air baron [Updated August 2001]

ABN  5 prizes Beginners Mult Ent Sing Elim Scheduled 
 Rnd1 Heat1  21   Rnd1 Heat2 13
 Rnd1 Heat3 9    Round 2 15  
 Round 3 Final 21    

  Rnd1 Heat1 Maryland 3 Rnd1 Heat2 Rnd1 Heat3 Round 2  Salon EF Round 3 Salon B  

Jack Jaeger, VA

2001 Champion

2nd: Steve Katz, VA

3rd: John Wetherall, PA

4th: Patrick Mirk, FL

5th: Robert Sohn, PA

6th: Bob Foster, ID 
Event History
1991    None      -
1992    None      -
1993    None      -
1994    None      -
1995    None      -
1996    Jack Jaeger      118
1997    James Garvey      110
1998    Fred Minard       94
1999    Ken Rothstein      117
2000    John Coussis     109
2001    Jack Jaeger      72

AREA Ratings

GM: Chuck Foster

2 Top-Six GM Nominations

Fare Wars ... a wargame for capitalists

The 2001 tournament was again filled with outstanding game play and exciting finishes. This year, perhaps due to one less opening round heat, our smallest field ever vied for the wood, but that still numbered an impressive 72.

When the semi-finals dust had settled six players emerged for the final Flight Crew (from left to right): Robert Sohn, CEO of Skyhigh Airlines (orange), Patrick Mirk, head of Trans Toucans (red), Steve Katz, guiding Aero Flamingo (green), John Wetherell, at the helm of of World Domain (blue), Jack Jaeger, leading Olympic Lines (yellow), and Bob Foster, as CEO of Jet Stream (purple). In the early rounds, Patrick went into fare wars early and had an Atlanta and DFW concentration. Bob began in the Denver and Phoenix hubs. Robert started split between Detroit and Washington and owned Boston with a jumbo jet. Stephen focused on JFK and owned Honolulu with a jumbo jet. Jack concentrated in LAX and San Francisco and also owned St. Louis with a jumbo jet. John went into fare wars early and dominated Miami and Houston.

By round 7 John took a 110 market share lead with great success in fare wars by capturing control of Miami and Houston. Bob went into fare wars and nearly took DFW but was thwarted attempting to capture neutral Tulsa when the bank rolled an "11".

The fireworks began in Round 8. John played first, took Cincinnati and control of Atlanta, thus placing a large bull's eye on his forehead. Bob then stayed in fare wars and chose to expand his domain by taking DFW, Phoenix, and nearly Denver before skidding to a halt. Patrick bought Tokyo. Robert went into fare wars and took Dayton and Norfolk gaining dominance of Washington, but lost while attempting to take Buffalo-Rochester. Jack placed a jumbo on Las Vegas and gaining wealth as St. Louis being drawn two turns in a row with a jumbo. Stephen bought Montreal.

Round 9: Bob again went first and opted out of fare wars, then successfully garnered Austin from John reducing the latter's market share from 210 down to 180. Robert went into fare wars and lost his first attempt against Jacksonville on a head-to-head roll. John had a "Crash" and had to pay 7 million. Stephen drew "Strike," settled it for 5 million, and then bought a jumbo for Philadelphia. Jack went into fare wars and captured two major spokes from Bob, Sacramento and Seattle, but lost against San Diego.

Round 10: Jack bought Hong Kong. John took Austin from Bob. Patrick went into fare wars and took neutral Indianapolis and netted his first 60 market share, then immediately failed into neutral Providence. Stephen bought Paris. Robert purchased Toronto. Bob went into fare wars but lost into Kansas City.

Round 11: Robert bought an undeployed jumbo. Bob lost again into Kansas City. John bought Bogota. Patrick stayed in fare wars and captured Jack's jumbo-defended St. Louis and then took Providence. Jack seized Reno from Bob and the carrion birds continued their swirling over his head. Stephen, in fare wars, took Syracuse/Albany gaining 60 market share for dominance of JFK, then abruptly lost into meager Providence.

The score at the end of Round 11: Pat Mirk - 20; Bob Foster - 140; Robert Sohn - 70; Stephen Katz - 60; Jack Jaeger - 40; John Wetherell - 200.

Round 12: Bob bought an undeployed jumbo. Jack went into fare wars and took control of San Francisco and Los Angeles when the jumbo defending Honolulu fell. John entered fare wars but lost attempting a final takeover into DFW against Bob. Stephen rode fare wars into Boston and Providence successfully. Patrick failed to take Omaha.

The highlight of Round 13 came when John lost on his last roll of fare wars into Memphis. He had 240 and would have won outright with a successful takeover. Jack stayed in fare wars and took Tucson, and El Paso but lost into Albuquerque. Robert took Tampa/St. Pete.

Round 14: Robert bought Panama. John came out of fare wars and attempted to take Memphis but failed. Patrick tried and lost into Salt Lake City. Bob came out of fare wars and deployed a jumbo to overtake Memphis, much to the dismay of John. Stephen failed in an attempt to break into Jack's world at Reno. Jack paid his loans down to 20, came out of fare wars, and bought a jumbo for El Paso.

Round 15: Jack lost into Jacksonville. John drew "Crash" and paid $8 million. He then bought an undeployed jumbo. Stephen bought a jumbo for San Juan. Patrick's undeployed jumbo went to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Bob went into fare wars and failed in an attempt to take Jack's jumbo-protected El Paso. Robert bought an undeployed jumbo. Storm clouds were gathering!

