1775 continues its popularity at WBC despite the impact on attendance due to Covid. In 2019 we had 44 and had 33 dedicated enthusiasts this year. Academy Games Birth of America series, (1754, 1775, 1812), allows players for each side to strategize together either the British or American factions in an attempt to control the most colonies. Although the game can be played as either a two, three or four player game, 1775 in tournament format, each side as a faction controlling either the British or American moves his or her forces from a random draw bag each turn.

Once again, following the format of 2019, the mulligan round was set on the first Sunday afternoon. Last time out the event drew 22 participants that mostly had never played the game. This year 16 folks showed up ready to test their skill and new found education from the demo event in the afternoon. Given the high number of new players, pairings were made up of mostly experienced players with games verses those still learning without games. In the end, the British side won 5 of the 8 mulligan round matches with the three closest matches being Scott Beall as the Americans beating John Parker 6 to 5; Keith Onderko as the British beating Tim Hitchings 5-4 and Larry Lingle as the British defeating Jon Manley by the score of 4 to 3.

In Round 1, many of the vanquished returned. Those that won the mulligan round were not required to play Round 1, so many of the games had players with little experience playing opponents of similar skills. In all, 24 men and women faced off with the American side winning 7 of the 12 contests. Three of those contest were by a single colony, with another one being decided by two. We also had the first tie that went to a tie breaker that counted faction cubes with Dennis Culhane’s Americans winning 67-50. Interestingly, we had several former champions of WBC participating this year, including 2019 years first and second place finishers.

In Round 2, every Mulligan winner as well as Round one winners were now eligible to continue. So, 18 folks took their seats in the 9 games of Round 2. Seven games went to the Americans and two to the British. Most games were quite close. Most games finished with a single or two colony margin of victory.

Round 3 now began with mostly very experienced veterans. Four games, and eight contestants as one winner dropped out due to other commitments. Jack Wolff as the Americans defeated Andrew Bichard 4-1; David Schneider (AREA #1 Player) as the Americans defeated Rick Kirchner 6 to 3; Alexander Lange as the Americans defeated Scott Beall 4 to 1; and John Conlon as the Americans defeated Avery Abernathy in a tie breaker with the colony score tied 5-5 won on cubes 57-51.

Round 4 The Semi-final started with four players remaining. David Schneider won as the British against John Conlon 7-5. Jack Wolff as the Americans beat 2019 WBC Champion Alexander Lange on a close-run match that required two tie breakers. With the colony score tied at 3-3, the cube tie break was also a tie at 67-67. This led to a dice roll off which Jack Wolff’s British won after two rounds of dice.

Final: Interestingly this resulted in a final of two former top three finishers. Jack Wolff finished in third place in 2019 and continues his expert play in the final. David Schneider won 1775 in 2018 and was runner-up in 2019. David Schneider as the British vs Jack Wolff as the Americans in the Quebec scenario. The Quebec scenario is vastly different from the campaign game as it only uses half the map and is centered on control of province or colony cities in specific areas. In the end, after over 12 hours of continuous play in 6 Rounds, it was a very closely fought final game that went to David Schneider as the British 6 to 5.

Academy games will be listing the top two finishers on their web-site, presented the top three finishers with a discount coupons, and are listing the two finalists in future editions of the game rulebooks to honor their accomplishments.