Caesar Award | WAM 2012 | Final Call for GMs | Orphans | Sustaining Membership Deadline | Boardmasters | History | Laurelists and Medalists | Board Nominations | PBEM

HAIL RANDY BUEHLER: Its official! Randy Buehler, in only his second year of BPA competition, has reached the top of the class by being named Caesar for 2011. True to form, Stefan had again run up a big lead before WBC began in email tournaments and by winning his Twilight Struggle specialty at WAM, but Randy reduced that lead by scoring in five Euro Quest tournaments before overtaking Stefan altogether with a dominating WBC that included a second in the Through the Ages pre-con as well as three outright wins in Dominion, Egizia, and Princes of Florence. Randy's win knotted the score at the top with four wargamer Caesars offset by four predominantly Euro-playing top dogs. Two Caesars (Mullet and Benedict) have defied classification with more varied tastes. More details including the list of Top 25 Caesar contenders can be found on our Caesar page.  

NESTERS DOMINATE WAM: Nest of Spies teammates James Pei and Chris Byrd ran the tables at the tenth Winter Activation Meeting held in Timonium, MD on Jan. 26-29. The Card Driven Wargame conference drew 36 players, including nine first timers, for an enjoyable mix of mid-winter tournament and Open Gaming opportunities for their favorite games. "Master" James Pei lived up to his billing by sweeping both the Hannibal and Washington's War events with crowning victories over Keith Wixson and Marvin Birnbaum respectively, while teammate Byrd downed Wixson in the fifth round of the Twilight Struggle contest to complete the sweep of events. More details can be found on our WAM after action page with updated laurel totals for each game located on the associated Yearbook event pages.

FINAL CALL FOR GMs: It is once again that time of year where commitments must be made for the next WBC. All 2011 GMs are reminded that their event  "reservations"  expired on Jan. 1. To run an event again this summer, you must submit a new event form AND renew your membership by Feb 28. Please check the Orphans List to confirm that requested times are current. All qualifying events now without GM commitments are listed as OPEN on the Orphans List.

ORPHANS: 25 otherwise qualified events are currently without a GM commitment with little time remaining before they forfeit their eligibility in our  annual game of chicken to see who can be the last to step forward. One event's demise is another's opportunity. Events without GM commitments will be replaced by those from the Alternate list with a completed 2012 event form on file by March 1. Currently, only 12 Alternates have filed the necessary event form to be considered for those vacancies or potential sponsorship. If you want to be considered for such a vacancy or recommended to a sponsor, submit an event form and be a current member by then.  Otherwise qualified but endangered events without a GM form on file include:

• Air Baron
• Amun-Re
• Battle Cry
• Bitter Woods
• Can't Stop
• Commands & Colors Ancients
• Euphrat & Tigris
• Facts In Five
• Gangsters
• Great Campaigns of ACW
• Paths of Glory
• Puerto Rico
• Ra; The Dice Game
• Race For the Galaxy
• Squad Leader
• Superstar Baseball
• Union Pacific
• Up Front
• Washington's War
• World At War
• Battleline
• Commands & Colors Napoleonics
• Hammer of the Scots
• Medici
• Win, Place & Show

Do not assume that because an event is popular that it will be run. My philosophy on such things is that an event which does not have someone  willing to commit to GM chores in a timely manner does not deserve to  be run and should be replaced by an event that does. If your favorite event is dropped due to lack of a GM commitment, you have only yourself to blame.

Vendors/Sponsors are likewise reminded to submit or authorize their 2012 Trial Event choices by Feb. 28. We also are in need of a few Seminar speakers. Contact  acd@boardgamers.org with any suggestions for same.

SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP DEADLINE: Feb 28 is also the last chance to commit to a Sustaining Membership good for the entire week of WBC admission for just $70. In March, Sustaining memberships increase to $80. Tribune Memberships good for all of WBC including its pre-cons, a Yearbook, and shirt or hat premiums remain available for $100 through April.

BOARDMASTERS UPDATED: You can view the latest collection of BPA champions who have managed three or more titles in their respective specialties at http://www.boardgamers.org/boardmasters.htm

HISTORY UPDATED: The Annual BPA Year in Review for 2011 which pictures the year's Top Centurions and outlines the year's progress has been updated at http://www.boardgamers.org/archive/history11.htm.

LAURELISTS & MEDALISTS LISTS UPDATED: The BPA's record of career honors has been updated through February 2012 at http://www.boardgamers.org/l_sumsall.htm and http://www.boardgamers.org/medals.htm respectively. The former list has also been augmented to note participation so that you can track the history of your participation even if you did not score laurels in a given year.

LAST CALL FOR BOD NOMINATIONS: All BPA members are hereby notified of their right to nominate members for the three Board seats whose terms expire at the next WBC. To appear on the ballot, a member must be nominated in writing by at least three members; one of which must be himself/herself. Nominations must be signed and received at BPA, 1541 Redfield Rd, Bel Air, MD 21015, no later than Feb. 28 to be eligible for election in that year. NOTE: Email nominations are NOT acceptable, nor can a member nominate more than one member for the Board. When contemplating nominations, members are urged to consider that the BPA conducts most of its business by email and needs Board members who are able and willing to offer their time and skills to the organization in a timely manner. Board members should be considered more for their ability to contribute to the running of a successful company than for their attachment to any particular game or genre. Besides forwarding a signed nomination, each nominee should submit by March 1 a statement not to exceed 100 words summarizing what they can contribute in service to the Board of Directors of the BPA. The nomination form is online.

