1812 [Updated August 2000]

812     
   18   20   22    
   
  

  Salon A

Charles Hickok, PA

2000 Champion

2nd: George Young, VT

3rd: Phil Barcafer, PA

4th: Michael Sims, IN

5th: John Teixara, VA

6th: Karsten Englemann, VA
Event History
1991    None      -
1992    None      -
1993    None      -
1994    None      -
1995    None      -
1996    None      -
1997    None      -
1998    None      -
1999    Robert Mull     22
2000    Charles Hickok     26
AREA Ratings
 1    Charles Hickok      5409
 2    John Metzger      5391
 3    Robert Mull      5391
 4    George Young      5295
 5    Michael Sims      5200
 6    Phil Barcafer      5185
 7    Ric Manns      5180
 8    Karsten Engelmann      5100
 9    Stu Hendrickson      5100
10    Mark Miklos      5100

Blockheads at war ...

We began the 1812 tournament with high hopes. I had begun a website for 1812 in February. It was my hope that this would spur interest in what I consider a fun game. I know many might say that it is a poor simulation, but it is a great game that can be won by either side. I want to begin by thanking my assistant GM's Scott Bowling and Michael Sims. They were invaluable in helping me get the tournament organized and for many helpful suggestions.

We moved the tournament to a Tuesday evening to accommodate my two assistants. I was initially worried that this would cut down on our attendance of 22 from the year before. I was wrong! We began with 26. I dropped out so that we could have an even number. A last minute arrival appeared and I wanted to play to accomodate him, but alas both of my games were in use and he didn't have a copy. So the tournament drew 26 in its second year, not bad for a game published in 1973.

We used a couple of variants this year. One was unlimited naval forces, allowing players to rebuild fleets as long as there was never more than six in play at once. The other was the replacement variant. This rule allows each side to add one CV to a unit each turn as long as they could trace supply back to Pittsburgh or Albany as the Americans, and Quebec as the British. Overall, these were well received as they were the previous year.

Players bid victory points to play the British side as this has been the perceived favorite. These victory points would only be subtracted from the British total after the 1814 campaign year. The average bid for the British was 1.76 with a high bid of 4. The most frequent bid was 2. These had no bearing on the automatic victory's. The tournament had two-hour timed rounds with adjudication of any tied games by a secret vote of myself and my two assistants. We only had to adjudicate two of the 25 games played.

The Americans won 68% of the games this year. The vast majority were won in the first campaign year of 1812. Ten of the 17 American wins were in the first year with three more in the 1813 year. American wins typically are in 1812, with 1813 as a more balanced year. The British, true to perceptions, won five of their eight victorys in the final year of the game.

There are those that believe the Americans are the overwhelming favorites. This year supports their argument. However, the British won most of the games the year before.

There were some interesting matches. I asked the players to include some comments about their respective games. Michael Sims on losing to George Young wrote only two words: "Wet Powder!" as he conceded his game in 1813. Karsten Engleman wrote "His American army marched into upper Canada as the British had defended it lightly". Charles Stucker stated that his
Americans won the initiative in eight of the ten turns in 1812 and he rode that all the way to the gates of Quebec.

The finals came down to a game between Charles Hickok as the Americans and George Young as the British. The game was extremely close and came down to a final battle in 1814. Charles defeated George in the last turn of 1814 and took home the plaque.

I want to thank Columbia Games for their support again this year. They donated a $50 gift certificate to the winner and an autographed map. George won $30 for runnerup. They also donated $15 for third and fourth places as well. Feel free to make suggestions about the format as we plan and prepare for '01.

 GM      Ric Manns  [1st Year]   PO Box 536, Scottsburg, IN 47170
    RManns@scottsburg.com   NA

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