Henning Becomes Rail Baron!

Thanks You. First let me thank former GM Trella Bromley and Lucas Heinz for being the assistant GMs this year. And thanks to Olin Hentz for stepping in as the second assistant GM when Luke’s arrival at WBC was unexpectedly delayed. I’d also like to acknowledge Jay Tummelson and Rio Grande Games for sponsoring the tournament this year.

Numbers. We had 30 unique players, a nice bounce back from last year, but we still miss several of our pre-pandemic regulars. We played 15 games in the qualifying Heats up significantly from last year.

First Heat

Table 1 saw Lynda Shea, Sam Packwood, and Kathy Hentz in a classic battle where all three players ended up with over $200 in cash. Kathy declared but failed to get home, then Sam declared and failed, and finally (third time’s a charm!) Kathy made it home on her second try to win despite having the lowest total score.

Table 2 was a bloodbath of bad rolls and hostile destinations. Jeff Jackson got the first hostile and managed to play that into not having a big western railroad or a northeast route. Olin Hentz did even worse, with an especially impressive series of rolls on his second trip: 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, then 5 (yes, he used two dice). Then he had six hostiles in eight destinations. Neither of them won… That left Paul O’Neil and Bill Morgal to fight it out. Both ended up over $200 and had multiple chances to declare but found themselves surrounded by rover threats. Finally, Bill arrived in Kansas City and made it home to Chicago for the win, one turn before Paul would have reached Houston with his home in Fort Worth.

Table 3 featured Mark Kennel, Joe Mach, and Lean Sorge in a lengthy battle where the cash was slow to roll in. Joe had just reached $200 when the game was called on time, and he won easily based on the total scores.

Table 4 played out very straightforwardly, with Ron Secunda, Brian Conlon and Trella Bromley all having solid networks and racing for the finish. Brian was the first to squeak past $200, arriving in Pittsburgh with $204 and a home city in Chicago, and he dashed home for the victory.

Second Heat

Table 1 had Olin, Ron, Bill, and Harald Henning. Olin’s dice tried to make up for his first game by rolling 18, 11, and 10 for his first three moves, but then they went back to their old tricks. Harald used a long first run to get the ATSF, then steadily built his network to be the first to $150, the first to $200, and sauntered home for the win.

Table 2 included Paul O’Neil, David Bailey, and Inger Henning. It was a relatively friendly start, with everyone going at least ten runs without a hostile. Paul just beat Inger to $150 and was first to $200. With his home in Pittsburgh Paul had to sweat out a couple western destinations, but then got Milwaukee and was able to get home from there, just before Inger reached $200.

,b>Table 3 players were Dan Duffield, Mark McCandless, Lou Traini, and Bill Peeck. Dan ran away with a comfortable win, with only three hostiles and an easy stroll home to KC from Chicago.

Table 4 had Maria Traini, Johnny Wilson, Sam and Kathy. The game was called for time, with Kathy edging out Sam for the win on total score, making Kathy the only player to win the first two Heats!

Table 5 featured Trella, Mark Kennel, and Bob Stribula. It was one of those games for Mark. He only had one hostile, was out in front in cash the whole game, but never got close to his Washington home. He finished in second place, with a total score more than $100 ahead of the winner. It was one of those games for Trella, who started well but ran into a buzzsaw with six hostiles in her last nine runs, to finish last. That left Bob to steadily build his cash, then arrive in Nashville with just enough to get home to Memphis and claim victory.

Table 6 was a tight race between Jeff, Glen Pearce, and Eyal Moses. There were only seven hostiles total among all the players, and all built strong networks. Unfortunately for Glen, three of those hostiles landed on him near the end, and he had to make a tough decision. Jeff and Eyal were neck and neck approaching $200, and whoever Glen paid into Philly would have just enough to declare at their next arrival. Glen paid Eyal, and Eyal obliged by declaring for home from Chicago. Eyal came up short with a total roll of seven on three dice, rewarding Glen for his choice as Glen swooped in for an easy $50k. However, Eyal had to pay Jeff $10 to take his shot to get home, which gave Jeff enough to declare from St. Paul. Glen was positioned for a second rover cash-in, but Jeff took the fun out of that idea with a roll of ten on two dice, enough to get home to St. Louis.

Third Heat

Table 1 had Ron, Jeff, Kathy and Olin. Ron went big early and bought the ATSF, then made a career of running from hostile NE destinations to hostile SE destinations. 13 of his last 15 runs were hostile. It wasn’t pretty… After winning her first two heats, Kathy did her best to keep up with Ron on the hostile count, and she finished third. Jeff was hurt by an early San Diego run, then plugged along for a solid second-place finish. Olin finally turned the tide after very bad luck in the first two rounds, and ran away with this one, cruising home with plenty of money while second place had barely $150.

Table 2had Trella, David Bailey, Dan Duffield, and Kurt Hoffman. Much like Olin, Trella recovered from unusually low finishes in the first two Heats to win this one comfortably. She got over $200, then went to a Milwaukee destination with her home in Chicago, and somehow managed to make it there.

