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Reach isn't a problem in the preliminaries.
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GM Githens moves a player's car for
him. |
One
for the Thumb ...
Once again the tournament brought drivers from across the
globe to the boardgame racing capital of the world; Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. In the quiet countryside of hand churned butter,
barn raising, and finely crafted furniture; the excitement that
is Formula 1 racing took over for two glorious days. I opted
to use a three-heat format with the top ten qualifiers advancing
directly to a Final giving drivers a chance to play, have fun,
and not need to race for days on end to maybe make a semi-final.
This is one event where making the Final is its own reward.
GM Githens goes to great efforts to provide a huge scale track
every year for use in the championship race which provides quite
a visual spectacle - even if it does make the heats played on
those itty bitty game maps seem hum drum in comparison.
Moving to three heats generated record attendance, with the
new Monday heat attracting nearly as many players as the entire
event drew in 2010. Each of the three heats had enough entrants
to run boards containing six to eight drivers. Players were allowed
to sit at any table of their choosing, eliminating lengthy randomization,
while also allowing players to sit with their friends a la Slapshot
and have fun at 200 MPH. There was little change in the choice
of tracks with Melbourne and Monaco providing the majority of
preliminary tracks in use. I'm hoping for more variety in tracks
next year.
The 2011 Final again took place on an eye-popping large scale
track. This year's featured track was Formula D Expansion #3:
Singapore. The starting grid was filled with ten unique race
winners. The 1:64 scale GT style cars were a big favorite again.
The field was comprised of everything from a 2011 Ferrari 458
to a DMC Deloreon and a 70's GMC Van. The pit boxes were chosen
in order of qualification.
In the end defending champ Jason Levine again crossed the
finish line first, to claim his fifth title and third straight
which suggests either that the game is clearly broken or Jason
should just retire and let someone else have a chance. Could
"Stop Levine" alliances be in the offing? Seriously,
Formula De is often dismissed as a game of luck, but in
that case Jason is wasting his time at WBC and should be spending
his summers in Vegas. And although four of the six laurelists
were new to the list, the first two finishers also happened to
be 1-2 on the Laurels list.
No one walked away empty handed, as participants took home
the very race cars they chose as a souvenir of the event. Planning
is already underway for a new enlarged Final track for 2012 WBC
Grand Prix.
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This year's course had convenient
cutaway sections by the straightaways making reaching the cars
easier. |
The huge course in the past made long
arms a prerequisite for moving cars in the middle of the board.
Anyone got a pool cue? |
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