EuroQuest | After Action Reports | Century Events | John Wetherell Memorial | WAM | Trial Events | Event Submissions |PBEM

Daniel Eppolito, CA 33 pts	Haim Hochboim, Israel 30 pts	Bill Zurn, CA 28 pts	Rob Kircher, RI 25 pts	Randy Buehler, WA 25 pts

EPPOLITO WINS SIEGELMAN AWARD:  Californian Daniel Eppolito, attending his first Euroquest, outscored Israeli Haim Hochboim 33-30 to win the overall convention honors and take the Harald Siegelman Award back to the west coast, from whence it had just returned in possession of Washingtonian Randy Buehler. Another left coaster, California's Bill Zurn, placed third with 28 points ahead of a trio of past Siegelman winners: Rob Kircher, Buehler and Sceadeau D'Tela. Dan won both the Power Grid and Ra tournaments to fuel his overall success. His double win status was matched by another first time attendee as Pennsylvanian Ben Scholl upheld local pride with victories in Agricola and Puerto Rico. Other winners included Bill Zurn (7 Wonders), Haim Hochboim (Dominion), Aran Warszawski (Princes of Florence), Vien Bounma (St. Petersburg), Brian Reynolds (Settlers of Catan), Virginia Colin (Stone Age), Jim Castonguay (Thurn & Taxis), and Sceadeau D'Tela (Ticket to Ride). Nine of the 12 events set new attendance records as did the convention as a whole.

2011 AFTER ACTION REPORTS: The latest WBC After Action Reports, complete with photos, are now available. Laurel lists have been updated to include the 2011 Euroquest laurelists, as well. We suggest you peruse them to recall last summer's fun or see what you missed before deciding what events to support with your votes when renewing your 2012 membership next month. Please DO NOT rejoin for 2012 yet—wait for the ballot and membership form to be made available when the annual December Membership Drive is announced in our next newsletter.

Events Receiving Century Status for the First Time

2012 CENTURY SET-UP: The initial lineup of events for the 2012 Century and potential Trial events pending the Annual Membership vote and GM commitments is now listed on the Orphans page. Six events won admission to the Century for the first time (7 Wonders, Dominant Species, A House Divided, King Philip's War, Labyrinth and Ra: the Dice Game). Another five events returned to the Century after a year or more absence (Afrika Korps, Amun-Re, Empire of the Sun, Panzerblitz and Twilight Imperium). In addition, the Board has expanded the Century to 108 events by voting Legacy status to Titan: The Arena.

JOHN WETHERELL MEMORIAL: We regret to report that longtime member John Wetherell has lost his year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. John had been an active member since the start of our organization, having first attended Avaloncon with his father, Joe, with whom he shared his boardgaming hobby. His gaming interests spanned many genres but he was best known for his fondness for card driven wargames as a regular at the Winter Activation Meeting. His 180 laurels included tournament championships in Here I Stand and Sword of Rome. For more information, see our Memorial page.

WAM X:  Next up is the tenth Winter Activation Meeting for players of Card Driven Wargames to be held at the Timonium Holiday Inn in Timonium, MD, on Jan. 26-29, 2012. The four tournaments will once again be Twilight Struggle, Washington's War, Hannibal and Combat Commander plus the usual open gaming opportunities. BPA has secured a group room rate of $99 per night plus applicable taxes for those making their reservations before Jan. 7, 2012, or when our roomblock sells out, whichever occurs first. Full schedule and pricing information is available on our WAM page.

LAST CHANCE FOR EVENT BALLOT INCLUSIONS:  December is almost here—and with its arrival it will be too late to muster support for a new WBC event by placing it on the membership ballot. Every year people lament Game X not being offered as an event. For that to happen, someone must be willing to GM it and step forward to do so early enough to get it on the annual ballot. That time is now. Such events can be new or old but must be in print by Feb. 28, 2012. Those wishing to put an event on the membership ballot AND who are willing to GM that event should complete the required event form after reading the GM Guidelines. Nothing happens at WBC without a willing GM behind it. But please...do NOT volunteer unless you are going to fulfill the obligation. We set a record this year for events penalized due to GM failure to keep their commitment. Remember that the next time you lament that your favorite game is not an event at WBC.

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PBeM NEWS:

NAPOLEONIC WARS: A new tournament of GMTs Napoleonic Wars will start on Dec. 30, 2011, with signups to be completed by Dec. 20. Entrants will play three preliminary rounds of the three-player game taking each position once. The top six players will then play the two-player game. The aim is to complete the tournament within the calendar year, with a maximum of 48 hours between card plays, no game to take longer than a month per turn. It is likely that some players will have two games in progress at once. Default setup is ACTS & Cyberboard. See https://sites.google.com/site/wilphe/home/tnw-2-5-2012 for details and enter with Wilphe@gmail.com before Dec. 20.

FOR THE PEOPLE: The second BPA sanctioned PBeM Tournament started and completed its first round on time. 52 members stepped up for the two-year challenge. The field features a nice mix of WBC veterans, including 13 of the 15 previous laurel winners, a number of experienced players from unofficial PBeM tournaments, and a large fraction of tyros eager to prove their mettle. International representation is unusually high with players participating from Canada, Australia and Kuwait, as well as the now reliable participation of a number of European BPA members from Germany, France, Belgium and Spain. The Union won 13 of the first round games; the Confederates nine, and there were four adjudications which are not included in play-balance reports. First round upsets included three previous laurel winners, but all of the better known sharks such as James Pei, David Dockter, Michael Mitchell, Nick Pei and Tim Miller were victorious. A full listing of the game results can be found at the tournament’s official website: http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/gmtom/FTPtournament.htm

The GMs had no trouble agreeing upon BPA 1-21 as the Most Notable Game of the first round. Jeff Donald’s Confederates were able to outlast Mustafa Tolga Corapci’s Union in a game that went all 13 turns and yet was completed within five weeks! Despite its blistering pace, it was truly an epic contest marked by superb play and fickle fates on both sides.  Jeff and Mustafa have been awarded bonus prizes provided by the GM consisting of the books “How to Lose the Civil War” edited by Bill Fawcett and “More Civil War Curiosities” by Web Garrison. Two of the 24 Round 2 games have already been completed. The second round ends on Feb. 1, 2012.

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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 are only $10. You need not keep your membership current to finish a PBeM event. You can upgrade your current membership at any time by remitting additional funds. See the BPA Terms page for details.

BPA members who would like an email tournament for a particular game are encouraged to step forward to GM 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/.

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