O'Connor Wins Fourth Britannia Title!

Naturally, this being Britannia, we had callouts of many of our usual, unusual, events. There were the Romano-British who were not eliminated until Turn 15. We had what seemed like more than the usual number of Dubliner invasions of Wales. Indeed, Green did not seem like a color with luck this year as many Danish invasions looked wildly successful, only to evaporate a turn later. Worse though, was the fate of Blue, winning only 2 of the 14 Heat games. Green won 3, Red 4, and Yellow surged to 5 victories!

I did note, in the Heats, many well played Dubliners, who seemed to make up for the generally ill-fated Scots.

And so, on to the awards for 2025. Matt O'Connor pulled off a very tidy 254 points to win the Yellow High Score. Barry Smith had 256 points with his winning Green. Ed Prem, a newcomer to the high scores, played to an excellent 276 finish with Red. And finally, with the trailing Blues, Rick Kirchner eked out a high score of 236.

For my favorite Ethelred, the Unraed award, I actually screwed up. I gave it to Rusty Schilb for his lowest win of 213, which is an impressive event in itself and deserves recognition, but Matt O'Connor pointed out that he scored a 178 as a low in one of his games, so I shall be presenting him with an Ethelred award as well! And perhaps I'll produce a new award for the lowest winning score!

For the Semifinal, we just had two games. A number of folks had conflicts with the round. But two fine games were played with both 1st and 2nd place finishers advancing in each. In Semifinal 1, it was Jim Jordan, Matt O'Connor, Daniel Bush, and Randy Schilb. Matt and Jim advanced with Matt winning as Red and Jim rounding it up with Yellow. In Semifinal 2, Mark Smith, Rick Kirchner, Rusty Schilb, and Scott Pfeiffer took the challenge. There, Rick just pulled it out with 235 points as Green, while Mark Smith's Yellow followed closely at 234!

And so, we went into the Final! Mark started off with his Yellow Romans. Rick's Greens, Jim’s Reds, and Matt's Blues waited for the invasion.

Turn 1: Mark's Romans made the standard Welsh deal with Rick's Greens, including the Caledonian Codicil. And we started with Mark rolling snake eyes in Wessex while Matt's Belgae rolled a 6. At the end of the 1st round of the invasion though, only 2 Roman's had died. The Belgae then submitted.

The Romans then went through the Brigantes up to Lothian. The Brigantes killed no one. Boudicca then went for York with all but one who stayed back in the Lindsey. York was killed quickly enough that the Belgae had to starve one.The Welsh crunched back to the usual spaces. The Brigantes made a deal to save Cumbria in exchange for occupying York. The Picts piled up in Dunedin with 4 to prevent an overrun and then sent 1 who would have starved to suicide in Lothian.

Turn 2: In York, 5 legions took on Boudicca with 3. One Roman went into Lindsey against 1 Belgae there to prevent a retreat. Boudicca took 2 legions with her to the grave. Everyone was submitted after Roman movement. The Roman's went forward to occupy Dalriada. It was then half growth for the Brigantes, who then occupied the open Cumbria.

Turn 3: The boring turn. The Roman's took Avalon and lost two legions kicking the Belgae out of Lindsey.,/p>

Turn 4: The raiders came out to make things a whole lot less boring, well, sort of! The Romans left few targets for the raiders. The only raiders to go ashore were the Angles to Lindsey who defeated the fort with one die roll while losing 1.

Turn 5: Finally, a turn with no Roman reinforcements. And that's even though only the Belgae had killed any legions so far. The Welsh placed 3 in Cornwall, waiting for any rogue Irish. The Brigs piled up 4 in Strathclyde in anticipation of rogue Angles. The Irish attacked the Brigs in Cheshire, killing them and leaving 1 behind to colonize. The Saxons took out the Wessex fort with the loss of 1, but it took lots of rolls with neither side hitting. The Caledonians washed ashore in Kent, losing everyone and killing no one.

With better luck, the Angles attacked the fort in Lothian and killed it. The Romans missed. Matt's dice, who had luck with the Romans, were also killing it as the Angles!

Turn 6: The Romano-British put 4 in Downlands, 2 in Lindsey, and 1 each in Hwicce and March. A Welshmen went after the Irish in Cheshire but was defeated. The Picts stacked up with 2 in the Scottish areas. The Irish killed a Romano-British in March. The Scots sat at sea looking menacing. The Saxons lost 4, taking the 4 RBs out of Downlands. At least they didn't lose any killing 1 RB in Hwicce. The Angles took 3 into the Pennines and Lothian, chasing the Brigantes out of the Pennines and killing the Brigantes in Lothian.

