Scott Smith and Jonathan Squibb refight the Holy Wars.	Area movement games lend simplicity and elegance to maps.

Originally released in 2008 by Multi­Man Publishing, Warriors of God was exceptionally well received, and sold out much quicker than anticipated. Multi­Man Publishing reprinted the game, and it became available once again early in the summer of 2009. With the renewed availability and good reputation, we were hopeful that there would be a strong turnout for the tournament, even though it was the first time the event was being offered.

Before the tournament started, Adam Starkweather (the game's developer, and International Gamer's Series honcho at MMP) assisted with the demonstration of the game to help get players up to speed. Several had never played the game before, but the game mechanics are simple enough that within 15 minutes or so, the key mechanics can be fully understood. The game comes with two scenarios, the first The Hundred Years War (which includes Jeanne d'Arc as a French commander) and The Lion in Winter (which features Robin Hood as an English commander). It was recommended that if players were unfamiliar with the game, or a little rusty, that they should try the first scenario The Hundred Years War, and if both players agree, they may try the second The Lion in Winter scenario. As it turns out, for all the games played, the players selected the first scenario.

We had a total of eight players, giving us four games. As already mentioned, all the players selected the first scenario. The first two games ended on Turn 9 (if the game is played to completion, it is 12 turns long, or ends if either player gets to 30 victory points), with the English player winning both (the English player having 20 or more victory points). The second pair of games ended with French victories at the end of Turn 10 (with the French player having 19 and 25 victory points, respectively). One of these games was played outside the normal game room, as the player was GMing another game at the same time while playing in this tournament.

Of the four players who won, only three were able to advance with one dropping out due to other commitments. Due to this, the field was rounded out by Gary Phillips in an Eliminator role, who had performed the same chore for us in the Storm Over Stalingrad tournament. These two semi-final games had one game ending after Turn 8 as an English victory (with 27 points, won by Gary Phillips), but the second game concluded at the end of Turn 12, with a narrow French victory (three victory points in favor to the French won by Jason White). Jason's hard fought victory when combined with Gary's successful turn as an Eliminator was enough for him to be named the winner of the first Warrior of God tournament in a mere two rounds.

It was gratifying to find out that later on Saturday, Warriors of God was named the winner of the Charles S. Roberts Award for the best pre-WW2 era board game, which was a great way to end WBC.