Tommy Johnson and Tim Hitchings pair off at pylon 6.	Sam Edelston and Ann Bruck Meet early.
Young Ben Gardner is matched with Susan Cornett.	Defending champ Gordon Rodgers goes down in the Quarter-Finals.

As in previous years, the 2010 Memoir '44 tournament was a Friday 6-round single elimination tournament, with a Mulligan round the night before. Each round was a two-game match. This year's scenarios were chosen by designer Richard Borg and a panel of distinguished Memoir players from six countries. The first three rounds could be played with the basic set. The later rounds were from the Mediterranean, Pacific, and Eastern theaters, respectively, giving prospective champions a chance to show their versatility. The field of 54 players included three past champions.

Mulligan and Round 1: Sword Beach - D-Day amphibious landing from the original set. 24 players in the Mulligan round and 34 players in round 1 the following morning, including four who re-entered after losing in the Mulligan. Congratulations to Jim Fardette, Jeff Paull, Mark Polelle, and Jason Pollock, for scoring shutout victories at this scenario. Almost made it: David Metzger was edged out by Peter Eldridge, 7-7 medals, 30-32 figures.

Round 2: Battle of the Bridgehead - well balanced, dry-land scenario with a good mix of infantry, tanks, and terrain. The round's only shutout was gained by Jeff Paull. Almost made it: Newcomer Scott Driessen came razor-close to handing GM Sam Edelston an early exit, 9-9 medals, but lost on the tiebreaker, number of figures eliminated, 36-37.

Round 3: Mont Mouchet - French Resistance scenario with a 4-medal goal, where killing either of the German armored units is worth two medals. Historically, the Allies and Germans win this scenario an equal percentage of the time - but at WBC, the Allies managed only one win out of 14 games (7%). Congrats to Jacob Hebner for the round's only Allied victory and only sweep. Shutouts were won by Jim Dougherty, Sam Edelston, Jim Fardette, and Joe Harrison. Past champions Steve Lollis and Gordon Rodgers were both eliminated in this round.

Round 4: Escape via the Coastal Road - devious Mediterranean desert scenario, where the Axis has half a dozen armored units, with infantry support, and Allies can gain medals through exit hexes on either side of the board (with the Left exit hex completely unguarded). No shutouts this round. The biggest win was a 6-1 victory by David Gubbay as Axis. David was one of only two players to sweep his match here, along with Jim Fardette. In one oddity, John Skiba's Brits eliminated only one enemy figure while scoring four medals at the exit hexes, in a 6-4 loss, though he advanced to the semi-finals on the strength of his 6-3 victory as the Axis. In the closest match of the day, two-time champ Joe Harrison had to go to the third-level tiebreaker to oust GM Sam Edelston, as both won as Axis by identical scores of 6-5 medals, 26-16 figures; their tiebreakers were 6-6 cumulative wins, and 37-36 cumulative medals.

That set up the semi-final round of David vs Jim and Joe vs John.

Round 5: Sugar Loaf & Half Moon - Imperial Japanese Army hiding in caves, under assault by well-equipped Marines. The cave networks give Japanese infantry great protection and allow them to move to any section of the board, giving the scenario a Whack-a-Mole quality.

The first match reflected the international spirit of the tournament. Contender Jim Fardette had flown in from Germany. He had previously played Memoir solitaire, but had never played against a real opponent. In fact, he had attended the how-to demonstration the night before. Jim tore through his first two real-life opponents, 10-4, 10-3, and then ousted former champ Steve Lollis, 5-4, at Mont Mouchet, on his way to a 7-1 record. Australian-born opponent David Gubbay came up from Texas. On his way to the semi-finals, David dominated his first two opponents, 10-4, 10-2, and then ousted defending champion Gordon Rodgers, 7-6, at Mont Mouchet, also on his way, to a 7-1 record.

