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Battle Cry (BCY) WBC 2022 Report
Updated March 9, 2023
30 Players Jeff Cornett 2022 Status 2023 Status History/Laurels
2022 Champion Click box for details. Click box for details.
 

Cornett Captures Fourth Title

Fans of the Commands and Color system were happy to participate in Battle Cry, which was the last event for this game system at the 2022 WBCs. The first round and mulligan were match play at Shiloh, and 14 players advanced to the second round battle at Chickamauga.

For the second and later rounds, only one game was to be played, and players bid discards to their opponent to get the side of their choice.

Although the Confederates won 6 of 7 second round battles at Chickamauga, three of their victories were only by 1 flag. The average score was 5.7 flags for the Confederates and 4.0 flags for the Union.

Unfortunately, the third round and semifinals ended up being more unbalanced; the Confederates won every battle at Pea Ridge and Second Bull Run. We will seriously consider how to implement match play or a pod system for next year; alternatively, another bidding system (possibly bidding flags) will be implemented.

The average score in the third round at Pea Ridge was 6.0 for the Confederates and only 2.5 medals for the Union.

All four players who advanced out of the third round have had success in this tournament in the past: Pete Stein and David Metzger were 2nd and 3rd, respectively, at the 2019 tournament, Joe Harrison won the tournament in 2015, and Jeff Cornett won in 2008 and 2012 and is the all-time leader in Battle Cry laurels.

The semifinals were Second Bull Run. One match was between Jeff Cornett, who bid 5 for the Confederates, and Peter Stein, as the Union. Jeff takes the first two medals and his effective range fire weakens many of Peter’s units. Jeff continues to attack from range and seemingly couldn’t miss, while Pete cannot get a hit, and it soon becomes a 4-0 lead. Jeff’s “brave Confederate warriors” cautiously advance on their right flank. However, a Bombard from the Union gains 2 flags for the Union. The Confederates then move their assault to the center and manage to eliminate an artillery on the baseline for a 5-2 lead. Pete’s last-ditch effort is a Forced March on the right. He gets one flag, but then the Confederates retreat before counterattacking to get the last medal needed for the win.

In the second semifinal, David Metzger bid 7 discards for the Confederates. Thus, Joe Harrison led the Union into battle. In the early going, range fire effective for the Union, and Joe takes an early 1-0 lead. However, the Confederates advance with a 2-2-2, and David eliminates an artillery to tie the game. Joe counterattacks the 2-2-2, but a fight back gives a 2-1 lead to the South, and Joe is unable to eliminate a single figure infantry with 3 dice. Turnabout is fair play, as David uses a Forced March on his left to attack a single figure infantry with a general – but the unit retreats behind the towns. More ranged fire results in another infantry kill for the South, and the Union reinforces with an additional infantry unit. Finally, the Confederate cavalry join the battle with a Hit and Run, but they only eliminate 1 figure from an artillery unit. Fight Back results in elimination of the cavalry! Joe then plays forced march on this left and eliminates another infantry – the game is tied at 3-3. But it seems like the South is on a roll, as they eliminate two more infantry units. Joe does manage to get one more infantry with a Bombard, but yet another Fight Back seals the 6-4 win for the Confederates.

Thus, Jeff Cornett and David Metzger are the finalists, and David bids 8 discards for the South at Gettysburg. After the initial positioning and ranged fire, the South begins moving up on their right. Forced March allows them to move 4 infantry and they get 5 hits total on the infantry units on Little Round Top and behind Devil’s Den. The fierce return fire from the Union eliminates an infantry for the early 1-0 lead. However, the South plays Fire and Hold to eliminate 2 Union infantry units. After this initial flurry, the action near Devil’s Den and Little Round Top pauses with the South holding the high ground, and both players reposition in the center and on the Confederate right. Using effective ranged fire, the Union manages to eliminate an artillery unit and the Confederate infantry near Devils’ Den for a 3-2 lead. The Union then takes the offensive by moving into the wheatfield and back onto Little Round Top. Although they manage to get another flag in the middle, the infantry on Little Round Top does not survive long, and the score is now 4-3 in favor of the Union. The action then moves over to the Union right, as Jeff’s “brave Union warriors” eliminate two more infantry units over several turns to get the 6-3 lead. David manages to get one more flag from the infantry unit in the wheatfield, but Jeff has used his last discard to draw Battle Cry (there were only two cards left in the draw pile). Between that card and a Forced March, Jeff finishes off the 7-4 victory and wins his fourth Battle Cry tournament at WBCs.

I’d like to thank my assistant GMs (and long-time GMs for this tournament, Mike Stanley and Peter Stein, for all of their help and guidance. If you have any suggestions on the format for next year’s tournament, please feel free to email me at grheintzelman@gmail.com.

2022 Laurelists Repeating Laurelists: 2
Dave Metzger Joe Harrison Pete Stein Jeff Lange Sr Rich Golebiowski
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Rich Golebiowski and Joe Harrison in the quarterfinals. Peter Stein and Jeff Cornett in the semifinals.
Joe Harrison and David Metzger in the semifinals. Finalists David Metzger and Jeff Cornett.
 
GM  Geoff Heintzelman [1st Year]