysis.md).
# * per-gun single-gun hit rate vs DrussGT: Pattern ~10.8%, KNN 5.6%,
# Linear 3.0%, Circular 2.9%, WallBounce 2.7%, GF 2.1%.
# * BitBrain == Pattern when idle (30 runs/arm 97/210 vs 97/210 wins) and is
# NEUTRAL across 32 legacy opponents (-3.6 dmg/run, docs/gauntlet_bitbrain_vs_pattern.md).
# Its learned-gain config was worse on DrussGT ONLY.
# * lead AMPLITUDE is a dead axis (full gain sweep run, nothing beats Pattern);
# lead INFORMATION is the open one.
#
# The question this batch answers: is `onlyPattern` CONFIRMED across 15 opponents
# (rather than merely assumed from a DrussGT-heavy history), or does some gun /
# small rack beat it on damage-per-run AND round wins?
# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# 1. REFERENCE. The shipped `onlyPattern` rack, movement pinned. No gun env at
# all, so this is what the shipped bot's gun does.
pattern | TR_MOVEMENT=strafe | shipped onlyPattern rack (REFERENCE)
# 2. BitBrain-only rack: the learned-gain corrector on Pattern's lead. This is
# the exact config the owner most likely ran (gains 1.0..2.0, decay memory);
# the 32-opponent gauntlet had it as a wash, so this is a PANEL replication at
# the new (movement-pinned) standard. BitBrain computes Pattern's prediction
# internally, so Pattern does not need to be in the rack.
bitbrain | TR_MOVEMENT=strafe TR_RACK_PATTERN=off TR_RACK_BITBRAIN=both TR_BITBRAIN_GAINS=1.0,1.25,1.5,2.0 TR_BITBRAIN_MEM=decay | BitBrain-only, learned gain (gains 1.0..2.0, decay)
# 3. TMHorizon-only rack: the horizon Tsetlin corrector on Pattern's lead. Its
# own design docs PREDICT it loses (needs ~80% side accuracy to break even;
# achievable ~60%). Never measured across the panel. This arm closes that.
tmhorizon | TR_MOVEMENT=strafe TR_RACK_PATTERN=off TR_RACK_TMHORIZON=both | TMHorizon-only rack
# 4. KNN-only rack: the best non-Pattern single gun by the old DrussGT hit-rate
# table (5.6% vs Pattern 10.8%) and NEVER measured across the panel. Included
# to close "the second-best single gun was never panel-tested".
knn | TR_MOVEMENT=strafe TR_RACK_PATTERN=off TR_RACK_KNN=both | KNN-only rack
# 5. TWO-GUN RACK, SELECTOR ON: Pattern (default both) + KNN. The selector was
# measured NEGATIVE with 16 guns and a rolling hit-rate; this re-tests it at
# a SMALL rack under the new panel standard, because the movement campaign
# overturned two earlier single-opponent conclusions. If KNN ever wins a
# matchup, the selector can hedge into it.
rack_pk | TR_MOVEMENT=strafe TR_RACK_KNN=both | Pattern + KNN, selector ON
# 6. TWO-GUN RACK, SELECTOR ON: Pattern (default both) + TMHorizon. Same
# selector question against a CORRECTOR family (TMHorizon = Pattern +/- a
# learned few-degree shift) instead of a different-family gun (KNN).
rack_pt | TR_MOVEMENT=strafe TR_RACK_TMHORIZON=both | Pattern + TMHorizon, selector ON