Past Winners
Harald Henning, CT 2005, 2008 Alan Sudy, VA 2006 Bill Crenshaw, VA 2007 Jeff Mullet, OH 2009 Arthur Field, SC 2010

Mullet, Field and Mirk forge a new destiny ... let's not go there.	GM Bill Crenshaw's finalists, which for once, didn't include him.

Dropping both a heat and the semi-final round took its toll as attendance dropped to an alltime low and the event fell from the Century, but it made up in quality what it lacked in quantity. There were no shortage of close contests in the 2010 tournament. In the first heat, newcomer Steve Smith took the measure of defending champion Jeff Mullet and frequent finalists AJ Sudy and Eric Wrobel. Pat Mirk took out another ex-champ and the designer in Bill Crenshaw and perennial finalist Kevin Sudy, while Arthur Field needed a tiebreaker to overcome Charlie Hickok and ex-champ Harald Henning. In the second heat Jeff Mullet rebounded for a win and Kate Taillon won by a mere $5 over Rob Davidson. A sleepy Robb Effinger awoke in time to drop Bill Crenshaw to his second runnerup finish, leaving him a spectator in the Final of his own game for the first time. He was later heard to mutter something about eliminating the semi-final round as being a terrible idea.

When the mutterers had been shown the door, relative newcomers Robb Effinger (Louisiana), Pat Mirk (Quebec) and Steve Smith (Virginia) joined perennial finalists Arthur Field (Mexico) and Jeff Mullet (Pennsylvania), in the Final. On the first turn Louisiana played Manifest Destiny allowing the U.S. powers to get off to a quick start. Mexico played Thomas Jefferson by mistake, thinking he was Ben Franklin. Garnering the early sympathy proved effective as players largely ignored Mexico and he later was able to cash $70 in Gold at the end of Era 1. Quebec played Barnum and bought cards early and often, leading to an early Era 1/2 transition turn. Quebec and Pennsylvania never were able to work out their borders and Quebec played Civil War on Pennsylvania early in Era 2, crippling PA's chances.

Louisiana and Virginia were both doing well until Mexico's World War play set them back. Louisiana had overcome a $90 World War hit in the second heat to advance, but could not duplicate the feat here. Mexico was able to get Motion Pictures and the extra cash proved helpful as all players' Profit sagged and there were few big payouts. Mexico also snagged Patriotism at the end of Era 2 by collaborating with Pennsylvania on Lincoln (repaying an earlier debt) and was able to finish Rock n Roll with Elvis' help.

Late in the game Mexico went on a Technology run and was able to grab 4, aided by an empty New England following Louisiana's Depression play in the Northeast, and then cash Internet for a $120 total payout. Mexico also was able to convince Quebec to collaborate on Urban Renaissance (despite missing Quebec only one step), which was enough to put Mexico over the top by a comfortable margin, followed by Louisiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Quebec.

Overall, Mexico fared very well in the tournament, winning four of the eight games played. Pennsylvania won twice, Quebec and Louisiana once each while Virginia was shut out.

Final scores: Arthur Field (Mexico) 31 VPs/$35/70 Profit; Robb Effinger (Louisiana) 24 VPs/$30/50 Profit; Steve Smith 23 VPs/$15/85 Profit; Jeff Mullet 22 VPs/$15/75 Profit; Pat Mirk 21 VPs/$5/55 Profit.

Manifest Destiny 2011 PBeM Tournament Results

The tournament consisted of two preliminary rounds leading to a Final. Arthur Field and Rob Kircher each won two games to advance while Pete Staab, the game's designer Bill Crenshaw and Pete Pollard each won once and had to rely on best overall scores to reach the Final. Carl Damcke narrowly missed the cut and thereby took 6th place laurels.

In the Final, Bill Crenshaw, playing Mexico, came from behind for a narrow victory over Pete Pollard (Louisiana), Arthur Field (Pennsylvania), Pete Staab (Louisiana) and Rob Kircher (Quebec). Somehow Bill managed to accumulate 14 VPs on the last turn, to get to 30 VPs, without even playing a product payout card! The other players bolted to fast starts as Bill floundered early. Arthur finished Mech before Bill and used Homestead Act to get established in Northern California and build a city to grab $40 from Mexico's expected California Gold Rush play. Pollard expanded at will for an early Profit lead and still managed to claim Turnpike. Rob used Yankee Ingenuity to finish Patriotism and Staab cashed Native Sovereignty early and then finished Think Tank before Bill. Bill finally claimed Storytelling toward the end of Era 2 as Arthur made a big move, having completed Electricity by collaborating with Rob the turn before and then cashing $90 in Tobacco while sitting on $150 to start, and playing MLK to get a big jump on Urban Renaissance. Pollard played Spy on Arthur and Staab directed Civil War to Pollard, much to the latter's chagrin, who had played Abraham Lincoln earlier in Era 2 (Arthur's free Pioneer and city being enough of a disincentive to avoid CW). Bill, expanding last, played his priority token and Sales Catalogue to set up his expansion. During investment Bill decided to take on Arthur for Urban Renaissance, holding Yankee Ingenuity as well as controlling turn order. During expansion Bill went on a city rampage, taking four cities to claim the most, and setting up a potential $100 Technology payout from President. Bill, having drawn JFK to help with Urban, then negotiated an agreement with Arthur (who only needed $130 to win) to collaborate and use Arthur's leader (FDR) and chose to move last again. Pete P, moving first, played Prohibition to net himself $60, to Bill's $90. Staab, trying to regain most cities and reign in Bill, used Riots against Bill twice, but Bill, anticipating a Quebec Tourist payout that would net him another $70 (and needing to preserve most cities to have a chance to get to 30 VPs), bit the bullet and used President defensively, foregoing the Tech payout. Bill then played the Wright Brothers in addition to JFK, and after collaborating with Arthur on Urban and licensing FDR (as previously agreed) had enough cash to buy Tolerance, Safety Net, Airplanes and Television, to hit 30 VPs and escape with a $15 win over Pollard. Final scores:

1st .. 30VP/$20/110Profit - Bill/Green/Mex
2nd .. 30VP/$5/100Profit - Pollard./Purple/LA
3rd .. 27VP/$80/90Profit - Arthur/Blue/PA
4th .. 27VP/$0/80Profit - Staab./Yellow/VA
5th .. 25VP/$15/95Profit - Rob/Red/QU