LEVY WINS HOBBY SERVICE AWARD: Keith Levy received our 2012 Hobby Service Award on July 31 at the BPA's Annual Meeting in Lancaster, PA. In becoming our 13th honoree, Keith was cited not only for his prior work on the BPA Board but his organizational skills in founding GCOM, Euro Quest and local gaming outreach programs. WBC attendees are especially grateful for his work with the Sampler Showcase and the BPA Game Library.
WBC ATTENDANCE GROWS AGAIN: Despite challenges from the weather and a faltering Air Conditioning system, WBC again posted record attendance figures with a 2% gain which increased tournament participation by a like amount as no less than 22 events drew triple digit participation. Twelve 2011 champions managed to hold onto their titles another year despite 42 players claiming their first WBC titles. Another 88 recorded their first laurels. Multiple event winners were cut from 20 to eight, led by Jason Levine who homered with four titles (LWL, POF, SJN, WPS) while the 2011 Caesar Randy Buehler and Nicholas Henning each recorded triples for the second straight year. This year's champions are now shown on line. A more complete listing of the top six places, updated laurel totals, and an After Action report for every event as only WBC does it will appear in November. Look for the Team Tournament results in the October newsletter. In the meantime, see what others are saying about their WBC experience.
WBC EVENT REPORTS IN PROGRESS: 30 days after WBC, Event After Action Reports are being collected now and used to update 150 Event pages on our website for a scheduled November unveiling. The 55 GMs who have yet to fulfill that part of their obligation have been notified that the clock is ticking and that prize level and eligibility penalties will apply for those events whose GMs do not comply. WBC is unique among all gaming conventions for providing not only this coverage but also archiving such reports for posterity. Check out the BPA Archives section of our home page to check out the progress of your favorite event over the past 13 years.
WBC 2013 EVENT SUBMISSIONS: It's never too early to begin planning for next year - especially if you want to muster support for a new event by getting it on the membership ballot or move an event into the Pre-Con. There is a limited amount of space available for early starts so if you contemplate moving your event to Monday or sooner, you need to start the process now by getting approval early enough for us to acquire the required space. Such moves to or from Pre-Con or Monday status should be discussed asap with conventiondirector@boardgamers.org. Those merely wishing to get an event on the membership ballot who are willing to GM that event should complete the required Event Form after reading the GM Guidelines linked from the start of that event form.
AUCTION SALES POSTED: The selling prices for this years 582 items in the WBC Auction are listed online. Average price was $31.16, a decrease of 6.5% from 2011. In contrast, the Auction Store sold a record 1395 items from an available inventory of 1741. The average price was up $.75 to $13.47. Details pertaining to this year's Auction can be found at http://boardgamers.org/wbc12/auctionsales.htm. The Auction and Auction Store continue to grow every year and as a consequence the Auction Staff has made the following changes for 2013.
Proceeds from the Auction and Auction Store will be paid by check instead of cash.
2012 ELECTION RESULTS: Members are reminded that participation in the annual elections is needed to meet our Non-Profit Corporation requirements regardless of your preferences for the officers. If participation continues to drop, we will be unable to continue operations in our current format. All three incumbents won re-election to the BPA Board of Directors in the annual July elections in light voting that barely met requirements for a legal election. The results were announced at the BPA Annual Meeting but the Vote totals and links to officer profiles can be found on the Election Results page.
EUROQUEST 2012 LOOMS AHEAD: Our next convention is at the Pikesville Hilton in Pikesville, MD Nov 1-4 featuring twelve Euro competitions and a wide variety of demos and plenty of Open Gaming. Check out the details.
AGE OF RENAISSANCE: The last Age of Renaissance Email tournament has finally come to a close. It involved 50 players in three rounds taking nearly three years to complete a total of 13 games and 70 player starts. In the 5-player, 8-turn Final Jeff Mullet as Genoa defeated Carl Damcke (Paris), Robert Davidson (London), George Young (Barcelona) and Stephen Koehler (Venice) to pad his lead at the top of the AOR laurels list. Jeff used a Turn 6 Enlightened Ruler to open a slight misery lead, along with Interest & Profit and Industry to beat Paris with the commerce strategy. Going last and purchasing Cathedral on Turn 8 allowed Genoa to end the game with over $600 and defeat Paris by 200 points despite having less advances. Tournament newcomer Robert stayed close until Turn 7. Mark Frueh took 6th place laurels. Updated laurel standings are available at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook/aorpge.htm.