Turn 7: The Romano-British with Arthur went to Hwicce and killed 2 of the 3 Saxons therewith no losses. The Brigantes lost 2 in an even battle with the Angles in Lothian where they killed no one. The Picts maxed out in preparation for the Scottish invasion. They defended by putting 2 in each of the 5 highlands. The Irish settled in Avalon and Dyfed after killing 2 Welsh in Dyfed and losing 2. The Scots took 4 into Dalriada and killed 2 Picts while losing 1 Scot. On the 2nd phase it was 4 into Skye where they lost another one to kill 2 Picts. They were left with 2 each on land and 2 at sea with Fergus in Skye. The Saxons killed the last Jute in Kent. The Angles had little to do. So they sent 3 to kill Irish in Cheshire, 3 to kill a Brigante in Cumbria, and 7 in Strathclyde to submit the Brigantes. They also sent 2 into Lindsey to kill the Romano-British there, but that was the one unsuccessful battle. In their second phase, the Angles killed two Scots with their leader in Dalriada.

Turn 8: Three Romano-British attacked an Angle in North Mercia, seeking revenge for their Scottish brethren, and killed him with no losses. Mark went to get a drink of water and asked Matt, with his magical dice, to roll for him while he was gone. The Welsh took the Irish out of Wales and killed an Angle in March as they prepared the road to York. On the Caledonian glory turn, they sent 2 to go after Picts in Moray. But the Picts killed one and the Caledonians reeled back. Ah well, so much for glory!

The Scots sent 4 into the Hebrides and lost one but killed the Caledonians and left just 1 Scott behind in Skye. The Saxons spread out and took 4 to kill 1 Angle in Norfolk. The Angles took 4 into Lindsey to kill an RB. But they left York empty for the Welsh tour. They were otherwise spread out up through Dunedin and Dalriada. Red Bretwalda.

Turn 9: The Romano-British grew 1 to have 5 in North Mercia. They took 4 to attack three Angles in Bernicia. The first swing killed 2 on each side and the lone Angle strategically retreated. The Welsh walked in and out of York leaving 2 in March and otherwise spreading out in Wales. The Picts took 4 to Skye, killing the Scot who missed his swing. The Irish killed an Angle in Cumbria with their last Irish raider while 2 Irish happily farmed in Avalon. The Saxons tried killing Welsh in March with 4 but missed. The Welsh decided to retreat and wait to pounce later. The Angles sent 5 for the Romano-British in Bernicia and 3 for the Irishman in Cumbria. They lost 1 in each area. Red Bretwalda.

Turn 10: There was one Romano-British left in Nort Mercia. He wisely sat there. The Welsh sent 3 into Avalon to kill the last Irish. They did but lost two in the process. The Brigantes sat. The Caledonians sat. The Picts spread out into Dalriada and Dunedin. The Saxons maxed and spread out, killing the Welsh in Avalon. The Angles killed the last Romano-British in North Mercia, proving that wisdom might not save you. Red Bretwalda.

Turn 11: The Welsh sent 2 to Cheshire killing the Angle there. The Brigantes sat. The Caledonians had another moment of glory. Sadly, it was just before the Norsemen came on. So, they sent 1 into Moray to kill the 1 Pict there. Yes indeed, much more glorious this time! The Picts sent 2 back to Moray and lost 1 and ran away. The Norsemen lost 2 taking out the Caledonians in the Orkneys. The Danes raided in Essex, Kent, and York, with only the Angles in York killing any Danes. The Saxons tried to get 2 Angles in North Mercia but only got 1. The Angles retreated to Lindsey. The Angles stacked up 4 in the Pennines and 3 in Cumbria, aiming for force preservation. Saxon King.

Turn 12: The Welsh went after the Saxons in Avalon and Hwicce, killing both and losing 1. The Brigantes gained a unit and killed the Pict in Dunedin. The Picts sat. The Scots sat. The Norsemen took Caithness, killing the Caledonians in Caithness. The Danes struck in York, Bernicia, Suffolk, Essex, and South Mercia. The Danes just lost 2. Second phase, the Danes took Ivar and Halfdan plus 4 to Lindsey. They went to Cheshire and left 1 in Essex, 2 in Suffolk, 2 in York, and 2 in Cheshire. They lost 2 to the Angles in Lindsey. The Saxons killed the last 2 Danes in York as well as Ivar and Halfdan. They also killed the Danes in Suffolk and Essex. The Angles took out 2 more Danes in Cheshire, losing none. It was not a pretty time for the Danes. Saxon King.

