BPA February News
From: Donald Greenwood CD (cdboardgamers.org)
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 08:34:53 -0800 (PST)
HAIL CAESAR PEI AGAIN: James Pei successfully defended his Caesar title to 
remain the BPA Top Gamer of the year in 2015 while adding to his record total 
of 2,332 laurels. Pei now leads all BPA competitors with three annual 
metagaming championships. His 33-laurel margin of victory over runner-up 
Sceadeau D’Tela was more than tripled by his 100 laurels haul in his specialty 
For the People where he once again swept both the WBC and PBeM competitions. 
Over the years, Pei has amassed 862 laurels in all versions of the game - a 
total that would rank him 21st in career laurels for that event alone against 
the combined event totals of all other competitors. But the Master is no one 
trick pony - scoring 63% of his laurels in other events - including his second 
straight WBC Sekigahara title and a pair of CDW thirds in Hannibal and 
Washington’s War in 2015. Complete details on our top Award winners and the 
tally of our Top 25 gamers for 2015 are available at 
http://boardgamers.org/wbc15/caesar.htm 
<http://boardgamers.org/wbc15/caesar.htm>.

HAIL CONSUL McNay: Ewan McNay vaulted over both James Pei and Sceadeau D’Tela 
to take Consul honors for 2015. Surprisingly, neither of the top Caesar 
contenders were a serious challenger for Consul honors. The Consul runner-up 
was the mighty Finn, Riku Riekkinen. His lone win in Commands & Colors Ancients 
combined with three seconds for 1989, Russian Railroads and Twilight Struggle 
left him eight laurels behind Ewan’s three titles. Had Riku broken through on 
any of those three runner-up performances he would have won easily. Stripping 
away PBeM and Pre-con laurels left McNay in the lead as all of his 120-laurel 
total was earned during WBC week with triple wins in Ingenious, Britannia and 
Robo Rally.  WBC’s move to a nine-day length will remove the distinction of 
Pre-Con events as a separate entity for future awards. The only difference 
between Caesar and Consul going forward will be the inclusion of email 
tournaments in the former. For a complete list of Consul finalists see 
http://boardgamers.org/wbc15/caesar.htm#consul 
<http://boardgamers.org/wbc15/caesar.htm#consul>.

WBC HISTORY UPDATED: Our Annual Year in Review summary and pictorial listing of 
top Centurions is now posted at http://boardgamers.org/archive/history15.htm 
<http://boardgamers.org/archive/history15.htm>. 

BPA MEDALS/LAURELISTS LIST UPDATE: Our annual compilation of events won and 
career totals is now posted at  http://boardgamers.org/medals.htm 
<http://boardgamers.org/medals.htm> with arch villain Bruce Reiff (Boo! Hiss!) 
again leading the parade in most categories! See our Top 25 gamers at 
http://www.boardgamers.org/l_sums.htm#top25 
<http://www.boardgamers.org/l_sums.htm#top25>. BPA's complete list of 
Laurelists is also now current through 2015 at 
http://boardgamers.org/l_sumsall.htm <http://boardgamers.org/l_sumsall.htm>.

KEVIN SUDY: We regret to report the passing of Kevin Sudy who died suddenly on 
February 15th, 2016 of a heart attack. Kevin was a longtime member of BPA and a 
regular at both WBC and several of the BPA mini-cons. He was just 51. Family 
and friends are invited to Kevin’s Life Celebration at MONEY and KING Funeral 
Home, 171 West Maple Ave, Vienna, VA on Saturday, February 20th from 3 PM until 
time of services at 4 PM. Online condolences and fond memories may be offered 
to the family at www.moneyandking.com <http://www.moneyandking.com/>. Those 
wishing to share remembrances of Kevin for use on the BPA Memorial page at a 
later time are urged to submit same to CD [at] boardgamers.org <mailto:CD [at] 
boardgamers.org>.

