Bpamail Mailing List: BPA October News

[Donald Greenwood CD (cd]

MAGIC MEN WIN WBC TEAM TOURNAMENT: In a year when the prohibitive favorites 
finished well down in the standings, a 72-1 shot led by the reigning Caesar, 
Randy Buehler, bested a field of 86 teams. Only two of the Happy Handicapper's 
Top Ten picks managed that lofty status in the standings as the als-rans had 
their way with the favorites. Complete details are available at 
http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc12/teamtournamentresults.htm.

LATTO WINS BRACKET-BUSTING CONTEST: Despite many more entrants in our annual 
Bracket Busting contest, accuracy proved elusive as virtually everyone got 
taken by the prohibitive favorites and followed the Happy Handicapper down the 
primrose path with errant selections for Nest of Spies and some Bruce 
foolishness. The wisest prognosticator proved to be Andy Latto who picked 
enough long shots to alone correctly identify five of the Top Ten teams and win 
a free 2013 membership. Eric Freeman and Kyle Smith were close with four 
correct picks but no one else could muster more than three. 

EUROQUEST 2012 LOOMS AHEAD: Our next convention is at the Pikesville Hilton in 
Pikesville, MD Nov 1-4 featuring twelve Euro competitions and a wide variety of 
demos and plenty of Open Gaming. Check out the details at 
http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/eq12ann.htm. Pre-registration is closed but 
walk-ons are welcome. Stay tuned to 
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/970241/boardgamegeek/wbc for any late 
breaking weather-related news that may affect the convention. 

WAM 2013: A poll of the regular suspects has resulted in the following 
tournaments being scheduled for 2013's pre-Super Bowl weekend gathering of card 
sharks at the Timonium, MD Holiday Inn: Twilight Struggle, Washington's War, 
Hannibal, and Labyrinth. Get all the details at 
http://www.boardgamers.org/specific/wam13ann.htm.

WBC 2013 EVENT SUBMISSIONS: It's never too early to begin planning for next 
year - especially if you want to muster support for a new event by getting it 
on the membership ballot or move an event into the Pre-Con. There is a limited 
amount of space available for early starts so if you contemplate moving your 
event to Monday or sooner, you need to start the process now by getting 
approval early enough for us to acquire the required space. Such moves to or 
from Pre-Con or Monday status should be discussed asap with cd [at] 
boardgamers.org. Those merely wishing to get an event on the membership ballot 
who are willing to GM that event should complete the required event form at 
http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/SubmitEvent.php after reading the GM 
Guidelines linked from the start of that event form.

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
        • Twitter: https://twitter.com/BPA_WBC
        • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2381468400/
        • Consimworld: http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/?14@@.1dd15816

PBeM NEWS:
THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN: A Single Elimination 10-turn scenario tournament with 
random seeding will commence November 20th, 2012 with an entry deadline of 
November 10th. To enter email dgls.james [at] gmail.com. Full details can be 
found at http://www.russiancampaign.com/bpa-sponsored-pbem-tournament-2012. 

MARCH MADNESS: There is still time (barely) to get in on the 10th Annual BPA 
March Madness PBeM tournament with a team draft scheduled to begin on November 
1st. Check out all the details at 
http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/mms_home_page.html.

PATHS OF GLORY:  The 4th BPA PBeM tournament for Paths of Glory is scheduled 
for a February 1st start on ACTS. Details are available at 
https://sites.google.com/site/pathsofglory2013/. To register email the GM at 
preese444 [at] gmail.com. 

FOR THE PEOPLE: The fourth round ended on schedule with one adjudication. 
Things only got tougher thereby, however, as there were 13 players with 3-1 
records and only five slots available in the Single Elimination bracket.  Five 
of the 13 were randomly selected to participate in the championship bracket.  
With exactly eight remaining, a special “Trans Mississippi” bracket was created 
for fun, honor and “I coulda been a contender!” bragging rights.  While 
disappointment was clearly evident, all accepted this invitation in the spirit 
of good sportsmanship that is the hallmark of BPA members.
The Championship Quarterfinals feature Jean Louis Dirion (USA) vs James Pei; 
Tom Thornsen (USA) vs Jeff Donald; Gary Kirk (USA) vs Doug Pratto  and Sean 
Dolbee (USA) vs David Dockter).  Shortly after the brackets were announced a 
flurry of unauthorized handicapping for a betting pool broke out on 
ComSimWorld.  It seems to me that the handicappers were basing their odds on 
their own experiences against these players rather than any valid mathematical 
analysis, so my advice would be to take the long odds in each case as I suspect 
that pay-offs are larger than risk across the board.  This bracket strikes me 
as a highly competitive one.  While Dockter and Pei are seeded to allow yet 
another Final confrontation, the path to both getting there is not going to be 
easy.  This may yet be the tournament that sees the beginning of an end to a 
certain dynasty… and if not, then the greater the glory as the story will 
continue for another chapter. Round Five of the tournament officially began on 
September 29th and will end on February 2nd 2013.

As I suspected would happen, Round 4 ended with more balanced results with 
respect to the sides.  There were six Union victories vs five losses (and the 
one adjudication).  Additionally the games lasted longer with one, the contest 
between reliable grognard Bill Peeck and Mike Kunin going into the final turn 
before a decision was reached. For more details please visit our tournament 
website: http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/gmtom/FTPtournament.htm#Round%201%20games 
.




Remember ... all of the above PBeM fun is free to current BPA members. Others 
may qualify with a $10 Associate membership in the year the event starts. 

Visit the BPA website at http://www.boardgamers.org

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