Table 3 included Inger, Mark K, Bill Morgal, and Paul Brenner. Inger and Mark were neck and neck all the way, and the game ended with three players over $200 cash. Mark ran into a few hostiles and Inger had plenty of money to win but couldn’t get herself close to home. Mark caught back up so it was just a matter of who could make it home. In the end Mark arrived in Charleston and got home to Atlanta - right before Inger would have declared from seven dots away.

Table 4 had Luke Heinz, Bart Pisarik, Maria Traini, and Sam Packwood. This was a tale of the admittedly worst network winning the game pretty easily. You never know. Sam won with the NYC, NYNH&H, SP, NP, IC, and SLSF. The NP proved to be a big moneymaker, and he had very few hostiles. Sam made it home with $274 with no one else breaking $200.

Table 5 had Chris Meyer, Bill Peeck, and Paul O’Neil. It seemed like no one wanted to win. Bill declared from four dots away with one die to roll, and of course rolled a 2. Paul collected the easy $50. Soon afterwards it was Paul’s turn to declare, but he also failed to make it home and Chris took $50 from him. Chris was in great shape at that point but delayed his win by using a strategy of bad rolls and hostile destinations. But eventually Chris reached Birmingham and declared for home in KC, then miraculously rolled the necessary 10 to get there. Chris won with $306 cash with Bill at $287 and Paul at $181.

Semifinal

The Top 12 advanced, to three four player boards, with the three winners plus the second-place finisher with the best total score advancing to the Final.

Table 1 included Paul O’Neil, Ron Secunda, Kathy Hentz, Jeff Jackson. This game was sweet revenge for Paul. Last year in the Semifinal round, Paul thought he had the game won, only to discover that he didn’t while Jeff snuck in for the win. This year there was a different outcome. Paul started badly, with two hostile trips to Nashville in his first four runs. But he gambled to buy the NYC, stabilized his position, then raked in a bunch of payments. Paul bought the last railroad with perfect timing to force Ron to stay on his line for $5k and doubled Jeff’s cost for an especially hostile trip to Boston. Paul took the lead at that point and never looked back. Kathy was the early leader, but she never got a big railroad and a disastrous trip to the Southwest knocked her out of contention. Ron was looking strong early too, but to his dismay he never got his eastern and western lines connected. He gambled to buy his Superchief which helped him survive, and he managed to finish second. Jeff was in shouting distance of Paul but ended up blowing $50k in a fruitless attempt to stop Paul from winning, cleverly maneuvering himself from second place to fourth.

Table 2 had Bob Stribula, Mark Kennel, Trella Bromley, Brian Conlon. This was a close game throughout, will all four players finishing with between $161 and $200 cash. Bob admits to some good fortune with well-timed high rolls early and mostly avoiding the Southwest to win despite not having a big western railroad. Bob’s home was Chicago. With everyone else out west, Bob arrived in New York with $192. His next destination was Cincinnati, which paid him exactly the $8 he needed, and he found his way home for the win before anyone else could get anywhere close. Mark finished with a strong second score of 346, with Trella in 3rd, and Brian 4th.

Table 3 featured Harald Henning, Sam Packwood, Olin Hentz, Bill Morgal. The game played out unusually, with the B&O and NYC being the 16th and 17th properties purchased respectively. Harald built a network around the ATSF, C&O and SOU. He had no significant railroad in the northwest but managed to go the entire game without visiting that region. Bottom line is Harald got an early lead and held onto it to the end, winning with a run home from Mobile to KC. Sam finished a strong second, even with the most hostiles. Olin was 3rd with Bill 4th.

Final

Paul, Bob, Harald, and Mark (highest scoring second place) advanced to the Final. Last year’s winner and first year assistant GM Lucas Heinz took care of all the admin work to keep the game moving. Thanks Luke!!!

The game had an odd twist near the beginning. Bob arrived and bought the PA. Paul completed a long run and bought the NYC. Mark arrived and bought the B&O. Harald bought cheap and held his money, planning to make his favorite early buy of the ATSF. A typical start, except Bob had pushed it a bit and ran out of money. When he put his lone railroad up for auction, only Harald had any cash to compete and ended up getting the PA for $16. Then he still got the ATSF. Then he bought a Superchief with a lot of railroads still unpurchased. But it all worked, and Harald cruised to victory. No drama getting home and he finished with $227 cash, more than double the next highest player. All the players not named Harald have multiple tales of woe (just ask them!), but in the end, Bob recovered from his start to finish in 2nd, with Mark 3rd, and Paul 4th.

GM Final Comments

Fun factoid: The most common Northeast railroad in winning networks was the Baltimore and Ohio.

Thanks again, Trella, for doing all the registration and scoring work.

Thanks, Luke for becoming our second assistant GM, and running the Final admin, even though the week didn’t work out like you planned.

See you all next year! Bring your friends!!!