sfatula wrote:
SirLindsley wrote:
Derek Whipple took first place in Wooden Ships and Iron Men at the World Boardgameing Championships sponsored by the Boardgame Players Association held in Lancaster, PA, USA in early August.
Congratulations Derek! Would have been fun!
Thanks to all of you for the recognition, and especially Mark, without whom I would not have gone and attended!!

It was definitely an interesting week that we spent in Amish country. I honestly thought I would be facing Mark in the play-offs, but he caught a streak of terrible luck and lost a couple of very close games, including unfortunately, one against the 2008 champ, and the tie-breaking game for the final play-off spot...

In the end, Mark and I did youplay.it proud, and we finished the tournament as the most active players in "Wooden Ships & Iron Men"

I am hoping to return to "defend the crown" as it were, in 2010, and highly recommend attendance by more youplay.it players, as the game is much better in it's face-to-face, full advanced rules version!

And in the end - anyone can win, as the sides are balanced and the dice is in hand!

The GM and a buddy have developed what he calls the "Tournament Rules," and Mark and I spent much of our time in Lancaster talking to him and working to get him to consider some improvements to these new rules. My main issue was the hashing they have made of the "Fields of Fire" rules (which were never to clear in the original rules either). My second issue was the ease of getting critical hits, and I drove the point home by beating the GM in the final by inducing one of his ships to explode through a magazine hit!

Thanks again, Mark!