Ace of Aces [Updated October 2004]  

2004 WBC Report  

 2005 Status: pending December Membership Century Vote

Bruce Young, SC

2004 Champion

2nd: Dan Lawall, VA

3rd: Paul Weintraub, MD

4th: Chris Villeneuve, MI

5th: James Pei, TX

6th: Richard Irving, TX

Event History
2004    Bruce Young     48


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 Laurels
Rank Name

From

Last
Total
 1. Bruce Young

SC

04
20
 2. Dan Lawall

VA

04
12
 3. Paul Weintraub

MD

04
  8
 4. Chris Villeneuve

MI

04
  6
 5. James Pei

TX

04
  4
 6. Richard Irving

CA

04
  2

And Now For Something Different ...

There was a drone in the air at the WBC this year. If you looked up, you may have seen daring young men in their flying machines, fighting it out to see who was the best pilot among us. Ace of Aces, a game long out of print, but remembered fondly by some of us from days gone by, was played for the first time. Using an open format of find an opponent and fly and fight, it had a very successful debut. The little books with the big game proved quite popular. While the minimum to qualify for the finals was fifteen flights, many pilots had more; Paul Weintraub had the most with 26 flights.

Throughout the week, maneuvers were chosen, page numbers were called, books were flipped and cheers or groans were heard for giving or taking damage. Points were earned for shooting down your opponent, for chasing him away after doing more damage, or just for surviving and getting away.

While players were allowed to use any books from the series for the qualifying round, no one chose the WWII, Jet or Star Wars versions, and only one player, the GM, flew the Flying Machines. Everyone used either the Rotary or Powerhouse, with the Powerhouse being by far the most popular.

In the qualifying round, Bruce young had the highest score, shooting down his opponent in 17 of 24 flights, while being shot down only twice. Paul Weintraub had the distinction of simultaneously shooting down while being shot down not once, but twice.

Bruce apparently practiced on the way to the WBC, shooting down his Greeneville Mafia-Mates on the drive up.

The finals were in a round robin format. Bruce Young was in control all the way through, shooting down three of his opponents and chasing off the other two to win the event with a perfect record. Dan Lavall shot down three also and chased off one, but was run off by Young. Young took home a DVD of "Blue Max" to accompany his eighth WBC wood.

Many thanks to all whom participated and made this a success despite the objections of our grumpy Convention Director. The open format meant the GM was not around to settle any disputes, but everyone played well and in the highest tradition of WBC sportsmanship. Next year, there will be several changes to allow more players to start earlier and a designated Aerodrome for people to hang out and fly against each other.

And a special thanks to Greg Schmittgens for making the green AoA buttons to use as opponent finders.

 GM      Phil Barcafer  [1st Year]   NA
   barcafer@ptd.net   NA

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