The 2002 WBC Successors Tournament once again saw 16 would-be emperors duking it out from the Land of the Triballi to Persia, from Armenia to Egypt. In the end, there could be only one...

This year's tournament, as in 2001, used a point system to determine which players advanced to the final. Ten points were awarded for first place, seven for second, five for third, and two for fourth. With only two rounds, we decided that a strict Swiss format wasn't effective, and seeded players in the second round so that the first place finishers all played at different tables. Also, we eliminated the five-point bonus for Legitimacy wins used in the 2001 tournament, as we felt that this type of win depended more upon luck than upon good play. We also extended the gameplay time to six hours, which was a good choice for those games running the full five turns.

The first two rounds saw three four-player tables each. 15 points was the minimum score present at the finals, so participating in both rounds was essential if wood was to be won. These rounds were exciting in their own right, with generals dying in battle against 23,000 Greek Colonists, the appearance of the Indian Elephant Corps, six or more generals in the Dispersed Box at the same time, factions moving from 0VP to 14VP in a single turn, Cleopatra drinking the hemlock, Olympias killing Phillip, and this all in a single game! In another game, two players tied in a dead heat for first, even after applying tiebreakers!

After the second round, five players had the necessary points to advance into the finals: Ralph Gleaton, Doug Smith, Jim Gutt, Rob Seulowitz, and Michael Day. Doug Smith, after winning his first game, came in third in the second round and quite gracefully bowed out after tying with Rob for fourth place, saying that he didn't want to "back into" the finals. Doug was the recipient of my own personal Sportsperson of the Year as a result.

The final game, fittingly, went the full five turns and saw the rise and fall of more than one general's fortunes across Asia Minor. Antigonus and Lysimachus were controlled by Jim, Antipater and Leonnatus by Rob, Perdiccas and Craterus by Michael, and Ptolemy and Peithon by Ralph. Alex the Elder was spiked early by Michael for the 2 Legitimacy points while Rob spent his early game working on Greece and killing off Olympias. At one point, Ralph managed to score greater than 23 victory points, enough for an automatic victory, but was unable to maintain it for the required turn and came crashing down to fourth place in the end.

By turn 3, a desperation attack on Rhodes against Jim by Ralph left Rob in a strong position. In the end, Rob's victory in the west against Jim won him the game and left Jim in third. Michael, who had seen his fortunes fall earlier, was able to fight his way back to second place in the east, leaving Ralph to wonder why he had ever wanted to play against three people who had made it to the finals the previous year. As for the other, it must have been deja vu as they finished in the exact same order as in the previous year. Those who don't learn from their mistakes ....

Successors is a game that can be ended at several points by players in the right situation, and this year the lesson was clear that the tournament point system as used in 2001/02 does not reinforce the spirit of the game. In six preliminary rounds, the game was ended early in five of six cases by players who did not win the game outright. In many cases, it was preferable for a player to take second or even third place, take the tournament points, and get out while the getting was good. Obviously, the game was not designed to be played in this way, and the format of the tournament will change next year to encourage outright wins.

Thanks to all for participating, and we hope to see more of you next year in the new improved format!

Important Links:
2nd Edition Rules: http://members.aol.com/elgrognard/successors/successors.htm
CONSIMWORLD Successors Discussion Folder: http://talk.consimworld.com:8082/WebX.cgi?14@214.jirfaqbOiO3^3@.ee6c38c