Young Zack Lawrence meets designer Mark Herman.	Paul Gaberson downs Paul Koenig, back after a long absence.

Once again a small but intrepid band of Empire of the Sun aficionados went to the Pacific and engaged in some friendly combat thanks to the support of fellow members who keep voting the game back into the mix. The tournament used the well tested 1943 yearly scenario in the preliminary rounds and finished with a Campaign scenario for the Final.

The opening rounds found our intrepid band of eight dueling across the Pacific. The 1943 tournament scenario opens at the close of the Guadalcanal campaign and the Allies prepared to initiate Operation Toenails (New Georgia). On New Guinea Allied forces are concentrated for an advance on Lae. Over in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater the Allies are poised to launch their Arakan offensive.

The Japanese have to balance defending Rabaul and their inner defense perimeter while marshalling their forces for a potential offsensive in China or against Northern India. At the start of the scenario the Japanese hold Attu, which if not re-taken by the Allies in the first turn yields victory points. The Japanese fleet is damaged but still quite powerful and the Japanese air arm still have significant capabilities. All in all a very even fight.

Over the course of the first two rounds the outcomes reflected a 50-50 outcome with neither side gaining an edge.

Retaining his crown was Dennis Culhane who prevailed in the Final with the Allies in a very rare early game victory when he took Truk in 1942 from a surprised Japanese opponent. One of the interesting things that has emerged from several years of WBC and Internet play is a viable Plan Orange Allied response to the initial Japanese onslaught. The Japanese player can usually deal with this early US attack, but it requires careful placement of forces to avoid vulnerable points. The two major Allied objectives are usually Truk or a major reinforcement of the Philippines. Reinforcing Truk and a game Turn 2 capture of the Philippines neutralizes this option. Where the Japanese have taken risks are usually associated with deferring the capture of the Philippines in lieu of an earlier attack into the CBI.

WBC veterans have learned that Dennis is the master of the early Plan Orange and this year was no different. The Japanese player seeing his Central Pacific smashed with the loss of the South Seas HQ honorably resigned.

We will follow the same format for next year and we are re-organizing the tournament into the beginners format, so we will be teaching all comers in 2010. See you there.