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Bill Burch, Scott Moll, Bill
Beckman, Kevin Sudy and Ed Rothenheber (clockwise from left)
are shown in the midst of Round 1 action. |
The chance to play on Mark McLaughlin's
giant map with his painted minatures is always a bonus in this
event and the Waterloo mini-con. |
Finalists Joe Burch, Melvin
Casselberry, Francis Czawlytko, Lance Roberts and Lane Hess (clockwise
from left) battle in Round 3 for the wood |
There's A Reason It's called The
NAPOLEONIC Wars
That an English-controlled Sweden conquered Spain in a game
of The Napoleonic Wars may strike some as a tad ahistorical
and perhaps downright silly. To those who play the game, however,
it is just one more example that ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING
can happen, especially in a game with a full slate of players.
Just ask Lance Roberts, who figured out how to get this rare
feat accomplished.
Or ask the guy who as the French at 4 AM literally BEGGED
to be conquered so as to be put out of his misery and be able
to go to bed. (A special "good sport" pat on the back
to that Frenchman, who could have just thrown up his hands in
despair and walked away, but hung on to the bitter end to allow
the allied vultures to continue picking his bones while fighting
among themselves for the juicy bits).
If anyone needed further convincing, all they had to do was
look to the remarkable achievement of Melvin Casselberry. He
not only won the tournament - he won it as PRUSSIA. He says
he did it basically by being everyone's whore. His words, not
mine. In the best tradition of both Prussia and multiplayer gaming,
he made sure everyone else had beaten themselves to a bloody
and ineffectual pulp, and then he strode in and decided the issue—in his own favor. Frances Czawlytko, who as Russia in that
Final admits that the allies basically bought Turkey and Sweden
for Prussia, at one point noted that Prussia was "worth
every penny we paid for him." That, of course, was when
the Prussians forced Hess's French (who were winning) to leave
Vienna. Frances had a different opinion, of course, when the
game ended in a Prussian victory.
Even more astonishing, at least to veteran players, was the bashing
handed out to the Greenville Mafia. That grand and glorious bunch
of gentleman gamers, who arrived in great numbers and so generously
poured libations from wine that bore their own club label only
managed to grab one spot in the semi-finals—a ticket that remained
unused due to a conflicting Final elsewhere. How the mighty have
fallen! Suddenly the downtrodden mases have renewed hope. Or
was it just a ruse to draw us down south to the beast's lair
this month for Waterloo IV?
All told, 55 different guys played18 games—the longest
of which lasted ten hours, and the shortest of which ended
in 45 minutes! This would be a good turnout in the fourth
year of any wargame to be sure, but with the onslaught of
new CDWs led by the popular Twilight Struggle it was
outstanding. Of the 18 games, the British won seven. The
French won only four. Seems like only yesterday I was hearing
that the poor Brits stood no chance. Times change—and
so do tactics.
Russia also won four. Austria won two and Prussia but one
- but it was the BIG ONE.
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