Ray Freeman - 07:22pm Sep 4, 2000 PST (#22 of 24) Bad Prediction: "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." (General John Sedgewick, speaking his last words at the battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse) Didn't go today, but was at the Con from 4pm Friday to 11 pm Sunday. It was the best Conquest/Pacificon in the last 5 years, I'd say...at least for boardgaming. I had 8 players for both VITP and Tigers in the Mist, and playtested "Slot Force" a VITP goes to the guadacanal campaign Friday night. Also played Carabande a couple of times and saw many old friends, and made a few new ones. Lots of boardgaming action. Mark did a great organizational job! On the down side, the food concession left a lot to be desired and was pricey, and the flea market was the worst in memory. Still, I picked up a 1776 in good shape for $5. mark a ruggiero - 09:59am Sep 5, 2000 PST (#23 of 24) Playing Brandy wine and world in flame lodi ca Glad You had a good time Ray For boardgames attendance was up from last year. Most events had between 8-12 folks. Next year the food etc shouldnt be an issue as the con is moving to rickis hyatt in palo alto I believe. It was really good to see some of the wargames do very well vitp,tigers,asl,sicily from the gamers,wargalley just to name a few. robert greene - 01:22pm Sep 6, 2000 PST (#24 of 24) I'd rather be plucky than good I just came Saturday and Sunday to play TK!. We did the turning point scenerio. Stalingrad to Berlin. I've never played past 1942 before and I learned some stuff about the late war Soviets that will help me in my play by consimworld game. Watched Ray demo TiTM waiting for my opponent to show up. There were some hotel issues like food and parking but since we are changing hotels, there is no point getting into it. How'd your EATG game go? Ever finish the first turn? Ray Freeman - 09:44pm Sep 17, 2000 PST (#26 of 26) Bad Prediction: "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." (General John Sedgewick, speaking his last words at the battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse) Abbreviated version of a report posted to the VITP Individual Game Folder. Victory in the Pacific Conquest 2000 Report By Ray Freeman, GM Nine players turned out for the Victory in the Pacific Tournament on Saturday, September 2 at Conquest 2000 in Millbrae, CA. The tournament ran very smoothly, and though the quality of the field was down slightly from last year (Brad Solberg being MIA), it was plenty tough. What a difference a year makes! Last year, Ed Menzel and Bobby Clinton came up from Southern California and were sent home with a composite 1-5 record. This year, they played for the championship, reversing last years numbers to go 5-1! A total of 11 games were played, 4 in the first two rounds and 3 in round three. There were quite a few spectators who came by and checked out the action, and amazingly enough, I heard no comments about "Dice in the Pacific" or "Yahtzee", etc. The Japanese won 8 games, the US 3. We played with the I-Boat and CPO balance adjustments in all of the games. Bidding occurred in eight of the games, and the IJN was the preferred side in all bids. The three games with no bid were won by the IJN. The bids ranged from 2 to 5, with Bobby bidding five in the final against Ed. The average bid (when made) was 3.25. Interestingly, the Japanese player lost 3 of 5 games where the bid was 3 or higher, and the US player lost every game where the bid was 2.5 or less! There were three players who specialized in one side. Bobby Clinton and Eric Kam played the IJN in all three of their games. Jack Gin played the US in both of his games. The tournament was won by Ed Menzel, who as the US, defeated Bobby Clinton in the championship game. Ed finished with a 3-0 record, the only perfect score of the event. Three players tied for second with 2-1 records. Bobby took second place with 7 tie break points, Nick Markevich third with 4 TB, and Ray Freeman fourth with 3 TB points. Surely, the surprise of the event had to be the debut of Eric Kam. Eric, but nine years old, trounced veteran player Jack Gin in the first round in a game that went 6 turns. Any notion that this was a fluke was dispelled in the 2nd round when after two turns Eric had top ten player Ed Menzel on the ropes and ripe for a knock out. In Ed's own words: "Eric did an excellent 2 area attack on Turn 2. The Americans established a block in the Marshalls but my HI suicide carrier got blasted during a night action. The Allies defended the USM with 3 LBA & the American surface fleet. Unfortunately it was Day followed by Day/Night. The IJN shot well downing 2 LBA and some BBs before the Night action. When the dust settled, the Allies were down to 10 American/Aussie surface ships at the end of Turn 2 and in a very deep hole. However, the IJN sent not quite enough air to the HI on Turn 3 and the 4 available Allied LBA managed to save the day (and the game). From there the Allies were able to fight their way back until the IJN surrendered on Turn 7." The championship game between Bobby and Ed ended after 7 turns. Bobby bid a very optimistic 5 to play the IJN and got deeper into the hole after one turn when he sunk only 4 BBs at Pearl. Ed was able to keep the perimeter well perforated while maintaining a fairly intact surface and carrier force. Attu and Dutch Harbor never fell, although Bobby did capture Pearl. Bobby continued to fall behind the curve attritionally, positionally, and POC wise, culminating in a huge battle in Indonesia on turn 7 where Bobby lost the battle and all 6 of his LBA. Congratulations to Ed on his fine performance! Next year promises to be another tough event, as I expect all of the heavy hitters to return as well as Brad Solberg and John Pack. As I promised at the event, next year I will have a plaque for the winner! It probably won't be quite as cool as the BPA plaques (I'm not yet independently wealthy), but it will be pretty nice. I've been checking out prices. I had a great time, as usual, and will be looking forward to next year with eager anticipation. Boardgaming at Conquest this year was very well attended, with the most boardgamers I've seen there in at least 5 years. Mark Ruggiero has done a great job getting out the word and done a super organizational job. The main boardgaming room was pretty full on Friday night and basically packed on Saturday and Sunday. While I have not been to any of the LA Cons, I'd say they would be hard pressed to match the numbers of boardgamers Conquest attracted this year.