Pat Mirk and Ian Lange - a couple of boys with toys.	Sam Packwood takes on defending champ Ty Hansen.

Attendance for this pre-con fell to the third lowest total in its 14-year history (21) and was further handicapped by a lack of games which forced the GM to resort to 3-player games in the opening round. Four ex-champs populated the field but defending champ Ty Hansen and 2001 champ Patrick Mirk would not survive the initial rounds. The Axis enjoyed a 54% winning percentage that was reflected in the bidding where players accepting the Allies received an average bid of 4.4 to forego command of the Axis forces.

The most exciting finish came in Round 2. Kevin Keller had to take Kwangtung from Steve Packwood to tie Victory Territories and win the income tiebreaker. He attacked four Japanese infantry with two American tanks and won! After two rounds, the field was cut to eight players still vying for a shot at the four playoff slots. Al Hurda with the Allies and a bid of 5 defeated Ian Lange while Joe Collinson's Axis forces dismissed Henry Russell in Round 3. A pair of ex-champs also kept their hopes alive as Kevin Keller and Joe Powell eliminated Jeff Cornett and Sam Packwood respectively.

In the semifinals Al Hurda's Allies rode an amphibious assault of India on the last turn to upset former two-time champ Keller. Meanwhile, 2006 champ Joe Powell took India, Australia, and Hawaii on the last turn to down a much improved Joe Collinson.

Joe accepted a bid of 5 to play the Allies in the Final and was soon rewarded with favorable dice as Al's Germans lost two fighters attacking the British battleship at Gibraltar on Turn 1. No such bad karma befell the Allies as a British bomber and two fighters sank the German battleship and transport in the Black Sea without taking any losses. Al used the German Baltic fleet to block invasion of France and Norway, and built two fighters to replace Turn 1 losses. Joe responded by having Britain build two submarines and two fighters, and recalling the British bomber from Russia. Britain also invaded Borneo on Turn 2, forcing the Japanese to retake the island. On Turn 3 the Japanese invaded Australia while massing their fleet at Wake Island. The American fleet divided to liberate Australia and fall back to the West Coast, while dropping two more infantry in Hawaii and adding three fighters to Hawaii. The Russians fought for border territories and also took Manchuria and advanced into China. Al conceded on the German move of Turn 4, facing British invasion in the West and a surging Russia in the East. Russia was also threatening the Japanese on mainland Asia. And so, Joe Powell won his second A&A title and the first of two shields he would earn that week.

Paul Sampson reaches for reinforcements.	The finalists pause in the middle of battle.