Thrace leads Kevin Youells to a repeat victory!

After a 2 year COVID induced hiatus from the 2019 WBC, the 2022 Advanced Civilization tournament returned to Seven Springs. However, turnout from the overall convention took a hit, and Advanced Civilization took a hearty attendance hit this year with only 22 unique participants (down approximately 50% from 2019). This resulted in four total heat games across the two days of play: Sunday and Wednesday. All heats filled to capacity with eight players each.

A few notable moments from the Wednesday game at Table 2:

• The game was a quiet one until Crete (Jennifer Visocnik) decided to show her true colors & started burninating her opponents’ cities. She collected plenty of pillage from those cities which enabled her to trade more effectively that round. But it also made her a target if ire from her neighbors
• Kevin Youells, as Assyria, stayed mostly in his corner of the world until the last turn when he saw a chance to finally claim Kevin Island (aka Sicily) with a city and two units.
• Unfortunately, Kevin Island was short lived as he drew Volcano & Earthquake in that same trade round. In the blink of an eye, his city and his adjacent colonists were turned to ash.

The 2022 finalists included Nathan Barhorst (Egypt), Erika Anderson (Babylon), Steve Bachman (Assyria), Kevin Youells (Thrace), Matt Spencer (Illyria), Matt Lahut (Iberia), Jay Spencer (Africa), and Jon Anderson (Crete). With at least three former champions and another three finalists from the previous few years, blood was in the ancient waters and the sharks were definitely circling.

The round highlights include:

• Round 7 - Assyria gets hit by the first Civil War of the game, with Crete as the beneficiary
• Round 8 - In a turn of poor fate, Assyria gets hit AGAIN by Civil War, but as they were still rebuilding from their first nation-splitting bout, they were their own beneficiary. This was of little comfort, however. Because the Barbarians filled that void to take their place in the Assyrian lands. It would appear that if you can’t form a nation, at least you can live in anarchy
• Round 11:
  • Thrace buys Mining before everyone else, giving them a purchasing advantage for the remainder of the game
  • Iberia, Illyria, & Crete were the only nations that had not bumped on the AST
  • Africa, Trace, and Egypt had all taken one bump
  • Babylon had taken two bumps
  • Assyria had taken three bumps
• Round 12 - Crete forgot all about taxes. And the revolting cities looked to Thrace for a new empire to participate in
• Round 13 - Babylon ended up with Iconoclasm & Heresy, and assigned the two secondary cities both to Thrace. Then Military was purchased and things started getting interesting
• Round 14:
  • Thrace blocked the build of an Iberian City
  • Assyria is hit with their THIRD Civil War (Babylon was the beneficiary)
  • Babylon is hit with a Flood, and their FOURTH Barbarian Hordes
• Round 16:
  • A rough calamity round, as the only calamity that did not get dealt out to players was Slave Revolt
  • In a state of statical improbability, Assyria was hit with their FOURTH Civil War! (Crete beneficiary)
  • A chair was flipped out of Kevin’s Hand (mild humorous frustration. Cool your horses!
  • AST Bump Totals:
    • 1 bump: Africa, Thrace, Crete, Egypt
    • 2 bumps: Iberia, Illyria
    • 3 bumps: Babylon
    • 4 bumps: Assyria (thanks Civil War!)
• Round 17: Africa finally takes a Civil War. However, to ensure that Assyria didn’t feel completely left out, Assyria was still involved as the beneficiary.

After a brutal game, the game winner came down to a few measly treasury points.

Final Results were:

1. Kevin Youells (Thrace) – 4679
2. Matt Spencer (Illyria) – 4673
3. Matt Lahut (Iberia) – 4535
4. Jay Spencer (Africa) – 4499
5. Nathan Barhorst (Egypt) – 4354
6. Jon Anderson (Crete) – 4244
7. Erika Anderson (Babylon) – 3700
8. Steve Bachman (Assyria) – 3518