To field a stronger group of scenarios, the Great Campaigns tournaments were divided by year at this WBC, with the 1862 games in one tournament and the1863 games (Stonewall's Last Battle and Roads to Gettysburg) in the other. The format was popular and will be retained for next year, when the publication of Grant Takes Command will provide a brand new set of
tournament-friendly scenarios for the 1863/4 tournament.

This year's 1863 event featured 18 players, who started their day near Chancellorsville and headed north to Gettysburg as the rounds progressed. The first scenario, Salem Church, was dead even, with three Union and three Confederate wins. The cavalry battles at Brandy Station were similarly very close. To round out the SLB scenarios, the Great Flank March was played. Despite players in three of four games bidding victory points to choose Jackson's Confederates, the Union forces surprisingly won all four games.

The final three preliminary events were from Roads to Gettysburg (First Day at Gettysburg, The Battle Continues, and Meade Moves North). The tournament's Swiss format only required the players to participate in four of the opening day's six events, letting everyone pick and choose the scenarios best suited for their play style. This approach was also well received and will be continued in years to come. When the smoke cleared and night fell, there were two undefeated players: Mark Booth and Chris Withers. Scott Spurgeon and Bruno Passacantando were close behind at 3-1.

Chris Withers, Paul Nied, and Jim Pyle graciously bowed out of the single elimination rounds to run our Newcomer's Tournament and Grant Takes Command grand campaign on Saturday. Thanks to all three of them for putting a high value on introducing new players to this game system! Their withdrawal left Bruno Passacantando, a GCACW veteran, in the single elimination rounds with five players who had never reached a GCACW final: Mark Booth, Scott Spurgeon, Bill Cooper, Hugh Mater, and David Dockter.

The two quarterfinals featured the Sedgwick to the Rescue scenario from SLB. Bruno prevailed over Bill in one, while Scott used a strong attack by Jackson to prove that the Confederates could succeed at Chancellorsville. The semifinals moved back to Gettysburg, where Mark was able to prevail over David Dockter, our GCACW "Rookie of the Year" for his strong showing in this tournament. The other semifinal was a desparate struggle between Bruno and our GCACW "Risen from the Ranks" winner, Scott Spurgeon. Scott had failed in five previous attempts to beat Bruno at WBC. This time he was able to get the Union I and XI corps into Gettysburg before the Rebels. Bolstering his line with hundreds of guns, Scott forced Bruno into a massive grand assault against this massed artillery. Bruno's 21st Century version of Pickett's Charge failed by one die pip, propelling Scott past Bruno and into the finals.

For the finals, Mark Booth and Scott Spurgeon squared off in the series' shortest Advanced Game scenario, Certain Destruction Awaits from Stonewall's Last Battle. Things looked grim for Scott's Union troops as rain fell on the first three turns of the game. And shortly thereafter, Longstreet arrived with critical reinforcements from Suffolk. However, Scott continued to use his superior numbers to hammer away at the Confederate position. He was able to unite the two wings of his army, establishing a line from Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville. The combined might of Hooker's boys in blue was then able to push south and force Mark to concede.

Congratulations to Scott and all our players. We had a great turnout of first time players this year and we hope that trend continues in the Great Campaigns events in the years to come!