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2000 Convention Report
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."
Round One
Ed Menzel as the IJN beat Phil Bradley in a game that only lasted 4 turns. Ed converted both Pearl and Samoa on turn 3 and Phil was unable to do anything about this on turn four. Nick Markevich as the IJN defeated Dell Kam (Eric's Dad) . Nick established a perfect perimeter at the end of turn 5, including Pearl Harbor, then managed to hold the Hawaiian Islands on turn 6 against the US fleet by using all 6 of his LBA there. As stated above, Eric Kam upset Jack Gin. Then, in another "upset"...well maybe not except in current rating differential, Bobby Clinton parlayed an early turn two advantage into an easy IJN win against Ray Freeman.
Bobby had a superb PH raid, as only a single crippled BB escaped. Then on turn 2, I went head to head in the USM and for my trouble lost 4 US carriers while killing only 3 IJN CVs. I did manage to hold Midway and Lae. Bobby again went into the USM on turn 3 forcing the US to defend there again. This again worked out well for Bobby as I lost 7 cruisers during the turn. Meanwhile, the defense of Pearl was a total fiasco as the IJN blew away 3 LBA and severely damaged another while losing a single CV. Facing overwhelming odds, I withdrew, and lost both marines and 2 of my turn 3 BBs in the pursuit. In a desperate plight, I decided to gamble all on flipping the Indonesian ports. However, I had to sac both of my remaining CVs to save Lae by knocking out the IJN SNLF. The odds were long in Indonesia, 4 IJN LBA vs 3 LBA and 2 Brit CVLs. It got worse as after a couple of battle rounds. The IJN had 3 intact LBA and one with 3 dp against an undamaged LBA and one with 3 dp. Then I got hot and Bobby went ice cold and when the smoke cleared, my 3 dp LBA was the only one standing. On turn 5, I captured the Philippines, while Bobby took Midway. On turn 6, I played too conservatively, and failed to challenge in the Hawaiian Islands against a huge IJN surface lap. This turned out to be fatal as the odds in HI were even worse on turn 7. Bobby won the battle and the game with ease.
Round Two
Phil Bradley dropped out, but was replaced by John Newman, so we still had a full field. Playing the IJN, Dell Kam made it a Kam family sweep of Jack as he drove the IJN to a four turn win. As mentioned above, Ed Menzel overcame serious early difficulties to best Eric Kam. Ray Freeman, as the IJN, beat John Newman in a seven turn game. I sunk 7 BBs at PH for an average start. However, John had 3 CVs show up in the CPO and elected to stay. The IJN lost Hosho, 2 BBs, and a CA in the CPO, then, inexplicably, John failed to pursue or to base at Midway, a move that could have totally discombobulated my plans. On turn 2, I captured Johnson and Midway with SNLF, while John successfully blocked in the Marshalls. I was able to convert Pearl on turn 3. Then on turn 4, 4 US LBA defeated the combined fleet and two SNLF in the SPO to save Guadacanal. On turn 5, it was again 5 LBA versus 3 SNLF, 2 CV and the IJN fleet, and once against John's LBA did the job. At this point I had only 22 POC and the situation looked not so great. However, John did not challenge on turn 6 and I was able to gain 2 POC. On turn 7 I was able to send suicide forces to the Coral Sea and the Hawaiian Islands, and when both of these succeeded in knocking out the USN patrols, I had a mathematical lock on the win. The final game in round three saw Bobby Clinton defeat Nick Markevich. Bobby played the IJN and managed to eke out a 4 POC win after 8 turns.
Round Three
Playing the IJN, Ray managed a 5 turn win over Dell. Dell lost 4 CVs on turn 2, while I lost only 3 CVLs. I then proceeded to make an error on turn 3 by not placing any LBA in the HI. Fortunately, I won the battle anyway, but a marine escaped. On turn 4, I decided to go after Samoa, and held the area while sinking another US CV. However, Dell saved Guadacanal. On turn 5, I dumped a massive force into the USM and converted Samoa while virtually annihilating the US fleet.
Nick managed to beat Eric in only four turns as most everything seemed to go wrong for Eric's IJN. While the POC count stood at 26 after four turns, the IJN was positionally and attritionally busted. The US still held PH, Dutch Harbor and Guadacanal. However the IJN fleet was down to Kaga, 4 BBs and 9 CAs while the blue side could count 4 CVs, 10 BBs and 7 CAs, plus 11 British ships. As Dell and Eric needed to leave, Eric resigned rather than play out this very unpromising position.
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.