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PBeM NEWS:

DICKSON WINS RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN: Gary Dickson successfully defended his TRC PBeM title by besting Doug James' Russians in the fifth round of the Ninth Annual TRC Tournament. It was the fifth email title for Dickson. Also earning laurels were Michael Kaye, John Ohlin, Ari Kogut and Ed O'Connor who finished third through sixth respectively. More details and updated laurel standings can be found at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook12/trcpge.htm.

WIXSON WINS WILDERNESS WAR: Keith Wixson topped a field of 50 to win the fourth WNW PBeM tournament. Keith ran the table in going unbeaten through seven rounds, topping Al Owen in the Final. The tournament began in February 2010  and saw the French post a 59% winning percentage over the course of 96 contests. Other laurelists were John Buse, Adam Deverll, Stefan Mecay and Kevin Worth. More details and updated laurel standings can be found at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook12/wnwpge.htm.

FREEMAN WINS STONE AGE: Eric Freeman successfully defended his title in the second online Stone Age tournament over a field of 28 competitors by besting Stefan Mecay in a best 2-of-3 playoff which ended the 97-game event. Other laurelists were Scott Fenn, Greg Thatcher, Chris Yaure and Rob Kircher respectively.  More details and updated laurel standings can be found at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook12/stapge.htm.

MARCH MADNESS PROGRESS: With the real March Madness not far off, our 9th Annual PBeM tournament is right on schedule with all second round games completed and 12 of the Sweet 16 spots filled. Three of the survivors were seeded #43 or worse. Jeff Martin’s Indiana 1953 has been joined by Bruce Monnin’s Washington 2005 and Jeff Finkeldey’s Indiana 1987 as the three teams already in the Elite Eight. Follow the progress of the bracket this year at http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/mm-brack-2012.htm.

VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC UNDERWAY: The first round was particularly tough on high seeds – with just four of the top ten surviving.  The bottom ten did just as well. John Lindley moved from the lower half to the highest (which means the lower seeds won two games more than the higher seeds over-all. Good thing for the top seed, Larry Meyers, that he had a bye. The second and third seeds?  Gone.  No byes this coming round, however. The first round winners are Scott Beall, Daniel Blumentritt, Dakota Brueland, Bill Burch, Michael Day, Rachael Day, Warren Day, Robert Drozd, David Gubbay, Rob Kircher, John Lindley, Ted Lyng, Vince Meconi, Jeff Miller, Ken Nied, Rich Prast, David Sherwood, Greg Smith, and Tim Tow. See all the details and action at: http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_bpa/vitp_bpa_single_elim_11.htm!

PRO GOLF: For those with far too much time on their hands, GM Bruce Monnin offers the Third Annual Pro Golf PBeM tournament with a starting date, appropriately enough, of April 1st. See the details at  http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/pro_golf_PBeM_2012.html.

FOR THE PEOPLE: The second round of the BPA FTP PBeM Tournament ended on schedule with 14 Union win's to the CSA's 7. Three more games were adjudicated due to time overruns. The record of non-adjudicated games after two rounds is 27-16 in favor of the USA.   On the surface this seems to indicate a shift from a long standing balance or even mild CSA edge in tournament play over the last several years.  Before too much stew is made from this single bone, I will point out that if we disregard the victories of the top 10 laurel winners, the record would be 16-13 or one and half games from a balanced result. Said another way, the successful players who have played FTP for a long time continue to dominate their games regardless of side assignment, but in this tournament they have been randomly (but disproportionately) assigned to the Union side and the overall results reflect this. The top laurel winners currently remain undefeated.  They are James Pei, David Dockter, Michael Mitchell, Nick Pei, Tim Miller and Mike Ussery. Newcomers to our tournament scene who also remain undefeated include Steve Likevich, Jean-Louis Dirion, Gary Kirk, Tim Tow, Doug Pratto, Alberto Molina and Jeff Donald.  The competition has been strong enough to drop some well known CDG game experts to a 1-1 record, including: Hank Burkhalter, Tom Drueding, Tom Thornsen, and George Young.  However, the tournament format provides an excellent opportunity for any of the remaining 22 players with a 1-1 record to climb back into contention.

A GM Special Recognition Award will be presented to Domenico Licheri. Signore Licheri has contributed hundreds of hobby hours to collecting statistics on the FTP opening game related to common card plays including investigations of conditional combinations of cards.  He has promulgated this work on ComSimWorld (http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?14@@.ee6c9ab/27644).  It runs well over 150 pages and is a tour de force in the analysis of any game.  This report is an exceptional piece of Operations Research and we are happy to recognize it as such.

Round 3 of the tournament officially began on 5 Feb and will end on 25 May 2012.  Please visit our tournament website for more information. 

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All BPA PBeM tournaments require current BPA membership when the event starts. All multi-day paid attendees to WBC are current BPA members for the balance of that calendar year. Associate Calendar year memberships enabling play in all PBeM events starting in that year cost only $10. You need not keep your membership current in order to finish a PBeM event. Players may join the BPA throughout the year. See the BPA Terms page for details.

BPA members who would like to see an email tournament for their favorite game are encouraged to step forward as the GM of such an event. BPA does not run tournaments. Rather, we are an organization of gamers lending support to one another so such events can happen. No one cares as much about your hobby as you do. Get involved. See the requirements to host a BPA email tournament at http://www.abovethefields.com/top_pbem/

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