advanced civilization [Updated October 2006]  

2006 WBC Report  

 2007 Status: pending 2007 GM commitment

Joe Gundersen, IN

2006 Champion

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Event History
1991    Alan Behrens    24
1992    Dan Vice    48
1993    Dan Vice    37
1994    Ken Rothstein    35
1995    Michael Neal    40
1996    Joe Gundersen    28
1997    Todd Vander Pluym     23
1998    Eric Gundersen    34
1999   Doug Galullo    38
2000   Eric Gundersen    27
2001   Doug Galullo    19
2002   Doug Galullo    20
2003   Joe Gundersen    28
2004    Harald Henning    31
2005   John Morris   34
2006   Joe Gundersen    33

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Doug Galullo       FL    06    266
  2.  Joe Gundersen      IN    06    186
  3.  Eric Gundersen     NJ    03    131
  4.  Kevin Youells      FL    06     94
  5.  Shantanu Saha      NY    06     63
  6.  Harald Henning     CT    04     50
  7.  Ted Mullally       NJ    03     50
  8.  John Morris        MD    05     40
  9.  Rodd Polsky        PA    01     30
 10.  Jeff Bowers        UT    06     29
 11.  Charley Hickok     PA    00     26
 12.  Peter Rauch        MA    00     18
 13.  Ann Cornet         FL    02     15
 14.  Joe Lux            NJ    06     10
 15.  Mike Musko         FL    03     10
 16.  Francis Spencer    CT    01     10
 17.  Robert Kircher     RI    05      8
 18.  Harry White        TX    04      5
 19.  Jamie Tang         MD    02      5
      

2006 Laurelists

Doug Galullo, FL
2nd

Kevin Youells, FL
3rd

Jeff Bowers, UT
4th

Joe Lux, NJ
5th

Shantamu Saha, NY
6th


Past Winners

1991: Alan Behrens, NJ
1995: Michael Neal, RI

Dan Vice, VA
1992 - 1993

Ken Rothstein, NY
1994

Joe Gundersen, IN
1996, 2003, 2006

Todd Vander Pluym, CA
1997

Eric Gundersen, NJ
1998, 2000

Doug Galullo, FL
1999, 2001, 2002

Harald Henning, CT
2004

John Morris, MD
2005


 One of six preliminary games underway. Efforts will be made to schedule this event in a quieter venue in the future.

 The leftmost player's shirt seems appropriate for an Advanced Civilization tournament: "Real men play Board Games" indeed!

Behind the Pyramids

Excellent tournament! At least, that is my conclusion after wrapping up the post convention requirements as a GM. We had terrific participation at the tournament, and for the first time in many years we had three games in both heats (8,8,7 and 7,6,6) for a total of 42 positions played in the heats with eight players participating in both rounds. Adding the Final makes 50 positions played!

A post tournament review of all the games played shows that Assyria (a/o Asia) was the nation most favored to be civilized in our recreation of ancient history. The average final position for Assyria (a/o Asia) was 2.142 followed by Africa at 4.143 and Babylon at 4.286. The nation least favored to be civilized was Egypt with an average final position of 4.857.

As we have over the past few years, the rank of each player in the tournament was determined by their score as a percentage of the leaders score. This year there were no optional rules available to the players, since in the past, players have opted not to play with them anyway. There was also no kicker used as a tie breaker, since as one player so eloquently stated "points are points"·

.To provide a summary of the Final, I asked the participants to provide their own viewpoints. I would also like to express my appreciation for the extra effort put forth by Shantanu Saha for the excellent job of keeping a detailed record of city counts, calamities and scores throughout the Final.

BABYLON: Greg Kulp. The fate of Babylon was decided in the late stone-age. A flood and epidemic in 2500 BC followed by treachery and epidemic in 2000 BC resulted in an early downfall of the Babylon civilization.

IBERIA: Joe Lux. I got hit with Superstition and Barbarian Hordes in 2500 BC. That same turn I bought metal working and architecture. Metal working got rid of the barbarians and I used architecture to good effect as the game progressed to build six wilderness cities. My intent was to use the wilderness cities to absorb the effects of the piracy calamity and then give out the secondary effects of that card to the game leaders. Architecture was a big help to Iberia allowing him to reach nine cities three times in the game, more times than any other player.

ASSYRIA: Kevin Youells. During mid-game, Crete was scheming to launch an unprovoked attack on one of my cities. After some discussion, Crete agreed to cease and desist in exchange for a "favorable trade"·. My wise and tricky ambassadors were quick to advise me, their mighty and powerful ruler, they had never agreed to "when"· that trade was to occur. The last words the people of Assyria heard their ruler mutter was "2 stone for 1 sheep"·

AFRICA: Justin Nordstrom. I played Africa twice on consecutive days. This time, Africa was the early recipient of famine followed by the second and third civil war. My nation languished during the mid-game. The only saving grace for Africa was the early purchase of engineering and mining. That meant the even sub-par card draws allowed me to make some minor gains. This helped Africa tread water for a turn or two or three, but by the end game I was floundering. The few cards I drew were often calamities and combined with poor decisions in trading, things were made worse. I noticed that players with few cities, the weaker or unlucky players, were picking up all their cards, but often the cards were calamities. Overall though, a real "learning experience"·.

CRETE: Doug Galullo. In 2500 BC, I reluctantly occupied the Nile delta as a recipient of the Egypt civil war. I graciously moved the units out of way of the Egyptian towards the Babylon border. Unfortunately Babylon was not receptive to having Crete peace keeping forces on the border between Egypt and Babylon. The uneasy relationship with Babylon coupled with famine and epidemic eventually led to the demise of these troops.

EGYPT: Joe Gundersen. I initiated friendly relations with my neighbors Africa and Babylon from the outset and as the game progressed worked hard at keeping those good relationships. The game started off well for me and I easily reached eight cities by 2500 BC when I got hit by the first civil war in 2500 BC and things didnâ·t look so good. Fortunately, Crete was agreeable to moving his newly gained troops out of Egypt so there was very little conflict as I reoccupied the Nile delta. I was the primary recipient of slave revolt in 2000 BC and 800 BC but thanks to the high agricultural values of the cities that I reduced, the impact was negligible. I made a few good decisions in the game that greatly helped my position. I learned engineering in 2000 BC the turn before I was the primary recipient of flood in 1600 BC and it also helped mitigate the effects of flooding in 400 BC. I saw that Iberia was successful using architecture, so I decided to buy architecture in 1600 BC, which helped me reach and maintain eight cities for four turns in the mid-game. I bought medicine in 800 BC the turn before I was the primary recipient of epidemic in 650 BC and it also helped reduce the secondary effects of the ever present epidemics thereafter. I also bought mining in 800 BC which allowed me to control the market on gems in 650 BC and acquire law and enlightenment. In 500 BC, I was the primary recipient of civil war for a second time, but with having earthquake the same turn and the two protection cards of music and drama & poetry, the effects of civil war were minimal. Late in the game Iberia, Illyria, and Crete had military so there was a lot of conflict on the map. Luckily my cities were not available to be attacked so most of their efforts were concentrated on the cities of other players near the Aegean Sea. This allowed me to purchase a large number of advances on the last turn and finish the game with a good number of cities for the win.

As a final comment, here is what I am considering for next year; expanding the player guidance for the tournament, adding additional guidance on player etiquette, and purchasing and displaying civilization advances. I am also considering adding an evening session for a preliminary heat and/or adding a five-player sprint games heat while adding a new tie breaker.

 GM      Joe Gundersen [6th year]    NA 
    joegundersen@earthlink.net     317-496-9142

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