monsters ravage america [Updated August 2001]

MRA  4 prizes Beginners Mult Ent Sing Elim Scheduled 
  Demo 16  Rnd1 Heat1  17
 Rnd1 Heat2 15   Rnd1 Heat3  9    
 Rnd1 Heat4 12 Round 2 19    Round 3  9  Final

  Rnd1 Heat1 Rnd1 Heat2  Salon EF  Rnd1 Heat3 Round 2  MD 3  Rnd1 Heat4 MD 4  Round 3  Belmont    

Rebecca Hebner, CO

2001 Champion

2nd: David Brooks, TN

3rd: Dan Eshleman, NC

4th: John Koski, MD

5th: Joseph Sposito, NJ

6th: Christina Cousins, ME
Event History
1991    None      -
1992    None      -
1993    None      -
1994    None      -
1995    None      -
1996    None      -
1997    None      -
1998    Dave Long      167
1999    Marvin Birnbaum     106
2000    Tom Meier      83
2001    Rebecca Hebner      68

AREA Ratings:

GM: Mark Love

Anybody bring the Monster Repellant? ...

This game is a parody of MONSTER movies - but the MONSTERS win! Or do they?

So which is the best MONSTER? The MONSTERS chosen most by players were Tomanagi the Carnosaur, Bronacle of the Depths, and The Glow Wyrm. But only two MONSTERS won more than 25% or their games. Bronacle won a whopping
43% of games played and Ixitpla The Snake God won 33%. The Marines finally achieved game balance among the military, as the Air Force won 30%, the Navy 27%, the Marines 24% and the Army 19%.

No junior tournament was offered this year, but that did not stop eight youngsters from entering the adult tournament. Matthew Beach, Alex Bell, Grant Herman, and Alex Price all won heats. Alex Price was the only player to win two heat games (with Ixitpla each time) besides GM Mark Love (who also favored Ixitpla), and Grant Herman, the youngest player in the tournament at 10, won a Round 2 game. Half the players were over the age of 21.

Mecha-MONSTER won twice - Matthew Beach and Lauren Vessey both won games where their MONSTERS had health of 2 or 10 at the Challenge. 1999 champ Marvin Birnbaum's five infamy markers made his Tomanagi the Most Infamous MONSTER. Brooks Beyma's Konk and Paul Bolduc's Dust Devil might consider starting MONSTERS R US, as each picked up seven toys from smashing military bases. Peter Card journied from the UK and came within a die-roll of beating GM Mark Love. David Brooks won a game where every single military research card was purchased and Nick Kramer and Erika Poniske were both in Hollywood and out of the Challenge, with only Rachel Tarquinio to beat. Evan Hitchings' Konk The Great Ape was Nuclear-Powered, with Whip Tentacles, Armor Scales, War spikes, and Beserk, but still lost to Brad Jones' Tomanagi, whose 45 health was enough to open a fitness gym and the most in the tournament. After adding Armor Scales, Atomic Breath, War Spikes, two infamy markers and 44 health, Rebecca Hebner's Bronacle was the biggest Kick-Butt MONSTER in the tournament. But Rebecca also won a Round 2 game, with the weakest winning MONSTER, as Bronacle entered the Challenge with 10 health, and won the last battle with but one point left.

In the seminfinal, Mark Love's Tomanagi was stomping through the health-rich northeast at will, until Rebecca Hebner placed the Blonde Lure on the map. 14 military units were assembled there by three players; Tomanagi did not knock off any of them, and was sent to Hollywood. Rebecca won the game and thus became the only 2000 finalist to return to the final. David Brooks advanced to the final by giving Konk his only win in the event. Joe Sposito, a 2000 finalist, took fifth place and Christina Cousins took sixth. Dan Eshleman and John Koski both advanced as alternates.

Rebecca Hebner walked into the final with three first-place plaques from other events. Although just 13, she was targeted before the final even started. As John Koski said, it was the highest compliment another player could be paid. David Brooks took the Army and Glow Wyrm, John Koski had the Marines and Ixitpla, Dan Eshleman the Air Force and Bronacle, and Rebecca Hebner the Navy and, for the first time ever, Tomanagi. With Rebecca controlling the Navy, she had the most effective military unit to stop what she was about to do. On Turn 2, Rebecca stomped New York City and picked up 18 points of health. The other players began scrambling furiously, and piled their military units into the northeast. Rebecca picked up Tomanagi, (which is a female MONSTER), and disappeared from the map, reappearing later outside Los Angeles.

