AREA Ratings

GM: Stan Hilinski

Past Winners
Nicholas Benedict - ONT 2001

wargaming Euro style Attila has one of the most misleading titles of all of the European designs. At first glance, you think that you are in for a pillaging romp as Attila's hordes sweep across Europe. The truth is that the game's theme is about the barbarian tribes that are fleeing from Attila, and the man himself never appears. Attila is always encamped just over the next hill, and that is exactly where he stays for the game's duration. Once you get past this expectation however, you find a quick-playing and interesting game. This year's Attila finals did not disappoint anyone as the victory was determined by the second tiebreaker. There were two heats this year with seven tables of four- and five-player games. The five best winners advanced to the finals. Bill Beckman was an alternate, and he almost skipped showing up at the finals, but he changed his mind at the last minute. It was a good thing for him because he became the fifth and last player. And the last shall be first ... Dinah Marcinik triggered the end of the first century, but it was Tim Swartz who benefited most. Tim took an early lead by controlling the dominant green tribe (14 points), and Dinah followed with 10. Bill Beckman, Susan Dyer, and Frank Schmitt followed in order. In the second century, the green and black tribes were the biggest, and blue was the poorest. Dinah and Susan caused tribal conflicts. This century ended with Tim still leading at 26, thanks to his continuing control of green. Susan and Bill were now second at 21, thanks to an emerging black tribe, and Dinah and Frank trailed in order. The third century would be the last. Black would overtake green as the dominant tribe, and Tim's fortunes followed those of the green tribe. He lost control of green and made no mark in black. The game would end when Frank's double-move play caused the black markers to run out. The final scoring had Tim dropping back to third with 44, but both Susan and Bill were tied at 50. The first tiebreaker went to the player who caused the game to end. Frank did that, so we went to the second tiebreaker. Who had the most firsts of all the tribes? It was there that Bill edged out Susan, two to one. So Bill Beckman, the man who almost wandered off to do something else, became this year's winner of the Attila crown.