victory in the pacific   

Updated 11/17/2011

Rising Sun Pre-Con
2011 WBC Report    

 2012 Status: pending 2012 GM commitment

Ed Paule, NJ

2011 Champion

Links

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Event History
1991    Dave Targonski      36
1992    Wes Erni      39
1993    Alan Applebaum      36
1994    Dave Targonski      36
1995    Dan Henry      45
1996    Robert Kondracki      46
1997    Ed O'Connor      42
1998    Joe Dragan      48
1999    Alan Applebaum     48
2000    Andy Gardner     50
2001    Dan Henry     48
2002    Dan Henry     50
2003    Ed Menzel     39
2004    Michael Kaye     44
2005    Andy Gardner     32
2006    Ed Menzel     41
2007    Darren Kilfara     39
2008    Charlie Drozd     36
2009    Michael Kaye     37
2010    Andy Gardner     33
2011    Ed Paule     36

PBeM Event History
1999    Nick Markevich      20
2001    Ed Menzel      32
2004    Rob Flowers      32
2007    Charles Drozd     35
2009    Joe Dragon     42
2011    Michael Ussery     28
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Andy Gardner       VA    11    342
  2.  Dan Henry          IL    07    272
  3.  Michael Kaye       CA    09    246
  4.  Ed Menzel          CA    11    232
  5.  Charlie Drozd      IL    11    188
  6.  Darren Kilfara     uk    09    146
  7.  Ed Paule           NJ    11    126
  8.  Michael Ussery     MD    11    118
  9.  John Pack          CO    10    114
 10.  Alan Applebaum     MA    05    113
 11.  Jim Eliason        IA    11     78
 12.  John Sharp         FL    10     66
 13.  Joe Dragan         MI    09     66
 14.  Ray Freeman        CA    04     60
 15.  Rob Flowers        MD    04     50
 16.  Larry Meyers       AZ    09     44
 17.  Tim Tow            TX    04     39
 18.  Michael Day        AZ    11     34
 19.  Bob Hamel          CT    00     30
 20.  Nick Markevich     CA    11     22
 21.  Jim Kramer         PA    11     18
 22.  Ted Drozd          IL    09     18
 23.  Nathan Zietlow     IA    09     18
 24.  John Strand        CO    02     18
 25.  Eric El Osta       bg    00     18
 26.  Philip Watkins     MN    07     15
 27.  Robert Drozd       IL    11     14
 28.  Ken Nied           KS    03     14
 29.  Pat Richardson     FL    09     12
 30.  Mark Booth         VA    08     12
 31.  Joe Powell         VA    99     12
 32.  Dan Blumentritt    TX    10      6
 33.  John Sharp Jr      FL    03      6
 34.  Casey Adams        MN    00      6
 35.  Brad Solberg       CA    99      6
 36.  Scott Fenn         MD    07      5
 37.  Bryan Eshleman     NC    11      4
 38.  Ong Meng Soon      my    01      4
 39.  Bobby Clinton      CA    01      4
 40.  Max Zavanelli      FL    99      4
 41.  Dennis Nicholson   NY    99      3
 42.  Vince Meconi       DE    99      2
 43.  Glenn McMaster     on    01      1

2011 Laurelists                                          Repeating Laurelists:

Charles Drozd, IL
2nd

Andy Gardner, VA
3rd

Jim Kramer, PA
4th

Jim Eliason, IA
5th

Ed Menzel, CA
6th

Past Winners

Dave Targonski, DC
1991, 1994

Alan Applebaum, MA
1993, 1999

Dan Henry, IL
1995, 200l-02

Robert Kondracki, PA
1996

Ed O'Connor, NJ
1997

Joe Dragan, MI
1998

Andy Gardner, VA
2000, 2005, 2010

Ed Menzel, CA
2003, 2006

Michael Kaye, MD
2004, 2009

Darren Kilfara, UK
2007

Charlie Drozd, IL
2008

Ed Paule, NJ
2011
     

Scott Beal vs two-time champ Mike Kaye

Bob Jamelli vs Robert Hamel

And then there were 12 ...

72 games were played during the third year of the revised 5/3 Swiss Elim format, up six from last year. Eight games featured no bid while two were played using the NT1 variant. The average bid in the remaining games was 4.879 POC; up from 4.525 POC last year. With the increased bids we saw a decline in the IJN winning %; dropping from 68% last year to 60% this year; however this still leaves the IJN with a significant edge.

