Harrison Wins Third Championship!

A small but enthusiastic group of players gathered for the Commands and Colors Ancients tournament. Given the small turnout (15 players), the participants agreed to skip round-robin play and play matches in a single-elimination format.

The first scenario was Mantinea (362 BC), which pits the Thebans vs Spartans. This scenario presents interesting decisions early in the game for the Thebans, as a Spartan light infantry is within reach of Theban medium cavalry at setup. In spite of this, it is a very balanced scenario (according to commandsandcolors.net), with a slight 51% to 49% edge to the Thebans. In the 14 games played, Thebes won 8, and Sparta won 6. Four players advanced by sweeping their opponent: Andrew Bichard, 5-time previous champion Bill O’Neal, Peter Stein, and Brian DeWitt. Also advancing were Jon Manley, 2-time champion Joe Harrison, Jeff Lange, and Geoff Heintzelman (who got a bye in the first round as the defending champion).

The second round was Angrivarii Rampart, which historically favors the Germanic Tribes 53% to 47% over the Romans. This is also a challenging scenario, as the Germanic Tribes must decide how long to stay on or behind the rampart before charging forward with the warriors. The Romans must decide on the best sector and method for attack. In the 7 games played to completion, the Germanic Tribes won 5. Joe Harrison bested Peter Stein 6-2 as the Germans, and Pete conceded the match after giving up 3 medals during his turn as the Germans. Andrew Bichard won a close 11-10 match over Jeff Lange (both won as the Romans), and Brian DeWitt advanced with an 11-9 victory over Jon Manley (both won as the Germans). The closest match was between Geoff Heintzelman and Bill O’Neal. The Barbarians won both matches 6-4, but Geoff advanced with a 12-figure edge.

Finally, we came to games that include elephants, as the Semifinal scenario was Gabiene (316 BC), which pits the armies of Eumenes and Antigonus against each other. Eumenes has a 55% to 45% edge historically. In the first Semifinal, Brian DeWitt won the first game 7-5 at Antigonus, and Andrew Bichard conceded the match after being down 5-1 in the second game. The second Semifinal featured a rematch of last year’s Final between Joe Harrison and Geoff Heintzelman. Joe won the first game 7-3 as Antigonus. Geoff was winning the second game 5-3, but conceded when Joe got his fourth banner.

Thus, the Final was between Joe Harrison and Brian DeWitt. The chosen scenario was Ipsus (301 BC).

In the first game, Brian charged forward with his heavy cavalry and elephants to put the pressure on Joe. After eliminating a light bow infantry, Joe responded with a mounted charge of his own and eliminated Brian’s heavy cavalry unit. I am Spartacus was then played in three successive turns and after the dust clears, Brian had a 6-4 lead. The battle then calmed down for a time with minor skirmishes back and forth. But then Joe played double time to get 2 more banners to tie the game at 6. However, Brian countered with line command to eliminate 2 units and win the game 8-6.

However, Joe won the second game convincingly 8-4 to win the Final and his third WBC championship in Commands and Colors: Ancients.

Although disappointed in the number of players, all who participated had fun and were competitive. We are considering if a different format for the tournament is needed. If you have any ideas, suggestions, comments, or input, please email Geoff Heintzelman at grheintzelman@gmail.com.