Ken Lee and Dave Cross	Michael Metcalf and Nathan Hill

The year 2000 brought change to The Great Campaigns of the American Civil War (GCACW) series tournament play. Instead of trying to pack an ever expanding series of games into a five-day tournament it was decided to consolidate down to two events. Additional campaign games were added for those who love truly looonnnng games. The first tournament was titled '1862' which encompassed four games: Stonewall Jackson's Way, Here Come the Rebels,  Stonewall in the Valley and On to Richmond. The remander of the series covered the later years of the war and was contested under the label 1863.

In 2005, the two events were merged into one due to declining attendance and now covers the entire series.

New faces or old veterans - it doesn't seem to matter. Chris Withers defeats all challengers.

Withers vanquished his eighth different Final challenger to win his 11th Great Campaigns wood, this year blasting event newcomer Doug Smith's Union forces in "Battle of Chickamauga," the 3-turn tournament Final which was resolved after just one turn.

Forrest's cavalry led Hood and Walker's infantry over the northern bridges and swarmed through, around and over Steedman's reserve corp. With Polk pinning a good portion of the Union right, the rebel cavalry handed the Union left a large number of VP casualties, and Forrest took Chattanooga by rolling a +3 on a +0 attack.

By the end of the first turn, the Rebels had 56 VPs, with nearly 20 from the difference in casualties. That was enough to force an early concession from Doug.

Though the Final didn't go Doug's way, his march to the championship round was clearly the story of the tournament. We made a slight format change this year, reducing the number of preliminary rounds from four to three, with plans to advance all players who won any two of those first three games.

Doug - who had just learned GCACW in the previous year - defeated veterans Dave Cross and Greg Tanner in the first two rounds (Crossing Chickamauga Creek and Battle of Chickamauga) to secure a spot in the quarter-finals. Chris beat Mike Metcalf in the third round (Sheridan Rides South) to finish with the only 3-0 qualifying record and secure his customary No. 1 seed in the elimination rounds (and the bye that came with it).

The new format also made the third preliminary round exciting, with several veterans facing win-to-get-in showdowns.

Joining Chris and Doug in the elimination rounds were Dave Cross, Rob Doane, Justin Rice, Ed Beach, and Mike Metcalf. Rob defeated Dave, Ed topped Justin, and Doug beat Mike in the quarter-finals (McLemore's Cove). Chris then eliminated Rob while Doug beat three-time champion Ed in Wilderness to make the Final. Doug was our only player without a previous AREA rating to reach the elimination rounds, making our "Risen From the Ranks" award a no-brainer.

In the third year of Battle Above the Clouds scenarios at WBC, we're starting to compile some balance statistics on the three scenarios we've deemed tournament appropriate. Balance is looking pretty solid: Crossing the Chickamauga, Union takes 18 of 34; Battle of Chickamauga, rebels own a thin 8-7 advantage; McLemore's Cove, rebels win 6 of 11. Clearly, the playtesting and tweaking really paid off in the development process.

Expect more of the same in 2012: Stonewall Jackson's Way II is well into playtesting, and we are optimistic next year's Great Campaigns tournament at WBC will include some of its revamped scenarios.

Tom Beach and Allen Hill	Ted Drozd and Chris Withers