A Surprise Diplomacy Champion Among The Veterans!

In addition to the mountains of swag like Diplomacy t-shirts, pens, pins, stickers, and magnets – we had our board game prizes courtesy of Renegade. I created an all-new LEGO Diplomacy map, which you can see linked in the photo album below. For our players, I had 2 Best Country awards made for every Power: a wooden plaque and a set of laser-etched whiskey glasses. This year I also provided "Tournament Veteran" medals to every player who has competed at WBC for at least five years. This was my way of saying thank you to the players for keeping the event going strong. Many thanks again to our tournament veterans, who will be listed in the results section.

Before the first round, we conducted a Demo Session upstairs. This year we were joined by international Diplomacy traveler Christophe Borgeat of Switzerland. Christophe runs the Swiss National Championship and is the GM of the European Championship this year. This was his first WBC. Befitting a regular organizer, Christophe joined the Demo Session to help teach new players the game. Several made the jump into the tournament later. Thanks, Christophe!

ROUND ONE

We kicked off Round One in style with four boards and multiple former champions competing for the crown. On Board One, Jef Halberstadt provided a 1971 edition board to play on. The board was filled with tournament veterans – Ed Prem as Germany, Steve LeWinter as Turkey, and Jeff Hayman as Austria – but it was our tournament newcomer Dan Elkins who topped with 10-centers as France. He won the board on a successful attack of Italy and late game capture of English dots. On the other side of the board, Steve LeWinter’s Turkey teamed with Christophe Borgeat’s Russia to eliminate Austria then hang on for 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.

Board Two had another former champion in Harald Henning (Turkey). He was joined by regulars Michael McKibbin (Italy) and Paul Konka (England). From the get-go the plan was to attack Russia. By virtue of an all-out attack, Russia did not get a single build in 1901. They would not build for the entire game, being eliminated in 1903. Sometimes the game is not in your favor. All you can do is play out a position to a valiant end. That was Russia in this game. One of the impressive displays in this game was by newcomer Nico Parauda as Germany. He managed to play both England and France off each other for most of the game – peaking at seven centers – before the vultures descended in the final year of play looking for tournament points. This game also saw the tournament debut of Sebastian Benedict, son of past champion Nick Benedict. As Austria, Sebastian took part in the dismantling of Russia. The late game was also unkind to the newcomer. Italy and Turkey combined forces to capture centers from Austria, propelling Harald Henning’s Turkey to a 1st place finish. The lesson learned for all first-time players in the tournament is when the end of the game approaches, be on the lookout for stabs.

Over on Board Three, Robert Zahn (Austria) was making his title defense on the custom wooden board. This board was the closest of the Round, with multiple Powers vying for the top spot in the final year. Former champion Nick Benedict (France) paired with Geoff Mize (England) late game against Germany to share a board top. These two were not alone though because newcomer Joe Romano (Turkey), who had attended the Demo Session only hours earlier, paired with Austria to attack Russia to make his own play for board top. The push up to Moscow and Warsaw was successful by the pair, which meant Joe was also at 7-centers. We had a three-way tie for 1st place, which meant the players split the bonus points for first through third place.

Board Four was the triumphant return of Ryan Feathers (Germany). For many years he had successfully been pursuing championship qualifiers in other games, which meant no Diplomacy the last weekend. This year, he purposely set out to play Diplomacy. Woe to the other players on his board - even past champs David Rynkowski (Russia) and Anton Wilsbach (France) - because Ryan is a savvy, charming player with solid tactics. He kicked off 1901 with a triple build and never looked back. There was a storm of fighting around Germany this game (England and France, England and Russia, Italy and Turkey, Russia and Austria), and Ryan was the calm eye of the storm. The second most impressive play on this board was by Alex Smith as Austria. Dropped down to one-center at the end of 1902, he stayed alive and via alliances fought back to three-centers by game end. A remarkable turnaround for someone competing in their first tournament. The other impressive game was delivered by Evan Walter (Turkey) who fought to keep pace with Ryan’s Germany. They ended the game with Germany on 10-centers and Turkey on 8-centers.

