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.
In 1999, WBC was borne out of the ashes of the fallen Avaloncon.
The new owner of the Avalon Hill brand was not interested in continuing
the conference so Avaloncon was dead. It's attendees, however, were
not ready to grieve over the body. Many contacted Don Greenwood,
urging him to continue the conference under a different name on his
own, and promising their support. One such was Scott Pfeiffer, an
attorney and prime mover with the Greenville Mafia who offered his
pro bono aide in setting up a corporate structure. Bruno Passacantando,
a Connecticut CPA and Great Campaigns of the American Civil War stalwart
handled the financial end, and Steve Okonski and Hank Burkhalter
rode to the rescue with webmaster services. Toss in 700 members who
stepped up to the plate with varying degrees of financial support
and the BPA was borne anew. This time, a Board of Directors composed
of nine gamers, to be elected annually in sets of three for three-year
terms, would call the shots. A survey of this new membership was
taken to determine the course and name of this new venture, and out
of all this energy arose an even better gaming conference.
The
new format, while adopting the traditions and records of Avaloncon
as its base, threw open the events to board and non-collectible
card games of any manufacturer. The sponsorship and encouragement
of GMT and others filled the void of the now absent Avalon Hill.
The old problem of too many games and not enough time just got
a lot worse as the best boardgames in the world joined our Avalon
Hill favorites to battle for our playing time. The first influx
of “other” games
included great titles like Empire Builder, Axis & Allies,
Medici, Paths of Glory, El Grande, Robo Rally, Shogun, Euphrat & Tigris,
Down In Flames and Settlers of Catan. To accomodate this
influx of new events, the convention again expanded; pushing the
opening to Tuesday evening at 6 PM. To preserve the focus of the
convention, a quota of 100 tournaments (termed the Century) was borne
with a set formula for culling poor performers and adding new blood
in a fair way that did not overly penalize long or short games.
The
result was better than ever. The Team
Tournament set a new record with 72
teams and six events again attracted
three-digit entrants. Alas, some things didn't change as Bruce
Reiff again led the conference with a triple for wins in Football
Strategy, March Madness, and Win,
Place & Show to best Kevin Keller's impressive double wins
in Axis & Allies and Speed Circuit. Bruce was also
one of only three repeat winners to hold
serve among the top “Centurions”—the conference's
new name for the champions of its featured 100 events.
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