Return of MONSTERS Menaces Lancaster!
Marvin Ravages Again - Kings Konk for Trilogy!
MONSTERS Ravage America (1998) was republished as MONSTERS
Menace America in 2005 by Avalon Hill through Hasbro's Wizard's
of the Coast. J.C. Connors and Ben Knight are the credited designers
for both versions. Ravage was the default game at WBC but Menace
was encouraged as a substitute. Ben Knight taught the game at
three demos, and as a Coached game, it could be learned at one
of the four Preliminary heats. Menace was chosen for 56% of the
games, including two of the four semifinal games.
MONSTERS has always been a quick pickup game: 39% of the 64
players in 2004 were first-time players. The move to Lancaster,
PA and the republication increased both numbers: 44 or 55% of
the 80 players were first-timers. But they were not all from
Pennsylvania. Seven new players were from Indiana, other newbies
were from all over: MD, NJ, NY, IL, VA, NC, SC, CT, MA, GA, and
FL. The regulars from CA, CO, and KY were there as well. Linda
Cox, the brand manager for Avalon Hill at Wizards of the Coast,
made a surprise appearance on Friday. She saw the demo, the bumper
sticker, "So many MONSTERS, so little time", and a
heat where Menace players outnumbered Ravage players.
The convention's efforts for family friendliness resulted
in a record high of 20% of all players also having a relative
playing MRA-MMA. David and Callie Hood and David and Jonathan
Fox each won separate games of Menace. The tournament continued
to appeal to all ages: 28% of players were under age 18, 53%
were 18-49, 9% over 50, and 10% unknown. The move to Lancaster,
PA doubled the number of players aged 18-29, a group that had
been largely absent previously. Female participation dropped
from 22% of the 2004 players to the 10% convention overall average
in 2005, largely because men dominated the overall increase.
But the ladies continued to excel - they played 20% of all games
through repeat play and by winning. Half of the top six places
that garner Laurels were taken by females, and two teenage girls
made the Final for the first time since 1998. There was a surge
in repeat plays: Seven players played in three of the 4 heats,
and 17 players played in two heats. For the first time, the GM
could only play once.
Ravage vs. Menace. Ravage is more of a war game, with
terrain effects and more options on how to deploy the military.
Menace is more of a family game, but retains the mechanic that
virtually everything that happens is the result of player choices.
Menace sets up instantly, has practically no terrain effects,
and the new components make it easier to learn. Virtually all
of the rules questions during the tournament were about Ravage,
not Menace. Stomping infamy sites in Menace provides two extra
attacks, instead of onefor Ravage. Menace gives an extra attack
for stomping bases, while Ravage gives nothing for stand alone
bases. This makes infamy a more powerful way to win in Menace.
Six of the 16 (38%) mutations can be used when the MONSTERS
fight each other in the Ravage game-ending Challenge, whereas
nine of 16 (56%) are useable in the Menace Challenge. There is
NO Brain Rot mutation in Menace to slow MONSTERS. Some Menace
mutations have the same name as in Ravage, but different effects.
The damage inflicted by the military was weakened in Menace,
but military research cards can be automatically obtained in
lieu of deploying units. In Ravage, there is only a 33% chance
of obtaining military research, by expending a flexible military
budget. Ravage requires the high roller to choose the military
first, whereas Menace allows high roller first choice of MONSTER.
Ravage players roll dice and choose from six numbered lairs to
start the MONSTER. Menace players choose any of three lairs as
a starting point. Flying MONSTERS in Menace can fly over military
units - they cannot be blocked. Gargantis starts flying but only
moves three; others move four.
House rules were used in Ravage to try to balance the military
better, using changes made in Menace. The Navy sub defense was
reduced, allowing them to be hit on a roll of 5-6 instead of
only 6. The Air Force fighter speed was reduced from 7 to 6.