In their first game, several of Jim's Marine units retreated out of range of the Japanese infantry, but eventually some Japanese units charged out on a General Advance, killing an engineer and an Allied tank, to gain a 4-3 lead. However, the Allies clawed back, striking the final blow with four units ganging up against a full-strength Japanese infantry that had charged out, giving Jim a 6-4 win. In the rematch, there was fierce fighting on the Allied Left in the first half of the game, and David's Marines scored two early kills with an Artillery Bombard, to gain a 4-2 lead. After some back-and-forth, Allied artillery ultimately plinked a weakened Japanese artillery off the board for the final kill, earning David a 6-3 win, and giving him the match by a narrow 10-9 score.

Meanwhile, at the next table, the other semi-final match pitted two-time champion Joe Harrison against challenger John Skiba. Joe showed that he was still a force to be reckoned with in the Mulligan round, when he swept former champion Steve Lollis off the board, 10-4. John had recently played his 700th Memoir game, with a 69% lifetime winning percentage, though in this tournament he had split his first four matches, winning no match by more than two medals.

In game 1, John's Japanese made a "now-or-never" banzai charge that killed two units, and followed with Their Finest Hour and two more kills the next turn. With the game tied 5-5, Joe's dice sputtered and failed, rolling several misses against 1-figure Japanese infantries. After a couple of turns, the Japanese finished off a Marine infantry to earn the win, 6-5. In the rematch, Joe withdrew much of the Japanese infantry out of 2d artillery range until he had accumulated a good hand (Move Out, Infantry Assault, and Direct from Headquarters). At this point, he charged forward, destroying an Allied tank. John Counter-Attacked the DHQ, killing off three weakened infantries, followed by two more kills on their next turn. The Marines lost the rest of their armor the next turn, but then they used a Recon-in-Force to score the last kill, giving John a 6-2 win and a 12-7 sweep of the match.

Round 6: And so, it came to the Final. John Skiba fresh off a sweep, against David Gubbay, who had the best record in the tournament. Gates of Moscow, where dug-in and terrain-protected Russian defenders - hindered by Commissar rules - are up against the Panzer-heavy German invaders. In the Center, the Germans face two Russian infantry units and an artillery in sandbags, on a hill. In the first game, David's Germans made that their first target, rapidly eliminating the artillery with good dice, and then cleaning out the two infantries, but losing two armored units in the process. After this, the Germans methodically swept down their right flank with an Assault Right, Armor Assault, and Attack Right - eliminating two of the three Russian infantry defenders and weakening the third to a single figure. Trailing 5-2, John sent a Russian Infantry Assault down his right flank, in search of medals. He survived an Ambush, and picked up kills on that turn and the following one, but he lost a unit in the process. At this point, a German Infantry Assault captured a bridge that gained David the winning medal. Advantage to David: 7-4 medals, 25-16 figures.

In the rematch, John quickly eliminated the two Russian infantry units in the center, losing just one tank in the process, and then things went on hold for a couple of turns. Suddenly, the plastic started to fly when a German Armor Assault obliterated the Russian artillery on the hill. David would destroy German armored units on the next three turns, but in the process, he pulled two infantry units out of cover. The Germans destroyed a Russian tank, claimed the medal bridge, and eliminated both of the unprotected infantries, to gain the win: 7-4 medals, 23-13 figures. Match totals for John: 11 medals, 29 figures. David: 11 medals, 28 figures - giving John the championship by a single figure.

The GM wishes to thank Assistant GMs Mark Guttag, Gordon Rodgers, and John Skiba for their help in making the tournament run as smoothly as it did - with special thanks to Mark, the past GM, for his extensive, invaluable advice and assistance in the preparation for the tournament and at the event, itself.

Special thanks, also, to the international panel that chose this year's scenarios: Bayernkini (Germany), Brummbar (Canada), JJAZ (Belgium), Longbearder (Russia), Steve Nightrain (Indonesia), Yangtze (England), and especially Richard Borg (Commander-in-Chief).

Jim Fardette and Dave Guttag meet in the semi-finals.	GM Edelston and his finalists.