Jim Jordan	Britannia GM

JORDAN WINS 2009 GM OF THE YEAR: We are pleased to award the Best GM honor for 2009 to Jim Jordan for his performance as the Gamemaster of Britannia. Jim bested Here I Stand GM Ed Beach by a single point. Jim was instrumental in welcoming game designer Lou Pulsipher to WBC and making him a regular part of the Britannia WBC community with the result that the newly published 2nd edition of Britannia was designed with comments from WBC players playing a major role. Through Jim's good offices the game was playtested at WBC—having an effect on the hobby beyond the boundaries of Lancaster. Rounding out our Top Six GM voting was Tom Gregorio (The Russian Campaign), Richard Irving (Merchant of Venus), Stuart Tucker (Hannibal) and Eric Brosius (Princes of Florence). More details are available at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/topgm.htm.

SPORTSMAN NOMINEES: The WBC list of 2009 Sportsmanship nominees is now online. Before renewing your BPA membership, please check out all the worthy candidates there and select one to support on your ballot. Let's reward good sportsmanship with free lodging at the 2010 WBC. The list can be found at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/sportmanNominees.htm.

2009 AFTER ACTION REPORTS: The latest Event After Action Report pages complete with the latest Laurel counts and photos as only WBC does them are now available at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook09/  We suggest you peruse them to recall last sumer's fun or see what you missed before deciding what events to support with your votes when renewing your 2010 membership. The initial lineup of eligible events for the 2010 WBC pending membership vote and GM commitments is listed on your membership ballot and again in more detail at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/orphans.htm.

DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE UNDERWAY: Only three weeks remain to renew your membership for 2010 and get a free WBC souvenir T-Shirt and full-color yearbook. We urge you to renew memberships for 2010 NOW through 
the end of the year both to save money with our lowest rates and to vote your choice of the 25 Continuing Trial events and the winner of our annual Sportsmanship Award. Vote to retain your favorite events or introduce new ones. Your vote must be postmarked by Dec. 31 to count. On line payment is limited to those residing outside the United States. The December membership application is posted with the 2010 Ballot for Trial events and Sportsmanship nominees at http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/MemberForm.shtml.

GM RESERVATIONS: All GMs are reminded that their event "reservations" for the WBC events they ran in 2009 expire on Jan. 1. To retain GM status of your event, you must submit a new event form at http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/SubmitEvent.php and renew your membership by the end of the year. Otherwise, those events will be listed as OPEN on the Orphan's List in an attempt to attract a new GM.

2009 PATRONS: The BPA's list of 2009 Patrons is now posted at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/patrons.htm.  Please report any inaccuracies to conventiondirector@boardgamers.org no later than Jan. 31 to ensure an accurate listing in the upcoming Yearbook.

In Memoriam

John Popiden

JOHN POPIDEN MEMORIAL: We regret to relay news of the passing of member John Popiden who succumbed to a heart attack last week. The Los Angeles native had been a longtime boardgame enthusiast who actively pursued his wargaming interests. Those interests led him east to his first WBC in 2004 where he made an immediate impact with his skills in the traditional hex wargames and was a regular visitor in the years since, racking up 310 laurels in six years. He won titles in both Afrika Korps and Panzergruppe Guderian and was active in BPA email tournaments as well as at WBC. More importantly, he won instant friends with his quiet and friendly manner and was admired for his sportsmanship. He will be sorely missed this summer and in the years beyond. If you have a remembrance of John or other departed members you'd like to share we invite you to visit and contribute to our memorial page at http://www.boardgamers.org/memorial.htm.

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. NOTE: Email nominations are NOT acceptable, nor can a member nominate more than one member for the Board. 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. The nomination form is on line at http://www.boardgamers.org/bpanom.htm

2010 MEMBERSHIP POLICY: There are no changes forthcoming in 2010 BPA membership or WBC admission policies. We will again enjoy a full week of gaming running from Monday morning through Sunday evening with assorted pre-cons during the previous weekend. The Sampler Showcase and WBC Auction and Auction Store will again begin the week before the main tournaments commence in earnest on Tuesday evening. The Showcase will not be a Pre-Con and will be open to all paid WBC attendees. Open Gaming in the popular Showroom setting will commence a day earlier on Wednesday with expanded use of the BPA Gaming library. A small number 
of events will continue to be run on Monday to augment the Sampler Showcase, but the bulk of Tuesday will remain dedicated to the Auction and Auction Store.

