Viva la Revolution
This year saw a decrease of one player to our smallest field
ever, which required three first-round games of five players
and two games of six. The two six-player games had two mercenaries
while the three five-player games had only one. 27 "wanna-be"
dictators battled in the steamy jungles of the Musa Republica
for top honors in this two-round, two-deck single elimination
tourney. The guerilla factions won three of the five first round
games (see table below). Game 5 saw last year's champion, Rob
Kilroy, fall to Fred Gosnell. The last card of the second deck
was the revolution. Rob Kilroy was forced to exchange his rebel
loyalty chit for a government one, thus halving his score. When
the installations were counted, the point swing was just enough
to ensure a rebel win. The sudden death roll was a "10"
and the game over with Fred Gosnell as the winner.
Players |
Rebel VPs |
Gov't VPs |
Victor |
five |
99 |
157 |
Alan Arvold |
six |
157 |
104 |
Jeff Finkeldey |
five |
168 |
170 |
Scott Sirianna |
five |
140 |
97 |
Steve Huskey |
six |
143 |
142 |
Fred Gosnell |
The final round of five players was played with two each government
and guerilla faction chits and one mercenary chit. At several
points during the game it appeared that the guerilla faction
would run away with the game only to be checked by several government
scoring opportunities. In the end it was the control of the installations
that would propel the government to victory by a margin of 33
VPs. Jeff, who was the lone mercenary player, would have his
VP total halved and fell from first to second behind Steve Huskey.
First deck play saw all installations begin controlled by the
government and all the troops being rebel. Eventually things
evened out. The first big government group was deployed by Steve
who used it to crush Scott's guerilla group by +12. Alan assaulted
and captured the Bridge from Fred and drew five cards.
Fred then assaulted a large guerilla group and collected 10 VPs
which he doubled with a Press card. It was immediately countered
by Atrocities. He then used the AirField, but missed his
target. Scott was down to one deployed guerilla group (2+1, 7,
5) which he used to attack Jeff's Armor Column. Jeff used an
Ambush card to double the Armor Column. Scott's attack was shattered,
leaving only the 5-strength unit as mute testimony of his once
strong force. Scott drew the Bad Weather card. Jeff's guerilla
group (2+1, 6, 6) attacks the Port, rolls a "10"
and wins 23 to 13. He uses his last action to draw five cards
with one being the TV Station. Using a government group
(3+3, 7, 5, 5) Steve assaults and captures the rebel held Port.
Alan deploys and adds to his Ambush Chit. Fred attacks Jeff's
rebel group 18 to 11 and after the dice are rolled only manages
a tie. Scott rolls for the Bad Weather and rolls a 3.
He discards and draws seven cards to fill his hand, leaving a
red card exposed. Jeff uses the TV Station and fails,
rolling a 1. He deploys a group and draws a Traitor. He targets
Fred's 3+2 leader and has him killed. Steve's +10 government
attack wins by only 1, killing off Jeff's 2+1 leader. He then
draws the next Traitor and kills General Gonzalez (3+3).
Jeff uses the free TV attack and draws the Banco De
Nationale. Steve discards three and draws five, the last
being red and revealed as the Revolution. He uses it to
force Fred and Scott to exchange chits. Alan uses his Armor Column
vs. the rebel Banco De Nationale and loses. He discards,
but can't draw any cards. Scott withdraws his lonely 5-strength
guerilla unit and draws the Barracks. The Bad Weather
continues. By this time, the government faction is up by 21 VP.
Steve hits the Banco De Nationale at +10 for an automatic
victory. Wanting to hold it for more than one turn he deploys
a 7-strength unit and 3+3 leader from the attacking group. He
deploys a 1-strength guerilla unit. Using the extra Banco
action he draws two cards, throwing a Traitor on Fred which flips
his group loyalty to government. Coming to the end of the round,
all players take defensive actions and draw cards from the shrinking
draw pile. Alan then attacks and takes the Barracks, which
is Scott's last deployed card. Fred uses the Airfield vs. a guerilla
6 and misses. Scott deploys a guerilla group (3+1, 5, 4, 3) and
shuffles the deck as the weather clears.