Turn 13: The Welsh sent 3 to the Downlands against 1 Saxon. The Brigantes put 3 in Strathclyde. The Caledonians sat. The Picts took the Brigante out in Dunedin. The Scots took 3 into Skye against 2 Picts. They lost 1 and partially retreated to hold Hebrides and Skye after the Picts retreated on a bloodless fight. The Norsemen visited Cumbria. They also tried to take Hebrides but lost 1 and retreated to Caithness.

The Dubliners put 3 in Cumbria to take out the Norseman and 4 into the Pennines. The Angles retreated. The Dubliners then went with 4 to York. The Danes killed 1 leaving 3 plus Olaf in York. The Danes took 2 to Norfolk and killed a Saxon. The Saxons took out the Welsh in Hwicce and Avalon. But that left 3 Welsh in Downlands after the Saxons forgot that they had a leader who could have done something about those Welsh. The Angles took the Brigantes out of Galloway and went into the Pennines as well, taking out the Dubliners there. Saxon King.

Turn 14 Welsh chased the Saxon away from Wessex, losing 1. The Brigantes killed an Angle in Lothian. The Picts went after the last Caledonian, killing him with no losses. The Scots sat. The Norsemen sat. The Dubliners went back up into Cheshire, chasing away the Angles, and into Lothian, killing the Brigante. The Danes and Cnut went into Lindsey and Suffolk. They killed the Saxon in Suffolk and chased away the one in Lindsey. They left 3 in Lindsey and 1 in Norfolk. The Saxons killed a Welsh in Wessex and a Dane in Norfolk. There were still 3 Welsh in the Downlands. The Angles killed the last of the Brigantes in Strathclyde. Saxon King.

Turn 15: The Welsh stepped out into Hwicce. The Picts went into Caithness to take out Norsemen there. They just left one in Orkneys. The Scots sat. The Norsemen sat. The Dubliners chased the Saxons out of March, but that left a stack of 5 North Mercia. The Danes suicided into Suffolk. The Norwegians put 2 in York to allow 8 Norwegians and Harald to play with the 5 Saxons. Two Norwegians died and 4 Saxons. The 2nd phase, the Norwegians left the 3 Dubliners in March and took 2 into Cheshire to chase away the Dubliner. The leader and 4 went to Bernicia, killing the Angles. They put another one in Lothian for population.

The Saxons took 5 up to Norfolk for a royal visit and otherwise left a shield of 3 in each of Sussex and Kent, plus 2 in Essex. The Angles went into the Pennines and killed the 1 Norwegian in Lothian. The Normans put 6 and William in Sussex, 2 cavalry in Wessex and 2 in Essex. The Saxons were easily rolled up. Second phase saw William, having lost some troops, taking up position in Avalon, far away from Harold in Norfolk.

Turn 16 The Welsh went after William in Avalon with 5 and lost all of them to kill 1 Cavalry. The Welsh also killed a Norman in Wessex. The Picts took 4 into Orkneys to kill off the last of the Norsemen. The Scots sit. The Dubliners walked south all the way to Downlands. They also went up to Galloway to take it from the Angles and get points. That left them with units in Downlands, Hwicce, March, Cumbria, and Galloway. The Danes decided that Svein needed to visit the Welsh in Cornwall. It was a heck of a party as they and the Welsh each killed 1. The Norwegians spread out to contain the Angles, sending 4 and Harald into Pennines to fight 4 Angles. But they lost 2 without killing any and retreated to Bernicia.

The Saxons took out 2 Normans in Suffolk and 1 in South Mercia, spreading out in Essex and Sussex. The Angles went to York and Lothian against the Norwegians, kicking the Norwegians out of both. That left Angles in Pennines, York, and Bernicia. The Normans took Sussex, Hwicce, Avalon, and Wessex. That left us with 5 Saxon areas, 4 Norman areas, and 3 Norwegian areas, and thus, no King. It was a near run thing though as some of those Norman battles were 1-1.

Thus, we ended up with Matt's Blues taking first with 240 points, Jim’s Red's taking second with 224 points, Mark's Yellows taking 214 points, and Rick's ill-fated Greens netting 177 points.

It was a grand ending to a grand 2025!