First, let me apologize for the delay in posting. It was a long day yesterday for most of us; we arrived for the regional to set up before 9, and left at the conclusion of the X-Wing regional after 10. My good wife was kind enough to put up with us Friday and Saturday and wanted to go out for lunch after church today.

Congratulations to Luke Cook who defeated Gerry Russell in the final game to win the 2013 Pa/Md regional. In the semifinals Luke got past Josh Hinkel while Gerry downed Jason Kiernan. The seedings of the final 4 after 4 rounds of swiss were 1. Josh 2. Jason 3. Gerry 4. Luke

My next post will be the 16 squads posted in finishing order after swiss. I apologize in advance because I do not have the win-loss records available. Lou and Jason ran the computer and may have access to that. After I post that I will offer my overview on the regional, the 4rth annual Pa/Md regional.

Wow... what a weekend. I think I'd like to start off by thanking a few people. First, I'd like to thank Lou and Jason. A lot. First, they came all the way from Michigan to play. Also, they brought prize support. Also, they brought a computer with the tournament software and ran the computer during the tournament. Also, they volunteered to help me judge this regional...without that help I could not have played myself. Also, they brought cool Eric-made trophies. Also...well, you get the idea. Thanks also goes to the 16 people who came to play in the regional. Some came a long way, like the guys from NY. (The most grueling 5 hour drive I've made) I'd also like to thank Matt Francella, who came up from Virginia just to support our game. I count ourselves very fortunate to have people like him and Chris West contributing to our game. Finally, I'd like to thank my store owners of That Game Place, where the regional was held this year. Talking to other gamers from around the country I realize how fortunate we are here. I have a venue where we are welcomed to play a game that generates the store no direct income. Charlie and Jasmin not only permitted the regional to be held here, they wanted it here. They are supportive and anxious to accommodate each time I wish to run an event. I know that is not always the case where our game is played.

Personally I did pretty well this time around. I was an attack roll of a '1' away from possibly making the final 4 in my last game of swiss against Luke. I had run Corso Riggs into Luke's tech backfield and needed twin 2's or better to take out Mon Mothma. Someone said we should try and take the luck factor out of the game as much as possible. I initially agreed with this statement, but as I thought on it some more I think we need the bizarre to happen once in awhile. (Although this is the second regional I've lost the chance to win because I banked on a 95% chance of success on a single die roll.) Think back to WW2. When the Allies landed at Normandy they did not have to deal with much of the German forces held in reserve because they could not be mobilized without Hitler's orders. The Allies may have known that but what they could not have possibly accounted for was that those close to Hitler that night refused to wake him. I think it is this kind of thing that is abstracted in totally random die rolls. What I can take away from that game is that my squad was strong and my strategy was sound. I did what I needed to do and it just didn't work out. Also, this tournament marked the first time I've ever played against Jason running double lancer. I thought it was likely that I might face it and asked our current national champion Trevor for some advice. I played Jason pretty well into the third round before I made a mistake...and, as we all know, when it comes to double lancer you can't make a mistake against Jason and come out smiling. The game went to time, something I never thought could happen. I won 3pt games against Caedus and Mace squads, and so I hope maybe those who have discounted Desann may give him another look.

Again, thanks to everyone who participated and assisted in our 4rth annual Pa/Md regional.

We shall see....

Had a blasty. Faced 3 of the 4 Caedus/Zannah squads. I know Caedus pretty well now. tWinning is going up on the shelf. Let's see what other naughtyness I can come up with! Thanks Jim for a great time.