Second deck action began with Jeff withdrawing a large government
group, attacking with the free TV Station propaganda and
missing, then deploying a large rebel group (3+1, 7, 5, 3). Scott
uses a 3+1, 5, 4, 5 rebel group with an Arms Cache in an 18 to
8 attack vs. the Armor Column. One Press and one Atrocity are
played for spite. He then draws a Traitor card and it kills Jeff's
3+1 leader. Steve's Recon Patrols fail vs Fred, but he assassinates
Scott's 3+1 leader, and draws five cards. Alan is content with
drawing down the deck and adding to his Ambush Chit (+3). Fred
withdraws and redeploys a large guerilla group (3+3, 6, 5, 6).
Jeff is finally successful with the TV Station against
a guerilla 3, discards and draws three cards. Steve replaces
a 3+2 leader of Fred's with a 2+0 leader using the special attribute
of the Presidential Palace. Fred returns the favor by
attacking the Presidential Palace at 20 to 18, and only
manages to kill off the 4-strength government unit. Jeff moves
up to capture the Presidential Palace, but fails to eliminate
more than one point and Steve kills off his leader to satisfy
the combat result. Steve withdraws a 6-strength government unit
from the Policia opening it up to possible capture and
deploys a 2+3 leader and 6 strength unit to the Presidential
Palace. Alan continues his non-belligerent approach by withdrawing
and deploying while trying to strengthen his forces.
Fred attacks with the 3+3, 6, 5, 6 guerilla group vs. Steve's
Banco De Nationale, but is ambushed for an 11-point loss.
The TV Station turns into a cash cow for Jeff as he scores
vs. Scott's lone 4-strength guerilla unit. Following in the footsteps
of his TV programming success, he turns his attention to Steve's
Port, attacking at 20-12 after die rolls. He uses this
opportunity to garrison it with a guerilla 2+2 leader, and 7-strength
unit. Steve discards three and draws five of the six needed to
fill his hand. The Revolution stops the draw. Alan and
Jeff are forced to exchange chits. Ultimately, Jeff is hurt by
the exchange, knocking him to second place. Fred attacks a government
group at 15 to 10, but loses the die roll and a 7-strength unit.
His second attack ends in a +9 and he captures the Policia,
converting it to guerilla control. At this point in the game
the government faction is ahead by 45 VPs without counting installations.
Scott deploys an Armor Column and draws Bad Weather and one other
card. Jeff withdraws from the TV Station leaving it open
to assault and deploys a one-unit guerilla group. Steve assassinates
Jeff's 2+0 leader, deploys a one-strength guerrilla unit and
draws six cards (extra action via the Banco De Nationale)
leaving only one card in the draw deck. Alan uses an Arms Cache
to double one of his units and attacks the TV Station
at 19 vs. 5 for an automatic victory and guerilla control. He
draws the last card and rolls an 8 on the sudden death tile.
Fred uses this last opportunity to score points. Using his 2+1,
7, 6 guerilla group he attacks the remaining 3+3, 6, 2 group
and wins by 6. He thereby scored one-fourth of his total VPs
for the game. The sudden death tile die roll of 10 ends the game.
Prior to counting the installations, the government faction was
leading by 26 VP. The point spread increased to 33 once all the
installations were counted. Jeff, as the Mercenary, tried his
level best to bring the point spread within 25 VPs, but the last
Revolution was drawn late in the second deck and there
was no time to recover. All in all, it was still a close game.
All hail, El Presidente Steve Huskey. Now, where's my assassin
card?
Player |
Victory Points |
Faction |
Steve Huskey |
58 |
Government |
Jeff Finkeldey |
33 |
Mercenary |
Fred Gosnell |
23 |
Guerilla |
Alan Arvold |
19 |
Government |
Scott Sirianna |
8 |
Guerilla |
|