here I stand   

Updated Nov. 23, 2013

2013 WBC Report  

 2014 Status: pending 2014 GM commitment

Justin Rice, VA

2013 Champion

 

Event History
2006    John Wetherell     56
2007    Bryan Collars     48
2008    Jeff Burdett     48
2009    Jeff Burdett     62
2010    AJ Sudy     52
2011    Justin Rice     54
2012     Mathieu Pare-Paquin     76
2013    Justin Rice     49

PBeM History
2008    Dan Gallagher     54
2012    Larry Mull     67

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Jeff Burdett       NY    10    125
  2.  Justin Rice        VA    13    102
  3.  Alan Sudy          VA    10     91
  4.  Kirk Harris        NJ    13     78
  5.  M. Pare-Paquin     qc    13     72
  6.  Dave Cross         VA    10     72
  7.  Dennis Mishler     GA    13     70
  8.  Bryan Collars      SC    12     68
  9.  Larry Mull         NV    12     60
 10.  Dan Gallagher      MD    08     60
 11.  John Wetherell     PA    06     60
 12.  Jeremiah Peterson  IL    12     42
 13.  Chris Striker      PA    09     39
 14.  Ken Richards       SC    07     38
 15.  Rob Seulowitz      NY    08     36
 16.  Allan Hill         MD    06     36
 17.  Nick Benedict      CA    12     34
 18.  Dan Hoffman        NC    12     28
 19.  Rob Mull           CO    12     24
 20.  Michael Rogazinski NY    08     24
 21.  Steve Caler        OH    08     24
 22.  Charles Hickok     PA    06     24
 23.  Barry Setser       MD    11     20
 24.  Brad Merrill       ME    10     20
 25.  Kaarin Engelmann   VA    12     18
 26.  Rick Cambron       PA    08     18
 27.  Michael Brophy     NC    08     18
 28.  David Kiefte       ns    13     16
 29.  John Vasilakos     VA    11     15
 30.  Paul McCarthy      NY    10     15
 31.  Jeremy Martin      GA    12     12
 32.  Scott Burns        uk    12     12
 33.  Nat Pendleton      PA    09     12
 34.  George Young       VT    08     12
 35.  Jonathan Tarquino  NJ    11     10
 36.  Andrew Kiefte      ns    13      8
 37.  Michael Kiefte     ns    12      6
 38.  Tim Rogers         SC    09      6
 39.  Henry Rice         NM    11      5

2013 Laurelists                                                Repeating Laurelists:

Kirk Harris, NJ
2nd

David Kiefte, ns
3rd

Mathieu Pare-Pacquin, qc
4th

Andrew Kiefte, ns
5th

Dennis Mishler, GA
6th

Past Champions

John Wetherell, PA
2006

Bryan Collars, SC
2007

Jeff Burdett, NY
2008-09

AJ Sudy, VA
2010

Justin Rice, VA
2011, 2013

Mathieu Pare-Paquin, qc
2012
     

 Michael Kiefte, Gareth Williams and Emily Wu - soon to become Emily Allbutt.

Mark Hodgkinson and John Potts in the Reformation.

Ed Beach watches Seth Gunar's move.

Absent a Queen ...

Never Trust a Frenchman ...

The Here I Stand tournament logged 16 games over two preliminary heats and two elimination rounds. While the field was much reduced from last year's record numbers that can be largely charged to the defection of The Virgin Queen which was off becoming a separate event. About a quarter of the players were new to the game and by all accounts we have some new HIS groupies! The qualifying and semifinal games were largely unchanged from prior years - modified tournament scenario, Ottoman and Hapsburgs were natural enemies, Copernicus came in Turn 4 - but the Final featured a full 1532 scenario start and finish (potentially six turns, no natural enemies).

The first two rounds were dominated by the Big Four - the Ottomans won three games, and the Hapsburgs, Papacy, and Protestants won four each - with nary a win for the hapless English and French. The natural enemies rule kept Turk and German at each other's throats, with Vienna falling in quite a few games. It was also a tough tournament for debaters who happened to be named Tyndale, adding burnt flesh to Kinderhook's usual bouquet of mildew and feet. There were three semifinal games, with one of the tables ending in a FOUR way tie for second place at 23 points. Because one of the winners couldn't play further, all four were awarded seats at the Final - all you need is a chip and a chair to keep hopes alive as it turned out....

