In her first WBC, Natasha Metzger becomes a finalist. No wonder David has so many championships.	Betsy Rau and Eve Secunda settle on that mysterious island of Catan with the crime problem.
Matt Beach and Donna Balkan. Can she get two in one year?	Jake must run the Circus on Catan.

Crazy Eights ...

This year we used the standard setup and consequently only a handful of games were called due to time. Most of those were games that started late and to help offset that I gave them an extra round at the 5 minute mark. Only one of the games did not score 10 points for a winner. This standard format will be used again in 2013 and for those that liked the faster pace game I ask you give it a try next year, especially since I will have a prize for all winners of any game next year.

The tournament format provides three qualifying rounds that advance 16 for a single elimination playoff. All games were consecutive and it makes for a full day for players and the GM. Players achieved tournament points based on finishing position and bonus points based on the strength of victories. Seating was random and players earned 5 points for 1st, 3 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd and 1 for 4th. Once the first three rounds were completed, the top 16 players then entered into a playoff round, based on performance in the first three rounds.

The first three rounds generated the following statistics. The games averaged 77 minutes, with the fastest game clocking in at 40 minutes and the longest at 120 minutes. A total of 63 games were played: 24 in Round 1, 22 in Round 2 and 17 in Round 3. Only one 3-player game was played, and it happened that the last place player in that game won the tournament. We had two triple winners advance to the semifinal, but no further. The magic number for advancement was 10 tournament points -- two wins, or a win, a 2nd and a 3rd place. Two qualifiers, Ben Scholl and Jon Senn, gave up their seat to play in another event, which allowed two lucky alternates to advance -- a first since I have been running the event. One of the finalists did not play in Round 1, yet won her next three games to advance to the Final. So, late entry does not eliminate you. In Settlers, anything is possible.

The 16 qualifiers for Round 4 were: Chad Martin, Dana Champion, Kolbe DiGuilo and Chester Lanham at Table 1; Matt Reese, Natasha Metzger, John Rinko and Rich Miller at Table 2; Forrest Speck, Jeremy Osteen, Carolyn Strock and Erica Kirchner at table 3; and Steve Dickson, Kevin Youells, Tammy Wyatt-Johnson and Virginia Colin at Table 4. The semifinals lasted about 75 minutes and advanced Virgina Colin, Jeremy Osteen, Kolbe DiGuilo and Natasha Metzger to the Final. Chad Martin and Matt Reese, the two triple winners, both were runners-up in their respective games and were awarded fifth and sixth place. Ty Hansen gave a free copy of the Catan Scenarios: Oil Springs expansion that he designed (along with Erik Assadourian) to all 16 participants.

Colin and Osteen were ranked players with 24 laurels each in former tournaments. Metzger and DiGuillo were unranked. Metzger was first, followed by Colin, Osteen and DiGuillo. The initial placement was crucial: the Osteen 6s were on a field (wheat) and forest (wood) while the 8s were on a clay (brick) and forest (Wood); one note was the 6-wheat was next to a 2:1 wheat port while the 8 was next to a 2:1 brick port. This would be a key to the end-game. Key locations: Metzger took the 6/9/2 location on the 6-wheat and next to the wheat port, Metzger took the 8/10/3 by the 8-wood location & by a 3:1 port, DiGuillo took the 8/4/10 by the 8-brick, 4-brick and the brick port and finally Osteen took two locations in the middle that had neither a 6 nor an 8. With the initial placements decided, the 6-wood location was bordered by DiGuillo, Colin and Metzger (aka the robber magnet). This gave DiGuillo a 6-wood and an 8-brick and Metzger a 6-wood and a 6-wheat. Of the five commodities, ORE was the hardest hit with a 2, a 3 and a 10-roll needed. Thus cities and development cards would be sparse.

EARLY GAME (Rounds 1-6): Each player started off by trading for a second road and eventually a third settlement; Colin and Metzger went for the 3:1 port, Osteen went to the 2:1 sheep port while DiGuillo headed for the 2:1 Brick port. This was the key build in the game as it gave him a 4 and an 8 for brick. Jeremy was then deemed the brick-master. Building was slow after the first settlements were completed, but Metzger was building the coastal road and had four roads and three settlements. Soon the longest road would go along the outside. Both Osteen and DiGuillo were cut into two parts but could link through the middle of the map as it was not built yet. The robber appeared in the first 6 of 7 rounds, slowing down production. Score: Metzger: 6, Colin: 4, DiGuillo: 4, Osteen:4. Army count: none.

MIDGAME (Rounds 7-13): Metzger completed her longest road bonus on Round 9; after that was done, players seemed to back off trading with her for building materials. On the same round, Jeremy benefited from a triple 8-roll and cashed in his massive bricks for ore, building the first city on the 4/8/10 spot. Rounds 10-12 saw the first development cards being purchased and a few soldiers were used to push the robber off the 8-6-8 locations. DiGuillo got a double 8 in Round 12 that allowed him to build a second city. Colin played a year of plenty and on Turn 13 did a monopoly on BRICK, giving her a road path that was one connection short of taking the longest road from Metzger. Score: Metzger: 7, Colin: 4, DiGuillo: 6, Osteen: 6. Army count: DiGuillo: 1, Colin: 1.

End game (Rounds 14-16): Metzger still maintained the longest road but only by one length. Colin needed a critical link to take it from her, but never built it. Metzger, tarred by the lead, found her trading partners exhausted. Osteen and Metzger tried to work out a deal: a favor for a commodity, but because of the trading rules (card for a card), it was not allowed. By then, DiGuillo played his second soldier and moved the robber off of the 8-brick, which now had a DiGuillo city and two settlements with the 2:1 port -- essentially giving him four bricks on any 8 roll. Round 16 rolled two 8s and on Jeremy's turn he rolled a 5, turned in his eight bricks for a city and played his last soldier, giving him the largest army and the win with ten points!

FINAL GAME STATS: Rolls: one 3, five 4s, seven 5s, nine 6s, twelve 7s, eleven 8s, seven 9s, four 10s, two 11s, and four 12s. SCORE: Jeremy: 10, Natasha: 7, Kolbe: 6 and Virginia: 4.

I need another Assistant GM. Contact me if you are interested at striker511@gmail.com. Lastly, Mayfair Games was kind enough to send me a ton of items to give out, but they arrived a week too late for the tournament. However, I will bring them with me for winners of any game in the 2013 Settlers even, so come back next year to trade sheep for wood as I will have some loot to hand out to winners!

Joseph Mais and his GM crew oversee the finalists.	Joe presents the finalists with their swag.