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The Lange brothers team up to run
the French. |
Malcolm Smith and Peter Reese play
the Allies. |
Monsieur Reese Again ...
The long game seemed to be the rule this year as the event
posted record attendance. Of the 14 games played, only four ended
with early victories, and a record number had to be adjudicated.
Between the mulligan round and Round 1, there were 17 new
players, 10 of whom competed in the beginner's tournament. Congratulations
to George Rivers III for winning the beginner's bracket as the
Armee du Nord in his first game of Wellington!
The
tournament witnessed the usual dazzling swings of fortune. For
Nick Benedict's Armee du Nord, a peace die roll in 1812 brought
the game to a victorious end in the mulligan round. For Jim McCarthy's
Wellington in Round 1, Ciudad Rodrigo did not fall for four rounds,
despite having a full complement of troops (15 dice). For Rejean
Tremblay's Armee Sud, Portugal fell in 1813 as Soult captured
all of the Portuguese fortresses and keys for an early victory.
Dice and cards continued to drive events and confound plans until
only 12 players remained for the semifinal round.
Players advance based on games played and victory points earned.
So, for the semifinal round, two players tied for the 12th seat,
had to roll off to see who would play. Jesse Boomer rolled higher
than Ed Rothenheber for that opportunity.
The mulligan and Round 1 saw many French victories, but in
the semifinals, the Allies prevailed at all three tables. Peter
Reese's Spanish carried the day with Jim McCarthy's British at
Table 1. Rejean Tremblay's Spanish won handily on Table 2, and
Henry Russell's Spanish ruled on Table 3. The highest scoring
runner-up would be the fourth player for Round 3. Al Hurda and
GM Rob Olsson rolled off to see who would play, and Al had the
hotter dice.
Although the Final ended in 1812, the long game rules continued
to play a role as Turn 1 lasted for four hours. Hurda and Tremblay's
Allies ran into early card and dice trouble, with Rejean's Spain
having to mulligan twice due to poor card draws. A rout of Wellington
left the British leader alone and cut off from reinforcements
outside of Madrid while the French forces marched on Portugal.
In the end, Britain resigned with Spain's consent as there were
not enough forces to muster a defense. Britain still controlled
Elvas, but that was it.
Peter Reese and Henry Russell were left to count their victory
points, which Peter's accountant for Armee du Sud won handily
with 15 victory points over Armee du Nord's seven -- earning
Peter his third WLL title.
The GM would like to thank veterans Jesse Boomer and Rejean
Tremblay for helping out at the beginner tables, and to his assistant
GM Mike Buccheri for filling in a sixth table at the mulligan
round. Hope to see you all next year!
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Bart Pisarik stops railroading long
enough to play Welly. |
The finalists prepare for battle.
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