ROUND TWO

Round Two continued the next morning with donuts & pastries provided to the players. Board One starts on the LEGO map with some creative play. Christophe Borgeat (Germany) opens fairly standard into Denmark, Kiel, and Ruhr. However, he follows this move by sending the Fleet into Baltic Sea, Army Kiel to Denmark, and Army Ruhr to Holland. In the Winter Phase, he builds Army Berlin and Army Munich. An anti-Russian gambit play that pays off, as Russia loses both Sweden and Saint Petersburg the next year. Romain Jacques (Turkey) takes advantage of this situation by grabbing Rumania. The West, however, remains less clear. Throughout the game, alliances between England-France-Germany shift, resulting in each Power pulling the other down. The primary beneficiary of this is Turkey, who with a foothold in Russia is able to effectively push against Austria in the late game to take 1st place. Ryan Feathers’ France ends in 2nd place, with Jack Wilsbach’s England & Christophe Borgeat’s Germany tied for 3rd place. Christophe is pleased with the game even though it netted him a 3rd place finish: the gambit against Russia was successful. After all, what fun is Diplomacy if you use the same opening moves every game?

Over on Board Two, Jay Boring (France) opts for a creative opening himself: Paris to Brest, Brest to Mid-Atlantic Ocean, and Marseilles to Spain. He follows the move in the Fall with a convoy to Portugal. This is not a typical opening and requires tremendous trust with Germany. Alex Smith obliges by opening anti-Russian. Coupled with the Northern opening for Robert Zahn’s England, a Western Triple formed on the board. In the East, there is unanimous support among Italy, Russia, and Turkey to eliminate Austria as quickly as possible. Despite the two builds in Winter 1901, Austria is quickly taken from five-centers down to two-centers the next year and eliminated in 1903. When a Western Triple attacks, either the East gets into gear quickly to stonewall the attack or they get taken apart. Jeff Hayman’s Italy helped orchestrate the dismantling of Austria quickly enough so the builds placed by Russia and Italy could stall the Western Triple. Realizing his opportunities for centers in Italy would be limited, Jay Boring instead sent his fleets North against England, who was struggling taking down Russia after a misorder. He was also able to leverage his armies against Germany, who was overcommitted against Russia at a key juncture. France-Italy is certainly not the most discussed alliance on the board, but when both players are coordinating effectively, it’s difficult to stop. Jay Boring’s France finished with 10-centers, matching the 10-centers from Jeff Hayman’s Italy after taking all of Austria and pushing the Turks back to their starting positions. Two games done and two creative openings. What surprises will Board Three bring?

Board Three opened with another Western Triple. Only this time, Dave Rynkowski (England), Geoff Mize (France), and Anton Wilsbach (Germany) were all on board. The other side was ready too. Russia setup a defense up North and Turkey pushed their fleet into the Tyrrhenian Sea to support the defense against the French fleets. The game seemed destined for a deadlock, except for two key moments in the midgame: (1) England, realizing a chance for the board top, cut a deal with Russia to take Denmark and Kiel, respectively; (2) Austria, seeing a wide-open Russia in the south, made a stab at the same time. The net result was growth by Austria & England at the expense of Russia & Germany. Once again, the Western Triple would be tossed aside as allies vied for the board top. England pressed the advantage to a 9-center board top while the Austria came in 2nd with 8-centers. The loyal French ally had to settle for 3rd place at 6-centers. If you’re a fan of shifting alliances and smart tactical play, this was a great game to watch. Every Power was left on the board at game end, with balance-of-power play ruling the day. Well played by all.

ROUND THREE

Round Three at WBC always brings some fireworks. Players are competing with fervor for the championship or a Best Country award as their last chance to win at WBC before the convention comes to a finish. There were seven players with strong chances to win the event going into the final round. Sometimes those players can earn a first-place finish or even a solo to seal the deal. This time around it was about the upstarts staking a claim to glory. Two players, John Stevens & Ed Prem, elect to sit out the round to make the numbers work for multiples of seven. Both were awarded board game prizes as thanks and a round of applause by the assembled group.

Board One is played on the wooden board. It features defending champion Robert Zahn as France and a couple of competitors for the championship: Geoff Mize as Austria and Jeff Hayman as England. The notable plays from 1901 are the triple build from France and Italy sneaking into Trieste. The game proceeded with a Juggernaut: Paul Konka’s Russia and Jack Wilsbach’s Turkey finding common ground to leave the Black Sea open and push against Austria. England and Germany allied to fight Russia in response to the Juggernaut with success as Germany managed to place an army into Livonia to crack the Russian defense. Italy’s early advantage from taking Trieste waned as the French sent their units South. France managed to take Tunis from Italy, putting them into a disband. Realizing his ally was weak from behind and with Austria teetering on collapse, Turkey made a play to stab. So, Turkey stabbed Italy. Turkey also stabbed Russia. . . and Austria too for good measure. Round Three the blades come out and Turkey wanted his board top. Stab. Stab. Stab.

