Boxscore
Hammer of the Scots
Sixteen players played in a free form format. Players had to participate in at least three games to qualify for the finals. Players bid the number of discards they were willing to give to their opponents to play the English. Ric Manns ran the table winning the tournament playing as the English three of the four games he played. He faced Jeff Mullet in the finals and Jeff's cards and dice were cold and the Scots were unable to get going. The English were able to get every infantry unit into Scotland and the King was very active in putting down the rebellion. Bruce Reiff finished third.
Liberty
Liberty drew 12 players in a free form contest. Players played three different opponents and recieved 10 points for a win and extra points for everygame that their opponents won. The common perception is that the game favors the US and we did bid victory points as we have done in the past. There were 15 games played as people dropped after a couple of losses. The most common bid was one and the average bid was .74 over the fifteen games.
Turnout was smaller than the past, however, there was many of the better players in the field. This was the first tourney that the British won a majority of games. The British won eight and lost seven. The British wins included one game that they won even though they did not control the West Indies. Most games ended with the West Indies split between the British and French control.
The French entered the fifteen games mainly within the first two years. There was two games that did not have a French entry and the two games were split. The French entered seven times in 1776, three times in 1777 and twice in 1778. Ric Manns was able to win four straight games with the finals coming against Mike Sims. He also was able to overcome three time champ Bruce Reiff and last years WBC runner up Barry Smith.
Mike did bid one to take the Americans. The British was able to place a large force a shore in New York and defeat the units that defended the port. Mike sent George Washington and six other unit to Hartford to confront Cornwallis. The next turn saw the Brits play a three card and with Cornwallis and Howe's force in Boston, George was trapped and destroyed. Mike played on and tried to deny the Brits the required 29 VP's to no avail.
The finish was Ric Manns (1), Mike Sims (2), Barry Smith (3) and Pete Stein (4)
War of 1812
Mike Sims pulled the first repeat in the Block Party's short history. He again dominated the competition this year not losing a game of 1812 since the '04 Block Party. Players bid victory points to play the Americans and we instituted another variant allowing players to remove a Naval Unit from a lake as a part of their Naval Move. Thirteen players competed for the title and the finals came down to Mike and newcomer Floyd Resler of Cincinnati, Ohio. Floyd played the Americans, yet his troops were not as pumped for the invasion of Canada as he. The American Militia refused to invade leaving a few units to invade against Mike's crack British forces. The wet powder of the US forces left Floyd in a poor position to defend the new Republic's territory. Mike was able to finish the job in the first year. Charles Stucker finished third.
Commands & Colors: Ancients
GMT's newest block game based on the system taht was used in Avalon Hill's Battle Cry was a huge hit as 21 of the 26 players vied for the title. Players competed in a free form tourney that encouraged play of the game and counted at least three games. Players were able to play any of the scenarios since the game had just been released and the play balance was untested for tourney play. Jeff King was able to defeat GM Pete Stein to take the first C&C:A title and claim the bulls eye for this summer's World Boardgaming Championships.
