Julie Ehlers, NJ

2013 Champion

Event History
1999		Brad Johnson		94
2000		David Platnick		175
2001		Craig O'Brien		93
2002		David Buchholz		102
2003		Charlie Faella		131
2004		Aran Warszawski		110
2005		Rob Effinger		100
2006		Roy Gibson		102
2007		Tom Stokes		132
2008		Matt Tolman		113
2009		Rick Dutton		113
2010		Robert Kircher		112
2011		Andrew Arconti		138
2012		Jeremy Osteen		116
2013		Julie Ehlers		123

Euro Quest BPA Event History
2003		Brian Reynolds		29
2004		William Duke		30
2005		Legend Dan Hoffman		37
2006		Donna Dearborn		54
2007		Brian Reynolds		45
2008		Tom Dunning		56
2009		Brian Reynolds		55
2010		Rebecca Hebner		43
2011		Brian Reynolds		55
2012		Robert Kircher		43

Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Rob Kircher        RI    12    126
  2.  Brian Reynolds     MD    12    125
  3.  Rick Dutton        MD    09    114
  4.  Charlie Faella     RI    09     96
  5.  Tom Dunning        NY    09     87
  6.  Jeremy Osteen      MD    12     84
  7.  Matt Tolman        UT    09     84
  8.  Natasha Metzger    NY    13     72
  9.  John Min           NJ    13     72
 10.  Andrew Arconti     MD    11     66
 11.  Roy Gibson         MD    06     66
 12.  Julie Ehlers       NJ    13     60
 13.  Tom Stokes         NJ    07     60
 14.  Rob Effinger       on    05     60
 15.  Aran Warszawski    is    04     60
 16.  David Buchholz     MI    02     60
 17.  Craig O'Brien      VA    01     60
 18.  David Platnick     VA    00     60
 19.  Christian Moffa    NJ    03     54
 20.  Kathy Stroh        PA    01     54
 21.  Joe Jaskiewicz     MD    06     51
 22.  Virginia Colin     VA    12     42
 23.  Tom Saal           MI    10     42
 24.  Rodney Davidson    AZ    04     42
 25.  William Duke       MD    12     39
 26.  Cheryl Mallon      MD    07     37
 27.  Chad Martin        PA    12     36
 28.  Ron Secunda        MD    10     36
 29.  Ken Nied           KS    06     36
 30.  Jim Fishkin        FL    05     36
 31.  Michelle Hymowitz  MD    04     36
 32.  George Brace       MA    03     36
 33.  Brian Conlon       OK    00     36
 34.  Rebecca Hebner     DC    11     36
 35.  Josh Githens       SC    07     30
 36.  Donna Dearborn     MD    06     30
 37.  Brad Johnson       IL    99     30
 38.  Kolbe DiGiulio     PA    12     24
 39.  Harald Henning     CT    08     24
 40.  Jon Izer           MD    07     24
 41.  Jeff Bowers        UT    05     24
 42.  Alan Sudy          VA    02     24
 43.  Kim Foster         TX    00     24
 44.  Legend Dan Hoffman MD    05     20
 45.  Doug Faust         NY    13     18
 46.  Tom Strock         PA    13     18
 47.  Cary Morris        NC    12     18
 48.  Helen Powell       MD    11     18
 49.  Allyson Field      SC    11     18
 50.  Randy Buehler      WA    10     18
 51.  Bill Zurn          CA    10     18
 52.  Daniel Ottey       PA    09     18
 53.  Shivendra Chopra   MD    09     18
 54.  William Lawhorn    VA    09     18
 55.  Bob Wicks, Jr      CT    08     18
 56.  Mikkel Christensen dk    08     18
 57.  Pierre LeBoeuf     MD    07     18
 58.  Jed Shambeda       PA    06     18
 59.  Haim Hochboim      is    04     18
 60.  Mike Musko         FL    03     18
 61.  Marvin Pinkert     MD    02     18
 62.  Chuck Krueger      MA    01     18
 63.  Ike Porter         MD    99     18
 64.  Leigh Eirich       MD    10     12
 65.  Doug Galullo       MD    10     12
 66.  Peter Eirich       MD    10     12
 67.  Andrew Roosen      MD    09     12
 68.  Mike Brazinski     MD    08     12
 69.  Sue Lanham         MD    08     12
 70.  Bob Runnicles      FL    06     12
 71.  Mike Richey        VA    05     12
 72.  Thomas Browne      PA    04     12
 73.  David Burkey       PA    04     12
 74.  Charlie Hickok     PA    03     12
 75.  Scott Buckwalter   MD    03     12
 76.  Jon Shambeda       PA    02     12
 77.  Jenn Thomas        NY    02     12
 78.  Kevin Wojtasczcyk  NY    01     12
 79.  Chuck Smith        PA    99     12
 80.  Henry Dove         MD    12      9
 81.  Donna Davis        PA    12      9
 82.  Bill Murdock       NY    08      9
 83.  Tom McCorry        VA    03      9
 84.  Carl Damcke        IL    99      9
 85.  Eric Freeman       PA    07      8
 86.  Carolyn Strock     PA    13      6
 87.  Matt Reese         MD    12      6
 88.  Jeff Adams         NJ    11      6
 89.  John Weber         MD    09      6
 90.  Nick Henning       CT    08      6
 91.  Jonathan Yonce     VA    07      6
 92.  Michael Shea       CT    07      6
 93.  Phil Rennert       MD    06      6
 94.  Marty Hoff         TX    04      6
 95.  Katherine McCorry  VA    03      6
 96.  Larry Loiacano     PA    07      4
 97.  Andrew Gerb        MD    05      4
 98.  Steve Shambeda     PA    09      3
 99.  Sandy Scanlon      MD    08      3
100.  Joshua Cooper      MD    03      3
101.  Jamie Tang         MD    99      3
102.  Laurel Stokes      NJ    05      2

