Attendance reached new heights in 2007 boosted primarily by a big surge in Euro enthusiasts with a corresponding increase in the number of players in those events. Our 147 adult tournaments included a record 12 events with triple digit entries, 10 of which were at least Euro-esque if not actually made in Europe. Average event size grew to 46.2 participants overall, an increase of three per event. Laurels were awarded to players from 41 different states/provinces and 10 nations. The champions included 17 incumbents who retained their respective titles another year, four members of the fair sex, and 12 who claimed multiple titles led by that lovable guppy-turned-shark Pete Stein.

Joining Pete with two wins were Aaron Fuegi, Bruce Reiff, James Pei, Nick Benedict, Harald Henning, Stefan MeCay, Harry Flawd, Dave Long and Tom Browne. But the two biggest winners with a pair of triples had never won a WBC tournament before. Bert Schoose dominated the Grognard events with wins in Afrika Korps, Panzerblitz and The Russian Campaign, while Raphael Lehrer added Euro wins in Puerto Rico, Pillars of the Earth and Tara.

One might say that 2007 was the year of the Euro at WBC, as Raphael Lehrer s triple wins in Euros fueled a dominant performance that claimed both Caesar and Consul honors for 2007. Not surprisingly, running a close second was Bert Schoose whose triple in Grognard events did most of his damage. The performances of both squelched the oft heard refrain that the laurels system was stacked against their particular genres and proved that Caesar is obtainable by anyone who can put a great year (or week) together.

But newcomers made their mark also. 34 "virgins" won their first-ever BPA championship. There were many happy faces among the new champions but perhaps none moreso than ten-year old Danny Lewis who scored adult Century wood with a win in Formula Motor Racing. That Juniors program may be working too well! All told, 101 players earned laurels for the first time.

Meanwhile Nest of Spies eeked out a Total Players tie-breaker over Those Other Guys win to repeat as team champions for the third straight year despite the absence of team captain Dave Dockter, ramping up the bragging rights for the CDW crew.

Our Meeting space expanded again and handled the increased attendance without incident. The Auction expanded for the fourth straight year and the Auction Store, which was initiated in 2006, nearly tripled in volume. Our expanded Vendors room again sold out and did good business. New in 2007 was the addition of numerous seminars in the Hopewell room—always a no-no heretofore, which were welcomed by many. Our Juniors program continued to draw raves as did a newly initiated series of evening social events for teens. A cooperative effort with HMGS took advantage of back-to-back dates with the Historicon miniatures convention which proved to be a boon for those travelling from afar to get "two fer one" and a number of our members took advantage of that to view a miniatures convention for the first time.

In the continuing ebb and flow of WBC game lives, there were the usual winners and losers as the events themselves competed for the players that meant another year in the WBC lists. Among events with at least a three-year track record, 16 raised their attendance bar by posting their own personal best entrant numbers. The other end of that spectrum, beset by the natural tendency of new events to draw the curious and then begin a steady decline, also saw 16 tournaments drop to new attendance lows—going all the way back to 1991 and the first Avaloncon for bottom line numbers.

Those setting new highwater marks were: Liar’s Dice +50, Lost Cities +46, Ticket To Ride +31, Power Grid +27, Pirate’s Cove +26, Slapshot +24, Ra +10, Anzio +9, Saratoga +8, Battle Cry +8, Acquire +7, B17 +3, Elchfest +3, and Waterloo, Santa Fe Rails and Superstar Baseball +2. Those sinking to new lows were: Carcassonne -46, Goa, Hammer of the Scots and Memoir ’44 -8, ASL—6, Liberty -5, ASL Starter Kit -4, Hannibal, History of the World, Sword of Rome and Web of Power -3, 
Republic of Rome and Royal Turf -2, and Diplomacy, Napoleonic Wars -2 and San Juan -1.