Nicholson Triumphs In Attack Sub!

The second to last tournament start of WBC got underway with submariners looking to stalk their way to the elusive century plaque. While the field was filled with a lot of veteran captains, only four of the top 10 laurelists had come for another tour. Giving hopes to many that maybe this just might their year.

The tournament remained with its tried and true format of three swiss elimination rounds. An hour is allotted for each round, but rarely does a game last the entire time limit. This year there were a couple of captains who were done two rounds in 20 minutes total. In fact, the entire tournament including the single elimination rounds was completed by the end of the allotted time for the swiss rounds.

Four captains came through the swiss rounds undefeated including one captain who won as the tiebreaker side in all three scenarios and another who won as the non-tiebreaker in all three scenarios. Four captains advanced with 2-1 records, all with the 2nd win coming in the 3rd round. They were all tied on tiebreakers so a random draw for who they would face in the single elimination rounds occured.

The Quarterfinal saw the following results:

• #1 John Conlon being ousted by Rob Schoenen who got revenge for his swiss loss
• #2 Jim Fleckenstein being ousted by Bruce Young
• #3 Andy Lewis being ousted by Dennis Nicholsen who got revenge for his swiss loss
• #4 Aaron Birmbaum being the only higher seed to advance by ousting his father Marvin Birmbaum

Therefore, two top 10 laurelists made it to the Semifinal.

In one Semifinal top laurelist Rob Schoenen was the US in the Boomer scenario against Aaron Birmbaum. Rob’s Los Angeles drew a malfunction on its first shot, but one turn later fired a double torpedo array which sunk the Ivan Rogov. Aaron’s Zarnitsa’s first torpedo also malfunctioned. As the second deck began, the Los Angeles tried to withdraw but was unsuccessful 3 times. Zarnitsa maneuvered to contact level 4 and fired a double torpedo array sinking the Los Angeles.

In the other Semifinal, #3 laurelist Bruce Young took the surface fleet in Rebel Without a Cause against the renegade Dennis Nicholson. Even with receiving reinforcements, Bruce’s surface could not locate the renegade Oppokov and as soon as the Oppokov could maneuver into firing position (1st card of second deck) he successfully launched its missile. And this finished off both top 10 laurelists.

In the Final, weekly face to face gaming opponents Dennis Nicholson and Aaron Birmbaum were matched up for the wood. Aaron took the surface fleet in Rebel Without a Cause while Dennis was once again the renegade. Aaron had as much luck as Bruce at locating the Oppokov who was able to maneuver to contact level 4 against the Rovnostnyy but the torpedo malfunctioned when it had only needed a 1 or better to hit. A few turns later another torpedo 4/4 missed the Rovnostnyy, but the surface fleet was finally able to gain a contact on the Oppokov. However, it was too little too late and once again the Oppokov maneuvered into firing position as soon as possible (1st card of second deck) and successfully launched its missile. Dennis was the champion and broke his 19 year draught of not winning a tournament at WBC.