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ENLIGHTENMENT XI: The eleventh annual meeting of our Age of Renaissance minicon gaming conference on March 28-30 in Timonium, MD, was a big success as members responded in a big way to the rumored end of the spring weekend. Both Age of Renaissance and its sister event on the undercard, Manifest Destiny, drew in excess of the required 25 players throughout the four rounds of each event to prove there is an audience for concentrated repeat rounds of a competitive format. Complete details are available at http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/aor08.htm

Steve Simmons won three consecutive games to become the eighth person to win the Enlightenment Age of Renaissance championship. He won over a field of 31 players numbering five former champions by doing battle in 21 games over four rounds. Finishing second with two wins and thereby claiming the 2008 laurel lead in the race for Caesar was Kevin Sudy. Ted Simmons mirrored his father's successful weekend with two wins to claim third. Ewan McNay took fourth at his first Enlightenement appearance while three-time champ Bill Crenshaw and two-time champ Jeff Mullet took fifth and sixth respectively. Updated laurel totals are available at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook/aorpge.htm

Ewan McNay topped Arthur Field in the last heat to win the Manifest Destiny tournament in a field of 28 players over the course of 17 games. Ewan (playing Pennsylvania) and Arthur (as Mexico) were neck and neck throughout and the tide turned when Ewan pulled out Most Cities on the final turn, resulting in a 2 VP swing that was the margin of victory. John Coussis, the other two game winner, came in third. In the last round John beat Jeff Mullet (who tied for first in all three game he played, but lost all of them on the cash tiebreaker), Kathy Stroh (who came in fourth overall) and Bill Crenshaw (5th) in a 30-30-30-29 VP game, that saw the final two cards (War and Black Tuesday) knock Bill out of first. A newcomer, Shawn Fox, garnered sixth place laurels. Updated laurel totals are available at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook/mfdpge.htm

LANCASTER HOST SELLOUT: Many WBC regulars have been disappointed to discover that Lancaster Host is already sold out for the upcoming 2008 WBC. Not to worry - BPA also has group rates at the nearby Red Roof Inn and Continental across the street. These hotels have been recently renovated and offer bargain rates and free continental breakfasts when you ask for the World Boardgaming Championships group rate. However, do not delay. Our group rates expire as early as June 11 and Lancaster area hotels often sellout during the tourist season. Reserve your room now. Get the details at http://www.boardgamers.org/hotellan.htm

MONSTER GAMES: In an attempt to increase the amount of Open Gaming space at WBC we are looking into opening a small room for the exclusive play of large multi-map, multi-day simulation games. This would be reserved for games that can't be played in a day and need to remain setup from day to day. Players would still be required to "play" the games on a regular basis but could leave it unattended for a reasonable period without fear of it being moved. Use of the room would be on a reservation system, first come, first served. To apply, contact doncon99@toad.net with the game name. table space dimensions required, dates to be played, and the names of those who have committed to playing. This service is free to members of the conference.

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PBeM NEWS:

WE THE PEOPLE: Congratulations to Dan Leader for winning the latest PBeM WTP Tournament. Leader, who was a relative unknown in WTP circles prior to the tournament, compiled a perfect 6-0 score in the six-round Swiss format tournament. He defeated, in order, Kevin Klemme, Brian Mountford, Ken Gutermuth, Pete Reese, James ("The Master") Pei and Henry Rice and recorded an impressive four wins as the British along the way (the Americans are generally thought to have a not inconsiderable edge in the game). Check out the final standings at http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4bc94/wethepeople/index.html.

Joining Leader in the Laurels grab were: 2. James Pei (only loss was to Leader), 3. Pete Reese (only loss was to Leader). 4. Bill Peeck, 5. Henry Rice (only loss was to Leader), and 6. Bruce Monnin The tournament began in the Spring of 2006 with 50 players (including five past WBC champs) and was played via ACTS. A total of 133 games were played with British winning 44 games (17 were automatic victories), American winning 74 games and 15 games being draws. The average bid to play the Americans was 2.93 PC markers added at the start of play, which given the poor 33% British win percentage should probably have been higher.