ADEL VERPFLICHTET (aka Hoity Toity and By Hook or By Crook): This unpronounceable tournament is gearing up for an Oct. 1 start. Join the frenzied action on the free SpielByWeb.com website as you exhibit your collection, “permanently borrow without permission” others’ collectibles, and attempt to bring others doing the same to justice. Five preliminary games run simultaneously with semi-finals for the top ten about nine weeks later. See http://www.gameaholics.com/adv_bpa/adv_format.htm for details and to learn to play! Contact john@gameaholics.com to enter.
VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC: The Quarter-Finals claimed the top two seeds again. Daniel Blumentritt, seed #10, is the sole survivor from the initial top ten. However, Cinderella is also eliminated as the 38th seed finally went down. The remaining seeds, 10th to 16th, which ranged from 5298 to 5663 leave little room to pick a favorite. Can Daniel survive the dreaded bye and who will get it next? This round will be the semi-final for the highest seed to prevail (and take the bye next round). The other winners included Tim Tow, Scott Beall, Greg Smith, and Robert Drozd. Each has already earned laurels (as has the player who just lost to the eventual champion)!
SPEED CIRCUIT: 35 drivers took the Hockenheim road course for Heat 2 of the PBeM tournament. Mike Aubuchon, Doug Schulz, and Giuseppe Incorpora each registered heat wins. Average starting position of a qualifier in Race A was 8th. In Race B it was 3rd. In Race C it was 5th. Nine qualified for the Final with either a first or second in the two heats with three third place finishers determined by average finish qualifying for the remaining spots. Montreal is the track for the upcoming Final.
FOR THE PEOPLE: By all accounts, the 2012 World Boardgaming Championships were a great success, if a bit uncomfortable due to a 6:1 die split that resulted in a HVAC failure. Once again, James Pei successfully defended his FTP title. Of course, and not to take ANYTHING away from James, it was undoubtedly easier due Don Chappell's unfortunate absence (and maybe David Dockter’s). Seriously, congratulations to James and our thanks to him for giving us all something to shoot at… I mean shoot for! Shortly after WBC, the results of James’ PBeM match against previously undefeated newcomer Alberto Molina were reported. Alberto’s CSA conceded to James’ Union after the Summer of ’63 with the SW at 75:42. The Union had closed three Blockade Zones and had a 35:16 edge in SPs.
In a second battle of the undefeated, Herr Dockter’s Union downed third ranked Michael Mitchell’s CSA in the Fall of ’63 with the SW at 90:38. As of this writing, Nick Pei and Gary Kirk, both previously undefeated, are enjoying a battle for the ages in a game found on ACTS under the handle BPA 4-1. It is the Spring of ’64 and the SW is 31:24 (USA:CSA). This is a donnybrook well worth the effort of looking through the journal. Doug Pratto, the other previously undefeated player is locked with newcomer Jeff Donald in yet another masterful game.
James Pei and David Dockter are guaranteed their positions in the Single Elimination bracket games to begin at the end of September, and as befits their AREA ratings (first and second respectively) they will anchor the brackets. The winner of the Pei/Kirk game will also be seeded as will Pratto should he prevail against Donald. Known to have qualified for the drawing to complete the bracket are: Michael Mitchell, Alberto Molina, Grant LaDue, Tom Thornsen, Sean Dolbee, Tim Tow and Jean Louis Dirion. Possibly qualifying, depending upon the outcome of their current games are: Jeff Donald, Mike Pacheco, George Young, Steve Likevich and Mustafa Corapci. For more details please visit our tournament website: http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/gmtom/FTPtournament.htm#Round%201%20games. Round 4 officially began on May 25th and will end on September 28th 2012.
MARCH MADNESS: Speaking of annual, you can set your calendar on Bruce Monnin who again announces the start of the 10th Annual BPA March Madness PBeM tournament with a team draft scheduled to begin on Nov. 1. Check out all the details at http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/mms_home_page.html.