Full color cards were provided to lay over the southwest coast,
to bolster the Marines, who consistently lost too many Ravage
bases the last six years. The El Toro Marine base was moved to
the east of Camp Pendleton and 29 Palms, and the 1-die city of
Riverside was removed from the map. No changes were made to Ravage's
Army. Units could be removed from the board and repurchased and
deployed in a future budget. Menace was played with the rules
as written.
Overall results. Separate scoresheets were used for Ravage
and Menace. The players used the military more effectively than
ever in 2005. 10% of Ravage players, on average, had been sent
to Hollywood with zero health from 1999-2004. It catapulted to
20% in 2005. 7.4% of Menace players were sent there too. There
were 19 Menace games and 15 Ravage games, including the advanced
rounds. So a change in one or two games could significantly change
the percentages below, due to the small sample sizes.
MONSTERS
chosen for play in 2005:
Menace: Megaclaw (a more powerful version of Ixitpla) 23%,
Toxicor (a clone of Bronacle) 21%, Tomanagi 20%, Gargantis (a
flying unit that can't be blocked) 13%, Konk (with an advantage
against fighters) 12%, Zorb (the giant eyeball) 11%.
Ravage: Bronacle of the Depths 22%, Tomanagi the Carnosaur
20%, Glow Wyrm 17%, Frothomir of the Ice 13%, Ixitpla the Snake
10%, Konk the Great Ape 10%, 3%, Dread Swamp Lasher 5%, Dust
Devil 3%.
MONSTERS winning percentage for games played in 2005:
Menace: Zorb 67%, Tomanagi 26%, Toxicor 21%, Megaclaw 18%,
Gargantis 14%, Konk 10%.
Ravage: Konk 50%, Dust Devil 50%, Tomanagi 42%, Ixitpla
33%, Dread Swamp Lasher 33%, Bronacle 15%, Glow Wyrm 10%, Frothomir
0%.
Winning percentage - military controlled by winning MONSTER
player in 2005:
Menace (19 games): Marines 6 won (32%), Army 5 (26%), Navy
4 (21%), Air Force 4 (21%).
Ravage (15 games): Navy 6 won (40%), Marines 4 (27%),
Air Force 3 (20%), Army 2 (13%).
First Round Heat Themes. Heat 1 at 11 PM Wed. was the
Late Knight Creature Feature, Heat 2 at Thurs. 4 PM was the After
School Special MONSTER Matinee, Heat 3 at 1 PM Fri. was Breakfast
With Werewolves, and Heat 4 Sat 9 PM was the Field of Knightmares
Memorial.
The Boardgame Players Association Academy of MONSTER Awards:
Best Actor in a B MONSTER Movie: Victor Hogen (a Californian,
no less) made four B MONSTER Movies. As the biggest MONSTER in
2004, studios were hot to sign him to a multi-film contract in
2005.
Best Actress: Rebecca Hebner made a B movie during the Final.
Best Supporting Actor: James Kramer made three B movies.
Best Supporting Actress: Katie Dougherty made a junior B movie.
Best Cinematographer: Rob Flowers, who saw three opponents sent
to Hollywood, but one of them won anyway.
Best Sound (tie): Alex Bell (Konk, Dread Swamp Lasher), Chad
Gormley (Megaclaw, Toxicor), Jacob Hebner (Frothomir, Megaclaw).
Best Sound Editing: John Koski, for demanding that the singing
stuffed gorilla be banished from the tournament final.
Best Costume Design: Tim DeMarco, who had a purple cast on his
leg while playing the purple Toxicor.
Best Art Direction: Don Greenwood, for the perfectly-fitting
oval tables.
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Bolduc, who used the Chopper Lift
to move his own Tomanagi past blocking military units to get
to a Challenge Site, "only to lose 15 health to a 5-health
Swamp Lasher, to set up a total humiliation vs. Glow Wyrm."
Paul advanced later anyway.
Best Screenplay, Adaptation: When Tim DeMarco was running away
with the game and disappeared off the map, Frank Mestre placed
military units on top of Toxicor's three lairs, for a welcoming
party.
