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TEAM CHAMPS AGAIN: Two-time defending champion Nest of Spies, a
coalition of Card Driven Wargamers from four different states,
justifiying their high ranking by the odds makers as the second-highest
ranked team, repeated as champions of the 2007 Team Tournament over a
field of 78 four-member squads, but they needed tie-breakers to do it
as Those Other Guys used bonus points to forge a 17-point tie. They
became the first team to win three titles, let alone three in a row, by
replacing the absent Dave Dockter with Ron Fedin who contributed the
crucial winning point for his 5th place laurels in Wilderness War. The
team also got their customary seven points from James Pei who won For
The People for the seventh straight year and eight points from Stefan
MeCay repeating as champion of Twilight Struggle. Complete details on
the Team Tournament including the order of finish for the top 25 teams
can be found at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/teamtournamentresults.htm.
SUDY REPEATS AT WATERLOO: Congratulations to Kevin Sudy for
successfully defending his championship in the Napoleonic Wars mini-con
in true Napoleonic style, winning as the French and improving on the
feats of the Emperor himself with a rare conquest of Russia in the
title game. Kevin won four of six preliminary games before capping it
off with a win in the title game. Ed Rothenheber finished second, and
Ken Gutermuth third as he fell short in the title game for the second
straight year. In all, 53 three-player games encompassing 124 turns
were logged during the event—excluding numerous pickup games that
preceded and followed the tournament portion of the weekend. Kevin's
son, AJ Sudy finished 4th, followed by Fred Schachter and Rich Shipley
who took 5th and 6th place laurels. See http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/wat07.htm for more details.
EURO QUEST V SELLOUT: Euro Quest V starts November 9th featuring a new
Veteran's Day Friday—Monday format at the Days Hotel in Timonium, MD.
Euro Quest offers a convention special discounted rate of $79 per night
plus applicable taxes until Nov. 1 or our room block sells out,
whichever occurs first. Mention "Euro Quest" when reserving your room.
The hotel is already sold out save for our roomblock so you MUST
mention Euro Quest to get a room and you must do it by Nov. 1.
Options include one king or two queen size beds with up to four persons
per room. Room rate includes daily continental breakfast served from
6:30AM-9:30AM on second floor. Regular weekend rates are $99 per night
plus applicable taxes. (http://dayshoteltimonium.com) Chili's
restaurant is attached to the hotel and is open for lunch and
dinner. Complete details are available on line at http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/eq07ann.htm.
WBC 2007 AFTER ACTION REPORTS: Individual event reports for each of
WBCs tournaments are posted at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook/.
Each page contains the GM's report plus Century status, 2007 laurelist
photos, career laurel updates, and candid photos of the summer's event
as only BPA does it. The 2008 Century has been expanded to 105 events
by the addition of Kremlin as a Legacy event by Board vote. See how
your favorites fared at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/orphans.
CALL FOR NEW EVENTS: If you'd like to introduce a new event to WBC 2008
(or return an old one) NOW is the time to submit an event form to GM
that event next summer. Only by doing so before Nov. 30, 2007, will
that event be added to the ballot for our Annual December Membership
Drive. If your favorite game is missing, do something about it! Take a
turn running it yourself. See the list of events already eligible to be
run and those that will be on the ballot at
http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/orphans.htm and get an event form at
http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/EventForm.htm.
DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: Prospective BPA members are urged NOT to
renew memberships for 2008 until the December membership application is
posted with the 2008 Ballot for Trial events. That page will be updated
on or about Dec. 1, 2007.
======================
PBeM NEWS
MANIFEST DESTINY: Tom Taaffe, playing Louisiana, won the inaugural
Manifest Destiny tournament in three rounds over a field of 36
players. Tom had been neck and neck with Bob Heinzman, playing
Virginia, most of the way, but blew open a close game at the end. Tom
combined skillful territorial control with drawing several useful
leaders on the last two turns to win going away, despite not having a
third level breakthrough. Instead, his dual second level breakthroughs
of Electricity (shared with Kathy Stroh/Pennsylvania) propelled him to
most cities and Think Tank enabled him to reject the few unhelpful
cards he drew. Bob got off to a solid mid-game lead with Tobacco
payments and early Airplanes, but could not seal the deal as the cards
deserted him. David Hood, as Mexico, made a late move to edge Bob for
second. Kathy never recovered from a $50 McCarthyism hit courtesy of
Scott Burns, Quebec, who never quite got untracked. Kate Taillon who
was first alternate for the Final earned 6th place laurels.
SARATOGA: The 2004 Saratoga PBeM Tournament ended in September 2007
with a Final game of Saratoga that pitted Jim Tracy against Terry
Coleman. The British and Americans did not have their hearts in the
battle and both sides played with a reluctance to carry the day.
However, toward mid-day the Americans rallied with confidence and
resolve to attack the British and followed it up immediately pushing
their new found confidence. The British were taken aback and became
demoralized as they ran from the battlefield. The Americans with
Greene in command had seized the day. 22 players had started back in
2004. Round 1 was a game of Guilford Courthouse. Round 2 was Eutaw
Springs. Round 3 was Brandywine. In all, 22 games were played by
e-mail using Cyberboard. Also scoring laurels were Jeff Lange, Mauro
Faina, Rob McCracken and Rod Coffey in third through sixth
respectively.
GETTYSBURG: Round 3, the Quarterfinal Round, of our second PBeM
Championship is now complete. The four semifinalists are 2nd seed
Allen Kaplan, #3 Ed Menzel, the GM Vince Meconi (#4), and 8th-seeded
Bill Place. Bill scored the biggest upset so far by defeating #1 seed
and defending champion Barry Shoults on a Turn 15 concession. In other
quarterfinal matches, Allen Kaplan's Union bested Doug Pratto, bidding
4, and Ed Menzel, bidding 3.5 for the South, topped Robin Chiang. In
the last quarterfinal matchup, Vince Meconi's Confederates (bid: 1.5)
prevailed over Ted Drozd in a 23-turn marathon. If you need any
confirmation that the game was a lengthy one, how often do you see the
Merritt cavalry division commanded by the Buford general unit? The
Confederates prevailed in three of four quarterfinal contests, making
PBeM II's score so far: Confederates 15, Union 9. 18 games had a
Confederate bid (ranging from 0.5 to 5.0) and six had no bid. The
South took five of six contests without a bid, and 10 of 18 games with
a bid. Look for a summer 2008 start for PBeM Championship III!
MARCH MADNESS: The Fifth Annual BPA March Madness PBeM Tournament is
scheduled to begin a week after this newsletter is posted.Come join
the fun in this quick and easy play by email tournament. At least 40
participants are expected for this ever growing event. All games will
be played using the ACTS March Madness module. All entrants in this
event will receive two teams, one in each bracket. That ensures that
each player gets to play at least two games. The brackets are set up
so a player who drafts low in one bracket gets to draft high in the
other bracket. For details, email bdmonnin@nktelco.net or see the
event webpage at: http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/mms_home_page.html.
==============================
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 pre-registered 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 http://www.boardgamers.org/bpaterms.htm 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 at http://www.abovethefields.com/top_pbem/.
Visit the BPA website at http://www.boardgamers.org
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Don Greenwood
WBC Convention Director
