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Beware the Pharoah-Maker ...
 Amun-Re
retained a large crowd in its sophomore year at WBC. Despite
its very early convention start on Tuesday at 8 PM, the first
heat attracted roughly 50 players. The second heat on Thursday
at 9 AM saw several of these players return to match pyramid
building skills against newcomers. In all, 20 different games
were played in the qualifying rounds involving 73 players. The
economic, planning and interactive elements of the newest Knizia
game drew a diverse crowd including many 'wargamers', such as
Bill Crenshaw, Nick Anner, Michael Zehnal and John Emery. The
'Euro' game crowd was well-represented by WBC and EQ defending
champ Arthur Field, who was joined by Davyd Field, Tom McCorry,
Rob Flowers, Tom Dunning, Brian Jones and many others.
All four of the prior finalists were in attendance and each
won his respective heat. Richard Meyer, Ilan Woll, Luke Koleszar
and Arthur Field were joined in the semi-finals by Eugene Lin,
Evan Tannheimer, Davyd Field, Paul Haynes, Nick Anner, Steven
Quade, Phil Yanov, Andy Gerb, Doug Gallulo, Jonathan Tivel, Steve
Cameron and Doug Smith. The 16 semi-finalists competed in four-player
games. In an attempt to make all boards the same, the GM eliminated
the same three provinces from all four games. This had been published
prior to WBC and the provinces had been selected in an effort
to even out the effects of elimination. Upon reflection, random
elimination seems a better course; some power cards become too
weak otherwise.
The semi-finals produced an unusual twist. Arthur Field was
matched against his perennial nemesis Nick Anner. Field was comfortably
ahead going into the end of the game. In a bizarre last round
play, Paul Haynes fell upon his ankh to play Pharaoh-maker. Settling
for last place, Paul attacked Arthur and helped Nick seize the
win by a single point. Cries of anguish could be heard all along
the Nile. Similarly, all of last year's finalists were torn to
shreds in Osiris-like fashion by the forces of Set.
Nick advanced to the finals to compete against newcomers Andrew
Gerb, Evan Tannheimer and Jonathan Tivel. The same three provinces
were eliminated and Evan emerged as the winner and clear favorite
of the gods. Isis was last seen trying to stitch Arthur, Richard,
Ilan and Luke back together so they could play in next year's
tournament.
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Kevin Youells [1st Year]
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