britannia [Updated August 2000]

BRI     
    13-18
    9-14     9-14     19-24
    9-14        9-14  

      Md 1-2   Maryland 3  Md 4

Ewan McNay, CT

2000 Champion

2nd: Jonathan Squibb, PA

3rd: Randy Schilb, MO

4th: Nicholas Benedict, ONT

5th: Jon Price, NJ

6th: David Gantt, SC
Event History
1991    Richard Curtin      39
1992    Duane Wagner      53
1993    Brett Mingo      91
1994    Scott Pfeiffer      73
1995    Randy Schib      69
1996    Scott Pfeiffer      55
1997    David Gantt      52
1998    Jim Jordan      49
1999    Scott Pfeiffer     46
2000    Ewan McNay     62
AREA Ratings
 1    Scott Pfeiffer      1615
 2    Bruce Young      1588
 3    John Emory      1587
 4    John Price      1582
 5    David Gantt      1569
 6    Randy Schilb      1562
 7    James Jordan      1558
 8    Barry Smith      1536
 9    Richard Curtin      1531
10    Brett Mingo      1528

The First of the Fast Forward History Games ...

Arising like invaders from the sea, gamers flocked to the Britannia tournament this year in numbers not seen in several years. The bevy of gamers made for an interesting tournament with the mix of experience leading to some wild and wooly games.

High scores this year were very high as the balance of power in some games was thrown off. Jim Lawler took top honors in the preliminary rounds with an unheard of red score of 155. At more than one point, the board was filled with red from Wales to Scotland. But there were challengers for the red trophy with Yann Clouet from France getting 150 and Scott Pfeiffer 144.5. Rick Kirchner pulled in the green trophy with a score of 125.5. Ewan McNay returned for another high score win with the Purple at 132.

The Maryland Ballroom hums to the rise and fall of cultures in one of  Britannia's four heats.

Purple was an interesting story this year. Randy Schilb's capturing of the blue high score with Belgae that just wouldn't quit is illustrative of the fate of many a Roman invasion this year. More Romans washed ashore on the beaches than I've ever seen. When Belgae scores of 8, 10 and 12 are common on the first turn, the dice are seriously whacking the poor Romans. Anyway, Randy's Belgae finally exited the scene around turn 12 or 13 after being elected Bretwalda twice and preparing the way for huge Angle and Norman invasions. 140 was the final blue score.

Also enshrined in memory this year will be Barry Smith who, even with four points for his Belgae, scored a massive 37 for the lowest score in my memory in the tournament. Bad dice Barry? ;-)

The semi-finals this year seemed poised to bring in the usual final with six of the seven past champions filling the ranks. But it was anything but usual when the dust settled. Ewan McNay barely squeaked out a knife fight on the bid against Scott Pfeiffer and Brett Mingo. Nicholas Benedict, a newcomer to the game, won against Jim Jordan and David Gannt. Jonathon Squibb pulled out a purple win in a game including Duane Wagner. Finally, as the only former champion to get into the final, Randy Schilb barely squeezed past Jon Price.

After the close scores of the semi-finals, the final was a bloodbath. Ewan McNay's Saxons and Brigantes swarmed over the board turning it red from sea to sea with able help from the Irish and Norsemen. When it appeared that red might have the appearance of being overwhelmingly powerful, Ewan sacrificed the Brigantes to smack at some of the forces of the northern powers. Invasions against the Saxons proved fruitless as the resilient farmers slipped away from the invaders and then swept
out to crush them. A superb Danish invasion yielded many green points but then the Danes were swept back into the sea as the Saxons grew like rabbits and fought back. You know it's an oddball game when the Saxons score 21 points on the final turn of the game.

In the end, it was a lopsided victory in the wee hours of the morning. Ewan's red came in 50% ahead of second place with 153.5, after a two-point bid. Jonathon Squibb came in second with 100, Randy Schilb third at 92, and Nick Benedict fourth with 73.

 GM      James M. Jordan  [2nd Year]  11000 Watkins Rd., Germantown, MD 20876
    jmj@ieee.org   NA

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