BRAD JOHNSON IS GM OF THE YEAR: The Illinois native who has run Dune for the past 12 years has won our Top GM honor and free lodging at the next WBC with a narrow victory over Ed Beach who once again finished second in the voting while administering his Here I Stand event. It was Ed's sixth appearance in the Top Six selections. The other Top Six GM performances were earned by Eric Brosius (Princes of Florence), Pierre LeBoeuf (18XX), Tom Browne (Dominion) and Bill Morse (Grognards). More details are available at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc12/topgm.htm.

EMERICK WINS SIEGELMAN AWARD: Andrew Emerick narrowly defeated Magic Men teammate Sceadeau D'Tela to take the Harald Siegelman Award home from Euro Quest to Connecticut along storm drenched roads from Hurricane Sandy. Andrew won Saint Petersburg and Egizia while scoring with a second in Dominion and a fifth in Ticket to Ride to amass his winning total. Sceadeau did his damage by winning Thurn & Taxis and Dominion while taking third in Puerto Rico and fourth in Agricola. Other winners were Liz Anderson (Ticket to Ride) at her first EQ, Alex Bove (Stone Age), Robert Kircher (Settlers), Scott Fenn (Ra), Richard Shay (Puerto Rico), Bill Crenshaw (Power Grid), LuAnn Stubbs (7 Wonders) and Eric Wrobel (Agricola). Congratulations to Amy Rule and Marcia Morelli for successfully pinch-hitting for ailing CD Norman Rule in the wake of a hurricane to continue a convention whose very existence was in doubt 48 hours prior to the first game. For more details, see http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/eq12.htm.

2012 AFTER ACTION REPORTS: The latest WBC 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/yearbook12/. Laurel lists have been updated to include the 2012 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 2013 membership next month. Please DO NOT rejoin for 2013 yet—wait for the ballot and membership form to be made available when the annual December Membership Drive is announced in our next newsletter.

2012 CENTURY: The initial lineup of events for the 2013 Century and potential Trial events pending the Annual Membership vote and GM commitments is now listed at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/orphans.htm. The Player Hour formula was adjusted to compensate for the air conditioning issues in Lampeter last summer with events so affected given a boost matching the overall decrease in participation for events held there. Seven events won admission to the Century for the first time (Baltimore & Ohio, Commands & Colors Napoleonics, Egizia, A Few Acres of Snow, Julius Caesar, Navegador, and Sekigahara). Another four events returned to the Century after a year or more absence (Adventurers, Diplomacy, Hammer of the Scots and Stockcar Championship Racing).

WBC SURVEY: Expanding attendance and recent developments require us to take a long look at what the future holds for our annual gaming convention and how we might best go about serving the needs of our members—both new and old. Since these potential changes require long term planning over the course of several years and major financial commitments, we want to start the process with as complete a survey of our membership's likes and dislikes—past, present and future—as possible. To that end, we are asking you to take a few moments to respond to a free online survey at http://bpasurvey.drupalgardens.com/. We know you are busy and don't want to waste your time. However, we rarely ask for such information and this will be your best chance to influence the future course of the convention for years to come. So a few moments response now may save you considerable anguish later. Whether you attend every year, infrequently, or have never yet actually made the trip but are contemplating doing so, we'd like to hear from you, so please take the time to let us know where you stand.

WAM 2013: A poll of the regular suspects has resulted in the following tournaments being scheduled for 2013's pre-Super Bowl weekend gathering of card sharks at the Timonium, MD Holiday Inn: Twilight Struggle, Washington's War, Hannibal, and Labyrinth. Get the details at http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/wam13ann.htm and register at http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/registerwam.htm.

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 March 15, 2013. Those wishing to put an event on the membership ballot AND who are willing to GM that event should complete the required event form at http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/SubmitEvent.php after reading the GM Guidelines linked from the start of that event form. Nothing happens at WBC without a willing GM behind it. But please ... do NOT volunteer unless you are going to fulfill ALL the obligations.

DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: The Annual Membership Drive when we offer our lowest rates and free premiums is just days away but please do not respond until we announce the opening in our next newsletter once the official ballot and membership form are posted. Your participation in the Trial event selection is an important part in the process so please wait until everything is in place so as to take part in the vote.

PBeM NEWS:

SINIGAGLIO WINS BITTER WOODS: The BPA PBeM Deluxe Bitter Woods Tournament featuring the play of the 16AM Offensive has ended with Bruno Sinigaglio’s Germans defeating Bill Morse for his third consecutive PBeM Bitter Woods title. The tournament used a single elimination format with no byes. Players defeated in earlier rounds were employed as Eliminators to complete rounds with an uneven number of players to avoid byes and minimize the number of rounds required. A total of 31 games were played by the field of 28 entrants with the Germans winning 16. The player pool was split by AREA rating. The 14 players with the higher AREA ratings in one pool were randomly paired versus the players with the lower ratings. As the winner, Bruno receives a BPA Plaque and a $50.00 gift certificate for a WBC vendor of choice. In addition, Charles Drozd, the highest achieving player in the lower half of the pool also receives a $50.00 gift certificate. Other laurel earners in order from 3rd to 6th were: Tom Gregorio, Larry Hollern, Steve Likevich and Randy Heller. Updated laurel totals are posted at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook12/bwdpge.htm.

MECAY WINS MANIFEST DESTINY: Stefan Mecay won the 2010-12 Manifest Destiny PBeM tournament. He cruised to victory in the first three rounds and despite finishing last in the final round, sealed the deal by taking out the only two-game winner after three rounds (Bill Crenshaw, who finished fourth in the final round but second in the tournament). Carl Damcke won the #1 table in the last round to grab third place overall, edging out Greg Stripes on the cash tiebreaker (who with his strong performance in the last two rounds finished fourth overall). Pete Pollard came in third on the #1 table in the last round and sixth overall. Jeff Mullet’s win in Round 2 and close seconds in the last two rounds earned him fifth overall. For more details and updated laurel totals, seehttp://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook12/mfdpge.htm.

PATHS OF GLORY: The 4th BPA PBeM tournament for Paths of Glory is scheduled for a Feb. 1 start on ACTS. Details are available at https://sites.google.com/site/pathsofglory2013/. To register email the GM at preese444@gmail.com.

WASHINGTON'S WAR: GM Keith Wixson will start a new Washington’s War PBeM tournament on Feb. 1. The format will be Swiss-Elimination with four rounds of Swiss play followed by three elimination rounds for eight quarterfinalists. Games will be played via ACTS. For details, see the tournament website at http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4bc94/waw/index.html. To sign up for the tournament please send an email keith.wixson@verizon.net. Players must have a current 2013 BPA membership (at least Associate level) as of January 26 in order to participate. Memberships do not need to be current to enter the tournament, but will be verified prior to the start of play.

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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. You need not keep your membership current in order to finish a PBeM event. Players may join the BPA throughout the year. 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 at http://www.abovethefields.com/top_pbem/

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