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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. |