The finalists gather to find Easter Island.	Laying hex tiles as you go makes the map different each time.

The inaugural WBC Conquest of Paradise tournament began with a Demo. Quite a crowd -- about two dozen people -- gathered around the table, listening to the game's designer describe how it's played. Most of those folks trooped along afterwards to the main gaming room for the main event. A total of 19 people played in the tournament, with some very dedicated players. The Mulligan and Round 1 had six games, with several players involved in both rounds. Some highlights: One game saw Samoa declare victory, only to be denied by play of the Severe Deforestation Card; Samoa ended in third place, after the others successfully attacked the obvious leader. Another game featured a strong alliance between Hiva and Raiatea, against Samoa and Tonga; Hiva's successful attacks against the enemy coalition achieved victory. Yet another game discovered Rapa Nui (Easter Island) right in the middle of the map, and contested by all of the players in the game: Hiva gained control of the island, and won the game. One unusual game had no battles at all, with Tonga building the biggest and best empire for the victory.

Semi-final and Final rounds were postponed to Sunday morning, to accommodate the schedules of some of the players involved; the others graciously accepted the new time. The first semi-final was a real squeaker - critical card play by Samoa stopped Tonga's last-turn attack, leaving him in third place (not advancing to the Final) instead of a possible first place. The other semi-final was completed very quickly, in about an hour (most of the tournament games took just under two hours). Two players finished well ahead of the others, providing an obvious two players advancing to the Final.

Curiously, three of the four finalists had also been involved in the Here I Stand Final (I wonder what the connection is between those two games...) A.J. Sudy drew Samoa as his starting islands, with David Cross right next door in Tonga. Ed Beach began with Raiatea, and Mark McCandless started the game in Hiva. Exploration began in a frustrating manner, but ultimately bore fruit for all four players. Samoa discovered Tahiti early, but then found lots of open ocean, until finally coming across Rapa Nui. Tonga discovered that it was nearly surrounded by open ocean, but then the mythical island of Hawaiki appeared through the mists. He also grabbed Niue before any other players could settle there. After a slow start, Raiatea's explorer finally made a major discovery: Hawaii! Rehoku and Rawaki soon followed. Hiva had more balanced success in exploring, finding Mangareva, Raratonga, the big prize of New Zealand, and finally the other mythical island, Kuporu. All four empires grew steadily, each player suspiciously eyeing the others. Samoa made the first attack, taking Kuporu from Hiva. The others did not know it, but Samoa had drawn cards that gave bonus points for ownership of a mythical island (like Kuporu). Samoa was dangerously close to victory! But Raiatea took Rapa Nui from Samoa: Raiatea had a card that got a bonus for holding this island! Hiva prepared for battle, and the next turn, his successful attack took Kuporu back from Samoa. Raiatea successfully defended Rapa Nui from Samoa's counter-attack, with the help of his Pa and Cannibalism cards. Meanwhile, Tonga launched an attack against neutral Fiji, sending a large expedition against the famously fierce warriors of those islands. They proved fierce indeed: Tonga's attack was beaten back, with heavy losses. Despite this setback, Tonga carefully counted his victory points, turned over his hidden cards, and declared victory with 22 and a half points. But he was just the first to declare victory: Raiatea also counted 22 and a half points! But Hiva trumped them both: he won in a squeaker, with 23 victory points! Everyone had a chance of winning, since fourth-place Samoa had been in first place, but had suffered two successful attacks, knocking him out of contention. Mark McCandless had won the coveted Easter Island moai bobble-head; oh, and a wood plaque, too!