2013 Laurelists                                                 Repeating Laurelists:
Natasha Metzger, NY 2nd John Min, NJ 3rd Doug Faust, NY 4th Thomas Strock, PA 5th Carolyn Strock, PA 6th

Past Winners
Brad Johnson, IL 1999 David Platnick, VA 2000 Craig O'Brien, VA 2001 David Buchholz, MI 2002 Charlie Faella, RI 2003 Aram Warszawski, Israel 2004 Rob Effinger, on 2005 Roy Gibson, MD 2006 Tom Stokes, NJ 2007 Matt Tolman, UT 2008 Rick Dutton, MD 2009 Robert Kircher, RI 2010 Andrew Arconti, MD 2011 Jeremy Osteen, MD 2012 Julie Ehlers, NJ 2013

Laura Miller takes that trade. One of the 32 female settlers in the field. Well ... maybe 33. Can you direct me to the Junior's room? Only the most fashionable accessories for this future gamer. Still a Gateway Draw ... Crazy Eights ... The 2013 WBC Settlers of Catan tournament was another in a long line of successful events as we attracted a triple digit field for the 12th straight year and convinced me that we have some of the best gamers around. This year, 123 members toed the line for the first round games. Any rules issues were resolved in a good gaming environment at the table, which proved to me that everyone wants to have a fun time playing a classic gateway game. As was done last year, the standard setup was used and only a handful of games were called due to time. Most of those were games that got started late and to offset that I gave them an extra round at the 5-minute mark. This standard format will be used again in 2014. New for all of the winners this year was a prize to choose: Selections were a Catan meeple for your badge or a stuffed animal catan-style. Ty Hansen contributed several copies of the Catan Scenarios: Oil Springs expansion which he designed (along with Erik Assadourian) to any winners as well, as an optional prize. Thank you for the gifts, Ty. I hope to continue the prizes next year with Mayfair's continued support. The basic tournament format is three preliminary heats that qualify 16 for a single elimination playoff. All games were consecutive and it makes for a full day for both players and GM. Players scored tournament points based on finishing position with bonus points based on the strength of victories. Seating was random and players earned five points for 1st, three for second, two for third and one for fourth. After three games, the top 16 players then enter into a playoff round. The games averaged 85 minutes, with the fastest game ending in 45 minutes and the longest stopped at the round cutoff of two hours. A total of 69 games were played - 27 in round 1, 24 in round 2 and 18 in round 3. This year we had two triple winners advance into the semifinal, but neither went any further. The magic tournament point barrier was 11 points -- two wins, or a win, a second and a third. One qualifier gave up his seat to play in another event, which allowed an alternate to advance. We again barely had enough copies to go around and I would like to thank those that left a game behind with me for others to play. Again, please bring your game if you want a seat. After three heats, we had our top 16. Table 1 seated Israeli Haim Hochboim, Doug Faust, Eve Secunda and Allyson Field. Table 2 belonged to Julie Ehlers, Canadian Donna Balkan, William Austin and Rod Davidson. Table 3 might have been mistaken for a tea party with Forrest Speck hosting three ladies: Lynda Shea, Natasha Metzger and Carolyn Strock. Table 4 was more of a poker party with four gents missing only lampshades and cigars: John Min, Thomas Strock, Brian Bortz and Phil Reese. 90 minutes later John Min, Doug Faust, Julie Ehlers and Natasha Metzger emerged as the 2013 finalists. It was the second straight Final appearance by Natasha - no small feat in an event this large. Claiming fifth and sixth place wood were Carolyn and Thomas Strock. All players received a free bag from Mayfair games, along with a bumper sticker and a water bottle. Doug had the first move of the Final, followed by Julie, Natasha and John. Most players look for a red number during the setup stages; Doug chose a 6-brick, Julie an 8-Ore, Natasha an 8-Brick and Jon was left with a 6-Wood location. Julie took a key setup risk by placing her settlements on a 5-8 ore/10 sheep and a 2:1 ore trade port that bordered a 6-Wood/2-sheep. This port would prove key. EARLY GAME: When the first roll of a Catan game is a 7, you can expect a rough game. Round 2 saw our first road (Julie) and Soldier (Jon). Round 3 drew another robber (Julie) and Natasha placed two roads. Round 4 gave Doug the lead with a settlement, while Julie moved the robber again. Natasha then built more roads before Jon moved the robber again. Scores: Doug: 3, Julie, Natasha and Jon: 2. MID GAME: The game became a version of crazy eights; an 8 was rolled each round for the first four turns. In round 5 the rolls were 8-8-4-2. Round 6 rolls were 8-7-8-6. Obvously, Julie and Natasha were loaded with ore and bricks respectively. Julie took advantage and built a city on the 8-Ore while Natasha invested in roads and trading for wood. By Round 8, Julie had two cities (the ore port and the 8-ore location) while Jon and Natasha plied trades with Doug. Julie was able to use the 2:1 Port often and get the missing pieces for Dev cards since wheat was rare (12, 11, 9 and 4) and not being rolled. Another city for Julie gave her a two-card edge in two locations. END GAME: Now with three cities on the map and the 8 paying off handsomely and regularly, Julie was going to be hard to stop. In the next three rounds, Natasha finally got Longest road out, Jon was able to build his first city and was poised to take longest road from Natasha, but Round 9 struck with more 8s: 8-6-8-5. With lots of cards to trade, it was a very active round. Jon, Natasha and Doug tried everything to gain an edge over Julies four cities and ore monopoly. In Round 10, another 8 was rolled by Doug, Julie's 6 resulted in a monopoly on brick, and she built two roads and a settlement for 10 points. FINAL STATS: No 10's or 12's; one 2 and 11, two 5s, three 9s and 3s, four 4s, five 6s, six 7s and 13 8s were rolled. It was definitely not an average game for the dice in terms of the expected bell curve. Only five cities were built, four by Julie. Natasha had the longest road with seven road segments. END SCORE: 10-7-6-5. Jon made this game much more enjoyable than most Finals I have witnessed. His positive attitude, willingness to trade every turn and even give advice made him a great player that I would love to game with anytime. That earned him my Sportsmanship monination. Natasha became a Top Ten rated player in only two appearances at WBC with her back-to-back runner-up finishes. Julie was a newcomer to WBC and came away with the win in one of the convention's premier events to become our first female Settlers champ. Making her accomplishment even more impressive was that her first game was a dead last showing. But you have to play three games to advance in Settlers, and unlike many who lost their first game, she kept at it. In all, it was another excellent event that everyone seemed to enjoy once again. I hope to see everyone and more come back next year to trade sheep for wood as I will have some loot to hand out to winners! Junior GM Tim Mossman with his finalists using the 6-player expansion. Donte Saccenti is awarded his prize.

