napoleon   

Updated Nov. 23, 2013

2013 WBC Report  

 2014 Status: pending December 2013 Membership Vote

Jeff Cornett, FL

2013 Champion

Event History
1993    Tom Scarborough      12
1994    Dave Durlacher        8
2000    Jeff Cornett     16
2001    George Seary     14
2002    Jeff Cornett     20
2003    Scott Cornett     17
2004    Jeff Cornett       8
2005    Scott Cornett     12
2006    Jim Miller       9
2013    Jeff Cornett     16

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Jeff Cornett       FL    13    112
  2.  Scott Cornett      FL    06     72
  3.  George Seary       NY    01     48
  4.  Tom Ruta           MA    01     32
  5.  Lane Newbury       TX    01     24
  6.  Matt Calkins       VA    02     21
  7.  Jim Miller         VA    13     16
  8.  Ron Draker         VA    13     14
  9.  Doug Bryant        PA    13     12
 10.  Phil Rennert       VA    05     12
 11.  Jonathan Price     NJ    00     12
 12.  Larry Felton       PA    01      9
 13.  David Norquist     DC    00      9
 14.  David Earles       PA    00      6
 15.  Thomas Lee         NV    13      4
 16.  Brad Merrill       ME    05      4
 17.  Carl Willner       MD    04      4
 18.  Chris Byrd         CT    02      4
 19.  Daniel Broh-Kahn   MD    06      3
 20.  Forrest Atterberry VA    04      3
 21.  Bill Place         MA    03      3
 22.  Michael Sincavage  VA    01      3
 23.  Larry Lingle       PA    00      3
 24.  Sharon Bryant      PA    13      2
 25.  Charlie Kersten    OH    05      2
 26.  John Lynch         NY    02      2

2013 Laurelists                                             Returning Laurelists:

Doug Bryant, PA
2nd

Ron Draker, VA
3rd

James Miller, VA
4th

Thomas Lee, NV
5th

Sharon Bryant, PA
6th


Past Winners

Dave Durlacher, IN
1994

Jeff Cornett, FL
2000, 2002, 2004, 2013

George Seary, NY
2001

Scott Cornett, FL
2003, 2005

James Miller, VA
2006


 Phil Rennert vs Ron Fisher. Phil's son David observes.

 Doug Bryant peels labels to prepare his troops.

 Jeff Cornett takes down Scott Sirianna,

 Brad Raszewski's French fall before Doug Brant's thin red line.

Napoleon Returns, Triumphant

The arrival of the new fourth edition of Napoleon ended a six-year WBC absence in 2013. The new version is a modern and fresh upgrade to the previous rules, adding many historical enhancements, while greatly reducing the number of units and game length. The game components and map have been greatly upgraded.

15 games were played with an average duration of just under two hours. Games varied from one to nearly three hours in duration. Games are now quite decisive with the French inclined to quickly attack to force a decisive battle or seize a supply city. The Allies tend to counter by force marching to the sound of the guns, often leading to a single, decisive battle early in the game.

The new edition is a blend of the best of the earlier editions, while adding many new features that add historical realism to game mechanics. The most intriguing addition is battle terrain. Random placement of woods, hills, farm houses, and rivers creates very diverse battlefields leading to exciting new tactical dimensions to master.

Tournament rules include bidding for sides. In the early rounds, the Allies were favored by more experienced players. Free deployment setup was used. The Allies won most of these games, in which there was very little bidding. As the playoff rounds began, play switched to the historical setup, thus leaving the Allies out of place and somewhat scattered. Bidding for the right to play the Allies was aggressive with seven or eight step reductions becoming the norm. Both semifinals were won by the Allies, but the Final was taken by the French.

The Final pit three-time champion, Jeff Cornett, as the French against newcomer, Doug Bryant. Both players had won three previous games, with five of these wins achieved as the Allies. Jeff had won once as the French against the most recent champion, James Miller, who had victorious in the 2006 event. The bid of seven was enough to encourage Jeff to play the French, although these step reductions (taken by remote units) had little effect on the game.

At the outset, Jeff pounced upon the Prussian Corps, historically isolated in Charleroi. Doug quickly retreated, getting away with very few losses. He then counterattacked with a heavily reinforced Prussian army. Being able to out-reinforce the French early, the battle was very much in doubt. The French barely held, yet eventually out-reinforced the Prussians, forcing their defeat. The French then surrounded and mopped up the straggling Prussians, causing the entire army to surrender. With most of the French still intact, bruised but together, the British would not have been able to withstand the eventual French assault. The Allies conceded after a decisive two-hour match.

The overall lessons learned were:
1) The new edition is a fresh and exciting update that has a lot to offer both new and experienced Napoleon players.
2) If players are mismatched, less experienced players should play the Allies.
3) If players are well matched, use the historical setup. The French may be preferred because of the greater challenge.
4) Bidding for sides should be reversed so as to add step increases for the French, rather than step reductions for the Allies. Just a few "super units" would make the French command very enticing!

 Brit Graeme Tate is on the wrong side of the board vs Barry Smith.

 Jeff Cornett downs Doug Bryant in the Final.
 GM      Jeff Cornett  [6th Year]  NA
    JeffreyLCornett@aol.com   407-878-8692

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