Tactica Tournament
Cold Wars '91

Courier Dispatch News

by Arty Conliffe

While TACTICA Tournaments are being run in other parts of he country, this year's COLD WARS was the first East Coast Tourney. Most of the action took place in the Veranda area of the Penn Harris Inn. The competitors were all experienced TACTICA veterans - which obviated the need for much referee activity and left me free to buy toys in the main buying room. Sound tactics coupled with sportsmanship prevailed and win or lose, the tournament was fun for all, disproving (for now) my theory that tournaments bringoutthe worst in players. Thisyearthe tournament was kept small and 16 players battled for 3 beautiful Trophies and $100.00 in Essex gift certificates.

TACTICA plays quickly and the whole affair was decided in a few singleelimination rounds, with all games being played to conclusion as defined in TACTICA. In an amusing twist of fate, all members of the original playtest group (the TACTICA General Staff) were shut out of the top three places - though a couple of heavy hitters were absent. Thankfully, this proves that an author doesn't have to come in the box for a game to be learnable.

The overall winners were as follows: 1st Place Trophy and $75.00 - Mike Graziano (Byzantines); 2nd Place Trophy and $25.00 Jim Ellis (Sassanids); 3rd Place Trophy and a handshake - Jim Baker (Byzantines).

Plans for now include: 1. A TACTICA Tournament at Cold Wars '92. Player- generals wishing to try their luck should contact me. 2. Creating more TACTICA armies. The Courier will be releasing pairs of historicallymatched opponents in the near future. 3. Creating a Medieval and Renaissance supplement book - finally! If any of you want to see particular armies represented, let me know.

If you are well-versed in these periods, perhaps you can design a matched pair of opponents and the reprints will carry your byline.

It takes a team of people to make any event work and special thanks are in order to: Essex Miniatures, who acted as sponsor and provided $100.00 in gift certificates; David Waxtel, who put up $200.00 for the three trophies; James Baker, for organizing the Tournament; and the much-harried Michael Montemarano who managed to fit us into an already packed house.

Courier Dispatch News of The Hobby

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