Best Short: Callie Hood, age 9, of Hickory, NC, the youngest
adult winner, beating three men in Menace using Zorb.
Best Foreign Language Film: Roy Gibson, for his impeccable British
accent.
Best Makeup: Ric Manns, for agreeing to play a semifinal at a
make-up time, so two qualifiers would be able to play in another
event at the regularly scheduled semifinal time.
Life Achievement Award: In Heat 3, Mike Garton played Menace
while his son Joshua played Ravage. Both were sent to Hollywood,
but Joshua went on to win his game anyway.
Best Animated Feature: Henry Pfeiffer, age 12, controlling Tomanagi
in MRA, "Inexplicably and voraciously assaulted NYC while
defended by a Rogue Nuke, 2 Tows, 1 Harrier, 1 sub, 1 hornet
and 2 guardsmen (to which he was immune because of Kinda Friendly)
- and survived!"
Technical Achievement Award: Jessica Greenwood, first Greenwood
to play since records were kept in 1999.
Scientific and Engineering Award: Joshua Githens, for proving
the theory that anyone from South Carolina can sit down and win
this game the first time they play it.
Best Editing: Steve Scott, who could still add scoresheets at
2 AM Sunday morning, and calculated in his head the mathematical
probabilities that more than 16 first-game winners could show
up for the semifinal.
Best Director: Carolyn DeMarco, as all three of her opponents
were sent to Hollywood in the game she won, the first time she
ever played in the tournament (after the gamemaster begged her
to fill a board as the 4th player.) One of the vanquished was
the former two-time champion, who went on to win the tournament
anyway. Another one had the biggest MONSTER in 2004 and the other
had a lot of previous experience.
Best Picture: Ric Manns, Bill Beswick, Scott Bowling, Charles
Stucker, whose entire game production was personally coached
by Ben Knight, one of the designers.
Best Special Effects: Ric Manns' most mutated MONSTER, Toxicor
- with Beserk, Son of a MONSTER, Armored Scales, and Whip Tentacles,
for a scoresheet mutation value of 26 points.
Best Score (tie): Jonathan Fox's Toxicor (Menace), scoresheet
total 75. Rebecca Hebner's Tomanagi (Ravage), scoresheet total
of 39. She also had the high score in a semifinal game, same
MONSTER and score.
Humanitarian Award: Keith Hunsinger, for posing for a photo at
the memorial table with his daughter.
Best Documentary, Short: Elaine Burkey, Jack Doughan, Philip
Entwhistle, and Sebastian Dunn, for the true story of the 2005
Junior MONSTERS Menace America Final game.
Best Documentary: Marvin Birnbaum, Jon Koski, Erica Kirchner,
and Rebecca Hebner, for the true story of the 2005 Final game,
the closest MONSTERS Ravage America Final ever played.
In case you lost at everything at WBC. A memorial was set
up at a table in the last heat on Saturday night, to remind players
who had not won plaques or advanced that there are worse things
that can happen in life besides losing a board game - like losing
a loved one or good friend. It cited game players and some other
folks who passed on over the years: "In Memoriam of: Karen
Hunsinger, Harold Siegelman, Ed Okimoto, John Grant, Robert Destro,
Malcolm Robinson, Joe "Tex" Wetherall, Robert Sacks,
Earl Anderson, Gjergj and Anton Gjoni, and the passengers and
crew of Flight 93, which crashed in nearby Shanksville, PA September
11, 2001. (The crash site is about 165 miles west of Lancaster.)
Semifinals. There were 24 first-game winners, two second-game
winners, and three third-try winners. 48% of heat winners were
no-shows for the Sunday semi-final. That left one slot available
for an alternate, which Steve Scott of San Diego took for the
second consecutive year. Of the 16 semifinalists, six or 38%
were former MRA finalists and 50% were under 18 years old. Four
or 25% were new to the tournament: Michael Fox, Ric Manns, David
Meyaard, and Terry Zack. Two Menace and two Ravage games were
played. Five of the eight Menace semifinalists had tournament
experience in Ravage in earlier years.
