Fire Drills & Bad Weather!

This year’s field included seven former champions and three tournament rookies in a total of 22 entrants. Six of the top 10 ranked players in the world arrived to compete in five rounds of grueling swiss play. With the average game length being 3 hours and 45 minutes, this tournament is a test of both skill and stamina, not to mention the ability to endure 5 fire alarm interruptions in the already-tense round 4. And while the weather in Seven Springs was rather pleasant, it was far from so on the battlefield of the Mediterranean, where the Bad Weather card played a crucial role on Turn 9 in several games, preventing endgame moves to flip the deciding province.

Nearly a quarter of the games lasted more than 4 hours, with 70% of them being close calls on Turn 9. In the end, Carthage dominated, with 21 wins versus 10 Roman wins. However, 12 of those Carthaginian wins were via 9-9 province count ties. Neither Rome nor Carthage were sacked this year, though several times Romans came close to stealing back the win this way. Rome won once due to Suit for Peace for lack of PCs. Rome resigned early in three games; Carthage resigned in two games.

Syracuse and Philip helped Carthage with the naval moves needed to secure victory in two-thirds of Carthaginian victories, but in half the cases Syracuse was sacked, and never did the Syracuse alliance occur on turn 9. Rome had a slight advantage in Messenger Intercepts. Both sides intercepted messengers four times on turns 8 or 9, helping secure victories two-thirds of the time. Scipio Africanus died seven times, often a key turning point leading to Roman victory. Hannibal died nine times, although Carthage still won five of those games, including one in which Hannibal died on turn 2.

Round 1 pitted eight seeded players, ten other tournament veterans, and two tournament rookies in brackets designed to keep rookies away from playing each other or former champions in the first round. Most games were close calls down to turn 9, but none of the favored players lost in the first round. Defending champion Chris Trimmer as Carthage survived a strong challenge by Marvin Birnbaum but managed to have Hannibal cross the alps a second time late in the game to secure a 10-8 victory. Top-ranked James Pei’s Hannibal double-enveloped Tim Miller’s Africanus on turn 7 to secure a Suit for Peace. Highly-seeded Chris Byrd’s Carthage secured the Syracusan alliance on turn 2, never lost it, and used three pro-consul dismissals to secure Gordon Deane’s resignation on turn 9. Tournament rookie Matthew Seitz secured an early Syracuse alliance only to see Randy MacInnis’ Marcellus sack it on turn 4. The game was tight until the turn 9 deal left Seitz’s Carthage with no naval cards, resulting in resignation. GM Stuart Tucker faced a touch-and-go game against tournament rookie Ernest Pysher. Tucker’s Carthage managed to kill Africanus with Hanno at Cirta on turn 7, then eked out a 9-9 tie by holding Sardinia. Michael Mitchell’s Carthage managed to draw the worst card with Messenger Intercepted on turn 9 and fell 8-10 to Paul Gaberson. Jim Heenehan’s Carthage gained the Syracuse alliance on turn 8 and won battles in Numidia to secure a 9-9 victory over Aaron Byrd. Doug White’s Africanus was double-enveloped by Hannibal at Tarquini, leading to a lopsided 6-12 loss to Nathan Wagner. Scott Harris’s Carthage used the Corsica & Sardinia Revolt and several Truces to gain a 9-9 victory over Nels Thompson’s Rome. The turn 7 Syracuse alliance helped Aaron Fuegi secure a 9-9 win over Andy Latto.

Round 2 witnessed two winners defect to other tournaments, leaving 8 undefeated players remaining. Scott Harris used Hanno Counsels Carthage to pin Mago and 9 CUs in Carthage for 5 turns, but James Pei managed to win a 9-9 victory. Chris Trimmer’s Carthage gained the early advantage over Jim Heenehan but then suffered several naval setbacks late in the game but managed to hold onto a 9-8 victory. Chris Byrd survived Nathan Wagner’s Carthaginians, with Syracuse remaining neutral. The siege of Syracuse defined the game as Stuart Tucker’s Carthaginians repeatedly failed attempts to break the siege on turn 7, leading to the death of Hannibal. Then, Randy MacInnis’ Romans finally sacked Syracuse on turn 9 and used Bad Weather to keep Gisco from crossing the Alps in time to take away two undefended provinces.

