This year featured a few more inexperienced players most likely due to the recent release of the new GMT Games version of the game. An enthusiastic group of thirty players attended the demo, and had many excellent questions. Lots of folks arrived with their shiny new boxes in hand ready to break out the card decks for the very first time.

As in the previous tournaments, the basic game system was used with the addition of two of the published optional rules: 6.4 Tournament Balance and 6.8 Additional Damage. The Tournament Balance rule assures that each player’s initial German force contains at least one warship of equal capability as the opposing players. It also keeps some of the weaker German raiders out of the initial deal. That way each player starts with a German force of roughly equal strength. The Additional Damage rule helps to move play along by marking damage for every hit. Typically a ship may only absorb a single damage hit.

This year, eighteen players advanced to the semi-finals on Saturday. They played in six three-player hands to determine which four of them would advance to the finals. The players advancing were John Emery, Eric Ritter, Tim Rogers and Roberto Sanchez, two of which were first time players.

These four players then faced off in a complete four-player game. They had played only single-hands in the preliminary rounds and the semi-finals, but now the finalists would sail the seas in games composed of three complete hands. In this configuration, a single lucky hand would not be enough to carry them to victory. The format for the final game retained the structure of the previous rounds with the addition of four additional optional Rules: 6.1 Coal Pile, 6.2 Sails, 6.3 Wölfchen, and 6.7 Warship and Raider Retention. These additional options added more tension to an already challenging situation.

They each started with a powerful and well balanced force of German ships: John – the Emden, Möwe, and Berlin; Eric the Königsberg, Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Wolf; Tim the Dresden, Cap Trafalgar and Leopard; and Roberto the Nürnberg, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and Kronprinz Wilhelm.

Eric ran away with the first round almost doubling the score of his nearest competitor. However, the game’s scoring system awards 4-round points for winning a four-player hand, thereby keeping all players in the game. There is only a 3-round point spread between the players for each hand.

John, who placed second in the first round, came on strong in the second round to edge Eric in a very close competition between all four players. Going into the final round, Eric and John were tied with Tim and Roberto poised to act as the spoiler.

The last round was again very competitive with play going back-and-forth throughout the hand. With every play making an impact, it came down to the last few cards. In the end, John emerged as the overall victor, claiming the title of the Kaiser’s Pirate.

Over the three days, all of the participants demonstrated great interest, as well as a lot of skill and sportsmanship. The experienced players were quick to show the new players the ropes and everyone appeared to have a great time. See you next year.