One of the semifinals was played at 11 PM Saturday to accommodate
schedules, by agreement of all four players. That game was a
Menace barnburner. 16-year-old Erica Kirchner, who has played
in these tournaments since she was 11, used Zorb to beat Michael
Fox, Ric Manns, and edged defending champion Nick Henning, who
had Whip Tentacles and It's a Robot. The other Menace semifinal
saw John Koski use Tomanagi to beat Zack Terry, Daniel Pappas
(who took 6th place in the tournament), and Lauren Vessey (5th
place.) Lauren had Megaclaw with 23 health, nne extra infamy
attacks, and she controlled the Challenge. Daniel's mutations
and five infamy knocked her down for John.
In the first Ravage semifinal, Rebecca Hebner demonstrated
the importance of controlling the MONSTER Challenge, enabling
her to choose her opponents and roll up their starting health
into what she had at the end of each fight. Alex Bell, David
Meyaard, and Steve Scott each had one good mutation to affect
combat results, while Rebecca had none. She prevailed with that
game mechanic and good dice rolling. The other Ravage semi was
a hard-fought game with aggressive militaries that slowed play
because of constant disappearing and one player sent to Hollywood
twice. Two-time champion Marvin Birnbaum returned to the Final,
using Konk, two infamy and Armor Scales to beat Paul Bolduc,
1999 finalist Joshua Garton, and Victor Hogen.
The Final. The semifinal winners unanimously chose
Ravagel. For the first time, two former champions were facing
off in a MONSTER finale. Marvin Birnbaum of New Jersey was playing
for a third championship, having won in 1999 and 2003. Rebecca
Hebner of Colorado had won in 2001 and had played in the 2000
Final when she was 12. One of the players she beat in 2001, John
Koski of North Carolina, was back again, after missing the tournament
for two years. A player Rebecca beat in the junior tournament
in 2000, Erica Kirchner of Kentucky, now 16, was the 4th finalist.
Rebecca thought it would look better to the BPA if Marvin won
again, proving that a lot of skill was required. Marvin said
he had been teased by other adults for winning a tournament that
three teenagers had won. He thought that a win by Rebecca would
legitimize those previous wins by teens, and validate his own
prior victories. All four players had played in this tournament
going back five or six years. Marvin, the 2002 Caesar, was designated
as The Target before the game began. But it did not exactly work
out that way at first.
Marvin rolled high and chose the Air Force, John took the
Navy, Erica took the Marines, while Rebecca got the Army. Marvin
chose Konk and rolled to start in Lair #5, Great Smoky Mountain.
John took Glow Wyrm and started in #5, Mammoth Cave, stomping
Louisville in the process. Erica took Tomanagi and started in
the northwest Lair #1, Cascadia Basin. With three MONSTERS now
threatening the health-rich northeast, a few military units were
placed in the west, while all other available units poured into
the northeast. Marvin's Konk stomped Chicago on the first turn,
getting three dice of health as Konk achieved his Goal of climbing
the Sears Tower. John's Glow Wyrm sat for a turn, metamorphosing
to fly at 5. Erica's Tomanagi leveled San Francisco. Rebecca's
Bronacle was blocked from New York and headed towards nearby
Pittsburgh. Marvin then stomped St. Louis and mangled the Arch.
John went south, razing Atlanta. Erica's pursuit of Los Angeles
was delayed, as blocking units were enough to retreat her.
