Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.
-Alexander the Great

This statement turned out to foreshadowi the turn of events in the 2004 tournament. A new format was in place that eliminated the semi-final round and awarded tournament points based on finishing place in each game. To encourage players to play for the win, winners were aptly rewarded and last place was, well, not rewarded. Veteran players of the tournament seemed to think this system needed 'tweeking' however newcomers to the WBC Successors tournament took to it like Alexander took to the known world. A former champion and former finalist each won in the first of three rounds and decided not to play another. The newer folks kept plugging away to rack up more tourney points. This resulted in three of four new faces at the final table which consisted of Henry Rice, Mark Hinkle, Francis Czawlytko,and Ahmet Ilpars. Three of those playing at the final table were new to the final and two of them were newcomers to the WBC event. The lone 'old timer' was in his second year of the event.

The final itself showed that Successors is a wargame. There were several 'titanic' battles on the way to determining the winner. Mark Hinkle and his warlords Antigonous and Antipater had the VP's for an Auto Victory in turn 2 by smashing Ptolemy in Crete and Lysimachus in Nicaea; the latter battle pitting 25+ v. 23 strength points. He failed to hold on when Craterous was able to defeat him in another colossal battle of 25+ v. 23 strength points. Mark tried again in turns 3 and 4 for the Auto Victory only to see his bids stopped by well played Tyche cards.

Henry Rice had the combination of Victory and Legitimacy Points to crown Alex IV, who was under his faction's control, for the victory. Though thwarted in his attempt for the Auto Victory, Mark still had the points to claim second. Francis Czawlytko claimed third and Ahmet Ilpars, who on three occasions, unselfishly sent his largest general to stop the leader of the game finished with the final plaque.

Hope to see all who participated, and more, back at the event next year.

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

PBeM Tournament:

The tournament began in December 2001 with 24 players vetted by the BPA for participation. There were three qualifying rounds and the top four ranking players moved up to a final round. Round 1 ended by 7/14/02 and at that point, eight participants decided to drop from the tournament. The remaining 16 participants finished Round 2 by 4/15/03 where another two participants dropped from the tournament. Mauro Faina joined the tournament at this point strictly to help meet the goal of having all tables four player games. He was joined by John Firer who had previously dropped in order to have four tables of four for Round 3. Round 3 ended by 7/1/03 with Rob Mull, Henry Rice, Jim Gutt and Stefan Mecay advancing to the final round.

What is particularly noteworthy in regards to the finalists is that Henry Rice was the only player advancing to the finals who came in first place in all three qualifying rounds. The finals ended on 8/23/04 with Rob Mull grabbing the wood as the number one finisher. Rice, Mecay, and Gutt followed him in that order. All four players in the Final Round should be justly proud of themselves for their overall performances throughout the tournament. Just getting to the finals was quite an achievement.

Successors BPA PBeM Final Standings

1. Mull, Rob
2. Rice, Henry
3. Mecay, Stefan
4. Gutt, Jim
5. Ellison, Matt
6. Marjomaa, Risto
7. Pei, James
8. Young, George
9. Shipley, Rich
10. Frydas, Nick
11. Melnick, Wayne
12. Wixson, Keith
13. Barrett, Paul
14. Knight, Mickel
15. Faina, Mauro*
Dropped 10

*Entered Tournament during Round 3 to enable a full complement of 4-player tables