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Mark McCandless and Mark Hinkle ready
their war canoes for the inevitable conflict in paradise. |
Brian Goodwin, Guy Ferraiolo, Charles
Drozd and Steve Simmons go exploring for new lands. |
Aloha ...
Beware
Newcomers ...
Change was in the air for the 2014 tournament! First, in response
to popular demand, two additional preliminary heats were added
to the tournament—now you could play in four heats before the
semifinals, instead of just two. The change was overwhelmingly
popular, with all of the preliminary heats (scattered across
different times and different days) very well attended. Some
players couldn't get enough of the game, attending session after
session reguardless of whether they had won or lost.
The other big change was in response to the upcoming publication
of the second edition of the game. For the first time, Advanced
Rules were used in the tournament—nearly all of them. Also,
the Random Event cards that were published in C3i Magazine
were added. They will be included in the second edition printing,
so they were included in the tournament as well. The GM also
used wooden markers for villages in his copy of the game (in
use in every round)—in response to the upgraded components
for the new edition.
The first rounds saw the full range of game styles. In one
game, there was not a single attack, as all four players were
finding good places to colonize, and expanding nicely—until
one player declared victory. In other games, there was the more
usual warfare—sometimes only near the end of the game, while
other times there was raiding and fighting throughout.
The semifinals ewere composed of three 4-player games, with
nearly all players winners from the preliminaries. Starting positions
were determined by seeding from the four heats. All three games
were close, hard-fought battles; so close, in fact, that one
ended in a draw! Both of those players advanced to the Final,
with the tie-breaker rule determining who had the better seeding.
So the Final table was set: Rejean Tremblay as Samoa, Guy Ferraiolo
as Tonga, David Cross as Hiva, and Steve Camron as Raiatea.
The game began with some very lack-luster exploring, with
nobody finding anything of note—until Raiatea found Tahiti.
Then, both Raiatea and Hiva discovered Aotearoa (New Zealand)!
Since the advanced "South Island" rule was in effect,
the two players cut a deal to share the riches. Then suddenly,
the Fijians struck. Their Random Event card activated them, and
due to an incredibly lucky series of die rolls, the Samoan home
islands were destroyed. Tonga was also hit by the Fijians, but
not as devastatingly—they were able to step into the empty
Samoan Islands. The battered Samoans then showed that they were
not completely out of it, by revealing Hawaii in their control.
Samoa later attacked Tahiti, but Raiatea stopped the attack with
his Arioi card. Meanwhile, Hiva had been quietly stringing together
an empire of many small island groups—along with the South
Island of New Zealand. His final Arts & Culture card purchase
showed that his people had invented Surfing, putting him over
the top for a decisive win!
So, for the seventh year in a row, we have a first-time WBC
champion in Conquest of Paradise: David Cross and his
victorious Hivans! He had been to the Final several times, but
had never won. The funy thing is, at the very start of the tournament,
Dave had told me that CQP would not be his Team Game this
year—his team had neglected to get their paperwork turned in
on time. "So watch", he said. "I'll probably win
it this year." And he did!
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Stan Buck seems to be taking the volcanic
eruption a lot calmer than Rejean Tremblay. |
Dave Dentel and Steve Cameron are
dreaming of hula girls and coconut drinks. |
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