Despite the players announced pre-game intention to target
Marvin, their actual play responded to what was happening on
the map. 20 military units surrounded Rebecca as she threatened
New York City, which she had taken on the first turn of the 2001
Final she'd won. Rebecca now sent her MONSTER to mutate at 3-Mile
Island. Using Bronacle's power, she chose Atomic Breath, which
adds 1 to all dice rolls for the rest of the game. This was exactly
what Marvin had done when he won in 2003, before he stomped New
York. But in that game, two of his opponents had disappeared
from the northeast and reappeared in the west. The military then
poured into the west, with three MONSTERS out there. Marvin's
2003 opponents had merely guarded the northeast cities, not daring
to come out and attack him - and he disappeared immediately after
he took New York. Now two years later, there were a lot more
units to guard the cities. So Marvin sent six F-22 Air Force
fighters to attack Rebecca's Bronacle just outside NYC. He inflicted
10 damage, reducing her to 4 health. In contrast to his aggressive
pursuit of New York in 2003, Marvin cautiously sent Konk south,
stomping Memphis and gaining infamy for grabbing Elvis' guitar
and smashing Graceland. John flew Glow Wyrm up to Norfolk, destroying
his own Navy base along with Langley AFB. He was now glowing
outside the big northeast cities.
Erica gave up on Los Angeles and disappeared off the map.
She attacked Rebecca with 6 AV-8 Marine Harriers, dropping Bronacle
to zero health and selling him to Hollywood moguls to make B
movies. There was only one other MRA tournament Final where any
MONSTER was ever sent to Hollywood. Ironically, in 2001 Rebecca
sent John and her other two opponents to Hollywood before she
won the plaque. She had also sent Erica to Hollywood to sit out
the MONSTER Challenge in the 2000 Junior first round. Rebecca
rolled to get out of Hollywood, but was stuck there signing autographs.
Marvin remained cautious and sent Konk west, stomping Dallas.
John stomped DC/Baltimore and gained infamy for biting a giant
chunk out of the Washington Monument. Erica reappeared at Tomanagi's
#5 Lair at the Gulf Stream, with 13 military units nearby. But
five units were The Few, The Proud - her own Marines, whom she
sent after Glow Wyrm. They knocked off 12 of John's health and
retreated him. Marvin exclaimed, "That's huge!"
Rebecca broke out of Hollywood and boldly chose to land in
Los Angeles instead of disappearing. Meeting her were two Navy
subs and a Marine. She nearly won, but a sub held out and retreated
her. Marvin sent Konk further west, picking up the Atomic Recovery
mutation. John ran south, stomping Mobile and Elgin AFB. Erica
again rolled low and Tomanagi was retreated by a single blocking
unit. Marvin observed, "Tomanagi's no good unless she has
the Navy." Don Chappell announced, with authority, "Anybody
with the MARINES can win with ANY MONSTER! That's HOW I GOT HERE.
Oh wait, I'm not playing in the Fnal." Rebecca's brother,
Jacob, a 2-time Junior MRA champion, stopped by to see how she
was doing, only to find that he could have played in the semifinal
himself, since he had a higher score than the only alternate
to advance. So potentially there could have been two Hebners
in the final. Marvin had Konk disappear off the map, which he
later regretted, since it cost him at least a turn of stomping.
A stuffed gorilla doll started singing Wham's "Love Machine"again.
John bellowed, "That gorilla is banished from the table!"
As Brian Pappas took him away, Don Chappell observed, "The
ape has left the building!"
John sent Glow Wyrm west to Wichita, and Erica was retreated
by a blocking unit again. Rebecca mutated at Roswell, choosing
Armor Scales, and stomping Holloman AFB at the same time. Konk
reappeared at Mt. Whitney, getting infamy for knocking down the
Giant Redwoods. Glow Wyrm beat a National Guard and stomped Denver.
Erica finally ended her streak of bad luck as Tomanagi stomped
Boston. Rebecca beat a blocking unit and moved next to Los Angeles.
At this point, Marvin's Konk was the perceived leader by a large
margin. John, Rebecca, and Erica banded together and tried to
use the Chopper Lift to bring Konk to where they had mobilized
their militaries. But it was an illegal move, since the card
can only bring a MONSTER to an open space with no units. Rebecca
announced, "I'm not gonna win!" and the three allies
made a deal to level the playing field and reduce Marvin's advantage.