Realizing Turkey would continue rolling on the eastern half of the map, the England-France alliance proposed a draw to end the game: Turkey to board top with 10-centers, followed by France with 9-centers, and England at 8-centers. In this tournament, draw votes occur via secret ballot. If just one player votes down the draw, the vote fails. Every player still alive gets a vote. In the Spring turn, the draw vote failed. The questions started to fly: Was Turkey going for a solo? Could Jack do it? Was the England-France alliance going to break up? All for naught, as during the Fall turn the players held another vote that passed after talking it out as a group. Each of the top three Powers were happy with their performance. Board One was the first board done and players were free to get some drinks at the bar while they waited for the other boards to finish. There are liquid benefits to finishing early.

Board Two also had two players with a legitimate shot at winning: Harald Henning as Italy and Ryan Feathers as England. Both had first place finishes in earlier rounds, and one more board top could win it all. Once again there’s talk of a Western Triple, but this was all a ruse. Germany and England end up allying against France. Germany supported the English convoy into Belgium; England follows with double fleet builds and Germany builds two armies. Anton Wilsbach’s Turkey makes an early move on Russia and takes Sevastopol in 1901 for the two-build. France does get two builds as well, so it will be a defensive battle.

Italy is slow playing the board, trying to keep everyone down in center counts while positioning for a big turn. This pays off eventually, as Jay Buckwalter’s Austria makes a big play on Turkey at the same time France has been left open in the south because of the England-Germany alliance. Harald Henning’s Italy presses for the win. This is where things get really interesting. With Austria and Italy committed against Turkey and France, respectively, Brady Detwiler reverses course from attacking France. Austria gambles that Germany won’t stab when Russia is close to death. The gamble doesn’t pay off. Germany picks up three centers and is suddenly in the driver’s seat. Italy also grows, and it’s looking like Harald Henning may win his second championship if he gets a few more centers. England flubs an important order set and instead of building, he remains even in center count. After two great games, the tournament is slipping away from Ryan and he says as much openly on the board.

At the end of the game, England must make some creative plays, including nabbing a center from Germany to both stay in the bonus and limit what Italy gets. The final tally: Germany board tops at 10-centers, Italy in 2nd at 8-centers, and England in 3rd at 6-centers. Would this be enough for either Ryan or Harald to win the tournament? Now they play the waiting game as the final board finishes.

Board Three is played on the LEGO map. I spent most of my time as TD watching this board because it was one of the wildest games I’ve ever witnessed. The board: Christophe Borgeat (Austria), Evan Walter (England), Jay Schoenen (France), Jay Boring (Germany), Nick Benedict (Italy), Dan Elkins (Russia), and David Rynkowski (Turkey). In the first year, Italy opted to open Venice to Tyrolia followed by Tyrolia to Bohemia in the Fall. The real fun starts in 1902 though. Italy builds a fleet Naples instead of an Army in Venice after a change of plans with France coming South. Austria takes advantage and moves into Venice in the Spring. Only, there is yet ANOTHER Western Triple brewing. England and Germany both press Russia while France sends the fleets South. After some animated discussion, Austria decides to voluntarily move out of Venice in the Fall – to Tuscany.

While the Western Triple is unfolding, Christophe’s Austria is experienced enough with the alliance to NOT want Turkey lurking behind you. He arranges for Russia to send an army to Armenia while supporting the fleet in Rumania to take Bulgaria in the Spring. In the Fall, he promptly takes Rumania from Russia while also moving to Galicia. Germany and England are running the standard anti-Russian playbook by convoying an army into Livonia while forcing Sweden. The game opens up.

Stung by the betrayal, Turkey elects to send his fleet from the Ionian Sea into the Adriatic to harass Austria. Christophe pushes farther, taking Sevastopol while England forces Saint Petersburg. Austria once again goes into Venice in the Spring, only to leave again in the Fall turn. It’s all part of a guessing game with France, who by this time is in Piedmont, Gulf of Lyon, and Western Mediterranean.

