Let me start out by saying that it was a pleasure to run Kingmaker this year at the WBC. I met many familiar faces and many first timers. Kingmaker is one of those games where house rules reign supreme. Being that this was my first time being the Kingmaker answer man, I used the former GM, Heikki Thoen's Tournament rules pretty much as they were. After nine years of playing in this tournament I found out how demanding GMing can really be. Most folks took to the tournament rules ok, but there were a few rules that caused some of my would be Kingmakers to cast a few votes for change. I promised all our Lords and King wannabes they could send me their wants and requests and the King would work on it for next year. All in all, the tournament was a great success.

This year a new star was born in the form of Will (Sandy) Wible. A Top 5 player for many years, he finally took his place as champion. Sandy has won lots of other wood iand it was just matter of time before he showed us commoners how to win at this game. We played three heats and a final this year. Sandy got wiped out in his first game by finishing 4th in a 4-player game. He knew that he would need to win one of the next two rounds to make the final. In the second round, he had to play against a very good board of players that included, Alan Witle, Scott Pferiffer, Tony Cadden, Jeff Mullet and myself. It was a hard fought game that saw many twists and turns. After four hours Sandy had won his way into the finals with a sole King Victory. There were 35 players this year and 11 games played. You have to win to advance and being a sole king winner is an automatic tiebreaker for going to the final. This tournament tests your ability, skill, diplomacy and, most of all, your Will to win!

After ten games, six lords took their shot at the crown.

King Henry is a fool. The nobles are restless. Richard of York is demanding his rightful place in the government. The carrion crows are gathering.

Turn 1

-Richard of Gloucester is dead of natural causes at Carlisle 
-Margaret of Anjou seized by Mowbray in Newark
-Pole takes Windsor Castle and acquires King Henry
-Grey sieges Cardigan but weather delays attack

Turn 2

-Parliament must be summoned due to no sole king (Henry doesn't count in this case) at Ecclishall near Shrewsbury. All items in the Chancery are voted to the discard pile.
-Pole lays siege to Canterbury and wins.
-Mowbray sieges Shrewsbury but bad weather delays the attack.
-Grey claims possession of Shrewsbury and Richard of York.
-Fitzalan dies of plaque in Berwick.

Turn 3

-Pole, Constable of the Tower of London, is killed in siege of Wallingford. Herbert is also killed.
-Neville hires French Mercenaries in Calais.
-Mowbray dispatches Hastings to ambush Richard of York near Cardigan, but the attack fails.
-Audley attempts to siege Wallingford but was denied due to last minute reinforcements.

Turn 4

-Richard of York crowned second King of England by Grey in St. David's of Wales.
-Audley attacks Mowbray at Royston, but the battle was inconclusive. Stafford is killed
-Neville sieges Carisbrooke and wins, but dies of his wounds.
-Mowbray sieges Chester and wins.

Turn 5

-Audley sieges Shrewsbury and wins.
-Courtenay, The Admiral, sieges Carisbrooke and wins. Takes possession of Edward of March. Courtenay dies of his wounds.
-Mowbray sieges Lancaster and wins. His ally Talbot was killed in the battle.

Turn 6

-Gray sieges Beaumaris and wins, capturing Edmond of Rutland.
-Audley sieges Oxford and bad weather delays the attack.
-Catastrophe for two Turns.
-Neville attacks Mowbray outside of Chester. The battle was in conclusive. Mowbray was killed.

Turn 7

-No Movement

Turn 8

-Plaque strikes Canterbury killing King Henry, Percy, Holland.
-King Richard of York is sole king.

Turn 9

-King Richard at Ecclishall calls parliament. Sandy's faction with Justin's Faction controlled parliament and gathered the spoils.
-Turn of peace where parliament took place.

Turn 10

-Neville attacks Pole (Justin) at Rochester. The battle was inconclusive. Borchier was killed.

Turn 11

-King Richard at Thetford calls parliament.
-Turn of peace where parliament took place.
-Cromwell attacks Mowbray at Castle Framlingham and wins. Cromwell dies as well as Edward of March.

Turn 12

-Stanley sieges Lincoln and wins. Crowns Margaret Queen of England.
-The Chancellor of England at Hereford calls parliament.

Turn 13

-Catastrophe for one round
-Sandy faction moves to Shrewsbury
-Justin's faction moves to Rhuddlan
-Kevin's faction moves to outside Lancaster
-Mike Halls faction moves north to Carlisle.
-Robert plays the spoiler and follows Kevin and Mike north.
-Keith's faction sits outside Shrewsbury.

Last Round

-Justin Thompson has 550 men outside of Rhuddlin because the Catastrophe ended at the start of his turn. He splits his forces and sends Grey with the King to Caernarvon and leaves the rest of his faction in Rhuddlin.
-Sandy Wible has 400 men in Shrewsbury and makes his move and brings to bear over 770 men to siege Caernarvon for a possible win. He wins the siege and claims King Richard for himself.
-Kevin sends Queen Margaret into refugee in Scotland
-Keith's faction has the last opportunity to attack Sandy's group. He fails and we go to the points due to having two kings.

The final standings were:
Sandy Wible 143
Kevin Browell 120
Justin Thompson 58
Mike Hall   21
Keith Wixson   -6
Robert Kircher    -8

We also gave out plaques for most victory points in any Single Game and one for most victory points in any three games. Those winners were.

For most Victory points in any one game: Greg Gerenza (185) (Who made the final but could not attend)
For most Victory points over any three games: Justin Thompson (367)

Note: There were many other moves in this five-hour final. We highlighted the ones that were of most importance. Anyone interested in playing or would like to help, please contact Justin Thompson.