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Captain Larry quells a mutiny
... err, answers rules questions. Well, rules were made to be
broken anyway. Next year we'll get it right ... aw, we don't
need no stinkin' rules! |
Forest Speck (left) shows Tom
Pavy where he'll walk the plank. Don't you just hate guys who
can still wear their old Medium Avaloncon shirts? |
Arrgggh... we don't need no stinkin'
rules!
A total of 44 pirates sailed the seas this year in quest for
glory including eight wenches who threw in their lot to follow
in the footsteps of Anne Bonney.. That's six moe lasses
than last year. It's getting so a guy just can't get away
from them. Anyway, Lauren Vessey was the top lady pirate, winning
a game in heat 3. Ruth Mayhan won in heat 2 and came in
second behind Lauren in the same semi-final, besting two
mates. In all fairness, Stephen Fitchett was sunk five
times this game. Stephen is our most consistent pirate,
coming in SECOND in all three heats! That elusive win will
come, Stephen. Hang in there. Back to Lauren, she
won her semi-final game and lost in the Final to John Elliott
by one lousy point!!! That is what you call CLOSE!!
Defending champ Chris Striker, went empty handed until he
won on his third try in heat 3. His spirited title defense
came to an end in the semis where he finished second - good enough
for fifth place overall.
Returning laurelist Tom Pavy was the frontrunner with two wins
and a second in three heats. He won his semi by three points
over Forrest Speck to sail into the Final.
Paul Weintraub, another returning laurelist, won his first heat
and made a miraculous comeback in his semi. He was in last
place with three turns to go. Fighting [he actually won
a battle!], fame cards and burying loot gave him a meteoric rise
at the end to join the Final crew.
Linda Pattison, Mary Ellen Powers and Vinnie Sinigaglio all qualified
for the playoffs with wins but were apparently shanghaied to
other ports. This allowed John Speck, Stephen Fitchett, Ed Bielcik and
Tracy Graf to join the semis as alternates. Tom Pavy's
second win left the last slot open. Ah, Tracy. The
MOST unfortunate pirate of them all. His crew had a mutiny,
throwing 13 chests, three gold and him overboard. Did they
really throw the loot overboard? Nah! Just that cowardly
captain Tracy!
Other heat winners were; Kevin Shaud, Brendan Coomes, David
Albin, Lyle Wenger, Mike Coomes and Forrest Speck.
The "Pack" clan, a motley crew if ever there was
one, John, Marie and David all finished third in their respective
heats. I wonder who will lead the way next year for their
first win?
Of special note, the Flying Dutchman was really sunk by Bill
Crenshaw and Mike Coomes in heat 3. The GM will award
a special honor to them next year. Also noteworthy, in
semi action, every legendary pirate was sunk by John Elliott,
David Albin, Tracy Graf and Mike Coomes in a joint effort.
Way to go guys.
Rules: There was conjecture about parrots and section damage.
Page 6 states: mastercraft card, then parrot take first hits;
and then section. Days of Wonder confirmed we were playing
correctly. The island, pirate's cove: page 8 is specific,
did this wrong. End of game: There is refit on last
turn, did this wrong. Tavern cards: Reshuffle when
depleted, did this wrong.
Having read the rules more than 12 times, I cannot believe this
many mistakes. Goes to show that house rules are hard to
break for tournament play. I apologize.
Next year, the only proposed change I would like is to randomly
roll for legendary pirate location on turn 12, before navigation,
to allow burying of gold on treasure island. We can vote
on this next year in truly pirate democratic fashion.
Next month I will work on new sequence of events charts.
If you would like one, drop me an email below
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