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Three galaxies ... no waiting. |
GM Michael Buccheri and his finalists. |
Xxcha Rules ...
For
2012 Twilight Imperium III was one again a century event
after falling to trial status in 2011. That meant that those
competing for control of the galaxy would be fighting for one
of three coveted pieces of wood. The schedule and format for
2012 was the same as in 2011, and again I believe this is the
best format available to us with the numbers we attract and the
length of the game. Heats were held on Thursday, one in the morning
and a second that evening. Advancing players played in an early
morning Final Friday, which is scheduled to last most of the
day.
Once again I tried to keep the heats limited to a timed 4-player
game, with winners advancing. This year we did require one 3-player
game in the early heats due to player turnout. Six winners and
two alternates became finalists. (We use the in-game tiebreak
rules to determine rank and take the top ones as alternates.)
Many of the finalists were familiar names with only one player
who had not been in a prior Final.
We also introduced a new custom map for the championship game.
We chose between three map options and opted for a 3-galaxy map
with many wormholes to keep all home systems tight. I was pleased
with the way this map played, as there was plenty of room to
expand, but no one was more than four systems away from any other
player's home system. This made for a balanced game where players
could spread out without stepping on one another, but needed
to keep a strong deterrent force if they wanted to avoid being
overrun. I look forward to playing this map again.
The finalists and their races were Peter Putnam - Xxcha, James
Griffith - Jol Nar, Rob Olsson - Winnu, Pete Walsh - L1z1x, Michael
Buccheri - the Naalu, Will Kenyon - Mentak, Matt O'connor - The
Arborec, and Pat Neary - the Saar. The game went the distance,
ending on Victory Points in a record time of six hours! It was
a close match that any one of the top players could have won,
but Pete Putnam and the often-maligned Xxcha made the ten-point
victory requirement first. In the end, there were three other
players who finished the game at nine VP and an additional three
who were still in striking distance at eight VP. Only a single
straggler, obviously playing the "long game," was out
of contention at six VP. Had the game gone another round it would
have been a tossup for the win, but Pete managed to hold onto
his home system and score the needed points to trigger the game
end.
I was impressed by the overall play, especially during the
Final where everyone kicked it up a notch. The reduced playing
time is a solid indication that most of the game is spent maneuvering
and outthinking your opponents, and not in trying to grasp the
rules. This was a far cry from the 12-hour affairs of past events,
and it is good to see that the level of play is where you would
expect it to be at the WBC. It was also fantastic to see someone
win with the Xxcha as their race choice. This will help quell
the noise coming from those who claim the Xxcha are not viable.
I look forward to seeing everyone next year.
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