Select
a year from the drop-down list for a low-down on the history
of Avaloncon and WBC.
See the champions for each year. Or choose to view the Laurels or Medals totals.
Attendance reached new heights in 2007 boosted primarily by a big surge
in Euro enthusiasts with a corresponding increase in the number of
players in those events. Our 147 adult tournaments included a record 12
events with triple digit entries, 10 of which were at least Euro-esque
if not actually made in Europe. Average event size grew to 46.2
participants overall, an increase of three per event. Laurels were
awarded to players from 41 different states/provinces and 10 nations.
The champions included 17 incumbents who retained their respective
titles another year, four members of the fair sex, and 12 who claimed
multiple titles led by that lovable guppy-turned-shark Pete Stein.
Joining Pete with two wins were Aaron Fuegi, Bruce Reiff, James Pei,
Nick Benedict, Harald Henning, Stefan MeCay, Harry Flawd, Dave Long and
Tom Browne. But the two biggest winners with a pair of triples had
never won a WBC tournament before. Bert Schoose dominated the Grognard
events with wins in Afrika Korps, Panzerblitz and The Russian Campaign,
while Raphael Lehrer added Euro wins in Puerto Rico, Pillars of the
Earth and Tara.
One might say that 2007 was the year of the Euro at
WBC, as Raphael Lehrer s triple wins in Euros fueled a dominant
performance that claimed both Caesar and Consul honors for 2007. Not
surprisingly, running a close second was Bert Schoose whose triple in
Grognard events did most of his damage. The performances of both
squelched the oft heard refrain that the laurels system was stacked
against their particular genres and proved that Caesar is obtainable by
anyone who can put a great year (or week) together.
But newcomers made their mark also. 34 "virgins" won their first-ever
BPA championship. There were many happy faces among the new champions
but perhaps none moreso than ten-year old Danny Lewis who scored adult
Century wood with a win in Formula Motor Racing. That Juniors program
may be working too well! All told, 101 players earned laurels for the
first time.
Meanwhile Nest of Spies eeked out a Total Players tie-breaker over Those Other Guys win to repeat as team champions for the third
straight year despite the absence of team captain Dave Dockter, ramping
up the bragging rights for the CDW crew.
Our Meeting space expanded
again and handled the increased attendance without incident. The
Auction expanded for the fourth straight year and the Auction Store,
which was initiated in 2006, nearly tripled in volume. Our expanded
Vendors room again sold out and did good business. New in 2007 was the
addition of numerous seminars in the Hopewell room—always a no-no
heretofore, which were welcomed by many. Our Juniors program continued
to draw raves as did a newly initiated series of evening social events
for teens. A cooperative effort with HMGS took advantage of
back-to-back dates with the Historicon miniatures convention which
proved to be a boon for those travelling from afar to get "two fer one"
and a number of our members took advantage of that to view a miniatures
convention for the first time.
In the continuing ebb and flow of WBC game lives, there were the usual
winners and losers as the events themselves competed for the players
that meant another year in the WBC lists. Among events with at least a
three-year track record, 16 raised their attendance bar by posting
their own personal best entrant numbers. The other end of that
spectrum, beset by the natural tendency of new events to draw the
curious and then begin a steady decline, also saw 16 tournaments drop to
new attendance lows—going all the way back to 1991 and the first
Avaloncon for bottom line numbers.
Those setting new highwater marks were: Liar’s Dice +50, Lost
Cities +46, Ticket To Ride +31, Power Grid +27, Pirate’s Cove +26,
Slapshot +24, Ra +10, Anzio +9, Saratoga +8, Battle Cry +8, Acquire +7,
B17 +3, Elchfest +3, and Waterloo, Santa Fe Rails and Superstar
Baseball +2.
Those sinking to new lows were: Carcassonne -46, Goa, Hammer of
the Scots and Memoir ’44 -8, ASL—6, Liberty -5, ASL Starter Kit -4,
Hannibal, History of the World, Sword of Rome and Web of Power -3,
Republic of Rome and Royal Turf -2, and Diplomacy, Napoleonic Wars -2
and San Juan -1.
