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Victory in the Pacific (VIP) PBeM Event Reports Updated September 21, 2023
 

2022 PBeM Tournament

Tino Puenjer starts the game off with a bid of 3.5 for the USN using the Menzel options. Only two bids have ever gone higher -- and one of those is by Tino himself in this tournament's second round! He's a proven winner with this combination. But it's not to be. Tino was distracted during the final by traveling to Zurich, Zug, Basel, Copenhagen and Hamburg. As none of those are on the Pacific map, he earned no points by doing so. ;-) From his secret island command center in the Atlantic, Darren Kilfara's Imperial Japanese Fleet started off strong and stayed on the offensive all the way to draw a surrender at the end of Turn 5 with a bell-ringing 29-POC lead -- and a complete perimeter minus the flag in the Marshall Islands. The Allies, on the other hand, had just one pre-Turn 6 aircraft carrier still afloat.

Congratulations, Admiral Kilfara on winning our first all-European Championship! In this World Cup, the United Kingdom prevails 1-0 over Switzerland.

The top six finishers are were 1) Darren Kilfara, 2) Tino Puenjer, 3) Bob Hamel, 4) Michael Ussery, 5) Michael Day, and 6) Eric Anderson

2021 PBeM Tournament

Victory in the Pacific: Twenty becomes two. Admiral Greg Smith faced off against the Top Seed, Admiral Alan Applebaum, in the final and writes that Alan "played a masterful game and deserve[d] the victory." Alan, however, suggested that the dice were as one-sided as he can remember. Through four turns, Alan lost only one cruiser and two aircraft carriers once the smoke from Pearl Harbor faded. "I've been hoping for you to hit a cool streak on the dice, but evidently hope wasn't enough to stay competitive in this game. From the moment in Turn 2 when your suicide CV sank the Yokosuka, you had the upper hand. I see now that Turn 4 will be the highwater mark for the IJN this game. The POC stripe is set on 9+1. That's not nearly the lead I need to stay competitive in this game. I have been enjoying the game, regardless, but the time has come for me to surrender. Congratulations, Champ!" See all the action at: https://gameaholics.com/vitp_bpa/vitp_bpa_single_elim_19.htm.

Final Standings: 1) Alan Applebaum, 2) Gregory Smith, 3) Wayne Bonnett, 4) Mike Kaye, 5) Bob Hamel, 6) David Sherwood

2019 PBeM Tournament

Victory in the Pacific: Thirty-one becomes two. Tim Tow took the Japanese for 1.5 POC and took six aircraft carriers to Pearl Harbor to catch Dennis Nicholson by surprise -- using the West Coast Escape version of the Menzel options. By the end of Turn 6, the IJN score had dwindled to 9, and the emperor order capitulation. Two became one, and Dennis Nicholson was crowned champion of the fleets! Over-all, the IJN prevailed in 10 matches while the USN dominated by winning 18 games. The power to shift the balance of the Menzel and Open Turn Two options is evident in the first tournament to be dominated by the USN in over two decades. Unadjusted games saw bidding up to 8 POC; while these two adjustments saw balanced bidding for both sides (with Tim's 1.5 being the highest for the IJN).

Final Standings: 1) Dennis Nicholson, 2) Tim Tow, 3) Wayne Bonnett, 4) Alan Applebaum, 5) Vince Meconi, 6) Bryan Eshleman

 

2017 PBeM Tournament

The Two Years of the Dragan have ended in the Victory in the Pacific tournament. Joe Dragan (pronounced Dray-gan) has defeated all comers in six rounds over two years. 34 contestants entered the tournament. In the final, Joe defeated this year's dark horse, Scott Beall, the 14th seed, who'd just knocked off the top-seeded Michael Day. Joe took the Allies by paying 1 POC after the two players agreed to the Menzel Options. By the end of Turn Six, the Japanese offensive had been turned back and the POC total dropped to just two. The USN gained a net 11 POC on the last turn in an indication of what was to come. Over the course of the event, the Japanese won 16 games while the Allies won 17, showing the effectiveness of balancing options now being widely used. More powerfully, 12 of the Japanese victories were in the first round. Those who understand effective USN play dominated the event thereafter. Scott has promised a detailed write-up that will be available with all the tournament results at: http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_bpa/vitp_bpa_single_elim_15.htm.

 

2015 PBeM Tournament

A field of 28 entered the eighth BPA PBeM VIP tournament. 26 games later, with the Cinerellas eliminated, the titans waged war over the cardboard Pacific for final victory. Michael Day (third seed) accepted a bid of 8 from 4th seed Ray Freeman and took the blue forces. Things looked grim for the Allied navies after Pearl Harbor fell, but a daring move on Turn 5 in the South Pacific opened a hole in the perimeter and left Ray thinking he needed just one more patroller (to augment the mere 16 he'd used). Together with maintaining control over Attu, the USN stayed in it doggedly through the final turn. The climactic battle for the Japanese islands—with the USN just needing to deny control—came up short. Thus Ray's Japanese emerged triumphant by the 3 POC margin secured by controlling the Japanese Islands.

