2009 champ Ronald Fisher, Michael Kunin and Jarett Weintraub contest an early heat.	Jason Fisher and Matt Evinger warily eye Doug Richards' fleet before hostilities commence.

After a year's absence, Brawling Battleships Steel returned to the trial events. The qualifying rounds were a lot of fun. Jaret Weintraub, always a contender, was edged out by Pat Mirk in the second qualifying round. Pat was bouncing back from a shutout by the GM that happened in the first qualifying round. Defending champion Ronald Fisher was eliminated by a newcomer. It seems to be a BBS tradition for a new player to make the Final.

Brad, Huston, Jonathan Barry, Steve Raszewski, Pat Mirk and Jason Fisher settled down to slug it out for the title. The first round saw Jonathan and Steve rake in the wounded ships that Pat, Jason and Huston were beating up with Straddles and Rapid Fire cards. Submarines and Mines were strangely missing in the first round. By the end Jonathan and Steve were tied at 15 points each with Pat garnering a lone 3-VP dreadnought sunk and Jason just ahead of him with 7 VP.

Round 2 began a shoot-out. Pat Mirk was the sniper of the round. Steve Raszewski continued to clear the seas with a steady stream of gunfire, adding another 18 VP by sinking four dreadnought battleships. The shelling pounded away at Huston who was swept from the seas. Jonathan was treading water with a mixture of blockades and merchant shipping - just keeping even and sank one dreadnought battleship for 5 VP. Jason Fisher continued to shred the waters with effective gunfire but in the end came away with only one ship sunk for 4 VP. While all the skilled players were torpedoing and shelling one another with relentless abandon, Brad bagged two battleships for 11 VP. At the end of the round the standings were: Steve 33 VP, Pat 23, Brad 21, Jason 11VP and Huston 8.

Round 3 started with a roar as Huston bagged 20 VP in a steady stream of gunfire and submarines. Steve was struggling with the lead due to the relentless incoming shell fire. In the end he kept himself afloat with smoke, reinforcements and a well-timed damage control card - finishing with one Ship sunk, the Arizona, for 8 VP. Jonathan was sweeping the seas and about to steam to the win when he was caught by mines, gunfire and submarines and was sunk out of play - scoring 0 VP on the last round. Jason managed a single sunk dreadnought for 4 VP and finished with a solitary dreadnought above the waves, the burning and damaged Mississippi. Pat surged at the end and scored 18 VP with a chance to sink the Mississippi, but on the last card he was just short of having a chance to bag the giant battleship. Brad steadily and quietly sank 24 VP of battleships winning the game with a total of 45 VP. Pat and Steve tied at 41 each - and resolved second by a total ships tie-breaker.

The finalists' group photo.	Graphics have improved since the days of Naval War.