After five rounds of swiss, Jim Eliason was the only unbeaten player and he was awarded the #1 seed while doubtlessly wishing for a return to the days of the last man standing swiss format. Four former champions manned the gauntlet standing between him and his first VIP title. Ed Paule, defending champ Andy Gardner, 2006 champ Ed Menzel, and 2008 champ Charles Drozd manned the next tier at 4-1. The remaining three places were filled by John Sharp, 2009 champ Mike Kaye, and Jim Kramer who beat out four other participants with identical 3-2 records based on their strength of schedule.

In Round 6 #1 Eliason's luck ran out and he was denied glory by #8 Kramer's hot Allied Dice. The other matches saw #2 Paule defeat #7 Kaye, #3 Gardner top #6 Sharp, and #5 Drozd down #4 Menzel.

Round 7 found the new top seed, #2 Paule, bidding 6.5 POC to play the IJN vs. #3 Gardner while #8 Kramer bid 5.5 vs. Drozd. In both semi-finals the 7th AF did not survive the the Pearl Harbor raid, putting both allied players in difficult positions. Gardner's Allies surrendered to Paule after Turn 4 with both Samoa and Pearl Harbor in IJN hands. However, Drozd's Allies were able to keep the PoC low throughout the game, forcing Kramer's concession after Turn 6 .

The Final pitted an IJN Specialist (Paule, 6-0 with the IJN) vs. an Allied Specialist (Drozd, 5-0 with the Allies). True to form, Paule bid 5.5 POC for the IJN. Turn 1 saw the IJN get excellent results during the surprise air raids. With limited Allied forces available for Turn 2, Ed played an aggressive strategy to force the Allies into a costly battle. Charles decided to fight in the US Mandate and won the preference rolls in the first two rounds; but 12 shots on IJN CV's resulted in only one disabled result. Meanwhile the IJN surface fleet crushed the USN screening vessels. Turn 4 saw a pitched battle in the Marianas in which the Allies managed to hold onto their base in the Philippines at the cost of more ships but the IJN hit 29 PoC by the end of the turn. Turn 5 was the beginning of the end for the Allies. Charles sent his CV's on a catastrophic raid into the Japanese Islands which ended with three USN CV's sunk and the POC still firmly nestled on 29. With the writing on the wall, Charles tried several desperate gambles the next two turns, but when none hit the homerun he needed, he conceded to first time winner Ed Paule who became the 12th different VIP champion.

Don Tatum vs defending champ Andy Gardner

Ed Paule downs Charles Drozd in the Final to win it all.


 Play By Email 2010-11

The sixth BPA PBeM tournament started with 28 hopefuls in 2009... By October, 2010 we were down to two - the 4th and 5th seed, Michael Ussery and Jim
Eliason respectively. Both have earned plaques in WBC competition before (78 and 42 laurels respectively), but both hungered for the top spot and to be Cinderella no more. Both began the tournament with nearly identical AREA ratings and played as the favorite in all but one round. The contest was about as even as possible...

Michael took the IJN after bidding 4.5 (which is a pretty typical bid these days). However, he gave Jim shelter from the I-Boat and free passage out of the Central Pacific to Johnston Island on Turn 1 plus an escape from the Hawaiian Islands for trapped reinforcements (adjustments 1, 2b, and 3b).

Pearl Harbor raids let out two battleships and the LBA - a bit better for the IJN than usual - while Indonesian raids let the Repulse escape. The IJN attack was furious. By Turn 4, Michael had secured everything needed for a Full Applebaum except Guadalcanal and IJN flags in the Marshalls and Marianas. Guadalcanal held on Turn 5 and brought the South Pacific under USN control to give the Allies some hope against the IJN's 29 POC. However, the Japanese had 8 aircraft carriers ready for defense.

The POC stayed at 29 with no additional forward bases for the Allies. 12 USN CV lost to 6 IJN LBA in Indonesia to seal the Japanese victory. Congratulations to Mike Ussery for emerging from the shark tank with just a few bites to take the prize! By winning, he's earned the right to compete in the next Top 10 Invitational!

The rest of the Top Six in order: Jim Eliason, Michael Day, Nick Markevich, Robert Drozd, and Bryan Eshleman.

Read all about the entire tournament at http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_bpa/vitp_bpa_single_elim_09.htm. Plan ahead to join the new tournament which begins this September 15. Contact john@gameaholics.com to sign up. Get the details at http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_format/vitp_bpa_format.htm.

 GM      Charles Drozd [2nd Year]   NA
    charles_drozd@hotmail.com  847-845-1136 

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