Back on top eight years later ...
Allen Kaplan of Howell, NJ won his third Gettysburg '88
crown amidst the largest field (28) in the event,s history. Kaplan,
who previously took top laurels in 1994 and 1996, defeated Ted
Drozd of Chicago, IL. In doing so, Kaplan avenged last year's
opening round loss at Drozd's hands. GM Vince Meconi of Wilmington,
DE took third, while frequent semi-finalist Dave Zimmerman of
Myerstown, PA finished fourth.
For
the first time, competition was conducted in the flexible free
form format, resulting in the aforementioned attendance increase
and a total of 30 games played. 21 games used the default scenario,
the 3-Day Campaign, with all optional rules except Extra Union
Generals, and nine employed the July 1-only scenario. Eleven
games featured bids, ten for the Confederates (ranging from 1/2
to 4 Victory Points), and one bid of zero for the Union. The
bids did not change any results. Despite the bidding, and the
common perception that the CSA has the advantage, the Union won
16 games to the Rebs, 14.
Preliminary games were played from Tuesday through Friday.
Friday night, the eight players who had played the required minimum
number of games to qualify for the Final Four were ranked, with
the top four advancing to the single-elimination rounds. The
top four qualifiers were, in order, Allen Kaplan (3-0), Vince
Meconi (5-0), Ted Drozd (3-0), and Dave Zimmerman (3-0). 5th
through 8th places went to Bruno Sinigaglio, Ed Menzel, Greg
Smith, and Brad Jones.
Semi-finals and finals took place on Saturday. The semis matched
#1 Kaplan vs. #4 Zimmerman and #2 Meconi vs. #3 Drozd. Zimmerman
and Meconi took the Confederates for bids of 4 and 3, respectively.
Both games took the same course, with the Union shredding the
Confederates so badly that the Rebels resigned on Turn 10.
In the Kaplan-Drozd final, Kaplan took the Confederates for
a bid of 3. On Day 1, the South kept constant pressure on the
Union. Union losses were high, but the bid prevented a Confederate
knockout. With favorable dice, the Confederates kept control
of the initiative chit. On Day 2, the Confederates slowly ground
down the Union forces, culminating in a surrounded attack on
Sickles, V Corps (2x4-5). The defenders' double loss became a
3-step reduction with the stack surrounded. And so the Confederates
came out on top, with the Union conceding on Turn 13.
PBeM Tournament:
I'd like to remind folks that the first Boardgame Players
Association PBEM Championship for Gettysburg '88 will begin on
November 15, 2004. To enter, simply e-mail me. I'm pleased to
report that Ric Manns has established a website for the event.
The URL is http://www.geocities.com/firstbse19/gbgpbem.html.
The site currently contains the complete event format and later
will record the tournament brackets. A few of the format highlights
are: 1) single elimination 2) seeded pairings based on AREA ratings
3) 3 months per round 4) bidding for sides, and 5) default scenario
will be 6F, Scenario 5, the 3-day Battle of Gettysburg, using
all optional rules except 10D, Extra Union Generals. When you
sign up, you will receive a copy of the Rules Clarifications
and the Terrain Clarifications developed for this year's World
Boardgaming Championships and updated based on situations that
occurred at the WBC.
|