Their militaries moved and John was given a clear path to get
to a mutation site. More units moved and yielded Philadelphia
to Erica, who got three dice of health, since it's Tomanagi's
Goal. The militaries also got out of Rebecca's way and she stomped
Los Angeles. Marvin protested, "I can't believe you sold
out the American people!" As Rebecca picked up eight health
for stomping Los Angeles, John observed, "It's like the
Rodney King beating." Marvin realized that he'd forgotten
to use his Radiation Field to deter the military attacks that
Konk took from each player, but it was too late. "It cost
me nine damage my own damn fault."
The MONSTER Challenge. The Allies could not pull off
their plan and at the same time prevent Marvin from getting to
a Challenge site. Rebecca was too weak to fight in the Challenge
without the health from Los Angeles, so she took the 20th city,
starting the Challenge Round. Stealing control of the MONSTER
Challenge by going to Mt. St. Helen's, Marvin could now maximize
his chance to win. Konk had 21 health and three infamy, so Marvin
took on John's Glow Wyrm, who had 21 health, two infamy and Hi
Octane Blood, which let John attack first in Ravage. Konk was
hit five times, knocking him down to six health before winning.
Rolling Glow Wyrm's starting health into that gave Konk 27 to
face Erica's Tomanagi and her 26 health and two infamy. Konk
took five more hits and won again. Marvin now had 38 health to
face Rebecca's Bronacle, who had 16 health, Armor Scales to raise
her defense, and Atomic Breath to add 1 to each attack die roll.
The mathematical effect of those mutations paid off, along with
good dice rolling. As the battle went back and forth, Konk took
12 hits for 36 damage, leaving him with only two points of health.
He had only hit Bronacle five times, but that knocked her down
to one point. Marvin was now in exactly the same spot where Rebecca
was when she won the title in 2001. If he didn't roll high enough
to win, he would likely lose on her next roll. He rolled two
dice - one of them was a 5 - winning Marvin Birnbaum his third
championship, each one with Konk the Great Ape. It was a barnburner
or maybe it should now be known as a Birnbaumer.
The scoresheet scores determined the other places. From the
semifinals, 5th place went to Lauren Vessey, 21, of Virginia.
6th place went to Daniel Pappas, 13, of Maryland. All three of
Marvin's final opponents had scores of 28! The tiebreaking factor
was toys for stomping bases (called trophies in Menace), less
number of times sent to Hollywood. John Koski had stomped fivebases,
including one of his own, so he took second. Rebecca had three
toys but she'd been sent to Hollywood, reducing her to two. Erica
also had two toys - another tie! The next tiebreaker was health
points. Erica had 26 to Rebecca's 16, so Erica Kirchner claimed
third and Rebecca dropped to fourth.
Epilogue. Steve Scott waxed poetically, "In the
roll of a single die, Rebecca went from 1st to 4th place."
With the strong mutations she picked up, Rebecca might have won
had she disappeared from the northeast in the face of so many
military units, and avoided Hollywood. Or she could have become
The Target anyway. John also took a big hit, and the mutation
he drew wasn't usable to improve the odds in the Challenge fight.
Ironically, Erica knocked both of these opponents down with good
rolling and use of her Marines. But she rolled badly with Tomanagi
when trying to get past single blocking units and that
MONSTER's power gave her an extra die in all those seacoast battles!
Just one average roll might have changed the entire focus of
the game.
Marvin played a conservative game and moved away from the
northeast, while John moved toward it, Rebecca stayed too long,
and Erica was held literally at bay. Marvin immediately recognized
the skill of his opponents and the danger that their forces posed.
Ironically, Marvin, John and Rebecca started in the east and
ended in the west, while Erica started in the west and ended
in the east. Controlling the MONSTER Challenge, and rolling up
the losers' beginning health into his own became the most decisive
factor that won Marvin the game, as it did in the Junior tournament.
Had his opponents used units to block him from getting to the
Challenge site, instead of attacking him, there might have been
a different outcome or maybe not. As film director Peter Jackson
prepares to release the third major version of King Kong in December
2005, Marvin Birnbaum completed his own trilogy of MONSTER movies,
starring Konk the Great Ape as King of the Giant MONSTERS.