John's Marines and David's Army surrounded Dan's Bronacle. Dan's Air Force attacked John's Ixitpla in Memphis. David's Glow Wyrm mutated at the National Engineering Lab, only to be met in force by Rebecca's Navy, who collected the cash bonus for selling him to Hollywood. Bronacle broke into Pittsburgh, and was soon retreated by David's Army tanks. After landing outside L.A and seeing the military welcoming party that was forming, Rebecca had Tomanagi disappear AGAIN. Rebecca sent her Navy planes after Ixitpla outside Memphis, who then ravaged the Alamo. David's Glow Wyrm broke out of Hollywood, but disappeared. The Navy attacked and forced Dan's Bronacle to disappear, since there was no retreat route. Rebecca picked up Mech-MONSTER from the research roll and soon got the Stabilizer Ray as well. She had accumulated $18 billion after sending Bronacle to Hollywood. With that kind of money, she could send her military attacking in waves, buying them back and redeploying them quickly. Tomanagi reappeared in Lair #3 in the Gulf of Mexico. David and John began pleading with Dan to mobilize the entire Air Force and go after Tomanagi, after they sent their own units after her. Rebecca mutated with Radiation Field, which now required the military to use an extra move to approach Tomanagi. It was beginning to look impossible to beat her. For the third time, Tomanagi disappeared from the map, preserving her health.

Gallows humor set in. Dan asked John, "What happens if my MONSTER reappears in L.A.", where a massive military force was waiting? John answered, "He'd be sent back to Hollywood." Dan replied, "It's not so bad there." Dan was set to attack David's Glow Wyrm, but David made a nonagression pact that sent the Air Force after John's Ixitpla, who was then sent to Hollywood. All three of Rebecca's opponents had now gone there on exhibit.

David got Super Colossal Guy and negotiated a deal with Rebecca which resulted in Mecha-MONSTER attacking Dan's Bronacle. At this point, with WBC winding down, a Klingon club occupied the room next door and began stomping the ground with sticks and loudly singing Klingon war songs! And they call US strange! Tomanagi stomped Miami, raising her health to 31. Rebecca sent her Navy planes after David's Glow Wyrm. Dan broke his deal with David and sent his Air Force after Glow Wyrm, retreating him from Chicago without eating there. An observer who had not played in the tournament commented, "There's more diplomacy in this game than in Diplomacy!"

John kept rolling low and remained stuck in Hollywood, which killed his chances. But he did pull Defense Satellites and hit all the other MONSTERS. Tomanagi disappeared for the fourth time, a strategy that Rebecca had never tried before this game. She then used the military Cutbacks card to eliminate David's Super Colossal Guy. John slyly moved his own military out of San Francisco and Ixitpla crushed two National Guard units to take the city.

David took the 20th city in Witchita, Kansas. Tomanagi stomped Tampa and Rebecca picked up the rogue Nuke - but it was too late to use it! Nobody took the Challenge away from David, so with 15 health, he chose John's Ixitpla, who had 13 health and two infamy markers giving four attacks. Ixitpla did six damage to Glow Wyrm before falling. David then faced Dan's Bronacle, who had 9 health and one infamy and did seven damage before falling. So it came down to this: David's Glow Wyrm had 10 health and War Spikes to face Rebecca's 28 health and one infamy. The War Spikes began working their magic as the
two MONSTERS battled. David drew to a 4:4 health tie - the plaque was within his grasp, and he had come a long way from being sent to Hollywood early in the game. Rebecca rolled a 6 and a 4 for the victory. Cheers erupted, as Rebecca Hebner,
at 13, became the first player in history to win four adult tournaments at one convention. Despite being the early target and taking an early lead, Rebecca kept her composure, devised an innovative strategy, and used her military aggressively. Ben Knight watched as the players took the game he and J. C. Connors had brilliantly designed to its intended heights.

 GM      Mark Love  [3rd Year]   9890 Wahingtonian Blvd #705, Gaithersburg, MD 20878-5351
    lovemark@erols.com    (NA)

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