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Mark Hinkle (left) and Charkie
Hickok watch as the Etruscans make their move. |
In a crowded field for CDWs,
Sword of Rome attendance dropped 56% in its sophomore
year. |
From Feast to Famine ...
This year's tournament only had 16 people playing five games
over a space of two days. I tracked down some folks who played
last year and learned they played in the Command and Colors:
Ancient tournament which, unfortunately, was scheduled at
the same time as our first round. Hopefully the release of the
fifth player expansion and avoiding C&C Ancients will persuade
the wayward wargamers to return Sword of Rome to the century.
Once again I was impressed with the players in my tournament;
they made my job very easy. The one table that ran out of time
adjudicated themselves and everyone seemed to be having a good
time. Perhaps I internalized all the statements about how everyone
at WBC is a vicious, backstabbing jerk who wants nothing more
than to get that plaque and expected the worse, but I have really
enjoyed my two years of GMing Sword of Rome.
Players again bid support to determine the order in which
players picked the power they would play. The average bid dropped
from 0.88 last year to 0.55 this year, with a high bid of four.
The Romans were the most popular choice, followed by the Greeks,
Gauls and Etruscan/Samnites which was unchanged from last year.
Of the five games played, the Romans won twice, and the Greeks,
Gauls, and Etruscan/Samnites once each. None of the optional
rules were used from the 1.3 version of the living rules and
the average length of a game stayed steady at around five hours.
I would like all players that participated in the tournament,
either this year or last year, to give me feedback on the format.
Would a change to a two-heat format with the four best players
advancing to the Final and the elimination of bidding for powers
increase your chances of entering the tournament next year?
The first round was pretty ordinary with the usual swings
of fate, but nothing that made me stop and double check the
board. That all changed with the Final - Brian "McClellan"
Mountford's Gauls were eliminated from the game at the end
of Turn 2. The rule that Brad made me put in about what to
do if after the reinforcement phase a player has no CU on the
board was used and I owe Brad $10. And what military machine
wiped the Gauls off the board, you ask? The T-Gauls. It was
not the Roman dictator, the wily Etruscans, or a Greek naval
invasion, but the T-Gauls in a series of lopsided battles that
erased Brennus and his merry band of warriors from the pages
of history. So the Final entered uncharted territory at the
beginning of Turn 3 as a three-player game with the vast Gallic
homeland empty.
Immediately the Romans, Bill "WormTongue" Dyer,
and the Greeks, Mark "D-Day" Hinkle, entered into
an alliance to prevent the Etruscan, Frank "Why is everyone
looking at me?" McNally, from sweeping north and taking
all of the Gallic victory point spaces. The Greeks launched
a naval invasion and the Romans marched north to prevent the
Etruscan automatic victory. Turn 3 ended with the Etruscan
unable to garner enough victory points from their Gallic holdings
to offset the spaces taken by the Romans. At the start of Turn
4, the Romans could not help but notice that the vast majority
of the Greek CUs were in the Gallic homeland so he broke the
alliance with the Greeks and was able to secure an automatic
victory at the end of the turn with 12 victory points. Mark
is the only player to have earned laurels in both years of
the tournament, fourth place last year and third this year.
Hopefully the tournament will continue on for another two years
so Mark can continue his progress to the first place plaque
in 2008.
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Wray Ferrell [2nd year]
112 Carrousel Lane,
Cary, NC 27513
NA