The best British player was the champ with his perfect 4-0 slate. The best American player was Bill Peeck (5 wins and 1 loss), who was able to avoid playing the British entirely (shame on his opponents for not bidding him up!). The best sportsman was Andrew Maly, who cheerfully compiled a "perfect" 0-6 record. An AAR of the Round 6 game between Leader and Rice as well as the latest WTP Laurel totals are posted on the BPA WTP page at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook/wtppge.htm

PANZERGRUPPE GUDERIAN: Jim Tracy has topped a field of 28 to claim the second BPA PBeM Tournament for PGG. Other laurelists were Robert Frisby, John Popiden, Larry Meyers, Forrest Metz and Michael Kaye in that order. A more detailed report as well as the latest PGG Laurel totals are posted on the BPA WTP page at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook/pggpge.htm

GREAT CAMPAIGNS OF THE ACW: The first round of the Great Campaigns of the American Civil War PBeM tournament concludes April 15. McClellan has taken quite a beating in our 23 first-round games of McClellan's Opportunity, but he's going down swinging in our remaining games, eager to even the score between CSA and USA victories. The second-round scenario is McDowell, from Stonewall in the Valley. That game is scheduled to begin April 30, and players who did not play in the first round are still welcome to join our preliminary rounds -- and they still have a good chance to advance to the single-elimination round. Players need only own one of the seven games from the series to join the tournament, and all skill levels are accepted. For more details, check out http://www.wargamereplays.com/gcacw/gcacw08pbem.html or e-mail Justin Rice at GCACW.GM@gmail.com

AGE OF RENAISSANCE: The 2008 PBeM tournament is now open for enrollment. Please sign up by May 17th, with a start time of June 14th. For complete details and rules please see http://gregstripes.com/aor/ The 2007 tournament is now in it's second round, catch all the action at http://gregstripes.com/aor/2007_progress.htm

WILDERNESS WAR: Round 4 of the tournament has ended. This was the final Swiss round of the Swiss-Elimination format. We started with a field of 62 players in March 2007, and all but four have been eliminated. George Young, James Pei(2004 WBC Champ) and Ron Fedin (2005 WBC Champ) each advanced with perfect 4-0 scores, while Adam Deverell advanced with a 3-1 score,finishing in a 15 way tie for the final slot but advancing on tiebreakers. Adam earned the necessary tiebreakers by defeating Jim Lawler, Tom Thornsen and current WBC Champ Paul Gaberson. His loss was to Fedin in Round 4. 5th and 6th Place laurels went to Bill Edwards and Pete Reese, respectively. Check out the website (http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4bc94/) for the complete results.

MANIFEST DESTINY: The third annual PBeM tournament will begin May 15, 2008. The first round should be completed within six months. 15 players will advance to the semi-finals and the top five will advance to a final game. The tournament will use an updated version of the Manifest Destiny Cyberboard developed by Randy Mauldin. If interested in playing (or GMing), please contact Bill Crenshaw at billcrenshaw@verizon.net Tournament rules, Cyberboard information and further details are on the tournament website: http://www.markneale.com/bpa/pbem/md/2008/

MARCH MADNESS: With the 2008 NCAA tournament now history, we are approaching the end of the BPA March Madness PBeM tournament. There are just three players remaining. Bruce Monnin's 1983 NC State champs topped Harry Flawd's '81 Indiana Hoosiers to reach the title game. He now awaits the winner between John Coussis's high scoring Kentucky 1966 squad and Pete Staab's St John's '85 Redmen. To see the updated bracket, see: http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/mm-brack-2008.htm

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Anyone interested in running an email tournament is invited to inquire. 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/pbemgm.htm

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. 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.

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

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Don Greenwood
WBC Convention Director