Our aim at Cold Wars was to run a series of games that would be fun, bring us in contact with as many gamers as possible, and bring some positive attention to the club. The Tanker’s Challege Tournament succeeded in all respects.

Champion Joe Coniglio Jr. poses with the Tankers Challenge 2000 trophy. He is flanked by his father and an unidentified admirer.

We had 45 players participate in our 5 games. Two of the players played in ALL five games. We received a lot of positive feedback from the players and many gamers stopped by to see what all the excitement was about. We gave away more than $80 worth of merchandise that was donated by ATAK Miniatures, issued “official” Panzer Ace certificates to 8 gamers, and gave a beautiful trophy to the champion. Kirby went out and found a trophy that he hoped would draw a crowd and it certainly did its job. The success of the tournament was due to some hard work by Matt, John Burke, Tom, Kirby, Ceasar, and Charlie. The games themselves were a modified version of Easy Eight’s Tankers Challenge game. We used a simplified vehicle sheet and hit location chart to make the game run smoother and faster. We also pulled two cards at a time so that the game moved quickly, made the game every man for himself, and randomly determined the nationality of the player’s tank. Our scoring system was also different. When a player was issued a new tank his score was reduced by half the value of the new tank. There were some flaws in the game. We should have had more terrain, and the random entry procedure was too cruel. Nobody likes to have an enemy enter without warning directly behind your vehicle.

The headline for game one could be “Father Beats Son.” Joe Coniglio Sr. earned a spot in the championship game at the expense of his son, Joe Junior. After a night of taunting Joe Jr. returned the next morning determined to get into the championship and exact a terrible revenge of his father. Unfortunately he lost game two, and game three. Finally in game four, his last chance, he earned his spot in the final game. In the final game Joe Jr. won easily, with many of his points coming at the expense of his father.The Y2K Panzer Aces: Joe Coniglio Jr. (Champion), Joe Coniglio Sr., Chris Beil, Andy Kinnie, Neil Harris, Frank Ditzin, Kurt, Tom, Ron McFarland Jr. (Honorable Mention).