Select
a year from the drop-down list for a low-down on the history
of Avaloncon and WBC.
See the champions for each year. Or choose to view the Laurels or Medals totals.
Attendance posted its biggest gain yet in 2011 with a whopping
10% increase despite record unemployment and continued doom and
gloom on the economic front plus the continuing schedule conflict
with Gen Con. In all, players from nearly every state plus 16
nations attended in 2011.The record crowd was reflected in tournament
participation as well with a 6% increase and no less than 20 events
drawing triple-digit participation. The average attendance for
the 153 events rose 3.3 to 55 players per event, buoyed by 226
players for Slapshot, 213 for Liar's Dice and 207
for Ticket to Ride. Despite all that wood gathering, Open
Gaming did a banner business—overflowing the 13,000 sq ft showroom
all week long—and keeping the ever-enlarging BPA game library
humming with over 1200 leant games. A constantly updated schedule
with a minute-by-minute countdown to the start of the next event
was projected on the stage to remind everyone of upcoming event
opportunities elsewhere in the hotel. The Showroom remained the
new focal point of the convention and was patrolled by fulltime
monitors for the first time to enforce "parking" violations
to prevent tables being usurped by displays or absentees. Color-coded
"players-wanted" kiosks made their appearance for the
first time to aid those looking for opponents or someone to teach
a game. Martin Wallace's newest design, A Few Acres of Snow, made the rounds as the hottest new game—an observation soon
reinforced by winning the membership vote for 2012's Trial events.
Sponsorships by Alliance Distributors, Queen Games and Rio Grande
made possible these and other improvements as Open Gaming really
came into its own at WBC.
Bruce Beard retained his title as the longest continuous reigning
master at WBC by holding serve to win his seventh straight 18XX title, one of just 13 of the 2010 champions to successfully defend
their title. Falling by the wayside was Rob Beyma whose five-year
reign atop Russia Besieged was ended by his son, Richard.
Other notable runs were ended as Rich Moyer, Nels Thompson, Alex
Bove and Robert Renaud all failed in their third consecutive title
defense bids, but 2011 will more likely be remembered as the year
"The Streak" ended. Bruce Reiff, owner of 44 BPA titles,
was finally stopped after 21 years of bringing home at least one
title. There was much rejoicing in all quarters—probably not
the least of which emanated from the Reiff household - where Mrs
Reiff was no doubt relieved not to have to find room for yet another
plaque—only to be confronted by daughter Nicole's second wall
ornament! Despite Nicole's continuation of the family streak,
the fair sex lost market share this year with just six ladies
claiming titles in 2011—down from eight in 2010. Twenty players
won multiple titles, led by five who "tripled" with
three titles each: Richard Beyma (MAN, RBS, WAT), Randy
Buehler (DOM, EGZ, POF), Curt Collins II (DOS, ELG,
UNP), Ty Hansen (A&A, DUN, WOR) and Nick Henning
(GSR, LRC, MRA). His "triple" along with a strong
showing at the 2010 Euroquest won both the titles of Caesar and
Consul for Randy Buehler in only his second year at WBC. In all,
20 players either joined the ranks of those earning Master status
(three titles in the same event) or raised their level in that
exclusive club.
At the other end of the title spectrum, 46 players won their
first WBC championship (up from 31 in 2010) and 106 earned their
first laurels (an increase of 21 from 2010). Claire Brosius and
Larry Lingle won free rooms at WBC 2012 for taking Game Master
of the Year and Sportsmanship honors respectively. Claire's was
especially noteworthy as it came in just her third year at the
helm of Ticket to Ride.
The Team Tournament declined again with "only" 84
teams answering the bugle call in 2011 down 12 from 2010 and
19 from the record 2009 field. The 50th-ranked "Go Flank
Yourself" squad squeaked out a 1-point victory over the
perennial favorites Nest of Spies thanks to three bonus
points awarded for scoring in an event they had not previously
won. Bruno Wolff managed to win our third bracket busting contest
by correctly predicting only five of the top ten teams as successful
prognostication apparently remains the exclusive domain of the
Happy Handicapper.
In the continuing circle of life struggle of WBC winners and
losers, the events themselves again competed for the player lifeblood
needed for another year of WBC existence. This constant churn
yielded 11 new occupants of the Century club. Gainers outnumbered
losers 4:3 Among events with at least a three-year track record,
28 raised their attendance bar by posting their own personal best
entrant numbers for the past ten years. The other end of that
spectrum saw 21 tournaments drop to new attendance lows for the
past decade.
Zenith: Those setting new highwater marks for the last
decade were: +34 Stone Age; +27 Vegas Showdown;
+23 Slapshot; +22 Facts In Five; +17 Power Grid;
+14 Through the Ages; +13 18XX; +11 B17;
+10 Thurn & Taxis; +10 Washington's War; +8 Formula De; +7 Gettysburg; +7 World At War; +6 Attack Sub; +6 Settlers of Catan; +5 Ivanhoe;
+5 March Madness; +4 A House Divided; +3 Paydirt; +3 Twilight Imperium; +3 Waterloo; +2 Elchfest; +2 Russian Campaign; +2 Trans America; +1 Hannibal; +1 Ingenius; +1 Pirate's Cove; +1 Robo Rally.
Nadir: Those sinking to new lows for the past decade
were: -28 Dominion; -21 Race for the Galaxy; -18 Chicago Express; -13 Imperial; -9 Manifest Destiny;
-7 Maneuvre; -7 Paths of Glory; -5 Eisenbach
Gap; -5 Stock Car Championship Racing; -3 Age of
Steam; -4 Atlantic Storm; -4 Risk; -4 Streets
of Stalingrad; -3 Age of Steam; -3 Caylus; -3 Medici; -3 Tikal; -3 Win, Place & Show;
-2 Auction; -2 Galaxy; -1 Gangsters.
