princess ryan's star marines [Updated August 2000]

PRS   
 
  
   9-11   11-13       

   Club

Stephen Shedden, NY

2000 Champion

2nd: Paul Bolduc, FL

3rd: Adam Gugliemini, PA

4th: Jeff Ribeiro, NH

5th: Nick Henning, CT

6th: Matt Fagan, NJ
Event History
1991    None      -
1992    None      -
1993    None      -
1994    None      -
1995    None      -
1996    None      -
1997    John Ellsworth      36
1998    James Stevens      28
1999    Paul Bolduc     19
2000    Stephen Shedden     22
AREA Ratings
 1    None      -
 2    None      -
 3    None      -
 4    None      -
 5    None      -
 6    None      -
 7    None      -
 8    None      -
 9    None      -
10    None      -

In a distant galaxy, far, far away ...

The only difference between running Princess Ryan's Star Marines for kids and running it for teens and adults is that in the later tourney the GM has to stand on a chair to see over everyone's heads. Like their younger counterparts, the "big" marines ran up against heavy Guard opposition. Nick Henning and Jeff Ribeiro not only both won games as the Guards but also annihilated their opponents right down to the last marine. Phil Barcafer did not fare quite as well with the Guards, but he held on admirably.

In one particularly tense series of battles, the Marines were forced to march backwards from Guard counterattacks. "We've been over the line," Charles Davis said, pointing to the fold in the board that marks the half-way point, "but we came back!"

Black Guard opposition (and play) was so good in the tourney that in two of the games the Marines reached the Royal Suite at the end of the board but were unable to break through to save the princess. Although Saturday was a good day for the Guards, it did not go all their way. Matt Fagan took the lead in the tourney on round one by leading his Marine team to a stunning victory. He rescued the princess and scored 85 points, the second best score for any single player (Guard or Marine) in any single game (including the juniors scores from the day before). His second outing as a Guard, however, was not as spectacular -- he took out a number of marines, but not enough to stop them from saving the princess. He did, however, come in sixth overall at the end of the day.

Victory in tourney went to veteran Stephen Shedden (who was wearing the "Princess Ryan's Star Marines 4th place 1997" T-shirt he had made up after the 1997 con). Second place went to defending champ, Paul Bolduc. Adam Gugliemeni, Jeff Ribeiro and Nick Henning, each of whom began playing Princess Ryan in juniors tournaments a few years ago, took third, fourth and fifth places, respectively. Many other former juniors who graduated to the senior level came to play in the tourney with the older guys (and a few women). The tourney also included returning favorites Abby Cocke and Christina Hancock. These two young women who, widely regarded for their sportsmanship and good cheer -- especially when teaching novice players -- are the same age as the real Princess Ryan - my daughter.



Princess Ryan's Star Marines Junior results:
First Place: Jordan Flawd, PA
Second: Erica Kirchner, KY
Third: Matthew Beach, MD
Fourth: Ashley Collinson, MD
Fifth: James Kendrick, UK
Sixth: Alexandra Henning, CT

The bone-chilling scream of a nine year-old girl brought half a dozen worried men running to the Chase room on Friday morning. "What's wrong?" a breathless dad asked his daughter.

"Our starship blew up!"

Rebecca Dunn's explanation of her scream sums up the juniors tournament for Princess Ryan's Star Marines. It was a tough battle for the plucky, poorly armed marines, as the crafty Black Guards held off their rescue efforts.

"Do you guys, like, have any GOOD weapons?" Alexandra Henning pleaded as her compatriots fought a desperate, uphill battle to save the princess. One of those compatriots, James Kendrick from England, kept his team's spirits up in the face of one disastrous skirmish after another. The cheerful Brit showed his pluck by urging the marines ever onward.

"I don't want die!" Ashley Collinson implored when her teammates asked her which direction they should go on the path toward the Dark Citadel. Ashley, who took over the role of doctor to check the health of the wounded marines sent to sick bay, single-handedly killed more marines than the enemy Black Guard player. "Darn it, guys, its not my fault," she explained, adding in true Star Trek fashion "I'm just a nurse, not a doctor!"

Matthew Beach was so frustrated with the lack of progress by the leader of his team of marines, he used the jagged piece of metal to frag the commander and take charge himself -- and helped lead his team to a bloody but glorious victory. Not all the marine fights were disasters. Erica Kirchner, who in one game as the Black Guards slaughtered a dozen marines, fought her way as a marine to the prison cells in another game, where she was heard shouting with glee "I know where the princess is!"

The juniors had a good, loud time. Rebecca Dunn's scream (and that of her sister, Ashley), were not the only noises that brought adults running to the room. As tradition and the rules of the tournament require, the marines can NOT land on the planet and begin the game unless they sing the song of descent. The chorus of that song, which must be shouted loudly and proudly, is "It's Princess Ryan's Star Marines!"

 GM      Mark McLaughlin  [4th Year]   280 N. Elm St., Canaan, CT 06018
    mgmprsm@discovernet.net   (860) 824-4774

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