manifest destiny [Updated October 2005]  

2005 WBC Report  

 2006 Status: pending 2006 GM commitment

Harald Henning, CT

2005 Champion


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Event History
2005    Harald Henning     46

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Harald Henning     CT    05     40
  2.  Ted Simmons        NJ    05     24
  3.  Brett Mingo        MD    05     16
  4.  Peter Pollard      TN    05     12
  5.  David Nicholson    ON    05      8
  6.  Dave Long          NC    05      4
          

2005 Laurelists

Ted Simmons, NJ
2nd

Brett Mingo, MD
3rd

Peter Pollard, TN
4th

David Nicholson, ON
5th

Dave Long, NC
6th


A Good Start

Manifest Destiny's debut was a resounding success! Winners were evenly distributed among the starting positions, with Louisiana having five wins, Virginia and Mexico four, and Pennsylvania and Quebec three each.

Harald Henning, Brett Mingo, David Nicholson and Ted Simmons won their respective semifinals and advanced to the Final with Pete Pollard, the closest runner-up.

In the Final, peace reigned supreme throughout Era 1 as players filled the board while avoiding confrontation. Era 2 was a different story. Mexico (David), aided by Trading Post, went on a rampage in the Southwest, gobbling up numerous territories, several of which had previously belonged to Virginia. Virginia (Pete) retaliated with IRS, severely depleting the cash Mexico had gained and cashed Tobacco. Pennsylvania (Brett) amassed cities and used Edison to complete Electricity. Quebec (Harald) had the early lead after cashing Hudson's Bay Company and Fulton and dodged Civil War from Pennsylvania, who hit Mexico instead. Louisiana (Ted) bided his time, positioning himself for secondary payouts.

Virginia pulled into a brief lead in Era 3 when he completed Rock 'n Roll. Mexico bought Computers but got hit with the Depression in the Southwest and never recovered. Pennsylvania had 11 cities at one point, leading to substantial cash late once he completed Urban Renaissance. Louisiana maximized his position, but taking five turns to complete Think Tank cost him. Quebec finished the steps for e-Commerce in the penultimate turn, but used Louisiana's leaders to buy Safety Net and Airplanes instead of Computers.

In the last expansion phase, Mexico used his priority turn order marker and went after Oil. Pennsylvania and Louisiana split up Gold and it looked like Pennsylvania would be swimming in cash once he cashed his cards. Quebec moved last, took some Oil, and wisely used his turn order priority token to play cards second.

In the last card play phase, Mexico cashed Oil Crisis, helping himself and Quebec. Quebec cashed a second Oil card before Virginia, moving third, played Cold War, which deprived Pennsylvania of his foreign markets and their valuable gold payouts (and which left Pennsylvania short of the cash needed to win).

When the dust settled (ever notice how much dust there is in these reports?), Quebec bought Computers and Television, claimed e-Commerce and finished with 31 VPs and $15 and gave Harald the game (literally, since the winner got to keep the game). Louisiana snuck into second with 30 VPs and $60, narrowly edging Pennsylvania (30 VPs and $40 cash) and Virginia (29 VPs). Mexico never recovered from the three bad cards played on him and slipped to fifth with 23 VPs.

 GM      Bill Crenshaw   NA
   WCrenshaw@cox.net   NA

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