 

2013 PBeM Tournament

Daniel's USN saves Pearl Harbor from conversion on Turn Three to keep the POC low throughout the game and put the final nail in the coffin at the end of Turn 6 (with the score already down to 14). Even the small NT1 bid of 1.5 was insufficient to keep Tim's IJN in contention. The USN won a solid majority of the games during the final four rounds (6-3). The rest of the top six were Robert Drozd, Greg Smith, Scott Beall, and Rob Kircher. 39 admirals were part of the original field; 38 total games were played before Daniel seized the crown! In addition to the plaque, BPA laurels, and his name engraved on the traveling World Championship trophy, Daniel also wins a coveted invitation to the 2013 Top Ten Invitational.

 

2011 PBeM Tournament

Out of 28 players originally, only the fourth and fifth seeds have survived to the last. Michael Ussery has been the top seed in all of his games. Except for the semi-final round, so has Jim Eliason. Both are excellent competitors with flashes of genius gracing their play. They started out with nearly identical ratings. Jim's has risen a bit since then. In a way, both are the top seed in this game. It should be an epic fight!

Pearl Harbor Report: 6 US BBs (including MD(d10)), 2 US CAs, 5AF, Prince of Wales all sunk.

T4 Report: The IJN have 10 CVs to three (plus three Brits). Michael lacks three things for the Full Applebaum: Guadalcanal and the Marshalls and Marianas are uncontrolled. PoC at 24.

T5 Report: Michael's IJN is up 29 POC. I have a foot in the door with SPO and Guadalcanal controlled, but the IJN has all the other usual conquests and eight CVs left. Not looking good.

T6 Report: I resigned after turn 6 still down 29 POC with only Guadalcanal resembling a forward base. On turn 6 12 CVs lost to 6 LBA in Indo, and Ryujo disabled a marine in Marianas, sealing the win.

 

2009 PBeM Tournament

Joe Dragan captured the 2009 Victory in the Pacific BPA PBeM Tournament defeating Ed Paule. Other laurelists, in order, were Larry Meyers, Nathan Zietlow, Michael Day, and Robert Drozd.

 

2007 PBeM Tournament

The Fourth BPA Victory in the Pacific PBeM tournament has come to a wild end. After six rounds of single-elimination competition, Charles Drozd -- commanding the victorious Allied fleets -- has achieved decisive Victory in the Pacific. The competition began in 2005 with 35 entrants. Charles started as the third seed. His semi-final victory was a close game against the top seed, Dan Henry, as the Japanese. In the Final, Charles triumphed over Darren Kilfara (originally the sixth seed) who bid 4 POC for the Japanese. The tournament saw 14 Allied victories, 18 Japanese victories, and 1 draw. 16 games used the two most popular PBeM adjustments, I-Boat Raid and CPO Withdrawal (including all but one game during the last three rounds). 9 games used other combinations of the PBeM balancing adjustments. Average bidding was 3.58 for the IJN. Bidding ranged from 2 to 6! No bid was less than 3 from the second round onward. Dan Henry had the best quip of the tournament, "Allies lose Enterprise. Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a repair dock." The top six Laurels went in order to 1) Charles Drozd, 2) Darren Kilfara, 3) Dan Henry, 4) Philip Watkins, 5) Larry Meyers, and 6) Scott Fenn. Congratulations to all! Charles had 3 IJN wins, 2 USN wins, and 1 bye (as did each of the top three finishers). For a complete history of the current tournament, see www.gameaholics.com/vitp_bpa/vitp_bpa_single_elim_05.htm.

 

2004 PBeM Tournament

The Third Victory in the Pacific PBeM tournament has come to a wild end. Rob Flowers USN defeated the highest remaining seed (#7), Tim Tow in the semi-finals while Michael Ussery bucked tournament omens to win as the high seed as the IJN over Darren Kilfara by five POC in eight turns. In the consolation match, Darren claimed third place as the USN in a close game (winning by just 1.5 POC after the bid) over Tim Tow. In the championship match, Rob Flowers (orignally the 14th seed) took command of the Imperial Japanese Navy. He locked up the northeast corner of the ocean and ran the score up high enough that, after seven turns, the US Navy, under Michael Ussery (seeded 11th), had no hope (despite a bid of 4). Congratulations to Admiral Flowers who wins the BPA plaque and an automatic invitation to the next Top 10 Invitational. See the details at http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_bpa/vitp_bpa_single_elim_03.htm.

 

2002 PBeM Tournament

Ed Menzel captured the 2002 Victory in the Pacific BPA PBeM Tournament defeating Michael Day. Other laurelists, in order, were Ong Meng Soon, Bobby Clinton, Ken Nied, and Glenn McMaster.

 

2000 PBeM Tournament

Nick Markevich captured the inaugural BPA PBeM Tournament in Victory in the Pacific defeating Brad Solberg. Other laurelists, in order, were Max Zavanelli, Dennis Nicholson, Vince Meconi, and Bobby Clinton.