Paradise hums with a room full of M44 players in the early rounds. The event still draws well after nine years.	The four semifinalists again came from three countires. The list expanded to five when you included all six laurelists.

A MARATHON, A SNEAK PREVIEW AND ... PROM DRESSES?

As in previous years, the event was a Friday 6-round single elimination tournament, preceded by a Mulligan round the night before. Each round was a 2-game match. The scenarios were taken from Campaign Book 1's Fall Gelb campaign and were chosen by reigning champion, Belgian Johan Vanhuyse, because they took place near his home.

As was the case last year, Memoir's creator, Richard Borg, was on hand.

The Mulligan Round's 50 players was the most we've ever had since the present format was implemented by the previous GM. In all, 69 players participated -- one less than last year. Once again, the field included three past champions and numerous high-ranking laurelists. More than a third of the participants were Memoir Online players. However, at least six people attended the pre-tournament instructional session.

Mulligan and Round 1: Battle of Hannut-Merdorp -- The French are protected by terrain, and well armed, with four tanks and back-row artillery. The Germans have five armored units, artillery at closer range, and a numerical advantage in infantry. The results were perfectly balanced with each side winning 40 games with an average score of 4.51-4.54. As Axis, GM Sam Edelston notched the tournament's only shutout victory. Dave Blisard, Eric Buetikofer, Sam Edelston, Ty Hansen, Bart Pisarik, Scott Sirianna, Jarett Weintraub, and Greg Wilson all scored 6-1 victories, as well. Special "C'est la Guerre" award recognition to Rejean Tremblay, of Quebec, who lost two games to Erik Karl in the Mulligan, and then two games to Lewis Karl in Round 1.

Before Round 2 came a special treat. Days of Wonder had announced a new Memoir '44 Equipment Pack expansion, but it wouldn't be available for a couple more weeks. However, DoW had gotten six advance copies from the factory ... and we had one of them. Richard Borg and Sam conducted a show-and-tell, explaining what was in it, including such totally new units as Nebelwerfers ("Screaming Meemies"), Kubelwagens (Command Cars), and Hobart's Funnies.

Round 2: Valkenburg Airfield -- German elite infantry forces are concentrated around the center. The Allied forces -- including an artillery and an armored unit-- lie to their left and right. The Allies won only 15 games to the Germans 21 (42%-58%), with an average score of 4.36-4.81. There were three 6-1 victories, which were scored by Lewis Karl and former champions Steve Lollis and John Skiba.

Round 3: Battle of the Lys ­ This was a scenario designed for nasty infantry fighting. The Allied footsoldiers are all dug in, in hedgerows and towns. Nearly half of the German materiel is behind a river, with only a single bridge crossing it. In total, the Allies won this round, 11-7 (61%-39%), by an average score of 5.17-4.17. This scenario eliminated two former champions: 2004 champ Steve Lollis lost a 9-8 split match to Eric Caron of Quebec, and 2010's John Skiba was swept by Gareth Williams of Morocco. After three rounds, the only two players who had won all six of their games were Juhana Keskinen of Finland, and GM Sam Edelston. Remarkably, Juhana had held his opponents to three or fewer medals in each of his first six games. For the second consecutive round, Lewis Karl scored a 6-1 victory. Peter Eldridge, of the UK, avoided paternal revenge by eliminating the father of the young opponent he had defeated in the previous round.

Round 4: Resistance in Gembloux ­ This was a tricky 7-medal map, with a big cluster of towns, water hexes, and hedgehogs in the middle, and a railroad running across the beltline, designed to be a challenge for tanks. The Allies are dug in, but they have a mere two armored units, versus the Germans' five. Today, the Allies suffered mightily, winning only twice and losing eight (20%-80%), with an average score of 5.20-6.50. We had nine players in this round, so former champion John Skiba served as an eliminator; however, he lost a split decision against Peter Eldridge. 2005-2006 champ Joe Harrison and GM Sam Edelston both swept their opponents. In split matches, Gareth Williams won a 13-12 squeaker against Lewis Karl -- and then had to make a brief trip to the opposite end of the hotel to do pairings for the Napoleonic Wars tournament, in which he was the GM. And Eric Caron bested Juhana Keskinen. Five survivors remained for the semifinals.

