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Wabash Cannonball (WCB) WBC 2024 Event Report
Updated November 1, 2024
11 Players Marc Nelson Jr Event History
2024 Champion & Laurels

Cannonballing Back Into WBC After 13 Years!

Wabash Cannonball, recently reissued by Rio Grande Games returned to WBC this year as a vendor sponsored event, reverting to its original name when first published by Winsome Games. It had previously been contested at WBC from 2009-2011 as Chicago Express, at that time published by Queen Games, under license from Winsome. Three copies of Chicago Express were brought in case they were needed, but only one was used.

.As this was a vendor event, it got added very late, and many people weren't aware it was going to be held until many people had planned their schedules. Having the game available at Cafe Jay was helpful in this regard, as another demo was run there outside of the one scheduled demo time. Of the roughly 12 people who attended any scheduled or unscheduled demo, we had 6 players enter the event. That is a good conversion rate.

The first Heat had 2 tables with 4 players each. At the first table Jack Prosch won in a short game which saw the game end before any railroad reached Chicago, resulting in cash totals at the end being low, ranging from $49 to $38. He managed to save cash in hand late by buying only 4 shares, one less share than two players with 5, one of whom was Bob Wooster, who came in second with $44. At the second table, the result was very different with the winner having purchased 5 shares versus 3 for the other players. Steve Cameron won this game with $65, and Marc Nelson came in second with $56, just ahead of Keiran McNay with $55.

The second Heat had 2 tables with 3 players each. At the first table, we had multiple railroads reach Chicago, and the order of finish exactly mirrored quantity of shares owned. Curt Collins won. with $110 holding 6 shares, while Fikri Ramadan came in second with $98. This $12 margin of victory was the most of any of the games. The other table saw a tight battle between Steve Cameron and Keiran McNay, with Keiran's stock quality not being able to make up for Steve's greater stock quantity. Steve finished with $63, and Keiran with $57.

With so few participants we skipped a Semifinal and moved directly to the Final; this was at the time the Semifinal was supposed to start, to make sure that the players who could qualify based on the results of the first Heat had time to show up. We had 3 unique winners and had planned on a 4 person Final initially. With only 2 heat winners present, we added the top 2 alternates (Keiran McNay & Marc Nelson) to make up the rest of the Final.

The Final was a tight contest early on, but soon things stratified, with Steve clearly falling behind, while Curt, Marc, and Keiran contested closely for the win. The quality shares were split fairly evenly among the 3 players, and the positions were fluid. However, Marc had shepherded his money very well in the late going, and once a railroad hit Chicago, the Wabash opened, and Marc was able to end the game with the win by auctioning the last share of the Wabash, which did not reach Chicago, but should have, as Steve built poorly and chose not to go there in error, thinking there would be one more round. Final scores were Marc: $90, Keiran $82, Curt $68, and Steve $66. Keiran did quite well having learned the game at the demo, against three experienced players.

In summary, all games ended due to 3 companies being out of stock. 3 of the 5 games saw a railroad reach Chicago, causing the Wabash to open. All winners had at most one less share of stock than the person with the most shares. The C&O was generally the lowest income railroad, but it was quite competitive in a couple games. The PA, B&O, and NYC had varying levels of success, dependent on whether they were cut off from heading significantly west, and what industrial cities they reached.

I would like to thank Jay Tummelson of Rio Grande Games and John Bohrer of Winsome Games for arranging the games given as prizes to all of the finalists.

 
2024 Laurelists Repeating Laurelists: 0
McNay, Keiran Collins II, Curt Cameron, Steve Wooster, Bob Ramadan, Fikri
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
 
Curt Collins II enjoying Wabash Cannonball returns to WBC. Train gamers trying out newest WBC event.
GM Steve Cameron making his move in the Heats. Finalists including GM Steve Cameron.
 
GM  Steve Cameron [1st Year]