Ballroom A proved inhospitable to the Crusaders .. who won only twice.	The number of block events was up but their attendance was down ... cause & effect?

This year's first Crusader Rex event saw 12 players square off trying to capture the Holy Land from the infidels. Who exactly are the infidels we will debate at a later time. The bidding increment used was the number of starting blocks a player was willing to give up to play the Saracens. The number bid was also the number of blocks added to the initial Frank starting forces. The average bid was 2 to play the Saracens.

The first round saw the Saracen win four of six and that proved to be the highwater mark for the Crusaders. The Saracens seemed to be the easier side to play throughout as the final win tally was 8-2 in their favor. There were several very close games where the Franks had a chance late but the initial Saracen push was good enough to hold on for the win.

Designer Jerry Taylor had a chance for a Crusader win against eventual Champion Ran Draker after he killed Saladin early with a clever trapping of the Muslim leader in the first year. However, Ron managed to overcome this loss and went on to a 5-2 win when Jerry's last turn counterattacks failed to capture the needed two cities.

Meanwhile Joe Pabis was working his way to a climactic meeting with Ron and they met to play the Final with Ron getting the Saracens and Joe playing the Franks for the first time in the tournament. Ron used a gradual constricting strategy to slowly grind down the Crusaders and eventually had them pushed back into the south where they finally gave up after a big battle where the remaining Frank forces were decimated.

I'd like to thank all who attended and played. I think being scheduled against the Hammer of the Scots drove the attendance down for both but it was interesting to see how players handled the situation. It seems the Saracens have a bit of an advantage but is it as large as the spread showed? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, not only must this event pass the membersjip vote in December (or gain a sponsor), but it will also need a GM if it is to return in 2008 as I will not be available to handle the chores. So if you want to save the Holy Land ...