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.
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