Boardgame Players
Association News

July 2001

From Don Greenwood

Many thanks to all who attended and contributed to another successful WBC. Depite concerns about the effects of the change to a June date, attendance again approached the four-figure mark. As these things go, this year's conference had less problems than the norm despite having a month less to prepare and my resulting exhaustion before it even began. I attribute that mainly to so many understanding attendees learning the system and trying not to make waves. Much appreciated. HIGHLIGHTS In a year when "Mr. Wood", Bruce Reiff, managed only one plaque to keep his string of championships alive (he averages more than two a year), the star of the convention was a 13-year old girl from Colorado who completed the first ever WBC Grand Slam with four championships to outshine 11 other double winners - including John Coussis who won both the events he GM'ed this year. Don't worry, I've already declined his offer to GM a third event in 2002. Rebecca Hebner has been to two previous WBCs. After the first one, she told her parents that it didn't matter what else she did all summer, she wanted to go to that wargame convention. Apparently taking the Titan: The Arena Jr. title last year whetted her appetite for bigger wood this year. Rebecca had several Team offers, specifically one from friends who had also graduated from Juniors, but she decided that she'd rather be on a team with adults to have a better chance of winning. Of course, she outscored the adults big time. At least Aunt Kaarin managed to dream up the contest-winning uniforms for the Beltway Banditos which allowed Rebecca to snare yet another prize ... so maybe she'll let them be on her team next year. Grumbling teammate Stuart Tucker, he of the one wood in 11 years, tried to ambush Rebecca in the TTA semis, only to have a co-conspirator act hastily and botch it in the final combat round. She had the skill to be ahead, the youth to be underestimated and the luck of holding the only remaining Spectator that could save her. Watch out, Bruce Reiff! Your career totals are in play! As inspiring as that is, my heroic performance vote for the conference goes to Frank Hamrick of Rocky Mount, NC. Stricken with a heart attack while loading the car to depart for WBC, Frank spent the first three days of the conference in a hospital having a stint implanted and undergoing angioplasty. He then proceeded to drive his wife and doctors nuts with his constant moaning about wanting to be in Baltimore. So, they relented, Frank got a buddy to drive him, and they arrived at the HVI in time to take second place wood in Euphrat & Tigris. Now that's dedication! A list of the 2001 winners and event sizes is now posted on the site pending completion of more detailed reports. An updated "Career" totals list dating back to 1991 is also available. VOTES I would like to remind everyone that was too busy to do so, including those Associate members who were unable to attend, that you can still exercise your right to vote until July 15th on our website at www.boardgamers.org. I urge everyone to do just that. The electorate is small and the percentage of folks that vote is unfortunately low, so each vote carries quite a lot of weight. Whether this conference remains on its current course or veers off in another direction will be decided by a handful of votes. The people elected will be the ones to implement or not the changes debated on the internet so please be part of the process and vote for the candidate(s) of your choice. SURVEYS The same message also applies to the Survey posted on our website. The results of that survey will not be tabulated until July 30th and will be the fuel that backs up or refutes a lot of Board arguments in formulating policy for 2002 so please take a moment to be a part of the process now as opposed to a critic of the process later. GM RATINGS We apologize for running out of GM Rating forms at WBC and will no longer tie those ratings to the doorprize drawing as a result. If you played at WBC 2001 and did not get a chance to rate all your GMs, they would appreciate your feedback by doing so using the GM Ratings form we've placed on our website. GMs are not eligible for the Best GM Award without a minimum number of ratings submitted. This is an easy way for you to thank your GM for providing this event for you. While your comments are passed along to the GM, they remain anonymous so you need not fear retribution for honest feedback. If you don't participate as a GM, this is a way for you to contribute to the conference that costs you nothing. CHARITY The GMs for Settlers of Catan raised $245 in donations for children's wards at NYC area hospitals and have doubled it for a contribution of $490. In addition, a number of individuals volunteered to donate used games. Unfortunately, this information was misplaced and Lee Presser asks that those interested in making these donations contact him at presser.lee@rcn.com to arrange for shipment of the games to NYC. View the BPA website at http://www.boardgamers.org Back to Veteran Campaigner August 2001 Table of Contents Back to Veteran Campaigner List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Pete Panzeri. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com