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Yank Tod Whitehurst rebels against
the tyrant King Bill Ashbaugh. |
Veteran vs newcomer, Paul Gaberson
hosts Kevin Hammonds. |
The First of the CDWs
Marvin Birnbaum became the third three-time winner in the
event's history, besting a field of 34 in the traditional Saturday
marathon. He defeated GM Keith Wixson in the championship game,
a struggle that didn't end until 3:30 Sunday morning! Interestingly,
WTP was Birnbaum's team game and Wixson was his teammate on Me
& 3 Stiffs. Birnbaum's victory was the third championship
of the convention for the Stiffs and came close to securing the
team title for them, only to fall to a tie-breaker in a three-way
logjam at the top of the standings.
The losing semi-finalists, Brian Mountford (the defending
Champ and another three-time winner) and John Faella, played
a consolation match for third place honors with Faella emerging
triumphant in a game that came down to the final card. The other
quarter-finalists were George Young (another three-time champ),
John Poniske (the 2004 Champ), Tim Hall and Henry Rice (another
member of the Stiffs).
In addition to wood, the four semi-finalists were each awarded
a book on a Revolutionary War subject, which were generously
provided by the missing-in-action regular GM Don Chappell. Don
was unable to attend this year, but expects to be back in 2010
to reassume his post. As Don has done in the past, we had a coached
division in the first round for new players and four newbies
took advantage of the tutoring provided by the eventual Champ.
Marvin was awarded a bye for his trouble, but I would still like
to thank him for being the coach.
With GMT's anticipated publication of Washington's War,
Mark Herman's updated and improved sequel of We the People,
this might very well have been WTP's swan song at WBC. Don intends
to transition over to the "new" game at next year's
convention, and while WTP has had an illustrious run as the granddaddy
of the card driven wargames, many WTP veterans are looking forward
to the change. The old design, while brilliant and groundbreaking,
had really run its course. Chronic play balance issues just could
never be overcome, and the results from this year's tournament
illustrate this problem well. In the 46 games played at this
year's tournament the American winning percentage was 74% (compared
to only a 20% British win rate and 6% of the games ending in
a draw). These results were in spite of the use of bidding for
sides (the average bid was 3.12 PC markers) and my introduction
of a special rule which kept three of the best American events
out of the draw pile for Turn 1. Although one can argue that
these results reflect the historical advantage that the rebels
had, and that such lopsided results have never hurt WTP attendance
in the past, it is difficult to imagine WTP surviving much longer
in its present form in the face of competition from new designs
which emphasize playability. As a playtester for Washington's
War, I can attest to Mr. Herman's success in addressing this
problem, and in my personal opinion the new game is a better
simulation and a much better game than the old one. I would suggest
that we should not mourn the passing of WTP, but that we should
celebrate its rebirth and resurrection instead.
AAR of the Championship Game:
We both bid four PCs to play the Americans and Marvin won
the rolloff. I placed the bid PCs in the South, as opposed to
placing them in the North as a means to trapping Washington,
and was glad that I did because my initial hand was awful (no
2s, 3s or Campaigns). When the Brits get a hand like that on
the first turn against a good player it is usually fatal. Luckily,
my next few hands were very good and by 1778 I was able to build
a strong position in the southern and Mid-Atlantic colonies with
armies under Clinton, Cornwallis and Burgoyne, while Howe held
Massachusetts and Carleton defended Canada. With the American
forces concentrated in the North and with the possibility of
an early War Ends looming, I was poised for the upset (you can
always tell when Marvin is not doing well, he gets even crankier
than he usually is). At this high point I controlled six colonies
(Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Massachusetts).
But my advantage gradually slipped away. Starting in 1778
Marvin had successive turns where he was able to play Hortelez,
Western Offensive and Hortelez again (after a reshuffle), meaning
he had three turns in a row with multiple unanswered card plays
at the end of the turn. He gradually shifted his forces to Virginia
and was able to take back that colony as well as North Carolina
and Maryland. I was still drawing pretty good cards, however,
and shifted my operations up into Pennsylvania and New Jersey
in response. But unfortunately for my Brits, the early War Ends
never came, and the game dragged on into 1781 and 1782.
As WTP vets know, long games almost always favor the Americans
and this one was no exception. The wheels finally came off for
me in 1781 with the appearance of the French, who quickly cleaned
out my last southern colony in Georgia. In 82 I made a late stab
for Connecticut and Rhode Island after having secured New Jersey
and New York City, but I had to leave my main strike force under
Cornwallis in a vulnerable spot at Hartford without a retreat.
My last hope was this army's defense against a risky counterattack
by Greene, who attacked through my PC at New Haven, risking annihilation
himself. But it was not meant to be for the lobsterbacks and
Cornwallis lost and was forced to surrender. At this point I
only controlled three colonies (Delaware, New Jersey and Massachusetts),
my losses had been heavy and a week's worth of gaming fatigue
was starting to catch up with me. I saw no hope for salvaging
a win in 1783, so I resigned. Losing to someone of Marvin's stature
is nothing to be ashamed of, though, and if we had won the team
tournament as a result I would have happily accepted my fate!
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Tim Miller has a tough road to travel
if he is to upset three-time champ George Young - a hard way
to try to break into the win column. |
In the new Washington's War,
a more user friendly map where the symbols are not obscurred
by the playing pieces and militia requirements are summed would
be nice. |
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