Power selection was attended by the usual metagaming since they knew the seeding going in. However, with a brand new 1532 scenario players had to consider the long game - maybe Luther and Charles weren't necessarily going to walk away with it? Tradition (and superstition) won out in the end, and England and France were the last powers to be chosen. Andrew Kiefte chose the Ottomans, Mathieu Pare the Hapsburgs, David Kiefte the English (elder brother to the Ottoman Kiefte, BTW), Justin Rice the French, Kirk Harris the Papacy, and Dennis Mishler went with his beloved Protestants.

The first turn was fairly quiet. Pope Kirk gave Henry his divorce for two card draws, which produced fabulous results for each - Pope drew Calvin's Institutes and proceeded to bury it for the rest of the game, while Henry VIII knocked up Anne and got Edward! The Ottomans and Hapsburgs each took a key in the Med, but a well-timed Revolt of Communeros and an inexplicably empty Valladolid lost Charles his capitol. France was unable to take Milan, and whiffed in the New World to end a dreadful turn for Le Coq.

The Hapsburgs went into second turn diplomacy looking to sell the Netherlands to England but was rebuffed with a powerful anti-Hapsburg machine built by the French. Pope Kirk fired up the Protestant BBQ by burning Latimer with a Papal Bull, and Dennis's Protestants could only net 3 spaces with an English New Testament. The real action was in the east, however, which saw one of the most exciting campaigns around Vienna heretofore witnessed. Suleiman's proud army of Janissaries threw themselves at Vienna but were decimated, with only Suleiman and a single combat unit surviving in the retreat to Pressburg. Mathieu's Hapsburgs smelled green blood and successfully played "City States Rebel" on Buda, thus trapping Andrew's once powerful army with no escape! Ottoman Andrew's only hope was to attempt a march through Buda, which would result in a deadly field battle or a "bounced" siege since he didn't have enough power to actually set the siege (Buda had a single CU to Suleiman's single CU). Mathieu's Hungarians wisely fought the field battle and they each rolled a single hit..... BUT since the Ottomans rolled three dice with Suleiman to Buda's two they retained a unit and "won" the battle and was able to set siege!! Then, when Mathieu attempted to move Charles out of Vienna to squash Suleiman again he had an attack of gout and Suleiman got his retreat!! It was an incredibly exciting sequence of events, and the Hapsburg kick to the nuts continued in the New World, with the English getting the Amazon and the French the Incas.

Turn 3 diplomacy again featured a Hapsburg offer to sell the Netherlands, and this time they found a taker in Justin's French. The turn's battlefields shifted westward - Hapsburgs took two electorates and the French finally conquered an independent Metz. But the purple Gods weren't done with Dennis's Protestants - both Tyndale and Olivetan were burned in massively lopsided debates, and the pro-Protestant event drought continued. Luther could only watch and wipe ashes and tears from his robes....

Turn 4 diplomacy saw major power alliances while bullying the minors. France ended up allied with EVERYONE, but declared war on plucky Genoa. Hapsburgs declared war on Venice. As the turn got underway, Protestant dice continued to stink of sadness and nightsoil. The English Bible only netted three spaces, and Dennis declared the turn a lost cause. He offered to put every CP into bringing the Pope down since he appeared on the verge of winning, but made the English, French, and Hapsburgs promise two card draws next turn as recompense - his CP included the Wartburg and home card which would likely lose him the opportunity to filch Copernicus. His fears were realized as the Ottoman played Copernicus, but Pope Kirk did slide down to 24VP and the game seemed destined for another turn.... However, Justin and Les Bleus had a final trick up their sleeves - he played Diplomatic Marriage to activate Venice. Since the Hapsburgs had accepted the French alliance, Mathieu's war with Venice was ended without a shot! Justin now stood at 25VP, and the board's last gasp came from Dennis's Protestants - he used his home card to draw "City States Rebel" out of the discard pile and played it on French Antwerp. He rolled five dice, needing three hits to successfully kick out the French, drop them to 23VP, and keep the game going. Not surprisingly, the dice weren't with Brown and only two hits were scored. Vive le France!

This was an especially satisfying end for Justin - he got into the Final by the tiniest of margins and had the last choice of powers, but pulled a white dove out of his butt with masterful alliances and went on to win his second title in three years! The scores were: France (Justin Rice) 25, Pope (Kirk Harris) 24, England (David Kiefte) 22, Hapsburg (Mathieu Pare) 21, Ottoman (Andrew Kiefte) 21, Protestant (Dennis Mishler) 15. Good game everyone!

Geoff Allbutt, Frank McNally and Robb Davidson

Most of the "Stand" finalists prefer to sit.
 GM      Jeff Burdett (1st Year)  NA 
    jaburdett@yahoo.com   NA

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