battle cry 

Updated 11/22/2009

2009 WBC Report  

 2010 Status: pending 2010 GM commitment

Steve Lollis, MD

2009 Champion

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Event History
2001    Ilan Woll     56
2002    Philip Shea     52
2003    Josh Githens     64
2004    Barry Shoults     52
2005    Robert Eastman     52
2006    Jeff Cornett     42
2007     Larry Lingle     64
2008    Jeff Cornett     48
2009    Steve Lollis     32
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Jeff Cornett       FL    08     60
  2.  Philip Shea        VA    05     54
  3.  Ben Knight         MD    09     51
  4.  David Metzger      NY    08     33
  5.  Steve Lollis       MD    09     33
  6.  Larry Lingle       PA    07     30
  7.  Robert Eastman     NV    05     30
  8.  Barry Shoults      MI    04     30
  9.  Josh Githens       SC    03     30
 10.  Ilan Woll          CT    01     30
 11.  Jeff Mullet        OH    04     27
 12.  Michael Dauer      TX    08     18
 13.  Ty Hansen          DC    07     18
 14.  Greg Berry         VA    06     18
 15.  Ted Lange          ae    05     18
 16.  Lyman Moquin       DC    04     18
 17.  Bill Place         PA    03     18
 18.  George Sauer       OH    02     18
 19.  Roy Gibson         MD    04     15
 20.  Bill O'Neal        NY    09     12
 21.  Bill Alderman      VA    09     12
 22.  Tom Morin          MA    07     12
 23.  John Koskl         MD    02     12
 24.  Terry Coleman      CA    09      9
 25.  John Shaheen       MA    08      9
 26.  John Elliott       MD    05      9
 27.  Ryan Duncan        MD    02      9
 28.  Jeff Evich         MD    01      9
 29.  Stephen Buonocore  NJ    07      6
 30.  James Terry        NJ    06      6
 31.  Chuck Stapp        NJ    05      6
 32.  Bruce Reiff        OH    04      6
 33.  Ed Kendrick        uk    03      6
 34.  Rich Ogata         VA    02      6
 35.  Brian Conlon       OK    01      6
 36.  Jack Morrell       NY    09      3
 37.  Pat Mirk           FL    08      3
 38.  Scott Nerney       RI    07      3
 39.  Bill Edwards       VA    04      3
 40.  Richard Moyer      MN    03      3
 41.  Gene Billingsly    CA    01      3

2009 Laurelists                                                 Repeating Laurelists:

Ben Knight, MD
2nd

Bill O'Neal, NY
3rd

Terry Coleman, CA
4th

Bill Alderman, VA
5th

Jack Morrell, NY
6th


Past Winners

Ilan Woll ,CT
2001

Philip Shea, CT
2002

Josh Githens, SC
2003

Barry Shoults, MI
2004

Robert Eastman, NV
2005

Jeff Cornett, FL
2006, 2008

Larry Lingle, PA
2007

Steve Lollis, MD
2009
   

Ben Knight (left) treats Terry Coleman's rebels rudely as Bill Edwards and GM Jeff Cornett observe.

Ben's federals have the tables turned on him in the championship match with Steve Lollis.

It's When you win that counts ...

Scenarios were selected randomly from the15 that come with the game.  Extra card draws were bid to determine the choice of sides.  An analysis of tournament bids reveals that players wanted to avoid playing the Confederate side in Murfreesboro, New Market, and Pickett's Charge.  The Union side was unpopular for Kernstown, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Devil's Den. 

After bid adjustments, the sides tended to balance out with players winning on both sides for all scenarios except Antietam.  The Confederates won all four games of Antietam even though the Union had extra card draws of three, three, one, and zero.  The next most lopsided scenario was New Hope Church where the Confederates won four out of five times (although the preference for sides was mixed).

Competition began with five rounds of Swiss.  Eight players advanced to the playoffs with advancement guaranteed for players that won at least four games.  Ben Knight and Bill Edwards had perfect 4-0 records, and thus did not need to play their fifth game.  Next best were Roy Gibson, Bill Alderman, and Terry Coleman with 4-1 records.  Three players with only three wins advanced based on random selection - Steve Lollis, Jack Morrell, and Bill O'Neal.  Steve actually had a 3-1 record, but due to the random draw, did not need to play his fifth game and was awarded a bye.

Bill O'Neal advanced to the playoffs after losing his first two games by winning his next three. Two other players, Terry Coleman and Roy Gibson, lost their first game, but then swept their next four Swiss rounds.  Thus, using a five-round Swiss format gave hope to players who lost early and incentive to play all five rounds.

The single-elimination playoffs were seeded based on Swiss records.  Bill O'Neal continued his come-from-behind streak in the Quarter-Finals by beating previously undefeated Bill Edwards.  The other undefeated player, Ben Knight, won over Jack Morrell.  In evenly matched games, Steve Lollis defeated Bill Alderman, and Terry Coleman defeated Roy Gibson.

In the semi-finals, Ben Knight and Steve Lollis won to force the only rematch of the tournament.  In play, Ben had beaten Steve by executing a successful Pickett's Charge (impressively with a bid of only 0 for choice of sides). By random draw, the Final was the battle of First Bull Run. The championship would be decided by the most basic (and most balanced) scenario in the game.

On a bid of zero, Ben played the Union and moved first.  The battle began with Ben cautiously probing on his left for two turns, wounding the Confederate artillery.  Steve responded by killing one of the probing Union infantry (score 1-0).  He did this by advancing his leader with infantry to the ridge that dominates the center of the Board.  Steve's leader unit was then sent to the rear due to supply shortage.

The battle then intensified greatly.  Ben force marched in the center, but Steve promptly counterattacked.  Ben then unleashed an All Out Offensive, making his first kill of the game (score 1-1).  Steve's response was to attack in the center, killing two more Union units.  With the Confederates leading 3-1, Ben rallied one of his infantry in the center, followed by a further Confederate probe in the middle.  

Weakened in the middle, Ben switched the action to his right flank where a cavalry charge killed a Confederate unit (score 3-2).  Steve then executed a Hit-and-Run to kill the charging Union cavalry (score 4-2).  Ben now attacked on his left flank, killing a unit (score 4-3).

Steve took the battle back to the center with a probe that killed another Union unit.  The Confederates were now winning 5-3 and needed only one more kill to win.  Ben responded with an attack in the center killing one infantry, then rolling two dice against a two-strength cavalry.  Ben called, "Gotta do it!", and he did, killing the Confederate cavalry, and tying the game at 5-5.

Steve could only respond with a cavalry skirmish on the left.  As he put it, this was his ultimate gamble, "Do or die!"  His skirmishing cavalry ran down the Union artillery, killing it for a very close and exciting 6-5 confederate win.

Steve Lollis and Ben Knight each ended the tournament with six wins, one loss, and a bye.  They gave each other their only defeat, but Steve's win came at the end when it counted most.

 GM      Jeff Cornett (1st Year)  NA  
    JeffreyLCornett@aol.com   901-833-5580

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