Mike Stanley vs Andrew Friedman	Tony Raimo and Larry Sisson
Harold Vogel vs Dan Dolan Jr	Robert Leonhard vs George Young

2013 found the Combat Commander tournament once again back in the confines of Conestoga II. However, the fetid atmosphere from 2012 was missing. Emboldened by the temperate weather, 41 worthies appeared for the day long contest of physical and mental stamina required by the CBC tournament. This year the theme of "The Great Campaign" featured scenarios from the start of the war, 1939-1940. The tournament again used a Swiss-Elim format with four opening rounds advancing four players to single elimination playoffs.

The first round consisted of four games played in succession with two thirds of the entrants playing in three or more rounds. The scenarios for this year, in order played, were Round 1-Blitzkrieg Unleashed (Germans vs Poles); Round 2-Codes in the Sunrise (Brits vs German); Round 3-Signals in the Snow (Russians vs Finns); Round 4-Sturmgruppe Beton (Belgians vs German). Of these Rounds 2 and 3 used scenarios introduced at this year's WBC. Blitzkrieg Unleashed is a tournament favorite having been played for the third straight year. Sturmgruppe Beton was published in the Fall of the West Battle Pack earlier this year. During the course of play the most talked about scenario was Round 2's Codes in the Sunrise. Martin Sample's game produced an amazing three Time Triggers on a single Move Order and Reaction Fire sequence that left both Martin and his opponent, Mike Stanley, breathless. Likewise was Peter Gurneau's experience with Round 4's Sturmgruppe Beton. Peter's Belgian's looked to be out of it nearing surrender but a timely Concealment Action saved a key leader and shortly thereafter Peter secured the victory. However, the most exhilarating game was Nick Avtges's game against Jordan Kehrer in Round 3's Signals in the Snow. Nick described this tilt afterwards, "My play of this at WBC was one of the most tense and dramatic games of CBC that I have ever played. My Russians were initially repulsed and the attack broken up. But slowly they crawled back, with the help of their hero, and forced the Finns to pull back. Eventually, I was able to get a few squads to squeak by and ended up winning by a single point in sudden death. The finish was literally down to the last card play." In its seventh year of competition the level of play and the caliber of the players in the Combat Commander tournament has clearly risen to the point that every match in the Swiss Elim portion is critical and will find CBC rivals facing off in win or go home contests.

After the preliminary firefights died down, four players stood above the rest of the field to advance to the Single Elimination Rounds. Tony Raimo was the top seed, followed by defending champion Peter Gurneau, perennial contender Martin Sample, and veteran grognard Bill Edwards. Jordan Kehrer and JR Tracy rounded out the Laurel positions taking 5th and 6th places. The scenario for the semifinal round was Thrust in the Dust taken from the Fall of the West Battle Pack. Both games were well played, tense, and balanced but in the end there can only be one victor. Peter kept his title defense alive by besting Martin while Tony topped Bill to reach his first Final. The games were split with the French winning one and the Germans the other. After the Dust had settled Tony advanced to the finals and Peter returned for the second year in a row.

As in previous years, the lower seeded finalist, Peter, selected a scenario from the five played in this year's tournament and then the higher seeded finalist, Tony, selected the side to play. Peter opted to return to Blitzkrieg Unleashed and Tony settled on the defending Poles. This choice seemed to be the smart play as the Poles were the victors in 66% of the games in Round 1. However, Peter's Germans were led by a crafty and resourceful commander who used his experiences from the previous Final to gain an initial advantage by breaking, and then eliminating, Tony's key leader. Peter was so successful in the early stages that he was able to score several of his units for Exit VPs. Tony was not conceding though. His Poles fought back valiantly and the issue was soon in doubt again. The balance of the game was a tense back and forth affair with Peter attempting to preserve his lead while Tony's forces chipped away trying desperately to reclaim it. In the end time ran out and Peter retained his title to become the first back-to-back WBC Combat Commander champion.

This year also marked the debut of a multi-year tournament within the tournament. At the end of each WBC for the next four years the GM will compile a ranking of each player based upon wins and losses. Succeeding WBC tournaments will see the year of conflict advance by one year, until the end of the war is reached in five years. Over the course of those five years (aka 1940-1945) I will continue the competitor ranking for each year. At the conclusion the GM will award a special prize to the player who attains the highest winning percentage across all the tournaments. This worthy player shall be referred to in hushed tones as "The Leader of Men".

The Top Six after Year 1

1. Peter Gurneau:1.000

2. Tony Raimo:.833

3. Martin Sample: 666

4. Bill Edwards:.666

5. Jordan Kehrer:.500

6. JR Tracy:.500

Stan Myszak vs Ralph Gleaton	Peter Gurneau downs Marty Sample in the semifinals.