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Grant Dalgliesh, prior to his Slapshot
referee gig, takes on three-time champ Lyman Moquin as David
Rennert gets some pointers. |
Craig Yope hitches up his kilts vs
Ray Clark. Who said old grognards couldn't learn new tricks?
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em I say. |
 Opposing
Clans . . .
... Another Four-Time Winner Claims a Share of the Crown
My thanks to Lyman Moquin, last year's GM for the event, for
serving as assistant GM this year and for providing the account
of the Final which appears below. I am not sure if it was the
change of play day from Friday to Wednesday or changing to the
Clan MacInnis as GM, but attendance was down noticeably this
year. Only the unseasonable weather in Lampeter granted us a
reprieve from the annual culling of the weak and lame. The clans
need to heed the warning and gather in larger numbers next year.
There were 23 games played, with the Scots victorious in 14,
but only one of the three that counted most. The award for Best
Scot has to go to the defending champion, Malcolm Smith, who
went 4 - 1, losing only in the Final to three-time champion Lyman
Moquin. In addition to winning the title, Lyman also claimed
the honors as Best English, at 4 - 0, to complete his perfect
5-0 slate.
Publisher Grant Dalgliesh joined us and played one of the
more interesting games as the English in the semifinal against
Malcolm. Grant consolidated the South in Turns 1 and 2, and managed
to keep Ross loyal to the English while doing so. Assembling
a large force, Grant fought a key battle in Mentieth in Turn
4 and was victorious, securing that important terrain for the
English crown. That turned out to be the high water mark for
the English, as the Vikings made an appearance in Argyll for
the Scots and defied all comers, first killing off the Hobelars
in an attempt to get at Edward I, then eliminating Longshanks
himself when the King returned with reinforcements and attacked
Argyll again. Malcolm earned a sudden death victory in the last
turn, 1305, by eliminating Edward II in the last action.
In the Final, Lyman bid zero years without Edward I for the
English, and Malcolm bid zero extra initial levies for the Scots,
and the rematch was on. Malcolm started with a good opening turn,
ending with eight Nobles joining the rebellion. Lyman had an
excellent draw for the levy on Turn 2, including Longshanks and
some knights, and lowered the count to 7 - 7 at the end of Turn
2. The dice were not kind to Moray in an attack on the Comyn
at home on Turn 3, with three hits in three tries eliminating
Moray early. The Scots made somewhat of a comeback on Turn 4,
as Edward attempted a seaborne invasion of Fife and was eliminated
by a Scots force led by Wallace. Edward II built up the noble
count and the infantry garrisons in the middle turns, including
three consecutive years of pillaging steps from the Scots, notably
Wallace. Turn 8 was a very short year because of simultaneous
play of events, which allowed Malcolm to mount a counterattack
in 1305, but Lyman's advantage was too big to overcome, and he
returned as champion with a final noble count of 8 - 5, with
Moray and Edward I Longshanks both among the fallen. With his
victory, Lyman tied the absent George Seary with four HOS
titles apiece.
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Randall MacInnis [1st Year]
57 Academy Court,
Bedminster, NJ 07921
NA