 Settlers Junior

The Junior version drew 26 little settlers on Tuesday for GM Tim Mossman. Six games were played in the opening round, with the winners advancing to the Final.

· Table 1: Nick Metzger ran away from his competitors at the lone 6-player table to advance to his fourth consecutive Settlers Junior Final.

· Table 2: The 2012 Settlers Junior runner-up, Dante Saccenti, outpaced Sophia Holmquist to advance to his second consecutive Final.

· Table 3: John Wobbeking advanced after pulling away from Sarah Morgen and Lindsay Saccenti in a tightly contested table.

· Table 4: Abby Omer dominated her game to earn her second Final appearance. Omer previously appeared as the youngest participant in the 2011 Final.

· Table 5: Tessa Lytle established an early lead at her table and coasted to victory over second place Ethan Shipley.

· Table 6: Buddy Sands won the tightest victory in the opening round (10-9), narrowly defeating second place finisher Mandy Mossman.

Tessa Lytle, Nick Metzger and Dante Saccenti separated themselves from the other three finalists early. Lytle was the first to upgrade to three cities and was generating a steady flow of resources. Metzger who had obviously inherited good settler genes, claimed the longest road and began to place settlements. Saccenti built steadily from his two starting locations.

Lytle built up her impressive empire to show nine points worth of cities and settlements on the board, as the rest of the table struggled with how to catch her. Saccenti built up to eight points to keep the pressure on Lytle. Metzger did claim his eighth point; however, his resource stream started to run dry towards the end of the game.

Over several tense turns, Lytle narrowly missed grabbing her game-clinching final point. She focused on building one more settlement, rather than play into the development deck, which had yet to yield any VP cards for her. Saccenti quietly gathered just enough wood and brick to build two road segments on his last turn, which was just enough to join his two separate settlement areas and claim the longest road from Metzger. The two points from the longest road card clinched the game for the 2012 runner-up.

Lytle finished second with nine points, followed by Metzger. Omer finished fourth with six points, as she rebounded from a very tough early board position by claiming the largest army. Sands also finished with six points to take fifth. Wobbeking, the youngest competitor in the 2013 Final, settled for sixth.