Kaltman Wins On Tiebreaker!

The classic Mac Gerdts rondel game Navegador returned to WBC in 2025 as a trial event with players competing to build the wealthiest Portuguese colonial empire. There were 36 unique players over three Heats with 17 players participating in at least two heats.

15 games were played over the course of three Heats. We had five games in Heat 1, four in Heat 2 and 6 games in Heat 3. While four player games are preferred by most, the numbers required that Heat 1 have a 3-player game. Heat 3 also had two 3-player games. After these 15 games from the Heats, we had 14 players win at least one game with Chad Martin being the only two game winner.

Different than previous years, the majority of Heat games ended by exploration (10 of the 15 games) with just five of the 15 games being ended by all buildings being purchased. We did have two games end with all buildings purchased and all spaces explored. The average winning score in a 4-player game was 111 with the highest winning score being 126 and the lowest winning score being 86. Of the 15 Heat games, the winner’s top point scoring category was heavily weighted towards colonies with support in navigation tokens and shipyards.

• Colonies – 6 times
• Factories – 4 times
• Shipyards – 1 times
• Churches – 1 times

Semifinal

Although we had 14 different winners, only 8 showed up for the Semifinal round with the one notable absence being our only two-game winner, Chad Martin. This led to two 4-player games with first and second place finishes advancing to the Final.

At Table 1, Chris Wildes scored 45 points with his nine factories and was supported by 28 points each for colonies (seven) and churches (four) on his way to a winning score of 123. Mike Kaltman took second with 117 points powered by his five shipyards (45 points) and supported by nine colonies to provide an additional 27 points. Tim O’Flynn took third with 104 points. He scored 50 points on his 10 factories and an additional 36 points on his four churches. Shiv Chopra finished fourth with 88 points. He had a balanced scoring with his 27 points from nine colonies being his top category.

Table 2 saw Rob Flowers get his win by scoring 118 points with his main source of points coming from his 11 colonies that generated 55 points. He also scored an additional 36 points from his four churches. Michael Swinson took second with 116. His 12 colonies led to 48 points for his top scoring category. Ian Vanderhorst scored 36 points from his four shipyards as he took third place with 91 points. Jack Wolff had a balanced game scoring 36 points on his 4 churches while also scoring 18 points each from his factories and navigation tokens on his way to 88 points.

The Semifinal saw a different trend in the winners top point category. While only four of the 15 Heat games saw factories as the winners highest point category, the Semifinal saw both of the winners putting the focus on factories. This would also support the fact that both Semifinal games ended with the last building being built.

Final

This led to a very strong Final table with four perennial finalists at the table. The order of players for the Final table saw (1) Chris Wildes-black (PBeM winner); (2) Mike Kaltman-red (multiple time finalist); (3) Rob Flowers-green (PBeM winner); and (4) Michael Swinson-yellow (PBeM winner).

In the first phase a combined 14 colonies were purchased. In addition, 11 factories, two churches and two shipyards were also built. Phase two was triggered when Michael Swinson sailed into Cabo da Boa Esperanca.

The players tableau’s having the following items at the end of phase one:

Phase II was triggered with Michael S. having six ships on the board and ready to explore. Only four colonies were bought in phase two with Michael S. getting all of them. Rob got into the shipping game by collecting three navigation tokens, purchasing three shipyards and getting both shipyard privileges. Mike K. and Chris both stayed in the church/factory game. Mike K. collected two factories and two churches as well as a church privilege. Chris was able to collect four factories and one church as well as both factory privileges. After much deliberation, Michael S. once again triggered the next phase.

Player tableaus at the end of phase two had the following items:

As we begin phase three there is just one building remaining to be bought (a factory) making the last phase very short. In addition to the one factory purchased in the phase, we saw only one colony being purchased along with one privilege being obtained.

Mike K racked up 45 points off his five churches and an additional 32 points from his eight factories on his way to the winning score of 98. Mike’s 45 points from churches bucked the trend making this just the second game with churches being the top point category.

Chris also scored 98 for the second-place finish. He scored 50 points from his 10 factories and was supported by 27 points from his three churches.

Michael S scored 86 to take third. He scored 32 points from his eight colonies and 28 points for his four shipyards.

Rob scored 83 finishing fourth. He had four shipyards providing 36 points as well as 20 points from his four navigation tokens.

Congratulations to the laurelists and all of you that participated in making Navegador a successful event at WBC in 2025!