Dave Rohde consults his rulebook - an occupational hazard with a new game.	Rob Kilroy (left) and Jeff Paull try their hand at DoW's latest.

The inaugural event of Richard Borg's latest Command & Colors game, BattleLore, drew by far the smallest debut of any of the system's games despite - or perhaps because of - the most impressive physical package of the lot.  But most players stayed for all four rounds of the Swiss portion, perhaps induced by Days of Wonders generous handout of an Earth Elemental to all those playing in every round.
 
The first four rounds were the Wizard and Lore scenario.   That scenario was chosen because it is one of the most balanced and indeed, the Standard verses Pendent wins were even and the most games were decided by one or two points.  To add a little variety, after the first round, players could, by mutual consent, use a different LoreMaster.  Only two games were played with a Cleric and none were played with either a Warrior or a Rogue.  The games with the Cleric were two of the only games to end at six VP to one, so maybe that was a little unbalancing.
 
At the end of four rounds, we had two undefeated players, Keith Levy and Jim Shaw.  Five players were tied at t3-1 and by virtue of tie-breakers set by net VP totals, it fell to Matt Evinger to play Shaw while Chris Ellis opposed Levy. 
 
The elimination rounds used the Hill Camp scenario, which gave each player a creature to add a little spice to things.  Each player also got to choose their own War Council.  Evinger picked a level 2 Commander and a level 3 Warrior, while Evinger placed one on each Lore Master.  This turned out to be a good combination, as he was able to pull off a 6:4 win.  Levy took a level three Commander and one of both Warrior and Wizard.  Ellis took a level one Commander, level three Wizard and a level one Cleric.  In this one, Levy killed the Hill Giant with his first arrow shot, so demoralizing the Goblins that he enjoyed a 6:3 win.
 
In the Final, Levy and Evinger stuck with their winning War Councils, so Levy had more Command Cards while Evinger could make better use of the Lore.  The Final began with a rush of cavalry verses cavalry.  Levy's Standards got the best of it, grabbing a quick lead.  But a Foot Onslaught on the opposite flank allowed the Pendant's Goblins to maul the archers, bringing the game to a tie.  After trading a couple losses of Medium Infantry, the GM pointed out that the Creatures were there for a purpose and that he would take it as a person affront if they did not move the entire game.  The players obliged and the Spider moved up first and webbed and killed a unit, putting Levy a point away from victory.  But the Hill Giant then charged into the fray and returned the game to a tie.  The Spider then webbed the Hill Giant, trapping him for a couple infantry units to finish him off, giving Levy the first BattleLore wood.
 
As their choice of council members would indicate, Levy was better able to attack, while Evinger used more Lore, but in the end, superior maneuver prevailed over magic.

"Rules ... we don't need no stinkin' rules"	Monitor Karen McCulloch gives GM Phil a hand with his orcs.

 BattleLore Junior

Twelve little orcs tried their hand at BattleLore with David Rennert proving to be the most adept at causig the necessary mayhem. The other junior laurelists were:

2nd: Hannah Navolis

3rd: Philip Entwhistle

4th: Sophia Harris

5th: Nathan Taylor

6th: Andrew MacDonald