In Round 3, Chris Trimmer’s invasion of Cisalpina goes badly, with Hannibal leaving quickly, and refocusing on Sardinia. Randy MacInnis’ Marcellus retakes Sardinia on turn 3 but then turn 9 witnesses Hannibal sailing to Sardinia to win by double envelopment and secure a 9-9 victory for Trimmer. Chris Byrd forced James Pei to bid 3 for Carthage, then sacked Syracuse on turn 7, but Pei secured Sardinia, and then used Bad Weather on turn 9 to keep his 9-9 victory. Jim Heenehan’s Carthage gained a turn 8 Syracuse alliance and then need several elephant-led victories by Mago over Nero to secure the 9-9 win over Ernest Pysher. In a wild affair, Stuart Tucker’s Hannibal died in Insubria with no retreat on turn 9, leaving it up to Hasdrubal and Mago to battle Matthew Seitz’s invasions of Spain and Sardinia. Mago managed to double-envelope and kill Africanus at Saguntum, but the key battles came on turn 9 in Sardinia, where Hasdrubal first lost to Marcellus, but then received Mago’s risky reinforcement by sea to then defeat and kill Marcellus at Oristano, leading to Seitz’ resignation. Michael Mitchell’s sacking of Syracuse on turn 9 was not enough to win a close game against Nathan Wagner.

Round 4 began with eight players fighting for the 5 prizes. The two remaining undefeated players were none other than the defending champion and the top-rated player in the world. James Pei won the bid for Carthage at 2. Chris Trimmer’s Romans were down 6-12 on turn 9, leading to a desperate attempt by Africanus to sack Carthage, but Hasdrubal pulled out the battlefield victory to secure the win for Pei. Randy MacInnis’s Romans picked the correct turn 9 hand, keeping Syracuse from joining the war. Nathan Wagner’s Hannibal needed only intercept to the Roman move to secure Carthage the victory, but failed, leading to an 8-10 loss. Jim Heenehan’s Rome broke a turn 9 Truce with the Messenger Intercepted card to secure victory over Chris Byrd. Doug White’s Rome sent Africanus on turn 9 to Sardinia in an attempt break the 9-9 tie, but Stuart Tucker’s Hasdrubal won the battle at Oristano to secure victory.

Round 5 brought together five of the top six ranked players in the world to battle for the five prizes. Being a swiss format tournament, the undefeated James Pei (4-0) still had to withstand one more challenge in Round 5. By strength of schedule, Randy MacInnis (3-1) earned the right to play him for the plaque. Meanwhile, Stuart Tucker (3-1) faced Nathan Wagner (2-2), and Chris Trimmer (3-1) faced Chris Byrd (2-2) for the secondary prizes. Byrd bid 2 for Carthage and crossed the Alps but was forced out on turn 4 by Trimmer’s Romans. The battle for Syracuse defined the end game with eight siege attempts in turn 7 failing. Mercenaries deserted and Hannibal’s weakened force lost to Africanus, leading to resignation and gaining Trimmer the 2nd place plaque, dropping Byrd to 6th place. Nathan Wagner forced Stuart Tucker to bid 4 for Carthage, to no avail. Tucker used Philip and Syracuse to gain the upper hand, then a turn 8 Messenger Intercepted limited Roman options, leading to a turn 9 resignation. This gained Tucker the 3rd place plaque and dropped Wagner to 7th place. Jim Heenehan (3-1) chose not to play in Round 5 but earned the 5th place plaque. With the Wood on the line, Randy MacInnis bid 0 to play as Rome. James Pei’s Carthage invaded Italy, with Hannibal finally run down in Etruria by Fabius on turn 9. MacInnis’s long-sought victory however evaporated as the Corsica revolt let Pei gain a victory via tie. Pei (5-0) took home the 1st place Wood, dropping MacInnis (3-2) to 4th place.