.jpg)
For the 10th time, we gathered at Eric and Muy Leng Brown’s beautiful home in bucolic Wayne to wrap up an exciting season of Windy City Weasel Diplomacy. This season, a total of 72 players competed on 28 boards. Eighteen of those players showed up for Weasel Pyle Ten, and 16 of them got to play on three boards throughout the day.
War Weasel Dan Burgess and I never got in a game. Instead, we played four other games, including Caverna, pictured above, and Clue. Yes, Clue.
But you don’t care about that. You want to hear what happened in the games. So here goes.
Game No. 277: The Early Bird Special
Game No. 277 was the first start, as it had a hard ending of 4 p.m. to accommodate the schedules of four of the players. This one featured three 11th-hour recruits: Mike Morrison, Mike Whitty and Warren "Goz" Goesle.
Goz is an old friend of mine from the postal hobby. When he was living in Indianapolis, I picked him up en route to a house con at Scott Morris’ home in Louisville back in 1998 or ’99. He lives in the Western suburbs now, and I had been trying to get him out for a game since No. 1 back in September 2005. The stars finally aligned yesterday. Hopefully it won’t be 10 years before the next one.
Anyway, Mike Morrison stabbed his allies in the Western Triple in 1904 or so and ran away with this one, racking up enough points to secure a spot in the Royale. He was a distant also-ran heading into the Pyle, which goes to show you that anything can happen on the season’s final day.
The game ended by draw vote in Spring 1907 in the following center counts:
Austria (Ian Trotta): 4; 4.571 points.
England (Mike Morrison): 16; 73.143 points.
France (Michael Whitty): 5; 7.143 points.
Germany (John Ritz): 0; 0.000 points.
Italy (Warren Goesle): 2; 1.143 points.
Russia (Jake Trotta): 0; 0.000 points.
Turkey (Laurent Joly): 7; 14.000 points.
England (Mike Morrison): 16; 73.143 points.
France (Michael Whitty): 5; 7.143 points.
Germany (John Ritz): 0; 0.000 points.
Italy (Warren Goesle): 2; 1.143 points.
Russia (Jake Trotta): 0; 0.000 points.
Turkey (Laurent Joly): 7; 14.000 points.
Also worth noting Laurent Joly’s presence. A Parisian, Laurent was in the States for last weekend’s North American Diplomacy Championship at the Philadelphia Massacre. He stuck around for the Pyle and did some sight-seeing in Norfolk and Virginia Beach in between.
For those who don’t know, Laurent is the keeper of the World Diplomacy Database. This was his third Weasel Pyle. I believe he has attended CODCon twice, as well, and was at the 2012 WDC. (So, what’s your excuse?)
Game No. 278: Center Board
The only feature-length game of the day got the center stage in Eric’s two-story library.
Christian Kline entered this one in fifth place. His elimination, along with Don Glass’ board-top, Brian Beck’s solid third, and Morrison’s whopping score on the first board, cost him a spot in the Royale. As noted above, anything can happen on the season’s final day.
The game ended by draw vote in Spring 1910 in the following center counts:
Austria (Chris Cantine): 0; 0.000 points.
England (Paul Pignotti): 9; 26.471 points.
France (Eric Brown): 1; 0.327 points.
Germany (Brian Beck): 8; 20.915 points.
Italy (Matt Sundstrom): 4; 5.229 points.
Russia (Christian Kline): 0; 0.000 points.
Turkey (Don Glass): 12; 47.059 points.
England (Paul Pignotti): 9; 26.471 points.
France (Eric Brown): 1; 0.327 points.
Germany (Brian Beck): 8; 20.915 points.
Italy (Matt Sundstrom): 4; 5.229 points.
Russia (Christian Kline): 0; 0.000 points.
Turkey (Don Glass): 12; 47.059 points.
Game No. 279: Redemption or Bust
The second-chance board started at around 4:15. Amanda Baumgartner and David St. John (pictured) spent the early afternoon playing Caverna, so this was their first game of the day. Everyone else played on one of the first two boards.
It was a quick game, ending by draw vote in Spring 1905 in the following center counts:
Austria (Eric Brown): 4; 9.302 points.
England (Ian Trotta): 5; 14.535 points.
France (David St. John): 6; 20.930 points.
Germany (Mike Morrison): 6; 20.930 points.
Italy (Matt Sundstrom): 5; 14.535 points.
Russia (Amanda Baumgartner): 5; 14.535 points.
Turkey (Jake Trotta): 3; 5.233 points.
England (Ian Trotta): 5; 14.535 points.
France (David St. John): 6; 20.930 points.
Germany (Mike Morrison): 6; 20.930 points.
Italy (Matt Sundstrom): 5; 14.535 points.
Russia (Amanda Baumgartner): 5; 14.535 points.
Turkey (Jake Trotta): 3; 5.233 points.
Morrison’s result was much more modest in this one, but he still garnered enough points to jump into second place for the year.
And that was it. I’ll cover the awards ceremony in a separate article. We closed by singing Come Now Weasels, our club’s anthem, and, well, it’s never sounded better. Then we retired to the patio for more cigars and some trivia.
Great day, great year. Can’t wait for the next season, which starts September 9 at the Red Lion.
Check out the supply center charts here.