Round 5: Assault on the Wattenberg -- The German infantry has to cross a river in rafts or on bridges, get past a line of defenses, and capture the Abbey in the middle of Mount Watten. aking that objective is mandatory for the Germans. Once again, John Skiba was enlisted as an eliminator, but again he failed in his mission to shorten the tournament; being swept by Joe Harrison. Eric Caron took his first sweep of the tournament, eliminating Peter Eldridge. Sam Edelston was on his way to victory in his first game against Gareth Williams, with two 4-figure infantries and an Infantry Assault coming against a 1-figure French infantry in the Abbey, when Gareth played Their Finest Hour, rolled one infantry order, close-assaulted one of the full-strength infantries ... and rolled four hits! However, Sam took the rematch, 6-2, in the only gameof the last three rounds where either side was held to fewer than three medals. The Allies won four games out of six, with an average score of 5.00-4.92.

But wait ­ there's more! For the third time in four years, we had thre players remaining after five rounds, and we needed to eliminate one before proceeding to a 2-player Final. A "round robin" was played, repeating the Round 5 scenario. The seedings were Sam at 9-1, Joe at 8-2, and Eric at 6-4, so Eric and Joe played first, with Eric's Germans prevailing, 6-5. Next, Joe took the German side, and Sam managed to stop a late offensive by the German Right, to win, 6-3, thereby eliminating Joe.

It was now time for the Final: Moerdijk Bridges. Because of assorted short breaks, as well as the "round robin" qualifier being an unexpectedly long scenario, it was also after 11PM. This map, similar to Valkenburg, has a mixed Allied force surrounding a group of German infantries, but here we also have a race against the clock, because after the Germans kill three Allied units, they're allowed to bring in a tank as reinforcements. Shortly after the match began, three young ladies in dresses came into the room to start decorating for the evening's next event: The Werewolf Prom. Eric had monster cards, ordering 21 Allied units on his first five turns (which sufficed to kill two German units), compared to only 10 units plus an air strike for Sam. Presently, an Allied Artillery Bombardment killed a 3-figure German infantry on their right, and then the Allied tank eliminated a sandbagged infantry on the opposite flank. Eric led the game, 4-1.

There were more well-dressed young adults putting up decorations and placing candles. One fellow was fighting an unsuccessful battle against his necktie. The Wehrmacht rescued the Werewolf, as Sam stepped aside from the battle and tied it for him. Another German air strike eliminated an infantry in the center, but then the Allies killed a fifth infantry in the center. Moerdijk is supposed to be a 5-medal scenario, but both players failed to realize that the game should have been over. Sam's infantry went Behind Enemy Lines to kill a third infantry. On the next turn, he entered a tank on an order from Their Finest Hour, and notched another kill, bringing his deficit to 5-4. Eric attempted to blow up a bridge to win the game, but failed. Sam played a Probe Left, rolled five dice against Allied infantry, and totally whiffed. Eric converged his infantries toward the middle of the board, with a Move Out, trying to smother one of the German units. On the following turn, Eric's 3-unit Close Assault killed another infantry to gain a 6-4 win.

It was now past midnight. The Werewolves were getting ready for their party. There were streamers in the doorway. Candles had been set up. All the furniture had been rearranged, except for our table. We picked up our table, and portaged it to the room next door.