MONSTERS Ravage America Junior
17 little monsters, aged 12 or under, played in the 2005 junior
tournament, but the best were:
1st: Elaine Burkey
2nd: Jack Doughan
3rd: Philip Entwistle
4th: Sebastian Dunn
5th: Zack Terry
6th: Andrew Wilson
The convention's move from Hunt Valley, MD did not dissuade
seven juniors who played in the 2004 MONSTERS Ravage America
Junior tournament from trying its republication as MONSTERS Menace
America in Lancaster, PA in 2005. 59% of the 17 players were
new. Six were from MD, four from PA, three from NJ, and one each
from CA, IN, SC, and VA. Menace was taught and one 5-player game
used the National Guard. Each of four games had one or two players
with experience in Ravage and some owned or knew how to play
Menace. 12-year-old Henry Pfeiffer had played in 3 Ravage heats
at the Prezcon convention in Charlottesville in February 2005,
and he played in both Ravage and Menace in the 2005 adult WBC.
Zack Terry, 12, beat the game master in Menace in the adult tournament,
and played in the semifinal.
Ravage (1998) says it's for ages 10 and older, while Menace
says 12 and up. Since 1999, most Ravage junior finalists have
been 11 or 12 - only one 9-year-old had ever made the final.
But all this changed in 2005, as two 10-year-olds and two 8-year-olds
advanced to the Final. None of them had ever played in the Ravage
tournament before. Two first-round games were won using Zorb
with the Army or Navy, one with Megaclaw/Marines, and one with
Toxicor/Marines.
Philip Entwhistle, 10, of Millersville, PA started the Final
with Toxicor and the Marines, and stomped New York City on Turn
1. Elaine Burkey, 10, of Meadville, PA had Zorb and the Army.
Asked "Where would you like your little eyeball of doom
to go?", she flattened Los Angeles. Jack Doughan, 8, of
Wayne, PA, had Megaclaw and the Air Force, and got three extra
attacks for stomping Paul Bunyan's statue. Sebastian Dunn, 8,
of Annapolis, MD, had Tomanagi and the Navy, and got two extra
attacks for destroying the OK Corral. After six turns, there
was only military units deployed on the map. The players collected
military research cards. Philip got Mecha MONSTER while Sebastian
got Captain Colossal. Philip took a commanding lead after stomping
New York. He got control of all National Guard units with the
Guard Commander card, plus the X-fighters, the Chopper Lift,
and Cutbacks, which he used to eliminate Sebastian's Anti-Mutagen.
When Philip raised Toxicor to the maximum 40 health, his opponents
were disheartened. The GM asked all the adults in the room if
any of them had won a plaque in 2005, and they ALL said NO! The
juniors were reminded that most attendees lose at most of the
tournaments they enter, and to just try to have fun. They were
reminded that mutations and getting control of the MONSTER Challenge
were the best ways to improve their own chances.
Sebastian got control of the Challenge and had his Tomanagi
attack Megaclaw. Jack's MONSTER got beaten down to three health
but won the battle. He rolled Tomanagi's starting 14 health into
that and attacked Zorb with 17 health. But Elaine had the powerful
Son of MONSTER mutation and six extra infamy attacks, and won
the battle. She rolled the 17 health into what she had left and
took on Philip's Toxicor, who had a commanding 36 health and
two extra attacks. It was a close match but Elaine prevailed
and Zorb became Queen of the Giant MONSTERS in the first WBC
Menace tournament.
Thanks to Kathy Stroh, Barry Schutt, Cheryl Burkey, Jim Doughan,
Tara Greenwood, and defending Junior MRA champion Jacob Hebner
for helping as assistant gamemasters. Thanks to Kaarin Englemann,
the new Junior Coordinator, who got these folks to help, and
to Brian Sutton and David des Jardins for their generous financial
contributions to the junior program.
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