LAST CALL FOR BoD NOMINATIONS: All BPA members are hereby notified of their 
right to nominate members for the three Board seats whose terms expire at the 
next WBC. To appear on the ballot, a member must be nominated in writing by at 
least three members; one of whom must be himself/herself. Nominations must be 
signed and received at BPA, 1541 Redfield Rd, Bel Air, MD 21015 no later than 
February 28th to be eligible for election in that year. NOTE: Email nominations 
are NOT acceptable, nor can a member nominate more than one member for the 
Board. When contemplating nominations, members are urged to consider that the 
BPA conducts most of its business by email and needs Board members who are able 
and willing to offer their time and skills to the organization in a timely 
manner. Board members should be considered more for their ability to contribute 
to the running of a successful company than for their attachment to any 
particular game or genre. Besides forwarding a signed nomination, each nominee 
should submit by March 1st a statement not to exceed 100 words summarizing what 
they can contribute in service to the Board of Directors of the BPA. The 
nomination form is on line at http://www.boardgamers.org/bpanom.htm 
<http://www.boardgamers.org/bpanom.htm>

LAST CHANCE TO CHECK 2015 PATRONS: BPA's list of Patrons for 2015 is now posted 
at http://boardgamers.org/wbc15/patrons.htm 
<http://boardgamers.org/wbc15/patrons.htm>. Please report any inaccuracies to 
cd [at] boardgamers.org <mailto:cd [at] boardgamers.org> no later than February 
28th to ensure an accurate listing in the upcoming Yearbook.

GM COMMITMENTS: GMs are reminded to make their memberships current AND submit 
an event form by March 15th. At that time, qualifying events without a 
satisfactory GM claim will be replaced by those events from the Alternate list 
for which we have a satisfactory event form on file with a current GM 
commitment. You can now claim any qualifying OPEN event by completing the 
required event form at http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/SubmitEvent.php 
<http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/SubmitEvent.php> after reading the GM 
Guidelines linked from the start of that event form. Nothing happens at WBC 
without a willing GM behind it. 

ORPHAN’S LIST UPDATE: The current version of the Orphan’s List is posted at 
http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc16/orphans.htm 
<http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc16/orphans.htm> and reveals more vacancies than 
commitments with under a month remaining before the schedule closes. While some 
lament the annual culling of events, relatively few seem willing to do what is 
needed to support the events we have - let alone add more. In short, if you 
decry the passing of event X or the absence of Event Y, where is your offer to 
run it? Every year, our numerous sponsors and vendors salvage events that 
failed to make the cut. Every year we fill vacancies by replacing events 
without a GM commitment from the list of alternates with such a commitment. But 
in both cases, events can only be added from the list of events that have been 
registered as alternates by someone willing to serve as a GM and who has 
submitted an event form. Help us to help you. Get involved. It does far more 
good to step forward and be a solution rather than complaining that someone 
else is not serving your interests. We are an organization of volunteers - no 
one is paid to run an event to entertain you.

Even the faithful minority who do so much year after year to serve the majority 
can help more by committing quickly. Especially during this change in venue 
year, leaving things to the last minute will make it more difficult to complete 
everything that needs to be done in this first year in a new facility. 
Moreover, those who wait till the last minute to claim an event, sew doubt in 
the minds of potential volunteers. Why should I volunteer to run X, when Joe 
will do it? And of course when Joe doesn’t do it, the event goes down the 
tubes. Every time a volunteer submits an event form only to be told he is the 
second person to do so for that event makes that person more reluctant to step 
forward again. Every week you leave an event unclaimed that you intend to run 
makes it more difficult to encourage others to treat vacancies seriously and 
respond in time to save it or others. Please submit your event forms promptly 
and by doing so give the Orphan’s List more credibility.

