Harrison Sweeps C&C Events At WBC 2023!

Would-be marshals or even emperors gathered at Fox Den, a room tucked away in the bowels of Seven Springs, to fight their way across Europe. This year, we had two players from the U.K. but, sadly, no players from France or any of the other combatants.

The Swiss Elimination format provided players with scenarios pitting the Napoleon’s Grand Armee against the British Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, the Austrian Empire, and Imperial Russia.

In the first match, players played two games of the 1808 Battle of Rollica (French First Position). After the first game, players switched sides, with the best performance across the two games taking the match.

Much to the GM’s surprise, the French defeated the British in 11 of 14 games. When each player won one game, the winner of the match was determined by how many banners won in the lost match. One match ended in a draw with the players winning a game by the same margin of banners (Joe Harrison and Geoff Heintzelman).

The second match pitted the French against a combined British and Spanish force in the 1811 Battle of Barrosa. Once again, the French outplayed their foes.

In the third match, the Austrians took on the French in the Battle of Elchinen (1805). Despite being at a disadvantage in both card number and troop quality, the Austrians won twice as many games as the French.

The last match of the Swiss rounds saw the French battle the Russians in the winter 1807 Battle of Eylau. Neither side was left out in the cold-- the two nations won the same number of battles.

The end of the Swiss round saw 4 qualifiers for the elimination Rounds. Joe Harrison led the pack with three wins, no losses, and one draw. Peter Eldridge, Ed Kendrick, and Keith Onderko each had three wins and a loss. Consequently, there was no need to resort to tiebreakers to narrow the field.

The Semifinal round was intended to be a rematch of the French vs. the Prussians at Dennowitz (1813). None of the players had brought the Prussian expansion, so the GM provided pieces from his own supply for one match and provided an alternative scenario for the other.

The French v. British Battle of Vimiero (1808) pitted Keith Onderko against Peter Eldridge, with Keith taking the honors.

In the Dennowitz game, Ed Kendrick was set against Joe Harrison. Joe won the game and advanced to the Final.

The Final featured the 1814 Battle of Orthez (French Left) matched Keith Onderko against longtime competitor Joe Harrison. Joe prevailed to take the wood.