wilderness war  

Updated Nov. 23, 2013

2013 WBC Report     

 2014 Status: pending 2014 GM commitment

Michael Ussery, MD

2013 Champion

Event History
2002    Rob Winslow     50
2003    Paul Gaberson     30
2004    James Pei     35
2005    Ron Fedin     40
2006     Keith Wixson     30
2007     Paul Gaberson     35
2008    James Pei     27 
2009     James Pei     23
2010     Paul Gaberson     23
2011    James Pei     26
2012    Keith Wixson     22
2013    Michael Ussery     17

WAM Event History
2003    Tom Drueding     20
2004    Bruce Monnin     18
2005    Tom Drueding     20
2006    Keith Wixson     13
2007    Pete Reese     17
2009     Sean McCulloch     14

PBeM Event History
2005    James Pei      64
2006     John Buse      50
2008    James Pei     62
2012     Keith Wixson     50

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  James Pei          VA    12    354
  2.  Keith Wixson       NJ    13    289
  3.  Paul Gaberson      PA    13    210
  4.  Ron Fedin          PA    08    141
  5.  George Young       VT    13    131
  6.  Peter Reese        VA    08    111
  7.  John Buse          IL    12     99
  8.  Tom Drueding       MA    09     98
  9.  Rob Winslow        NY    05     70
 10.  Michael Ussery     MD    13     60
 11.  Grant LaDue        NY    13     52
 12.  Bruce Wigdor       NJ    05     48
 13.  Bill Peeck         NY    10     45
 14.  Adam Deverell      au    12     42
 15.  Bill Edwards       VA    08     42
 16.  Stefan Mecay       TX    12     42
 17.  Bruce Monnin       OH    09     38
 18.  Al Owen            au    12     36
 19.  Gary Phillips      MD    10     32
 20.  Bryan Thompson     NY    12     21
 21.  Don Chappell       TX    08     21
 22.  Randall MacInnis   NJ    07     20
 23.  Jonathan Miller    DC    06     20
 24.  Jim Gutt           TX    04     20
 25.  Phil Burgin-Young  VT    08     19
 26.  Roger Taylor       VA    02     18
 27.  Doug Mercer        MD    13     17
 28.  Riku Riekkinen     fi    09     16
 29.  Ken Gutermuth      TX    07     15
 30.  Bari Wigdor        NJ    04     15
 31.  John Haas          PA    02     12
 32.  Sean McCulloch     OH    09     10
 33.  John Vasilakos     VA    02      9
 34.  Paul Haseler       au    10      8
 35.  Kevin Worth        ab    12      6
 36.  Andrew Maly        MD    07      6
 37.  Dennis Culhane     PA    03      6
 38.  Doug Smith         PA    03      6
 39.  Michael Sosa       FL    09      3

2013 Laurelists                                      Repeating Laurelists:

Paul Gaberson, PA
2nd

George Young, VT
3rd

Keith Wixson, NJ
4th

Doug Mercer, MD
5th

Grant LaDue, NY
6th

Past Winners

Rob Winslow, NY
2002

Paul Gaberson, PA
2003, 2007, 2010

James Pei, VA
2004, 2008-09, 2011

Ron Fedin, PA
2005

Keith Wixson, NJ
2006, 2012

Jim Eliason vs Lewis Ritter

Michael Ussery turns back Grant LaDue.

Paul Gaberson downed George Young in a semifinal match between frequent opponents.

GM Keith Wixson tantalizes his finalists with his special vintage weapon replica prizes.

New Blood ...

Michael Ussery became the first new Champion since 2006, defeating defending Champion Keith Wixson in the semifinals and three-time champ Paul Gaberson in the Final. Gaberson defeated George Young in the other semifinal. Young also fell in the semifinals last year.

Highlights of the tournament:

The tournament abandoned its longstanding Class A status and was offered as a Class B event for the first time and welcomed five new players as a result.

Despite the new blood, attendance was down to 17 from 22 last year, as several regulars were unable to fit the new Thursday time slot into their schedules. Thursday was not my choice, as I moved the tournament there to avoid a conflict with a new event on Wednesday. That's what I get for being a nice guy. As the saying goes, let no good deed go unpunished.

Four of last year's laurelists made it into the top six again this year.

The games split almost evenly with the French winning ten games and the Brits winning eight (that is 56% French wins as compared to 54% French wins last year, 50% French wins in 2011, 69% French wins in 2010, 65% French wins in 2009, 67% French wins in 2008, 61% French wins in 2007, 52% French wins in 2006, 56% French wins in 2005, 71% French wins in 2004 and 62% French wins in 2003). However, the Brits won two of the three elimination games.

Additional Prizes: The Champ took home a Buffalo Jaw Warclub and the runner-up won a French Style Warhawk.

No play-by-plays this year as the Champ's last two games were anticlimactic. In the semifinal against the GM, Wixson's Brits drew no reinforcement cards in the first two turns and lost a reinforcement card to Ministerial Crisis at the start of Turn 3. Facing long odds as a result, Wixson gambled all on a stab at Ticonderoga with his main army under Abercromby, without a viable retreat route, before the French defenders could return from winter quarters. Ussery immediately counterattacked with the French main army in a low odds attack due to British fieldworks but won the day, destroying the British force and drawing a concession.
The championship game was also quick. Gaberson's French were crippled on the first card play of the game when Montcalm was killed at Ft. William Henry. Ussery drew plenty of reinforcements early and by late '58 was able to grind the French down in the Champlain Valley. Gaberson then resigned a hopeless position.

I don't know what the future holds for this event. If we make the Century cut, which appears unlikely, I will try to find a better day and will simplify the format. The current Swiss Elim system really doesn't work well with small tournaments. If we finally do miss the cut I will not attempt to continue the event as a trial and will bow out as GM. This event has had a very good 12-year run, but perhaps it is time for it to end. In any case, I will continue to offer PBeM tournaments for this game and hope to start one next year.

 GM      Keith Wixson  [10th Year]   NA 
    Keith.wixson@verizon.net    NA

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