Round 16: Stephen bought an undeployed jumbo. Jack invested in one for defense in San Diego. Patrick passed, hoping for a few lucrative draws. John drew "Crash" and paid $8 million again but was forced to sell Tulsa to pay his debt. He then took out a loan for $30 million and bought Tulsa. Robert used an undeployed jumbo in a successful capture of Pittsburgh. Bob stayed in fare wars but failed in his attempt again.

Round 17: The first draw was a $38 million lottery for Stephen in Montreal and jumbo-covered Boston. Bob lost into Tulsa. Patrick bought an undeployed jumbo. Robert bought London. John drew "Crash" for the fourth time and paid $5 million. Jack went into fare wars, paid his $10 million loan off, then took out a new $40 million loan to settle a $15 million strike. He then continued his turn with a successful capture of jumbo-protected Salt Lake City but was halted against Omaha despite a +3 on the dice roll. Stephen failed in an attempt at John's jumbo-defense of West Palm Beach.

Round 18: Patrick bought an undeployed jumbo. Stephen opened a gash into John's empire by abducting Tampa/St. Pete. Robert bought a jumbo for Columbus. Jack placed a jumbo on Seattle. John bought Panama. Bob failed into Tucson.

Round 19: John placed a jumbo on Charlotte. Stephen bought an undeployed jumbo. Bob lost an attack against Tulsa. Patrick went into fare wars and made his move. He captured Tulsa with an undeployed jumbo and continued to take all of DFW from John. How the mighty had fallen! Patrick, with his newly garnered 200 market share, continued his plundering into two spokes in Atlanta but ended meekly in a loss into lowly jumbo-shielded Birmingham. Robert and Jack both bought undeployed jumbos.

Round 20: Jack paid his loans down to $20 million and deployed a jumbo in capturing Tucson. Robert successfully attempted to take Milwaukee, dropping Patrick's market share to 140. Bob failed at Jack's Tucson with a jumbo. John lost against Jacksonville with a jumbo. Stephen drew a large jumbo profit chip which benefited everyone except Bob (who was without deployed jumbos) and Patrick (in fare wars). He then failed to take Cincinnati. Patrick stayed in fare wars, deployed a jumbo and captured Milwaukee.

Round 21: 12:30 a.m. Jack paid off all loans and defeated Omaha. Bob failed against Tucson again. Robert went into fare wars, deployed a jumbo and used it in attempting to seize the Portland market but failed with a 10:10 roll. Patrick came out of fare wars and lost in a bid to capture Omaha. John attempted Charlotte with a jumbo and won but with no market share change. Stephen went into fare wars, defeated Orlando and moved up 30 market share. He then attempted Tampa/St. Pete but lost.

Round 22: Steven won the lottery and was drawn first. He came out of fare wars and bought Nassau. Patrick took Omaha. Jack drew jumbo profits chip and captured Kansas City and increased his market share to 200. Bob failed for the third time in a row against Tucson. Robert came out of fare wars, drew the "Oil Can" which slowed the game, but no one was too hurt. He then attempted Minneapolis/St. Paul with a deployed jumbo and won. John failed to take Birmingham.

Round 23: 12:52 a.m. Patrick used an undeployed jumbo to protect a spoke. Robert attempted Little Rock and failed. Bob was unsuccessful on his fourth try to find a chink in Jack's armor in Tucson. John captured Birmingham. Stephen went into fare wars, won Omaha and took control of Denver. He then moved into Jack's Phoenix hub and captured Albuquerque but failed into Tucson, which would have given him the victory. Jack, the final player of the round was able to declare himself the winner based on his accumulation of 200 market share and $103 million in cash.

 Rank  Player Cash  Market Share  Total
 1st Jack Jaeger $43 M 260 303
 2nd Stephen Katz $135 M 150 285
 3rd John Wetherell $24 M 140 164
 4th Patrick Mirk $3 M 140 143
 5th Robert Sohn $28 M 100 128
6th Bob Foster $2 M 0 2

It was a tight, well-played game with three different players having a shot at winning. We hope that everyone reading this will take a shot at the title again next year.


Nine budding airline tycoons took to the friendly skies to compete in the 2001 Air Baron Junior tournament. A 45-minute opening round was used to whittle the field down to six.

In the first opening round game, Matthew Beach went in to Fare Wars early and often, building up a point total of 284, highest in the opening round. Jed Shambeda (188) and Katie McCorry (82) also advanced to the final from this game. The other preliminary was closer, with Michael Eoppolo building an air empire worth 253 points and prevailing over Zach
Rucker (179), Natalie Beach (173), and Kelsey Lee (130). Zach dropped out of play, allowing both Natalie and Kelsey to advance to the finals (and balancing the final gender-wise between girls and boys).

The final game was the closest of the tournament. Entering the final round of play, Michael held a slim lead in market share over Natalie, Matthew, and Jed, who were all three deadlocked at a market share of 180. At that moment, game designer Ben Knight dropped by for a cameo appearance, heightening the tension. Matthew Beach started the round with an attack on
Michael's Los Angeles hub from his power base in the Midwest. Matthew prevailed, dropping Michael out of the lead in market share. However Matthew stopped short of taking over the entire hub, realizing that he only had to drop Michael's total to ensure a win for either himself or his sister Natalie. Natalie used her subsequent turn to pad her already sizable bank account, and when the final scores were tallied, Natalie had won her first plaque with a final tally of 253. Matthew (227), Jed (164),
Michael (158), Katie (126), and Kelsey (67) all played extremely well and are to be congratulated also! Kelsey's cheerful outlook despite a lackluster final game earned her the tournament's honor for best sportsmanship.

 GM      Chuck Foster  [1st Year]   6164 Waco Way, Fort Worth, TX 76133
    ckfoster@mindspring.com   NA

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