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David Rohde (right) on his way
to 4th place laurels. |
Apparently, there was a shortage
of rectangular tables on Saturday. |
No Sophomore Jinx
This year's tournament nearly doubled its field in our second
year at WBC. 26 players sat down to play the first round Battle
of Guilford Courthouse. The results were balanced with the British
players winning seven of 13 games. Five of these matches were
decided by a margin of one victory point. This made for some
tense and exciting first round play.
The Round 2 scenario was the famed Battle of Bunker Hill. The
American position proved a tough nut to crack as the Continentals
held a four to two edge in win totals. Peter Yaure gained a desperate
victory by denying Andy Finkel's British Regulars one more victory
point.
Round 3 saw the scenario shift to the French and Indian War Battle
of Fort Duquesne. After some debate over the correct pronunciation
of the aforementioned fort, players were ready for battle. Young
Matthew O'Conner scored a bloody victory over Dennis Culhane's
embattled British force. Dennis was a mere turn away from taking
the momentum when Matthew used his Indian unit's movement abilities
to inflict quick losses and gain vital victory point markers.
David Rohde continued his solid play by defeating the aforementioned
Peter Yaure in a hotly contested 12-turn match. Jesse Boomer
and Ted Drozd dueled evenly until the very end, with Ted pulling
out victory on Turn 18
Play was adjourned for dinner and rest breaks. The Round 4 semi-final
Battle of Quebec would begin later that evening. Ted Drozd, the
defending third place lauelist, would face David Rohde. Jesse
Boomer would advance as a wildcard based on victory points and
number of turns lasted. He would face Matthew O'Conner.
Matthew had purchased the game here last year. Since then
he had played all 15 scenarios multiple times. He lost his first
round match by one victory point but advanced as a wildcard.
He made the most of the second chance by scoring two strong victories
in subsequent rounds. But his luck would run out against Mr.
Boomer. Jesse's Redcoats isolated a good portion of Montcalm's
men and destroyed them for a victory point win on Turn 17.
Ted Drozd continued his stellar play by defeating David Rohde's
British Regulars six victory points to none in 20 turns. He would
go on to face Jesse Boomer in the final scenario, the Battle
of Brandywine.
The battle began with careful movement and positioning by
both. Ted played the Americans and did his best to hold onto
key terrain until he could reinforce with more commanders and
gain more action points. Jesse moved his British right flank
onto the American left and Ted took first blood by eliminating
a British Dragoon unit. Mr. Boomer was quick to respond by eliminating
two units himself. The fighting became fierce. The Redcoats rushed
the main American hill position and began to clear hexes with
the careful use of artillery and infantry close combat. By Turn
13, British infantry and artillery had a hard foothold on the
hill, with more artillery support coming up to clear the rest.
The Americans would not give up without a fight. With all leaders
now on the board as reinforcements, Ted could now match Jesse
in action points. This enabled him to make a spirited assault
on the encroaching British units. By Turn 15, savage close combat
had pushed the British back toward their lines. The score was
now tied at four victory points. The first side to six would
win. On Turn 16, Ted caught weakened British infantry and artillery
in the open. American artillery fire eliminated two units to
secure the win.
Matthew O'Conner was granted third place laurels based on
victory point totals.
It was a fitting end to an exciting tournament. There were
tfive rounds of play with many matches came down to the wire.
It should also be mentioned that competition included five younsters
under the age of sixteen. This included Revcon Clash Champ Daniel
Ruhnke. Thank you to everyone who came out and made it an exciting
tournament!
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Matt Burchfield [1st year]
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