Scott, Greg, Eric and Katherine head up a whole row of princes.	Tom DeMarco and Rich Meyers ... a couple of princes

When I explain Princes of Florence to new players (as I did during this year's demo) I start by describing how to put on a Work. Putting on Works is the main way people gain Prestige Points. I hand each player a Profession Card and explain the various items that contribute to the Work Value. Players buy and build things that increase the value of the works they put on, like Landscapes, Freedoms, Buildings and Jesters, usually choosing items primarily to support the Works they plan to put on. But it doesn't always follow that pattern. This year's tournament took a twist at the end. The winner's path to victory went in a different way -- one that will have people talking over the upcoming year about what he did and how to implement (or counter) this strategy.

There were several close games in Heat 1. Jason Levine beat Alex Bove by one PP, 55-54, and Anne Norton edged David Platnick 57-56, but the closest finish involved Ken Horan, "Legend Dan" Hoffman and Katherine McCorry, one of my Assistant GMs. At the end of the game, the scoring markers of all three sat at 51 on the PP track, tied for first. The first tiebreaker is florins remaining, and Legend Dan had 600 florins to take 1st place. Ken and Katherine, however, had 200 florins each. If not for the special WBC tiebreaker they would have stayed tied, but there can be no ties at WBC, so we checked each player's lowest-numbered Profession Card. Ken had #6, the Physicist, on the table, but Katherine had #1, the Mathematician (she was taking no chances!) This gave Katherine 2nd place and Ken 3rd place by the closest of margins.

Heat 2 also had its close games. Tom McCorry, Katherine's husband, beat John Corrado by 500 florins on the tiebreaker, and Anne Norton got her second win (becoming the only entrant to do so in 2012) by a margin of 59-57 over Lachlan Salter. No one this year achieved a margin of victory as large as Jay Fox rolled up in 2011; the widest gap between first and second was Jason Long's 10 PP.

24 qualifiers appeared for the semis -- a much better turnout than last year. We needed only the top alternate, Bruce DuBoff, to complete five 5-player games. In the elimination rounds, we bid for seating order. There's little agreement about which seat is best in the 4-player game, but most people prefer the second seat in a 5-player game, even though the data suggests the benefit is small. You can view the data at the following link: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/840947 The semis are often interesting and this year was no exception. John Corrado used a Builder strategy to defeat Anne Norton, David Platnick, Tom McCorry and Legend Dan Hoffman to earn his spot in the Final. Tom Johnston downed former champions Eric Brosius and Eric Freeman, among others, amassing a margin of nine PP over second place. Bruce DuBoff, though he was just an alternate, won by a comfortable margin as well. he two closest games were Jason Levine's two- PP victory over Jason Long and Rod Spade's one PP margin over Peter Walsh (who thereby earned sixth place laurels.)

Bidding for seats in the Final was restrained. Rod bid 300 florins for the second seat and John bid 100 for the first, but the other seats were taken for zero. We got a hint how the game would go in the opening round. The very first item auctioned was a Builder, and Jason paid 900 for it (a "respectable price", as we say.) A Jester then went for 1200 and a recruiter for 800, but still, 900 is a lot for a Builder. In the Action Phase, Jason built a University, spending a few minutes thinking about where he wanted to put it before he was satisfied. He then put on a Work (the Theologian) for the bare minimum Work Value of 7. He took it in cash, but earned a valuable three PP for Best Work at the end of Round 1.

In Round 2 Jason bought a second Builder, this time for 500, which almost looked affordable after he had paid 900 in Round 1! He bought a Freedom and a Bonus Card and then stumped up 700 for a third Builder in Round 3 (at least his opponents knew he wouldn't be bidding on any more Builders -- the limit is three per player!)

With three Builders, Jason could build at no cost, and he could pack Buildings in eave to eave. He built two free Buildings in Round 3 (each one earns the person who builds it three PP, so Jason was shooting ahead on the Prestige Point track. Of course, he had only two Profession Cards left, so it was not clear whether he would be able to maintain his lead.) Jason next turned his attention to Prestige Cards. He bought one for just 200 in Round 4 as all his opponents were focused on other things, then built two more free Buildings for another six PP.

In Round 5 Jason bought a Lake, built a Building and just managed to play his second Work with the help of the Bonus card he had bought in Round 2. In Round 6 he paid a whopping 800 for a second Prestige Card, dropping his available cash to just 100. He needed a Bonus Card to put his last work on, so he gave up two PP to fund the purchase, and with his other action built yet another Building.

Jason was now broke, but after Rod bought a cheap Forest, Jason coolly put a Prestige Card up for auction, knowing that he'd have to give up more PP if no one raised his bid. However, Bruce bid 300 and took the Prestige Card. Jason next put a Jester up for auction, speaking (to my ears) in a calmer voice than usual. As I recorded the action in my role as GM, I wondered whether Jason badly needed the Jester to get his last work out. No one bid, so Jason gave up another two PP to buy the Jester, looking relieved. This allowed him to play his final Work (together with yet another Building for three PP more.)

In a WBC first, after we added up the PP for Prestige Cards, Jason had won using a pure builder strategy. The scores were Jason 59, Rod 57, John 56, Tom 54, Bruce 46 (Bruce's Round 7 Prestige Card purchase came up dry as none of the five cards he drew provided him any PPs.)

I wrote a detailed play-by-play account; you can read all about it at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/839548

Congratulations to Jason, and thanks to everyone who took part in this year's tournament. If you're interested in Princes of Florence, come to WBC next year and join us. I'll explain the game during the demo and you can join in the fun.

Jason Levine rounding third base on his way to a four-bagger.	GM Eric Brosius oversees his finalists.