Boardgame Players Association Newsletter
Jan. 15, 2006

SportsmanshipCall for GMsAnnual Survey ResultsWAMEnlightenment IX Results Membership DriveEuroQuest ResultsBoD NominationsPBEM NewsSubscribe

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR: The third leg in the BPA triple crown of annual awards has been claimed By Bruno Sinigaglio of Fairbanks, AK, in what was the heaviest membership voting turnout to date for the award. Known for a “game till he drops” attitude, Bruno is always the first to volunteer for any chore and would GM the entire convention if we let him. Come to think of it, we have, as evidenced by the new Pre-Con named for him this year—Grognardcon—where he will provide temporary GM chores for no less than eight of the classic wargames’ Preliminary rounds this summer. Katie McCorry finished second in the membership vote. Rounding out the top six finalists, all with double digit vote totals, were Stuart Tucker, Bob Jamelli, Keith Hunsinger and Charles Stucker in that order. See the details.

ANNUAL CALL FOR GMs: Prospective Game Master volunteers are asked to submit their event forms for WBC 2006 now. Many openings are listed on the Orphans page for both Junior and adult events. Any event listed as Open will not be held unless a member commits to GM it by Feb. 28. Prospective GMs are urged to reread the newly revised GM Guidelines, paying particular attention to the tie-breaking rules for MESE events which have been modified since the prior distribution. See the upcoming Century and eligible Continuing Trial events on the Orphans page.

WBC TRIALS LINEUP: The event lineup for WBC 2006 is now complete, pending GM and sponsor commitments. The Annual Survey of the membership admitted five new events (Wellington, Here I Stand, Commands & Colors: Ancients, Caylus, and Street Soccer) while welcoming back 20 returning favorites in the New and Continuing Trials category in the heaviest voting yet recorded in the December membership drive with even 100 votes insufficient to make the cutoff. See the voting totals.

WAM: The next BPA gaming conference with laurels up for grabs is Winter Activation Meeting Jan. 27-29 at Hunt Valley Inn in Hunt Valley, MD for fans of the card driven wargames Hannibal, For the People, Paths of Glory, Wilderness War and We The People. Get all the details.

ENLIGHTENMENT IX: The ninth annual meeting of our Age of Renaissance minicon gaming conference convenes March 17-19 at Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn and features the added bonus of a Manifest Destiny tournament starting at 4:30 on Friday. BPA has obtained a very favorable group room rate of $99 per night plus applicable state and local taxes (currently 13%). To obtain this rate you must identify your affiliation with the BPA’s Enlightenment gaming conference and make your reservation before Feb. 15 (or when our roomblock sells out, whichever occurs first) at 410-785-7000 weekdays between 8 am and 7 pm EST. Get the details.

BPA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: BPA thanks everyone who renewed their membership during our most successful membership drive ever. Although it is now over, you can still join or renew your BPA membership throughout the year and enjoy considerable savings over WBC At the Door rates. An Associate memberships costs only $10 and allows free play in all BPA PBeM tournaments which launch in 2006, voting in our annual Board election and $10 discounts to pre-registration rates for all of BPA’s conventions. Upgrading your membership to Tribune level grants free admission to any and all WBC pre-cons. See our BPA Terms page for details.

EURO QUEST III RESULTS: Complete event details and photos are now available on the GCOM site.

BoD NOMINATIONS: All BPA members are hereby notified of their right to nominate members for the three Board seats whose terms expire at the next WBC. To appear on the ballot, a member must be nominated in writing by at least three members; one of which must be himself/herself. Nominations must be signed and received at BPA, 1541 Redfield Rd, Bel Air, MD 21015 no later than Feb. 28 to be eligible for election in that year. When contemplating nominations, members are urged to consider that the BPA conducts most of its business by email and needs Board members who are able and willing to offer their time and skills to the organization in a timely manner. Board members should be considered more for their ability to contribute to the running of a successful company than for their attachment to any particular game or genre. Besides forwarding a signed nomination for himself/herself, each nominee should submit by March 1 a statement not to exceed 100 words summarizing what they can contribute in service to the Board of Directors of the BPA. See the nomination form.

