Opponents and scenarios were chosen at random. The five possible scenarios included: Hydaspes, Alexander versus Porus; Heraclea, Pyrrhus of Epirus versus Rome; Zama, Scipio versus Hannibal; Cynocephalae, set piece battle, Philip II of Macedon versus Rome; and Magnesia, with a Scipio versus Hannibal rematch. Four players advanced out of the preliminaries to the semifinal round.

Preliminaries

Mike Metcalf (Pyrrhus) defeats Graham Cosmas (Romans) at Heraclea. Cosmas bid 20 Rout Points to play the Romans. Metcalf bid zero to play the Epirotes. The battle began with Roman velite advance against Pyrrhus' skirmishers along the river. The skirmish battle went against the Romans, so the first line of Hastati and Cohorts went in against the skirmishers, with mixed results. Pyrrhus' Phalanxes advanced to the river and engaged the disordered Hastati, inflicting heavy losses. The Roman third line of Principe's and Cohorts then joined the fight against the Phalanxes, eliminating one and inverting two more. However, Roman losses were too heavy. When Pyrrhus threw in his elephants, the Romans went over their rout level. Victory for Pyrrhus.

Roger Taylor (Scipio) defeats Rich Phares (Hannibal) at Zama. Taylor bid zero Rout Points to play Rome. Phares bid zero Rout Points to play Carthage. The opening shot in the battle was Scipio running off most of Hannibal's elephants. Nevertheless, Hannibal's Balearic slingers moved forward to mix it up with the velites. In turn, the Roman Hastati, the African Elephants and Hanno's medium infantry joined the fray and there ensued a massive conglomeration of fighting in the center. In the meantime, Hasdrubal's heavy cavalry became embroiled in a "Dance of Death" with the Roman cavalry ­ and this the source of most of Hannibal's successes. Unfortunately, the Romans threw their Principe's into the maelstrom in the center, which obliterated the African light and medium infantry. African losses exceeded the rout level for Roman victory and Hannibal sailed for Asia Minor hoping for another chance someday at Magnesia.

Peter Card (Pyrrhus) defeats James Tracy II (Romans) at Heraclea. Tracy bid 10 Rout Points to play the Romans. Card bid 5 Rout Points to play the Epirotes. The Romans kept their right flank cavalry off the board, making the threat worse than the appearance. The Epirote cavalry attempted to lure the Romans across the river, but they shuffled to their right and forced them back. Then the Epirotes deployed their medium and heavy infantry on their right flank and attempted to outflank the Roman left, however, the Romans countered by extending their left flank and the Hastati did a number on the medium infantry. Meanwhile, the Epirote Elephants moved around the center Phalanxes and charged the light infantry covering the Roman right flank with moderate success. The Epirote heavy cavalry then found a gap and got into the right flank of the Roman Hastati; however, the Romans seized the next turn and Principe's ended the threat. Finally, the Epirote Phalanxes crossed the river and routed the Roman infantry in the center.

Mike Johnson (Hannibal) defeats David Lindsay (Scipio) at Magnesia. Lindsay bid 12 Rout Points to play the Romans. Johnson bid 10 Rout Points to play the Selucids. The early turns saw a pitched cavalry battle on the Roman right flank. Scipio realized too late that the Selucid superiority in cavalry, plus chariot support, was more than he could handle. Every attempt to flank the Selucids resulted in a counterflank. After the cavalry disaster, both Roman legions charged in for a full assault along the whole line. The 14th Legion faired well on the left, but the 10th Legion rolled poorly and was decimated. At this point, Hannibal was in a vastly superior position, so Scipio did the unthinkable and surrendered.

Peter Card (Scipio) defeats Graham Cosmas (Hannibal) at Zama. Card bid 8 Rout Points to play Rome. Cosmas bid 5 Rout Points to play the Romans. The battle opened with Scipio's trumpeters scaring off most of Hannibal's elephants, nullifying a Carthaginian plan to shift the pachyderms to the wings to neutralize Scipio's superior cavalry. Roman velites then advanced routing the remaining elephants and pushing back Hannibal's weak skirmishers. Hannibal threw in his first line of Celtic infantry against the velites, whereupon Scipio's Hastati joined the battle. The Celts took heavy losses but did the Romans some damage. Scipio advanced his right wing Numidian light cavalry, which overwhelmed Hannibal's much weaker Numidian horse contingent. Hannibal sent forward his phalanxes and heavy infantry against the now disordered Roman Hastati. The Romans lost about 50 RPs worth of units in a regular Carthaginian activation followed by a successful turn seizure. However, the Carthaginians were too close to their break point. Further attacks by Scipio's Numidians broke Hannibal's army and decided the battle.

Terry Coleman (Pyrrhus) defeats Roger Taylor (Romans).

Semi-Finals

Roger Taylor (Porus) defeats Peter Card (Alexander) at Hydaspes. Card bid 1 Rout Point to play the Macedonians. Taylor bid zero Rout Points to play the Macedonians. The Macedonians jumped off by advancing their light cavalry, which brushed aside the chariots covering the Indian left flank. The Companions followed, finding their way around the Indian left flank to hit the light infantry in the rear. Porus adjusted by turning the elephants around, which was quite a feat, as they then took the Companions in the rear, chewing them to pieces. The Macedonian Phalanxes moved forward routing Indians to their front. By now, the battle hung in the balance, but an elephant activation and seizure allowed them to get into the rear of the Phalanx on the left. Macedonian losses sustained on the last elephant charge pushed Alexander over the limit and sent him packing west.

Terry Coleman (Philip II) defeats Mike Metcalf (Rome) at Cynocephalae. Metcalf bid 1 Rout Point to play the Romans. Coleman bid zero Rout Points to be the Macedonians. This battle starts with Philip II moving first. The Macedonian Phalanxes charged down the hill, seized the next turn and crashed into the Romans. Philip also managed to get his cavalry around the Romans. The pressure of the Phalanxes and the threat in the rear were too much for the Romans to handle. This battle was a complete rout, as the Macedonians were successful on every seizure attempt, while the Romans fared just the opposite, failing every seizure attempt.

Championship

Roger Taylor (Scipio) defeats Terry Coleman (Hannibal) at Magnesia. Tied bids required a die roll to resolve sides. This was a toe to toe slugfest, as neither player was able to outmaneuver the other. In the early and middle game, it looked like Hannibal was going to even the score with Scipio. However, in an unexpected turn of events, Scipio made a crucial seizure roll and followed it with great die rolls in the ensuing attacks. As a result, Roger claimed the first WBC plaque to be awarded for Great Battles of History (simple).