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For The People (FTP) WBC 2017 Report
Updated March 2, 2018 Icon Key
26 Players James Pei 2017 Status 2018 Status Event History
2009-2017 Champion Click box for details. Click box for details.
 

The Force is Strong!

The 19th WBC For the People tournament took place on the mountain top of 7S. Attendance seemed to rebound on our 2nd year at the Mountain Resort. We had 26 players in FTP. In an ironic twist, a number of our regulars actually did make it to the convention, but chose to pursuit other games. Among them were several top players like Mark Giddings, Bill Pettus, and Chris Byrd. Perhaps they were gun shy after years of beating by the Master. Also absent was Herr Dr, who trash talked earlier in the week of flying in from the Bahamas to stomp on the 2π problem.

In a pleasant surprise, several new faces were seen this year. Among them was the 2-time Breakout Normandy champ, Bob Malcomson, who put in a brief appearance. Mark Popofsky, the 3-time EOS champ, returned to WBC and played a round. David Sherwood, a young man from AZ who made several strong showings in FTP PBEM, decided to play for several rounds. However, the person to watch out for in the future is Dennis Mishler, the newly crowned Sekigahara champ who I have crossed swords in the past 2 years in the Seki Finals, decided to cross over into CDG. Actually, he expressed interest during our Seki matches and I told him about the coached round in FTP. He played a very sharp game against last year’s breakthrough player, Michael Day. With better understanding of the rule nuances and card interactions, I think he’ll be a top player in no time.

Thanks to AGM Nick Pei, who taught the demo session on Thursday morning, several new players participated in the tourney right afterwards. A total of 23 games were played, box score is pretty close with 12 Union and 11 CSA victories.

This year’s Final was a rematch of the 2013Final, where for the 3rd time, Michael Mitchell and James Pei crossed swords in the FTP Finals. A random die roll had Michael as the Union and James as the Rebel. Here is the summary of the finals.

T1: Union played Contraband to displace JJ and the SP in Richmond. Beauregard immediately pulled back to the capital. USA then whipped out a Minor Campaign to send AOP to convert Williamsburg and attack Richmond. Beauregard made the improbable interception into Williamsburg and won the battle with the help of the Siegel battle card. This is the probably the first time James has ever played the card as the CSA in hundreds of game. He needed it to save not only the capital but also to destroy the menacing AOP. Michael calculated that this was a 1/18 chance to save Richmond.

T2: Both USA and CSA regrouped and reformed their respective forces. Both had lackluster cards and so, not much action besides placing PC in Border States.

T3: CSA drew a very good hand, with 2 reinforcement cards and 2 Minors. Union re-positioned and fortified. James sent Van Dorn to shuttle more reinforcements into AONV using the Carolina Express. Michael covered his flanks well, fortifying both Pittsburgh and Grafton with sizable forces. However, AONV was now ready to unleash with the first Minor Campaign. It achieved the desired effect by blowing thru the first line of defense and damaging AOP. This forced the Union to do a final repositioning with his last card. Then James pulled out the 2nd Minor and heard a loud groin from Michael. AONV cut thru the Valley to attack Harpers Ferry. AOP failed to intercept, allowing the Rebel forces to push all the way to Trenton. This cut the entire NE rail off, causing a -7 SP deficit for USA’s next turn reinforcement. With MO joining the Confederacy, CSA reinforcement rate will be 14 SP vs 11 SP for the Union. With Lee arriving next turn and board positions looking grim, Michael graciously resigned.

Thanks to all who showed up and played. Your GM had a great time talking with new and old friends and hopes to see more of you return to the FTP tourney next year.

 
2017 Laurelists Repeating Laurelists: 4
Michael Mitchell Nick Pei Michael Day Michael Kunin Bill Peeck
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
 

Michael Mitchell wins on his way to the final round

Bill Peeck setting up for another round

James Pei to the finals again!

For the People Finalists

 
GM  James Pei [2nd Year]  NA
 pzhannibal@gmail.com  NA