A normal Sustaining Membership covers all WBC events from Monday thru Sunday for $70 - no annoying event fees to pay. However, all members joining by the December 31st deadline will receive both a free full-color Yearbook mailed in May and a WBC Souvenir T-Shirt upon arrival. Those joining After the New Year will only be able to purchase these items separately while supplies last. The convention schedule will remain separate from the full-color yearbook in a smaller, one-color booklet made available at registration. This policy ensures that everyone who attends WBC will get a printed schedule, while preserving one of the unique traditions that is WBC -- our full color souvenir Yearbook. Check the full  details on our membership terms page at http://www.boardgamers.org/bpaterms.htm  for payment deadlines and shirt size exceptions.

EURO COORDINATION: Eric Freeman is again volunteering to co-ordinate Euro events in an attempt to minimize scheduling conflicts. If you'd like to be part of this effort, contact freemaneric@comcast.net

WAM VIII: The next BPA gaming conference is on Thursday, Jan. 28 through Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010 in Timonium, MD at the newly renovated Holiday Inn.  The Winter Activation Meeting is again the week before the Super Bowl. The focus of this four-day event is to provide a gaming convention for the two-player historical "card-driven" boardgaming community: players and designers. This year we again will abandon the Open Play format that we have used in former years in favor of a more structured event. We will be offering the following titles as fully sanctioned BPA tournaments with full laurels to be won: Paths of Glory, Twilight Struggle, Hannibal and Combat Commander.  These are the only official tournaments that will be run and all four events will have a set schedule. However, for those who are able to arrive by Thursday, "Open Thursday" will still offer flexibility.  Thursday will be devoted to “open” first rounds and nothing will be formally scheduled on that day. Upon arrival, attendees may seek out the GMs and have a Round 1 opponent assigned for any tournament (this would NOT be a Mulligan). On Friday and Saturday, each of the tournaments will have formal rounds scheduled (including Round 1). Anybody who played a Round 1 game on Thursday would be exempted from playing in the scheduled Round 1 for that tournament. Participants are also welcome to open game to their heart's content, so bring your other CDG titles along.

BPA has obtained a very favorable group room rate of $89 per night plus applicable state and local taxes (currently 13%). To obtain this rate you must identify your affiliation with the BPA's WAM gaming conference and make your reservation before January 7th, 2010 (or when our roomblock sells out, whichever occurs first) at 410-560-1000 weekdays between 8 AM and 7 PM EST. For more details see http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/wam10ann.htm.

BPA EMAIL: The WBC Convention Director has a new email address. Doncon99@toad.net has been replaced by conventiondirector@boardgamers.org. Please note the change in your address book.

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PBeM NEWS

HANNIBAL PBeM TO START: Pete Reese will be beginning a new BPA Hannibal PBeM tournament on Feb. 1, 2010. Check out the details at http://sites.google.com/site/romevscarthage/home/tournament-rules

ADEL VERPFLICHTET PBeM UPDATE: All of the games in the first preliminary round have ended.  The winners were: Anthony Daw, Tom DeMarco, Bob Hamel, Marc Houde, Derek Landel, Sean McCulloch, and John Pack.  A few second round games have finished with wins recorded by Steve Fitchett, Dan Leader, Peter Staab, and Aran Warszawski.  So far no one has won two games.  The third preliminary round is well underway -- though no games have finished.  Check out all the scores (and by using the links, the games themselves) at http://www.gameaholics.com/adv_tournament.htm!

NORDSTROM WINS 1960: Justin Nordstrom has won the first BPA 1960 PBeM tournament by culminating his four-win breeze through the 16-player field with an upset of proven CDG whiz Stefan Mecay. GM Max Jamelli, 
Ilan Woll, and Mike Pacheco fell in order to Nordstrom's finely oiled political machine, setting up the Final match. Also scoring laurels were Mike Pacheco, Bob Jamelli, George Young and Anthony Daw who finished 3rd through sixth respectively. More details are available on http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook/960pge.htm#pbem.

WILDERNESS WAR PBeM TO START: Veteran GM Keith Wixson will be starting the 4th BPA Wilderness War PBeM tournament on ACTS starting the first week in February. The format will be Swiss Elimination with eight players advancing to the elimination round after four rounds of Swiss play. The rounds will be  12 weeks in length and players are expected to average one card play per day. For details see http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4bc94/index.html
and contact Keith at keith.wixson@verizon.net to register.

WAR AT SEA #8 TO START: Few wargames can claim to run email tournaments as quickly as War At Sea which will commence its 8th BPA rendition on Feb. 15, 2010 under its fourth GM, Dick Jarvinen. This time a new format will be used as Double Elimination makes a rare appearance. Check out the details at http://www.firish.com/WaS/

AFRIKA KORPS ROUND 3: The pairings are complete for the Quarter Finals of this single elimination tournament with usual suspects Vince Meconi opposing Joe Beard and Bert Schoose playingy Jonathan Lockwood. Sadly, 
Ed Menzel will advance by forfeit as he was scheduled to face the recently deceased John Popiden.

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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 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/