commands & colors: ancients

Updated Nov. 16, 2015

2015 WBC Report

2016 Status: pending 2016 GM commitment

Riku Riekkinen, fi

2015 Champion

Event History

2006 Tony Curtis 40
2007 Bill O'Neal 36
2008 Brian Conlon 40
2009 Rick Young 34
2010 Chad Mekash 48
2011 Bill O'Neal 44
2012 Allen Kaplan 36
2013 Bill O'Neal 36
2014 Joe Harrison 37
2015 Riku Riekkinen 42

Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Bill O'Neal        NY    15    187
  2.  Allen Kaplan       NJ    12     68
  3.  Riku Reikkinen     fi    15     61
  4.  Jack Morrell       NY    14     58
  5.  Tony Curtis        OK    12     58
  6.  Chad Mekash        NJ    11     56
  7.  Brian Conlon       CT    11     54
  8.  Joe Harrison       KY    15     42
  9.  Rick Young         NC    13     42
 10.  Greg Ottoman       TX    15     40
 11.  John Kirk          PA    12     24
 12.  Terry Cotter       CT    10     24
 13.  Dan Dolan Jr       VT    15     20
 14.  Peter Eldridge     uk    13     18
 15.  John Grasse        CT    13     18
 16.  Jeff King          ME    08     18
 17.  Andy Finkel        uk    06     18
 18.  Derek Landel       NJ    14     12
 19.  Joe Yaure          PA    11     12
 20.  Matt Bacho         MD    12      9
 21.  Steve Cuyler       NY    09      9
 22.  Rob March          CA    06      9
 23.  Peter Stein        OH    07      8
 24.  Carl Moon          NY    15      7
 25.  Eric Raymond       PA    09      6
 26.  Andy Joy           MD    08      6
 27.  David Burkey       PA    06      6
 28.  Mike Pacheco       CA    11      4
 29.  Jeff Cornett       FL    07      4
 30.  John Vasilakos     VA    13      3
 31.  James Terry        NJ    09      3
 32.  Paul Skrabut       FL    08      3
 33.  Mike Gentile       PA    06      3
2015 Laurelists Returning Laurelists: 3

Greg Ottoman, TX
2nd

Bill O'Neal, NY
3rd

Joe Harrison, KY
4th

Dan Dolan Jr, VT
5th

Carl Moon, NY
6th

Past Champions

Tony Curtis, OK
2006

Bill O'Neal, NY
2007, 2011, 2013

Brian Conlon, CT
2008

Rick Young, NC
2009

Chad Mekash, NJ
2010

Allen Kaplan, NJ
2012

Joe Harrison, KY
2014

Riku Riekkinen, fi
2015

Chuck Stapp vs Chris Crane

Dave Metzger vs Derek Landel

Anthony Curtis vs Dave Gubbay

Greg Ottoman vs Riku Riekkinen with GM Rick Young observing

Blocks & Blades ...

The first round used the pod system wherein we divided into 4-player groups and each player played all the others in their group in the same scenario, Bagradas, with the best record in the group advancing automatically and the best runners-up completing the 16 slots. Side selection was handled by players bidding victory banners. Carthage held a slight advantage 31-26-5. This continues to remain the most balanced scenario from the base game so it will remain in use next year.

Round 2 was another group of pods. The battle was Trebbia. Only the winner of each pod would advance to the semis. Carthage won overall 16-8. Interestingly, the four pods offered very different balance views with Carthage going 4-2, 3-3, 3-3, and 6-0.

The semifinals were conducted as two-game matches, playing both sides of a battle against the same opponent. The battle was Sucro from the third expansion. In one bracket, three-time champ Bill O’Neal faced the mighty Finn, Riku Riekkinen. Riku took the first game 6-1 as the Sertorians and the second 6-2 as the Romans to end any immediate dreams of a fourth title. In the other bracket, Greg Ottoman eliminated defending champion Joe Harrison 6-5/6-4 as the Sertorians/Romans.

It was decided by the players beforehand that there would be a consolation match for third instead of normal tie-breaker rules. I found this to be awesome since even getting to this point meant you would have fought eight battles already. So the last round saw two more two-game matches. The battle for Round 4 was Mantinea (362 MC) from Expansion 6. In the consolation match between the 2014 finalists, Bill started led the Spartans to a narrow 6-5 victory. This left the door open in the riposte game, but Bill was able to win as Thebes also, this time 6-3, to claim third and add to his impressive CCA resume—having failed to earn laurels only once in 10 years. The fourth place finish for Joe nonetheless enhances his “contender” status.

Greg started the Final with the Spartans. He lost a general, costing him a close fought battle 5-6. The blocks lost were 26-28. The championship was on a knife’s edge. In the second game, it was Riku’s turn to lead the Spartans. Greg took a 5-3 lead, but in an instant, the Spartans were able to bag three units in one turn to give Riku his sixth WBC title. Even Riku was somewhat surprised by his sudden turn of fortune. So the reputation of the Mighty Finn grows. Greg will have to settle for telling stories about the one that got away.

GM Andy Lewis (9th Year) NA
alewis161@mchsi.com NA

2015 Previews | View the Icon Key | Return to main BPA page