Goodwin Cruises To Victory With Samoa!

All three first round sessions were well attended, with many unusually close results. Games were won by as many as 9 1/2 points, two games by only one-half point, and two by a single point. In one game four guys, all named Dave!, battled for supremacy in paradise. Needless to say, Dave won. In another game, one player gained only 1 VP out of 4 Arts & Culture cards; the usual average is just over 1 VP per card. But then when another player conquered the Santa Cruz islands, he was immediately hit by malaria.

The semifinals were set, featuring all experienced players and some former champions (including the last champion, Dave Dentel). In the semifinals and finals, starting positions are picked in seeded order. Samoa is often picked first, then Tonga or Hiva. Raiatea is nearly always picked last because of its perceived disadvantaged location. But this year’s statistics had a surprise: Samoa, Tonga and Raiatea won nearly the same number of games, 4 or 5 each. Meanwhile, underachieving Hiva did not win a single game in the tournament!

Former champion Paul Brenner, playing Tonga in his semifinal, had great luck exploring. So, he was hit with all of the bad events that came up, including a typhoon and Pele’s anger. But he persevered for the win. In another semifinal, the first five explorations all drew dreaded 3-knot exploration chits – but all were island groups! Brian Goodwin held on for the win in that game.

After choosing their starting positions in seeded order, the Final table was set. Top seed Paul Brenner chose Tonga, then Brian Goodwin chose Samoa, Dave Cross picked Hiva, and Steve Cameron was left with Raiatea. All are experienced players, so the game proceeded quickly.

The game began with Samoa dominating exploration, first finding Rapa Nui and then finding New Zealand. They even managed to control both the North Island and the South Island. Other players were finding islands. There were no catastrophic exploring failures but not as quickly as Samoa. Little Johnston Atoll had an interesting game: first it was built up to a real island by the Volcanic Ash event, but later was knocked back down to atoll status by Severe Erosion.

The game continued with all players developing their empires, while keeping an eye on Samoa, who had found the richest islands. Brian led his Samoans in an efficient program of development, quickly building his resources faster than the other players could react. He suddenly and unexpectedly declared the win! So, this year’s Conquest of Paradise champion is Brian Goodwin.