Imperial got great word-of-mouth reviews this year as an economic, euro non-wargame wargame. This is an event we expect to grow next year.	The Imperial demo was well attended. Many GMs have been surprised by how many new players they can attract with the B-rating and an instructional hour beforehand.

Imperial is a new release by Rio Grande/Eggert-Spiele in which players represent investors who shrewdly manipulate the fates of the Great Nations of pre-WWI Europe in order to increase their personal wealth. This game has received high praise from those who favor the "meatier" euro-style games as well as from those grounded in the classic AH multi-player games of years past. While the game borrows some mechanics from the previous Eggert-Spiele release Antike, the game has been most often described as akin to "18XX on a Diplomacy board".

The heats drew very well for a vendor-sponsored trial event, with 38 different players participating over the two preliminary heats. The demo was very well attended, and nearly a dozen players participated who had never played the game before WBC. Because this was a trial event of a new game, the decision was made to use the "basic" set-up and rules for all heats. The reasons for this decision were appreciated even by those experienced players who would have preferred to use the "advanced" setup.

Tenplayers were selected to participate in the semi-final round, selected from eight heat winners and two alternates. One of those alternates, Tony DeFeo, was among the four who subsequently advanced to the Final. It should be noted that Tony learned the game during a quick run-through of the rules given by Steve Simmons in the minutes leading up to the second heat. His good showing can be seen as quite an accomplishment considering that success in Imperial has very little to do with luck, and that the rules, while not overly complex, are not really intuitive.

The Final Four were Patrick Maloney, Jim Doughan, Lane Newbury and the afore-mentioned Tony. Patrick began the game with the flags of Great Britain and Russia; Tony held Germany and Italy; Jim controlled France and Lane had Austria.

The game began with fairly standard moves; Austria and Italy produced units, and France built a Factory. No player held a minority stake in Britain, so Patrick had more leeway to diversify his holdings and with Britain's first move took control of Italy. Lane chose to use Russia's first move to import fleets and armies. Lane later used his investor move to grab control of Germany.

This game between four skilled players was close throughout. The Stock Multiplier of all nations was "4" heading into the final few rounds, with France (by this time controlled by Lane Newbury) leading on the track. Typically, by the end of an Imperial game, the leading players use their own cash to speed the leading nation's markers around the rondel. This allows the stock price to be increased at a faster rate. This game was no different, and it seemed that Lane would be able to push France into the "5" multiplier space and thereby increase the value of his shares enough to win the game. But he fell just short of the cash necessary to make the final move, allowing the others to catch up. By the time France's marker did reach the end space, Patrick's holdings were large enough for him to win. The final scores were: Patrick 207, Tony 196, Jim 167 and Lane 144. The players unanimously declared the game to have been the "Best Ever".