For those of you who read last year's after-action report, I'll start off by announcing that, yes, after four years the GM finally won a game. Of course, it wasn't an ordinary or easy win - I won backing Nestor Aparatchik - on turn 11!

I was dealt the two cards that get someone out of the Sanatorium, so I put eight points on Old Nestor. Mark Mitchell had the card that releases all members out of the Sanatorium, so he also went for an early win and used his card to get Nestor out on Turn 1. Unfortunately for Mark, he only had six points on Nestor, so with seven declared I got the first wave. Nestor spent the next two turns in the Sanatorium, only to come out to try a wave at the Parade Phase. By turn 4 I had only gotten two waves, so Nestor had to stay out and was immediately voted to Siberia. Game over for me - or so I thought.

However, it quickly became obvious that no one was interested in bringing Nestor back, so I figured my one point left on him might be enough. I got him out once - only to be sent right back. The second time he had a few more friends in the Politburo and I was able to work his way back into the Industry Minister slot. On turn 11, with control of the KGB, I purged everybody I didn't have points on. The KGB Head and Party Chief died in the Health Rolls, but Nestor dodged the bullet and rose back into power at game's end, giving me the victory with a single point. Afterwards the players unanimously voted that I am not allowed to whine any more in the tournament report.

This year we missed last year's attendance record by one, with several noted regulars missing from the convention. The random seating for games worked well, though it did set up some interesting matchups. Bob Jamelli somehow managed to control the Party Chief through virtually a full 11 turns for a victory. Marc Houde pulled off a quick three-wave win at a table including Marc Neale, Bruce Reiff, John Coussis and Peter Stein (John and Bruce insisted I sit between them so "they could beat Pete up"). Other first round winners included Peter Pollard, Steve Cuccaro, Ron Weurth, Jeff August, Chuck Davis, Ray Stakenas, David Rohde, Sean McCulloch. The only two-game winner was Peter Stein. Ahem ...

With previous tournament winners David Buchholz and Tom McCorry running into bad luck in the heats, the door was open for a first-time champion. Dare I hope? David Rohde won the first semi-final in three turns, with Steve Cuccaro and Ron Weurth advancing based on performance in the heats. Sean McCulloch won the other, with Peter Pollard and Ray Stakenas advancing based on the new scoring system I had devised (which seemed to work OK).

So once again the GM was on;y a spectator in the finals (Oops, I'm not supposed to whine). David Rohde again tried for an early win, but this time Steve Cuccaro was ready to fill the void. Steve got waves on turns 2, 3 and 5 to claim the championship.

Once again I'd like to thank all the players for another fun tournament (even Bruce and John). It's the people who play who make it a great day and a half for me, regardless of the results. I hope to see you all next year, and invite everyone else to the Demo.