GM SUPPORT:  If you'd like to help out but don't feel confident enough to run 
an event on your own or don't want to make too long a commitment, you could 
still be of great assistance. Perhaps you are good at teaching games and would 
be willing to run a demonstration for a GM who lacks the time or skills to 
teach. If so, contact CD [at] Boardgamers.org <mailto:CD [at] Boardgamers.org> 
with a list of games you'd be willing to teach and we will pass along the offer 
to  a grateful GM. Conversely, if you are a GM who uses a laptop at WBC to run 
their event, you should contact Andy Latto at andy.latto [at] pobox.com 
<mailto:andy.latto [at] pobox.com>. Andy has developed a spreadsheet that 
speeds sign-in, does automatic badge-checking for pre-registrants. calculates 
the qualifying/seeding order for semifinalists, including verifying whether a 
win is in the first heat entered, and does most of the preparation of the event 
report form. 

SCHEDULED OPEN GAMING RETURNS: The much improved facilities at Seven Springs 
allow us to expand this feature in a big way with emphasis on individual demos 
and scheduled Open Gaming opportunities all week long. If you've ever bemoaned 
the difficulty of finding like-minded gamers to play what YOU want to play, 
this is your chance. Merely commit to providing the game in question and 
playing at a specified time in the designated Demo area in the Exhibit Annex 
and we will reserve your table plus advertise your game on the printed, web, 
android and rotating schedules for all to see and even provide signage for your 
"game event". The catch? You must commit to it in a timely fashion; i.e., now. 

Requirements:
        • Must be a Sustaining or Tribune member before June 1st.
        • Must submit details to CD [at] boardgamers.org <mailto:CD [at] 
boardgamers.org> before June 1st to include:
                • Name of published game (limit one game); non-published games 
must be handled as Commercial Demos
                • Start Time and length of game (even hours only; no half-hour 
starts; i.e., 7 PM, not 7:15 or 7:30)
                • Type of table; 6' rectangular or 5' round (or if either is 
acceptable, indicate so)
                • Rate your game as A (expert), B (played previously or read 
rules) or C (will coach) insofar as experience level of players sought
                • The table must be surrendered promptly to the next user 
before the next reserved time slot

Limits:
        • Multi-player games only - must accommodate a minimum of three players
        • One reservation slot per person. Second requests will be honored on a 
space available basis only after all other primary requests have been fulfilled.
        • All requests are based on availability. First come, first served. 

Suggestions:
        • Submit multiple start times in case your first choice is unavailable
        • The longer your requested time slot, the less your chances of getting 
a reservation. 
        • Avoid high usage time slots.  Slots on Tuesday evening have little 
chance of acceptance.

COMMERCIAL DEMOS & PLAYTESTS: To alleviate crowding in Open Gaming, 
unauthorized exhibit tables will NOT be allowed to monopolize tables. Monitors 
will be tasked with strict policing of commercial efforts including prospective 
game designers who set up displays to troll for P500 backing. While you are 
free to Open Game anything you like, you will NOT be allowed to monopolize 
tables with displays that are not being actively played. Instead, 
designers/publishers are urged to register for FREE scheduled demos in the 
Exhibit Annex demonstration area. To be included in the schedule, you must be a 
current Sustaining level or higher member and register your demo before June 
1st.  Multiple or long demonstrations are allowed on a space available basis. 
Contact  CD [at] boardgamers.org <mailto:CD [at] boardgamers.org> for 
additional information. Include alternate times and type of table desired 
(either 5' rounds or 6' x 30" rectangulars) as well as boxart files containing 
the title of the game for display signage. Reservations will be made on a first 
come, first served basis.  Submit requests to 
http://boardgamers.org/forms/DemoForm.htm 
<http://boardgamers.org/forms/DemoForm.htm>. 

NAVAL GAZETTE: If you’re wondering how a golden oldie like Wooden Ships & Iron 
Men can thrive at WBC some four decades after its release, check out the free 
newsletter put out by its dedicated GM. For a free subscription contact 
hitchings [at] Juno.com <mailto:hitchings [at] Juno.com>.

