wellington  

Updated 11/21/2010

2010 WBC Report  

   2011 Status: pending 2011 GM commitment

Peter Reese, VA

2009-2010 Champion

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Event History
2006   David Gantt     28
2007    Ed Rothenheber     27
2008    Henry Russell     20
2009    Peter Reese     22
2010    Peter Reese     26
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Peter Reese        VA    10    108
  2.  Ed Rothenheber     MD    09     66
  3.  Henry Russell      PA    10     48
  4.  David Gantt        SC    06     30
  5.  Melvin Casselberry PA    10     21
  6.  Al Hurda           on    10     12
  7.  Jesse Boomer       KS    10     12
  8.  Rob Olsson         MD    10     12
  9.  Francis Czawlytko  MD    09     12
 10.  Rob Mull           CO    07     12
 11.  Robert Vollman     ab    06     12
 12.  Dorian Key         DC    09      9
 13.  Nick Frydas        uk    08      9
 14.  Robert March       CA    06      9
 15.  Ahmet Ilpars       tu    08      6
 16.  Phil Barcafer      PA    07      6
 17.  Phil Pendleton     PA    09      3
 18.  Tom Vickery        NJ    06      3

2010 Laurelists                                             Repeating Laurelists:

Henry Russell, PA
2nd

Al Hurda, on
3rd

Jesse Boomer, KS
4th

Melvin Casselbury, PA
5th

Rob Olsson, MD
6th

Past Winners

David Gantt, SC
2006

Ed Rothenheber, MD
2007

Henry Russell, PA
2008

Peter Reese, VA
2009-2010

Martin Sample, Pete Reese and Henry Russell stir up the Spanish countryside.

Keith Wixson, Melvin Casselberry and Francis Czawlytko wage war on the Iberian peninsulia.

Battles for the Iberian Peninsula

For the 2010 Wellington tournament 26 players ran the hard-fought campaigns on the Iberian Peninsula to see whether the forces of the Allies or of France would be victorious. 13 players, exactly half the field, had never played in a Wellington tournament before, and many were new to the game. One of these players went all the way to the Final.

Mulligan Round

In the mulligan round, four games were fought to see who would get an early chance at a semi-final spot (and who might show up for Round 1 the next day). At each table, players saw the unexpected events that are the hallmark of Wellington.

Carl Copeland moved six Spanish troops against two northern French, only to have Matthew Russell play artillery and win despite 3:1 odds. The game ended Turn 1 in a Peace roll, with the French winning overwhelmingly.

In another game, Andy Joy's Spanish troops marched with Castanos to roll eight 6's as Spain to eliminate Marty Sample's Soult and accompanying troops from the Armee du Sud. The roll was deflated by a card play so that Soult escaped, but the Allies went on to win the round.

Tracey Casselberry's Armee du Sud successfully took Gibraltar in two rounds of a single siege (and rolling five 6's before the defender matches your 5's and 6's with five dice is no easy task).

For Melvin Casselberry as Spain, the mulligan round was filled with excitement. At the end of 1812, there were no French forces in Southern Spain. Soult had fled to Valencia and British generals sat in Madrid. In 1813, the British moved on Valencia to finish off Soult and Drouet. Spain played all but two of his cards to affect the battle, and in the end, only the Hand of God card saves Soult. By the second Spanish impulse, Spain has no cards. The Allies hold on to win the game, with the victory going to Pat Duffy, who played the British.

The mulligan round also helped to demonstrate how any side can win in Wellington. In fact, of the four players who won in the Mulligan, each carried a different power to victory: one each for Britain, Spain, Armee du Nord, and Armee du Sud.

Round 1

With a number of returning players from the mulligan round and new players added to the mix, there were five full games for Round 1. The Allies took three of the five, with Britain winning two of the three Allied victories. The Armee du Nord and Armee du Sud split the two French wins.

Melvin Casselberry won his game as Britain and provided such a great learning experience on how to play the game to the other players that a number of them noted it to the GM. For Peter Reese and Pete Gurnean who played Armee du Sud and Armee du Nord respectively, sieges ended up being the big challenge on their way to victory. Valencia, in particular, was problematical as it withstood six sieges with a full Soult before eventually falling.

Round 2

For many who come to the WBC to play Wellington, having a chance to play a number of games with people who obviously enjoy the game is a great time. Still, in the end there can be only one overall winner of the event, and the purpose of the Round Two semi-finals was to determine which four of the advancing 16 players would meet in the next day's Final.

All four games were hard fought. The GM was eliminated in a close heat where the armies of France had the Allies on the run, so much so that the Allies conceded in 1813. The Armee du Nord had more keys to work with, however, advancing first-time tournament player Al Hurda to the next round.

At another table, Melvin Casselberry and Jesse Boomer played France neck and neck, until in the end, Jesse's Armee du Sud slipped ahead by half a victory point to advance.

Defending champ Pete Reese and Larry Burman took the Allies to victory, but it was Pete's British army that carried the day.

And at the last table to finish, 2008 champ Henry Russell and Steve Pack ran the Armee du Nord and Armee du Sud respectively. Henry edged ahead at the end of the game to complete our quartet going to the final round.

Round 3

In the roll off to see who would select which power, Jesse Boomer selected Britain and Al Hurda took Spain, allying the two former champions with the forces of France.

In the early going, things looked very good for the Allies. An early defeat of Suchet at Valencia by Blake had the forces of Spain knocking on the doors of France in 1812. Wellington built forces and had a very successful march towards Madrid. Both Pete and Henry had to sacrifice a number of cards to keep the battles from overwhelming them. But somewhere in the early part of the second hour, things changed, decidedly in favor of the French.

Henry Russell played The Eagles Come South, which gives each French player four strength points to help bolster the home front as well as an additional home card. In two or three quick card plays, the situation on the board changed from an early Allied victory to a French stranglehold in Portugal. Still holding Madrid and the necessary keys in Spain, the forces of Napoleon won the day by taking the keys of Portugal, satisfying the conquest of Portugal victory conditions. At the end of the victory point count, Peter Reese retained his Wellington title to become the first repeat champion. The Final was over in two hours and 15 minutes on good dice, great cards, and excellent play by all.

With all that goes into running a tournament at WBC, I would like to thank my assistant GMs Mike Buccheri and Andy Joy, without whom the rounds would not have kicked off on time as they did. One demo was just before the first round, and there were no tables available for Wellington, so Mike and Andy rolled them out and got them set up for the five games that were played while I demonstrated how to play on the other side of the hotel.

We look forward to seeing you again in 2011.

Peter Gurneau negotiates with defending champ Pete Reese.

2008 champ Henry Russell and his son Matt battle with Steve Peek.
 GM      Rob Olsson (1st Year)  NA  
    raolsson@yahoo.com   NA

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