conquest of paradise

Updated Nov. 16, 2015

2015 WBC Report

2016 Status: pending 2016 GM commitment

Mark McCandless, LA

2015 Champion

Event History

2008 Mark McCandless 19
2009 Nick Smith 32
2010 Steve Simmons 31
2011 Daniel Pappas 28
2012 Rejean Tremblay 23
2013 Keith Ferguson 23
2014 Dave Cross 30
2015 Mark McCandless 28

Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  David Cross        VA    15     80
  2.  Mark McCandless    LA    15     74
  3.  Nick Smith         uk    14     40
  4.  Rejean Tremblay    on    14     39
  5.  Steve Simmons      NJ    11     33
  6.  Keith Ferguson     VA    15     32
  7.  Daniel Pappas      MD    11     32
  8.  Charles Drozd      IL    13     30
  9.  Andy Lewis         DE    13     20
 10.  Steve Cameron      PA    14     18
 11.  Phil Rennert       MD    11     18
 12.  Brian Greer        VA    13     14
 13.  Guy Ferraiolo      PA    14     12
 14.  Keith Ferguson     VA    11     12
 15.  Alan Arvold        LA    10     12
 16.  Scott DeBrestian   on    09     12
 17.  Ed Beach           MD    08     12
 18.  Kurt Mitchell      VA    15      9
 19.  Dave Stiffler      VA    12      9
 20.  Jay Laughlin       VA    10      9
 21.  Steve Vondra       VA    15      6
 22.  Ted Drozd          IL    12      6
 23.  Alan Sudy          VA    08      6
 24.  Jack Stalica       on    08      4
 25.  Brian Goodwin      VA    14      3
 26.  Kevin McPartland   MD    12      3
 27.  Brian Keller       VA    09      3
2015 Laurelists Returning Laurelists: 1

Dave Dentel, VA
2nd

Keith Ferguson, VA
3rd

Kurt Mitchell, VA
4th

Steve Vondra, VA
5th

David Cross, VA
6th

Past Winners

Mark McCandless,
LA
2008, 2015

Nick Smith,
uk
2009

Steve Simmons,
NJ
2010

Daniel Pappas,
MD
2011

Rejean Tremblay, on
2012

Keith Ferguson, VA
2013

Dave Cross, VA
2014

Now boarding the economy
class flight to Hawaii ...

GM Kevin McPartland and
his finalists relax under the palms.

Aloha ...

Conquest of Paradise saw CQP return to the Century despite having only three heats (instead of the four used in the past). All heats were well attended with some players attending every session. In response to the upcoming publication of the Second Edition, some changes were put in place, including using most Advanced Rules and the Random Event cards from C3i Magazine. The GM again used wooden markers for villages in his copy in response to the upgraded components for the new edition. This year, a new Tournament Rule was used for the first time, increasing the cost of Arts & Culture cards. This rule will be used in the tournament going forward.

The preliminary heats saw the full range of outcomes and play styles. In one game, there was not a single attack, while another game had “the most combat I’ve ever seen in a CQP game”. We had what was certainly the closest game in our WBC history: a tie for first place, yes; but also third and fourth place were tied, too—and only one point behind the leaders! Meanwhile, the defending champion won his heat by an overwhelming 10.5 points.

The semifinals were held in three 4-player games, with nearly all players with a preliminary win to their credit. Starting positions were determined by seeding based on the outcome of the three heats. All three games had reasonably close outcomes, but Dave Dentel was the closest runner-up, just a point and a half off the pace, so he earned the fourth seat in the Final. Former champions Keith Ferguson and Mark McCandless won their semifinal games to return to Round 3. On the opposite side of the experience spectrum was Kurt Mitchell.  He learned the game immediately before the first heat! So we welcomed a “newbie” in the Final—and not just in the sense of being new to the tournament! After choosing starting positions in seed order, the table was set: Keith as Samoa, Mark as Tonga, Kurt as Hiva, and Dave as Raiatea.

The game began with a lot of off-course exploring, which made for many islands found far from their home islands. Tonga had an early advantage, finding four island groups and grabbing neutral Niue. But then Hiva found an archipelago of four island groups in the southeast corner of the board. Then, Samoa revealed that he had discovered Aotearoa (New Zealand)—along with its South Island—comfortably located behind his home islands. Raiatea sent an explorer to check out the closest of the many unexploited islands that Hiva found in the southeast, and found the mythical island of Hawaiiki, snagging it out from under Hiva’s nose! But Hiva reveals that they had found Tahiti, deep in the corner of the Polynesian triangle. Hiva suddenly attacked Raiatea to regain Hawaiiki, but was turned back by the religious ceremonies of the Arioi card. A volcanic eruption struck New Zealand, wiping out a village and a warrior band. Hiva attacked Hawaiiki again, this time determined to regain the islands; but the attack force is completely destroyed, with not a single unit returning after their defeat. Raiatea attacked Rapa Nui, winning in another close, bloody battle, gaining enough to take second place. But the final decisive battle occurred when Tonga launched a massive attack on neutral Vanuatu, which despite many losses was successful. This was enough for Tonga to declare victory in a tight closing contest.

So, for the first time in our eight-year history, we have a repeat WBC champion: Mark McCandless and his victorious Tongans! He won our very first WBC tournament back in 2008, and now he reigns again.

GM Kevin McPartland (8th Year) 2885 Jessup Rd, Jessup, MD 20794
k4mcp@verizon.net 410-404-6509

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