With Russia on the way out, Austria continues the march by sending that army into Armenia. With the Italians help, Austria moves into Piedmont and France elects to disband rather than retreat. France, getting tired of the lack of progress against Italy, shifts gears and puts two units North and turns the rebuild into fleet Brest. Russia, having given up hope of any sort of defense, abandons the North to send two armies against Austria – walking out of defensive position to have some spite moves against the Power that cost him a few centers. Austria is not prepared for this sudden shift and Russia can walk into Budapest or force Rumania.

France and England are arrayed against each other, but Austria makes another creative proposal: shift focus against Germany instead, with Tyrolia supporting Burgundy into Munich. The game isn’t so much determined by alliances at this point but instead a free-for-all. England moves on Germany, taking Denmark. Italy takes Greece and then Bulgaria. Austria abandons Sevastopol to Russia in exchange for Rumania to get some defensive positioning back with Italy making gains. The last three years of the game, the leader was at 7-centers and three other Powers were at 6-centers. The leader shifted each of those three years. When the smoke cleared and the game was done, Austria and England topped the board with 7-centers each. In a three-way tie for 3rd place was France, Germany, and Italy. It was truly a wild game, with players helping each other in one theatre while stabbing each other in another theatre. The most amazing stat: three times Austria moved to Venice and all three times voluntarily left. Whew, what a game!

On the heels of that last wild board finishing, I went into calculating the final scores. The top three positions in the tournament were each separated by a point: First place was 72 points, second place was 71 points, and third place was 70 points. Dan Elkins and Ryan Feathers entered the last round one point apart and neither improved their score. Harald Henning made a valiant attempt to win the tournament, but his second place finish as Italy in Round Three was not enough.

We had a first-time Diplomacy tournament player win WBC and join the champions club. Dan Elkins of came to WBC not knowing much about tournament Diplomacy. By the end of the weekend, he had spent time reading prior event reports and general Diplomacy history after learning from the experienced hands. He learned quickly enough, winning Best France and the Championship. Congrats on the well-deserved victory. We'll be back next year with more fun for our players. Here are the final details.

Event Total: 10 boards / 33 players

The Top Board were the top seven finishers in the event, essentially forming the best table. Each player received a custom Diplomacy map clipboard with printing to indicate this was won at WBC.

1. Dan Elkins
2. Ryan Feathers
3. Harald Henning
4. Jack Wilsbach
5. Evan Walter
6. Jeff Hayman
7. Brady Detwiler

The Best Country awards were given out to the best single game score for that Power. We had a tie for Best Germany in the event. The discretion for breaking ties is up to the GM. Given we had TWO awards for each Best Country, I asked Ryan and Brady if they wanted to split. Ryan got the wooden plaque and Brady took the whiskey glass set. Best Country:

• Austria - Christophe Borgeat
• England - David Rynkowski
• France - Dan Elkins
• Germany - Ryan Feathers & Brady Detwiler
• Italy - Jeff Hayman
• Russia - Christophe Borgeat
• Turkey - Jack Wilsbach

Tournament Veteran Award Recipients (players who have competed in at least five Diplomacy events since the tournament returned):

• David Rynkowski
• Evan Walter
• Paul Konka
• Trevor Schoenen
• Harald Henning
• John Stevens
• Andrew Sherwood
• Keith Boone
• Carl Shapiro
• Ron Fisher
• Geoff Mize
• Kevin Youells
• Jay Schoenen
• Jeff Hayman
• Jay Boring
• Michael McKibbin
• Brady Detwiler

Some interesting notes about the tournament:

• Jay Boring returned to the event for the first time since the move from Lancaster to Seven Springs. He promptly topped his board
• Ryan Feathers rejoined us after spending a few years hunting for the Consul title at WBC. He promptly topped HIS board and finished the tournament in 2nd place
• We had TWO types of Best Country awards to give away: wooden plaques and branded whiskey glass sets. This came in handy when Ryan Feathers and Brady Detwiler tied for Best Germany. By my GM powers and their mutual agreement, Ryan took the plaque and Brady took the whiskey glass set
• Christophe Borgeat made his first US tournament appearance. The former EuroDipCon champ won two Best Country awards in his debut (Austria and Russia). Not too shabby
• Nick Benedict brought his son to play his first ever tournament. We now have enough parent-child pairs to run two full family boards. Diplomacy Family Feud event in the future?

A link to the photos from this event can be found at https://photos.app.goo.gl/s9CumtgDwvrfr98z6,