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John Faella was part of the record
field for the sequel of the first CDW. |
Three-time champ Brian Mountford opposes
Edward Rader in the new version. |
A Brand New Revolution ...
As a rookie GM I want to thank all those who helped make this
tournament run smoothly. Keith Wixson and George Young provided
tremendous help throughout. They shared all duties and helped
in the critical first round where our record number of entries
threatened to overwhelm. Special thanks to volunteers Brian Mountford
for running the demo and David Docktor for helping between the
first couple of rounds.
RIP: We the People, only four people expressed a preference
for the original. Therefore it will no longer be played in the
tournament.
The first round got underway more or less by 9:30 am and the
Final was completed at 4 am. Mike Mitchell's British bested Tom
Drueding in a 1779 win for the championship - marking 15 years
between tournament championships for Mike since the days when
he dominated in Third Reich. The Final proved a bit of
an anti-climax as the beginning was the usual PC placement fest.
Then the British focused on New England while Washington ran
around the board battling at Fort Detroit and the middle states
to obtain French Intervention. Alas, the game ended before the
colonists could make any progress with their newfound strength.
The result was rather typical for the tournament as a whole
wherein the British held a 47-34 advantage. The most numerous
bid was 0 in 48 games. In games with a bid the preference was
a bid of 1 for the Americans 21 times followed by 1 for the British
six times. There were only six bids greater than 1. There appeared
not much correlation between bid and victory, which is to be
expected given the skew between British wins and American bids.
The duration of the swiss segment was not determined until
after the third round. Five players had earned quarter-final
spots by virtue of a 3-0 start. That left 11 2-1 players vying
for three slots. Per the event preview a vote was taken whether
to add a fourth round or a dice off for the last three slots.
The vote was secret and needed only one vote to play a fourth
round. To my surprise the most popular response was I want to
play but if I am the only one change my vote. Gamers are gamers.
Ten elected to continue knowing that two of the five winners
would be eliminated in a dice off following the fourth round.
Champion Mike Mitchell won in the fourth round, rolled good dice
and then produced three wins in the single elimination portion
for his plaque.
The differences from We the People were highlighted
in a semi-final game between former WTP champions Birnbaum and
Drueding. Tom built a big lead on the first turn with a very
skewed distribution of operations and Pennslyvannia Line Mutiny.
Marvin then simply attacked with Washington at every opportunity,
which eventually yielded French Intervention without a single
French Event occurring. Ultimately the strategy failed as British
were able to prevent political control of enough colonies even
while being pummeled on the battlefield and the game lasting
until 1782.
I believe Washington's War favors the British because
the burden of control is squarely on the Americans so an early
end of hostilities will often catch the Americans before they
have had a chance to gain control of enough colonies even if
they have developed a strong foundation. It also appears that
a good British strategy is obvious while a good American strategy
is more opaque. With repeat play perhaps the initial advantage
of the Brits will disappear. However, let the record show that
the inaugural event yielded a 7-5 British advantage during the
last four rounds - similar to that of the first three swiss rounds.
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Nick Avtges vs Michael Sosa |
George Young loses to Mike Mitchell
in the semi-finals. |
In the biggest upset
of WAM IX Tim Miller went unbeaten, besting a field that including
defending WBC Champ Keith Wixson, the "Master" Pei,
and several other sharks to win the 4-round tournament . He defeated
in order Charlie Hickok (as the British), John Wetherell (as
the Americans), Wixson (as the Americans), and Michael Mitchell
(as the British). His biggest scare was in his Round 3 match
against Wixson when he drew Western Offensive twice and was able
to pull out an 8-5 victory with a Minor Campaign on the final
card play of the game. There were three undefeated players after
three rounds. In Round 4 Miller defeated Mitchell in a battle
of 3-0 players and avoided a Round 5 showdown when the other
undefeated player, James "the Master" Pei was defeated
by Wixson. Wixson's Americans pulled out an 8-5 win with a Major
Campaign on the final card play of the game.
There were a total of 38 games played with the Americans winning
23 and the Brits 15. The Americans went 6-0 in Round 4. Sides
were random with the exception that each player was required
to play both sides an even number of times.
2011
WAM Laurelists
Michael Mitchell, GA
2nd
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Keith Wixson, NJ
3rd
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James Pei, VA
4th
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Paul Gaberson, PA
5th
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Terry Coleman, CA
6th
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