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PBeM NEWS

PATHS OF GLORY CHAMPION: Tom Drueding was the last man standing in a field of 64 competitors in BPA’s third POG PBeM tournament. 135 games were logged in all, before Tom defeated the defending champion Stephan Valkyser of Germany to claim the championship and top laurels. Past champ Stefan Mecay of TX finished third, followed by Peter Reese (VA), Chris Byrd (CT) and Holger Janssen (Germany) respectively.

AGE OF RENAISSANCE CHAMPION: Congratulations to our reigning Caesar, Arthur Field, who outlasted 63 competitors in the 2004 AOR PBeM tournament to rack up a commanding lead in his bid to repeat as Caesar in 2006.  In a tightly fought final game, Arthur (Paris), took the lead in turn 7 with an Enlightened Ruler play followed by two misery cards and then held on in the 8th and final turn to overcome Sean Whitaker’s 2nd place Genoa, Pierre LeBeouf’s 3rd place Venice, Carl Damcke’s 4th place Barcelona, and Mark Neale’s 5th place London.  Carl had the mid-game lead with a Cathedral purchase going last to make a wine commodity run but was unable to hold on in the last two turns.  Sean and Pierre, stayed within striking distance all game but couldn’t pull off a large, late payout to overcome Arthur’s late lead. With only two wool plays in the first six turns, Mark did well to stay within sight of the pack.  Final scores were Paris 2290, Genoa 2010, Venice 2007, Barcelona 1942, and London 1769. 

VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC: The first round of the Victory in the Pacific PBEM tournament is finished. Unlike the previous tournament, the top seeds prevailed—winning 17 of 18 matches. The 2nd seed was the lone member of the top half to lose his match. The Allied and Imperial Navies finished the round with identical records too. The remaining 18 players move on to the second round! Check the current status of all games at our VIP PBeM page.

BREAKOUT NORMANDY #5: Tom Dworschak, playing as an Eliminator to avoid byes, has defeated Steve Andriakos in the fifth, and now final, round of the 4th BKN PBeM tournament. It is the second straight time that the top-rated AREA player has been pressed into service to carve a round off the tournament by defeating one of the three remaining unbeatens, having eliminated Don Greenwood in similar fashion in the last tournament. Tom’s victory means that the 4th tournament is now drawing to a close with Greenwood and Bryan Eshleman battling it out for the championship. So, its time to announce the fifth Breakout Normandy PBeM tournament which will commence on Feb. 17. Entry is free to all current BPA members. All rules and details are available on our Breakout Normandy PBeM page. Send your opening bid to doncon99@toad.net to enter.

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All BPA PBeM tournaments require current BPA membership when the event starts. All multi-day paid attendees to WBC are current BPA members for the balance of that calendar year. Associate Calendar year memberships enabling play in all PBeM events starting in that year cost only $10 and earn discounts for admission to all BPA gaming conferences. You need not keep your membership current in order to finish a PBeM event. Players may join the BPA throughout the year. Members are reminded they can upgrade their current memberships at any time by remitting the additional funds. See the BPA Terms page for details.

BPA members who would like to see an email tournament for their favorite game are encouraged to step forward as the GM of such an event. BPA does not run tournaments. Rather, we are an organization of gamers lending support to one another so such events can happen. No one cares as much about your hobby as you do. Get involved. See the requirements to host a BPA email tournament.

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SUBSCRIBE: If you have not yet subscribed to our new mailing list, please do so as we are unable to add you ourselves. To receive our free monthly newsletters you MUST rejoin the BPA mailing list by visiting http://lists.boardgamers.org/mailman/listinfo/bpamail to confirm your address and your desire to be on this list. Subscribing takes only a moment, ensures your privacy, and increases likelihood of receipt. The newsletter will continue to be posted in the WBC folder in the Conventions section of Consimworld and on the BPA web site but will otherwise be unavailable to those who do not join the list in this fashion. Here are previous newsletters: Nov. 2005, Dec. 2005.

Visit the BPA website at http://www.boardgamers.org

Don Greenwood

Boardgame Players Association Last updated 1/19/06 by kae.
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