In the early going of the rematch, Sam's Dutch and Eric's Germans matched one another, kill for kill. Sam pulled an Ambush on Eric's second turn, scoring three hits, but not preventing the attack. On Eric's third turn, he rolled seven dice, mostly against infantry, and didn't score a single hit. But on the turn after, Eric scored his third kill, his armor reinforcements came on, Counterattacking Sam's "Their Finest Hour." On the same card, on the opposite flank, Eric's infantry eliminated Sam's 2-figure tank. Two turns later, the Germans Armor Assaulted, and obliterated a 3-figure infantry, to take a 5-4 lead. The turn after that, the Germans Armor Assaulted again. Now ... those of you who obsessively read these Event Reports will recall that in last year's Final, Johan Vanhuyse completed his sweep over Sam with an Armor Assault that ordered one tank. Did history repeat itself this time?

You bet it did. Eric won the rematch, 6-4, too and thereby proved the truth to his Team name "Not Age of Steam" that Quebec is the home of more than just railroad gamers.

This was Eric's third year in the tournament. He never made it out of the second round previously. This year, his first three matches were all splits decided by one-medal margins but they got him to the gold. The top six finishers came from five different countries. Gareth's high finish was notable, because last year, he learned the game in the demo -- as he commented, "proof that the demos work." Seventh place was Lewis Karl, followed by Sam Gatto in eighth and Ty Hansen in ninth.

MULTI-PLAYER OVERLORD GAMES

In addition, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, there were 4 multi-player Overlord games (including infamous post-tournament Midnight Madness Overlord). These are always a highlight, because many players only have a chance to play them at conventions. In three of the games, we had a full eight players -- a mix of newcomers and veterans -- while the last and most complex one was three players to a side.

In some of the Overlords, we tried a special "last licks" rule that Richard Borg's group has been experimenting with: When you reach the required number of medals for victory, keep playing through the end of your turn. If the opponent is within 1/3 of the required number of medals (for example, within four medals in a 12-medal scenario), then they get one last turn to try and win, but they have to win by at least two medals.

· Prokhorovka -- Richard Bliss's Germans scored three kills on their last turn -- one by each Field General -- to steal a 12-11 come-from-behind victory over Nick A's Russians on their seventh turn.

· Offensive on Saint-Lo ­ This was a brand-new, pre-release scenario from the upcoming Equipment Pack, utilizing many of its special pieces. Field General Jim Dougherty on the Allied Left ordered a zillion units early in the game, and overran his German counterpart. Even so, the game was competitive to the end, and a rollicking good time was had by all. Joe Harrison's Allies defeated Richard Bliss's Germans, 12-8.

· Roi-Namur Landings ­ This was a Pacific scenario from Campaign Book 2. Richard Bliss's Marines took a beating in the center and couldn't mobilize their considerable forces on their left. Gareth Williams's Japanese got to 10 medals first to officially win the battle. However, under the last-licks rule, the Marines came back and tied it, 11-11.

· High Stakes at Bruyeres ­ This was another brand-new scenario from the Equipment Pack. Lots of special units in this one, plus Combat cards. John Kirk's Allies opened with a blistering attack and put Sam Edelston's Germans on the defensive. Commander Kirk had to leave in mid-game, and was replaced by Richard Bliss. The tide turned, as the German left's Tiger tank eliminated four enemy units in two turns (Jim Dougherty strikes again!), their center's Tank Destroyer and machine gun each rolled a star to kill a unit, and the damaged artilleries on their right made a pair of clutch kills for a big 2-turn, 8-kill comeback. The Germans won, 13-11, in eight turns.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The GM wishes to thank Eric Hautemont of Days of Wonder and Richard Borg for all their support, with special thanks to Eric for making the Equipment Pack available. Also, thanks to AGMs Mark Guttag and Jeff Paull, and to Jim Dougherty and John Skiba, who helped out as additional AGMs. (Thanks to John, also, for leading the Midnight Madness Overlord while the GM was still wrapping up the tournament.) And thanks to Johan Vanhuyse for choosing such competitive scenarios.

Finalists Sam Edelston and Eric Caron battle amidst prom decorations.	Six-player demonstration games were staged frequently at night.