Pete Pollard, Eric Eshleman, and Chris Trimmer formed the nucleus of the small returning crop of veteraas for this event. The field of 24 was surpassed by both the Enlightenment and PBeM tournaments.	Defending champ Kevin Sudy (right) had to settle for third in 2008 while Steve Simmons took fourth place laurels. All the laurelists and most of the players were veterans of many BPA AOR tournaments.

Attendance at Age of Renaissance dropped sharply to an alltime low 24 competitiors - down 100 players from the height of its populaity in 1998. Still it clung to a Century seat - barely. The dedicated Enlightenment mini-con staved off a farewell performance in 2008 with a showup or else campaign. It appears such an effort will be required for WBC as well. 

Attendance was such that the initial heats were all six-player games this year, providing the opportunity to relearn how to play the challenging Hamburg position. Statistically, Genoa seemed to be the most successful nation averaging 2nd place over all five preliminary games. Barcelona averaged 3rd place and the remaining nations hovered around a 4th place average with Hamburg pulling up the rear as players had less experience with that difficult nation

While attendance was low, entertainment was high as the laughter was frequently shared at and between tables. There were frequent calls for the 'Rat Inspector' as Black Death appeared and the seeds of Religion sprouted Holy Indulgences and Cathedrals throughout the land. A few more colorful statements shall not be posted to protect the innocent and not insult the Greeks.

Games were running longer than the expected 5 hours and one particularly slow game barely got into deck III before running into the time limit. There were few truly exceptional moments but I have nominated Ted Simmons for the Good Sportsmanship award for taking it in the teeth on Turn 2 with a 6-1 War loss which wiped out his entire presence. Ted stoically remained engaged in the game and spent turn after turn of bad dice rolls reclaiming his territory with nary a whine. I hope his great example inspires other players in future events.  

The Final was a real knockdown dragout fight among the qualifiers: Jeff Mullet, Steve Simmons, Ted Simmons, Mark Smith, and Kevin Sudy. How Jeff qualified without a last name beginning with S is a mystery. Tough negotiations started almost immediately. A Turn 2 Crusades play by the elder Simmons as London and the leader factory coming from the junior Simmons' Genoese soon had everyone taking bets which Simmons would win.

As the morning progressed, the group proceeded in an unusually card hoarding, product targeting fashion. An exciting end game was made possible by a timely shortage card and a whopping 26 cards remaining for final card play. The last turn saw each nation picking its target commodities with London in Spice and Gold, Paris in Silk, Genoa in Cloth and Grain, and a very subtle Barcelona in Metal.

Mark Smith's Venice made a valiant attempt to make everyone miserable with the classic Enlightened Ruler end game, but it was not enough to elevate him out of fifth place. Crusader Steve Simmons' London was one of the last nations to buy Seaworthy, and despite his portfolio of high value commodities was only able to squeak by into fourth place. The titans of the turn seemed to be Kevin Sudy's Paris vs. Ted Simmons' Genoa, each with a major lead in advances, having totals somewhere in the 1200 bracket while all three of the other contenders had 960! But it was the deft negotiations (or that is what he'd prefer it be called) of Barcelona and a stealthy payout of metal resulting in a $500+ ending cash which ultimately brought Jeff Mullet a 1st place win. A very shocked and surprised Ted Simmons came in second, followed closely by arch rival Kevin Sudy.