WBC LODGING: As happens every year, the hotel is sold out for most prolonged 
stays. There are exceptions. If you come early for a short stay, there are 
still vacancies to be had and cancellations occur all the time because people 
reserve early and worry about attending later. That is why we are considering a 
No Cancellation policy in the future. However, there are alternatives. Start by 
calling the hotel at 1-866-437-1300 and checking the dates you are interested 
in. If they cannot help you, ask to be put on a callback list for the 
inevitable cancellations. 

However, the availability of condominiums, chalets and cabins on property as 
well as lodging in nearby Hidden Valley and elsewhere means that there is still 
lodging to be had. The reservationist can direct you to it.  We encourage those 
who would benefit from the enhanced accommodations of a condo to make the 
switch (especially if you will have access to a car). The reservationist at 
1-866-437-1300 can give you more details on the various options available 
including nearby offsite lodging.

HIDDEN VALLEY: We are pleased to provide both hotel and condo reservations in 
the neighboring property of Hidden Valley at a special discounted rate as 
overflow housing through the same Seven Springs reservation system. Since these 
are outside shuttle service range, they are not recommended for those without 
their own transportation.

RESERVATION SCHEDULE: WBC has a long history of early sellouts, even though our 
room block at Seven Springs is substantially larger than past guarantees. 
Nevertheless, to ensure that our guests have adequate opportunity to make 
reservations, rooms will be reserved only on the following schedule.

as of Feb. 1, 2016: Stays of 4 nights or more
as of May 15, 2016: Stays of 2 nights or more
as of June 15, 2016: Single Night stays (hotel rooms only) 

CONDOMINIUMS: A wonderful feature of Seven Springs is the availability of 
nearby condominiums on the property that can be rented for stays of two days or 
more once reservations are accepted for stays of that duration as per the above 
schedule. These are available in varying sizes of one-, two-, three- and 
four-bedroom units for the daily rate of $129 per bedroom. Those who can group 
together with friends and family to cohabit these units will find these 
accommodations most welcome given their inclusion of kitchens and common living 
room areas that can enhance your visit - especially for those considering 
extended stays. While having access to a car is recommended for condo rentals, 
it is not required as free shuttle service is available on property around the 
clock. 

Even when the hotel website lists no vacancies, condo/chalet/cabin rentals are 
available. Call 1-866-437-1300 to speak to a reservationist about the options. 
The reservationists are available to answer your questions and will even 
recommend nearby unaffiliated housing. For those willing to orchestrate their 
groups into multi-bedroom condo units, this represents a great opportunity for 
group bonding and sharing that could enhance your convention experience more 
than the typical hotel room stay and was a major reason we chose to have WBC 
here. Multi-bedroom condos are rented to one individual who is responsible for 
payment for all bedrooms in that unit. Individuals getting together to share a 
condo, need to elect one amongst themselves to handle the payment for the 
entire group.  If looking for someone with which to share a condo or room to 
lower your expenses use our social media forums to reach out to others at:

        • BGG: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/970241/boardgamegeek/wbc 
<http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/970241/boardgamegeek/wbc> 

        • Twitter: https://twitter.com/BPA_WBC <https://twitter.com/BPA_WBC> 

        • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2381468400/ 
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/2381468400/> 

        • Consimworld: http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/?14@@.1dd15816 
<http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/?14@@.1dd15816> 

CHALETS/CABINS: For those interested in lodging for larger groups, there are a 
limited number of multiple unit chalets still available. The chalets are 
recently renovated and have the advantage of being within walking distance of 
the hotel in addition to kitchen and living room advantages. Chalets are not to 
be confused with cabins. Cabins are rustic (no air conditioning) and remote, 
but have the advantage of being more affordable. 

SHUTTLE SERVICE: Shuttle Service (not to be confused with reserved Shuttles 
to/from Pittsburg Airport or Connellsville train station) is available around 
the clock on property between the hotel, cabins and condos. It is not available 
to Hidden Valley, other hotels, or off-property locations.

