Seth Gunar, Peter Card and Chris Trimmer are among those trying to succeed in Alexander's empire.	Attendance challenged, Successors at WBC remains a reliable way to schedule four skilled opponents for a game.

Apparently the buzz from the new edition was short-lived as attendance plummeted again - leaving just a one-year increase to mark its arrival. Nevertheless, congrats to Daniel and Bruce Blumentritt who both made the Final in their very first appearance. Both acquitted themselves extremely well, and any concerns about possible dad-and-lad collusion were shot down early when Daniel ambushed Bruce's Craterus at the start of Turn 2 in an (unsuccessful) attempt to steal Heracles.

The other finalists were myself and the Estimable Seth Gunar, the F. Lee Bailey of Successors Players. Five-time champion Doug Smith had to be satisfied with the view from the cheap seats this year. Seth drew the dread combination of Perdiccas and Antigonus - the classic combo for the Run to Pella - but I quickly maneuvered Lysimachus and Peithon to claim Mesopotamia and cover it with 1 CU garrisons, efficiently separating Antigonus (the hammer) from Perdiccas' troops (the anvil) for most of the game.

Despite holding off the attempted Patricide, and with five fleets to command, Bruce fell just short of the win on Turn 3, and Heracles met his demise. Daniel raised enough fleets to match his old man, and held uncontested control of Europe, but having thrown off his Champion badge early, he had to bob and weave between Seth and Bruce to hold on to Caria and the Asia Minor coast.

I stole Alex IV and knitted together a chain of control markers across the top of the map from Thrace to Persis, forcing Seth to give up his Champion status to stop me. Once he did, his Royals would no longer fight for him, and Peithon swept through Babylon hovering up troops to crush Perdiccas with his own men.

Antigonus moved on to my territory with an army of Macedonians, and I sprung "Salvation in the 11th Hour" as an act of desperation - that card drew blood for the first time in perhaps five years, and the game was sealed.

The Final ended on Turn 4 with my claiming a Regency win with Alex IV and a 3-point edge over Bruce, but it was a very close-fought game with several lead changes. My superior luck with the dice proved decisive, winning four consecutive battles on the last turn to protect my territory.

Bruce received a copy of the annotated histories of Herodotus for being both the top ranked finalist and the 2nd place finisher. Daniel received an historical atlas of the Greek empires to help him find his way out of the Northwest corner of the game board. Lastly, Seth received a book on the lessons to be learned from Alexander and his Generals. Read closely, Seth!

The tourney was small this year with only 13 entrants, but that made for a more efficient way to advance winners and all games were played to satisfactory conclusions without need for adjudication for time. There were no Legitimacy auto-wins this year in five games, with VP auto-wins accounting for three of the five games.

Other notes:

In all five qualifying games this year, tables were allowed to use any of the following optional rules if all players agreed:

1. Attrition: Over-stacked armies must roll on the attrition table, not simply lose one CU (used in four games).

2. Reverse Draw for Generals (used in 0 games).

3. Rhodes Defense: Any Naval move that ends on Rhodes while Rhodes is marked with an Independent Marker is subject to an automatic Naval Interception from the Rhodes fleet - the Rhodes Fleet defends at a strength of 2 (used in two games)

For the Final, the "Pontic Fleet" card is removed and rule 23.5 is in effect (drafting Seleucus or Eumenes to replace a dead General).

To replace the three cards removed from the deck, I put in three that were ultimately rejected from the re-issue:

"Celeitus the White" - treats a naval battle as though you have a "3" General

"Cavalry Superiority" - get a column shift for control of one of four areas

and "Salavation," which is a card I have always loved (after all, it did actually happen to Perdiccas). However, I do agree with Seth that dispersing the army is a problem, given how the game has evolved since version 1.

If I include the card in future events, it will be modified to say that the Army is not dispersed, but its Movement ends in the current space and no CUs in that space can be moved for the remainder of that Player Turn (which would include Avoid/Intercept if played during another Player's turn).

Thanks to one and all for their attendance and support. Sorely missed this year were last year's champ Henry Rice and our favorite Satrap of Cappadocia, Ahmet Ilpars - I hope for their eventual return.

Links
Successors page at GMT: Includes downloadable version of the rule book and this excellent VASSAL module.
Successors (3rd Edition) page at Board Game Geek
Successors (3rd Edition) folder at ConSimWorld