kingmaker [Updated October 2006]  

2006 WBC Report  

 2007 Status: pending 2007 GM commitment

Dale Long, NJ

2006 Champion

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Event History
1991    Heikki Thoen      24
1992    George Sauer III      11
1993    Chris Bodkin      28
1994    Paul Toro      24
1995    Charles Hickok      38
1996    Justin Thompson      36
1997    Jeff Clark      26
1998    Victor Guerrera      33
1999    Justin Thompson     26
2000    Sandy Wible     35
2001    George Sauer III     33
2002    Sandy Wible     24
2003    James Coomes     32
2004    Justin Thompson     28
2005    Jordan Halberstadt     18
2006    Dale Long     29

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Justin Thompson    VA    06    129
  2.  Will Wible         VA    02     60
  3.  Kevin Brownell     ME    04     54
  4.  Dale Long          NJ    06     48
  5.  Bill Powers        VA    05     39
  6.  James Coomes       KY    04     36
  7.  Jordan Halberstadt TN    05     30
  8.  George Sauer       OH    01     30
  9.  Stanley Buck       MD    06     18
 10.  Nick Benedict      CA    03     18
 11.  Michael Sims       IN    02     18
 12.  Fred Gosnell       VA    99     18
 13.  Scott Stewart      VA    04     12
 14.  Mike Hall          BC    02     12
 15.  Robert Kircher     MA    00     12
 16.  Heikki Thoen       QC    99     12
 17.  Scott Beall        OR    06      9
 18.  Michael Convoy     VA    03      9
 19.  Michael Coomes     OH    01      9
 20.  Scott Smith        FL    06      6
 21.  Rod Coffey         MD    05      6
 22.  Alan Witte         NJ    02      6
 23.  Ed Beach           MD    01      6
 24.  Keith Wixson       NJ    00      6
 25.  Michael Fisher     PA    99      6
 26.  Dave Huss          NY    06      3
 27.  Brian Jones        MD    05      3
 28.  Peter Melinn       MA    04      3
 29.  Paul Saunders      VA    01      3
 30.  Paul O'Niel        MD    99      3
          

2006 Laurelists

Stanley Buck, MD
2nd

Justin Thompson, VA
3rd

Scott Beall, OR
4th

Scott Smith, FL
5th

Dave Huss, NY
6th


Past Winners

Heikki Thoen, QC
1991

George Sauer III, OH
1992, 2001

Chris Bodkin, IN
1993

Paul Toro, DE
1994

Charles Hickok, PA
1995

Justin Thompson, VA
'96, '99, '04

Jeff Clark, AZ
1997

Victor Guerrera, PA
1998

Sandy Wible, VA
2000, 2002

James Coomes, KY
2003

Jordan Halberstadt, IN
2005
       

War of the Horticulturalists crowns a new King

The event made a great recovery this year. Last years attendance was down, so the event was reduced to trial status. I would like to take a moment to thank all of this years players for getting Kingmaker back into the Century! I would especially like to thank perennial finalist Justin Thompson for all his efforts in getting players into the tournament.

In another show of the game's popularity, even though the GM posted the finalists well before the 6-player final, 10 people showed up! And one of the posted finalists did not make it so we had five finalists and five spectators!

The GM allowed the first alternate into the game, so we still had these 6 Noblemen vying to be KINGMAKER: Justin Thompson (for the 11th consecutive year), Dan Long, Dave Hauas, Stan Buck, Scott Beall, and Scott Smith.

The initial deal left no clear leader, but several weak factions. Five offices and two titles had to be put in the Chancery! Not to worry, it is a long war.

Beall (who had made few attacks in his winning heat) drew first blood with an attack on Long. Victory was Bealls, but Long had a Kings Pardon allowing him to save Hastings (the Admiral of England), and about half his stack. Bouchier unfortunately lost his head.

Seeing Beall's aggression, Smith besieged his force. Buck traded Beall some mercenaries for Newcastle and a free move, giving Beall a 330-300 advantage, but Smith dropped two towns of his own for a 340-330 lead. The siege succeeded but Howard died! Smith has won the day, but lost about half his faction. He did pick up a town and about 80 points in mercenaries.

Catastrophe is next! Smith (with Percy and his mercs) has a strength of 230 during the catastrophe! He easily takes Edward Lancaster from Kenilworth.

About an hour and a half into the Final, Beall draws 'Parliament must be Summoned'.. Having been decimated by Smith earlier, Beall has only a 10 point noble (Bouchier) and is in charge of Parliament! There are five titles, eight offices, and a King's Pardon in the chancery. Everything is passed out evenly, and Beall has some power again. Will it be enough?

About two and a half hours in, an unusually quiet Thompson finally makes a big attack and crushes Smith who is left with only Percy (he always seemed to miss the danger) who is in refuge in Scotland with Edward. Smith's Plantagenet, Roos, and Berkley die. Thompson collects a town and about 70 points in mercs.

Three players later, Huss attempts an assignation on Justin's stack with Scrope and kills Edward of the March! Thompson is heirless, and there are only two heirs left. Long has Edmund, and Smith still clings to Edward Lancaster.

On Thompson's next turn, he attacks Huss and again wins a big victory but at the cost of Pole and Fitzlan on one card! Huss loses four nobles leaving him with only Stafford as the Palatine of Chester. Thompson is now the strongest faction by far, but has no heir. Long and Smith have the heirs, but are relatively weak. Long has a total strength of about 230 to Thompson's 380. Smith is even more vulnerable..

About three hours in, Long's faction is called to Canterbury to quell some peasants and he uses the opportunity to crown Edmund the King of all England! He leaves Canterbury on his next turn. The next event card drawn isPlague in Canterbury! The game almost ended right there as the new king would have died in the plague.

With one hour to go, Long and Smith both have heirs but relatively weak factions. Thompson is the clear leader in strength, but has no heir. Buck has quietly built up his forces and pounces on Smith as he emerges from refuge. Buck has the odds, but Smith has the heir. The only thing that can save Smith is a 'bad weather delays attack'. With the odds so stacked against him, Smith chooses to kill his heir rather than fight it out. Since Long has the only heir left, he wins and is crowned KINGMAKER! The players draw the combat card and it shows BAD WEATHER! Smith would have survived. Such is the luck of politics.

It was a fine game, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The GM would like to give full credit to Dan Long for his win. He had a weak faction for much of the game, and an heir which made him a prime target. He spent much of the game doing an excellent job of dancing around the board and avoiding much larger factions. Well done DAN!

Hope to see you all next year!

 GM      Bill Powers  [2nd Year]   NA 
    PowersA@comcast.net   NA

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