OFF PROPERTY LODGING: Those looking for lower priced accommodations should 
google “hotels near seven springs resort pa”. There are numerous hotels and 
campgrounds of varying  price points within a short drive in nearby Somerset, 
Donegal and elsewhere. These overflow accommodations are no more distant than 
those used at numerous major gaming conventions in the U.S. and lack the 
traffic congestion associated with such overflow lodging elsewhere. Given the 
Route 30 traffic congestion of our previous location, those staying offsite may 
find the commute no longer time wise than what they may have experienced in the 
past.

AIRPORT SHUTTLES: Shuttle service can be arranged by calling 814-352-7777 Ext. 
5000 for transportation to and from the Pittsburgh airport or Connellsville 
train station. The cost is $20 per person (round trip) to/from the airport ($10 
to the train station) which is non-refundable and must be pre-paid. At this 
point, times are approximate and subject to change based on demand but the 
initial plans are to run three shuttles per day at 10 AM, 2 PM and 7 PM from 
Saturday thru Wednesday. Thereafter, the emphasis will be based on departures 
with increased incidence based on Saturday and Sunday departures.

SOCIAL NETWORKING: Keep up with WBC electronically by joining the World 
Boardgaming Championships (WBC) Facebook group and the BPA_WBC Twitter Page. 
You can also easily find us in the Boardgame Geek Forums  under Gaming Related, 
Conventions, WBC.

        • BGG: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/970241/boardgamegeek/wbc 
<http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/970241/boardgamegeek/wbc> 

        • Twitter: https://twitter.com/BPA_WBC <https://twitter.com/BPA_WBC> 

        • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2381468400/ 
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/2381468400/> 

        • Consimworld: http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/?14@@.1dd15816 
<http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/?14@@.1dd15816> 

PBeM NEWS:

BREAKOUT NORMANDY: The tenth BPA PBeM Tournament for Breakout Normandy will 
commence on March 1st using the L2 edition rules. The Single Elimination event 
will have five-month rounds. For all the other details see 
https://sites.google.com/site/breakoutnormandytournament/home-page 
<https://sites.google.com/site/breakoutnormandytournament/home-page>.

DIPLOMACY: The third BPA PBeM Diplomacy Tournament will commence about March 
22nd. All players will play three concurrent games. See the details at 
http://diplomacywwi.weebly.com <http://diplomacywwi.weebly.com/> and enter by 
contacting DiplomacyDayM [at] cox.net <mailto:DiplomacyDayM [at] cox.net> by 
March 12th.

PRO GOLF: BPA’s PBeM events - like those of WBC itself - are nothing if not 
diverse. Proof of that pudding can be found in the Seventh BPA PBeM Pro Golf 
tournament to commence, appropriately enough, on April 1st. See the details at 
http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/pro_golf_PBEM_2016.html 
<http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/pro_golf_PBEM_2016.html>. To enter contact 
bdmonnin [at] nktelco.net <mailto:bdmonnin [at] nktelco.net>.


Remember ... all of the above PBeM fun is free to current BPA members. Others 
may qualify with a $10 Email membership in the year the event starts. All 
multi-day paid attendees to WBC are current BPA members for the balance of that 
calendar year. You need not keep your membership current in order to finish a 
PBeM event. See the BPA Terms page http://www.boardgamers.org/bpaterms.htm 
<http://www.boardgamers.org/bpaterms.htm> for details.

=================================

BPA members who would like to see an email tournament for their favorite game 
are encouraged to step forward as the GM of such an event. BPA does not run 
tournaments. Rather, we are an organization of gamers lending support to one 
another so such events can happen. No one cares as much about your hobby as you 
do. Get involved. See the requirements to host a BPA email tournament at 
http://www.abovethefields.com/top_pbem/ 
<http://www.abovethefields.com/top_pbem/>

Visit the BPA website at http://www.boardgamers.org 
<http://www.boardgamers.org/>. If you are not already receiving our monthly 
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http://lists.boardgamers.org/mailman/listinfo/bpamail 
<http://lists.boardgamers.org/mailman/listinfo/bpamail> to confirm your 
address. Subscribing is free, takes only a moment and ensures your privacy. We 
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