The appeal of miniatures in a boardgame format is a strong draw.	Both tactile and visual sensations make QGB a favorite.

Many asked the GM this year if the Naboo have an advantage. Still others who overheard these questions were quick to offer up their own opinion -most of them agreeing that the Naboo have the edge. This year's overall outcome: in the preliminary heats Darth Maul won 23 to the Naboo's 19; while in the later elimination rounds Maul took nine victories and the Jedi five. This may be partially due to the new adjudication rules in the later rounds, "If the trade federation is still standing after 1:45 of game time, they win." This new rule ended most of the stall tactics seen over the past few years. If you don't want to lose to adjudication, then bid away three or four battle droids and take Maul.

Another new element this year was the 16 player limit in the playoff rounds. One player won in each of his three preliminary games, earning a playoff spot. Nine others scored two wins. This left only six more spots. There were exactly six players who brought their own copy of the game and who won in his/her first qualifiying attempt. Fifteen of these 16 appeared on time and the 17th seed, Aurora Pack, slid into the 16th slot to round out the field. There were 31 total qualifiers.

Highlights from the prelims. Buddy Sinigaglio (Naboo) defeated Dan Strock on the third turn after playing only five Anakin cards. Vincent Sinigaglio's Anakin shut down the droids early and won the game soon thereafter when Obi-Wan finished off Maul. John Schoose's Maul sliced both of Lingle's Jedi by Turn 4, taking only eight damage, then proceeded to kill all the remaining palace guards without any misses. John Pack's droids left Andrew Sinigaglio's Qui-Gon as the only survivor in the palace for a Trade Federation victory. Alex Bell's Maul riposted Ilan Woll's Qui-Gon to the next life. Bill Morse's Maul, with eight damage, had 4 Maul cards in the hole. He expects to Kill Obi-Wan on that turn because the young Jedi has nine damage. Obi-Wan opens the turn with Obi-Wan's Fury and rolls three hits on the first half--no blocks. On the second half he rolls another five hits and Maul blanks again. Bill still hung on to win.

In the second round, David Pack's Qui-Gon retreats with eight hits. Obi-Wan steps in front and takes six himself. Maul is at 10. Naboo has Obi's Fury and heals 3 cards. Decides to play Fury first. Fails to kill Maul, but puts him up to 15 hits. Maul rolls five hits and Obi-Wan blocks none, dying. Next card play is Obi heals 3, which is wasted. The resting Qui-Gon is down to five hits now as Maul comes after him again. Maul dishes out five more, putting Qui-Gon on 10 hits. They are both 1 hit from death waiting to see who gets the next play. Qui-Gon prevails and finishes Maul, but is crippled and unable to help in the palace. The droids get the Naboo down to Qui-Gon and the Purple Queen, ending the game.

Chris Moffa's Jedi were the only two left as Lingle's droids wiped out all the rest of the palace for the win. Maul was still alive, too.

Bud Sinigaglio drew his Cousin Andrew in the round of 16 and killed both Andrew's Jedi by Turn 3. Maul then raged into the palace and five guards. Maul later killed two more guards for the win.

Evan Cagwin's Anakin blitzed through all five zones and ended Aurora Pack's hopes even before the generator core battle was resolved.

In the round of eight, Alex Bell's 10 Naboo characters blocked Buddy Sinigaglio's reinforcement hexes on the bottom floor. Buddy's droids were able to coax Obi-Wan up to the second floor and transfer numerous destroyer droids into the palace, but to no avail. The first eight shots at the destroyer droids in this game scored seven hits and only one was blocked. Nevertheless, Buddy's battle droids put Obi up to ten hits. Three cards into the second palace deck Obi-Wan recovered 3 and ended all hope for the droids. The Naboo were down to six characters, but Anakin finally did his part, shutting down the rest (after passing through all eight starfighter cards).

Lingle's Maul took nine quick hits in his semi-final game then eliminated both Jedi. Maul recovered 2 twice then took out the palace guards on the bottom floor for the win.

Bill Morse's Maul did not survive and Alex Bell's Obi-Wan sprinted into the bottom floor to help out. Obi killed nearly 20 battle droids as they came over from the battlefield, but it wasn't enough as they kept coming. The battle droids eventually finished the palace guards off. All the while Anakin was stalled on the last space.

Lingle's Jedi faced off with Bill Morse's Maul in the Final. Maul and Obi cancelled and Qui-Gon left the core to assist the queens. He killed numerous droids and marched up to the higher levels to finish off all the droids. The remaining 10 Naboo characters blocked the reinforcement hexes but Anakin had stalled and couldn't finish out. The droids in the palace plucked off a couple palace guards, opening up the reinforcement hexes and giving Bill a glimmer of hope. The game dragged for another 40 minutes while Anakin continued to fail on the last space. After 10 tries on the last spot with all starfighter cards gone, Lingle finally rolled box-cars to end the game four minutes before the mandatory adjudication.