Saturday 8th was a bit of a departure for the Godendag wargames competition. The Tercio decided on the fast-play, small version of the old perennial L’art de la Guerre. Don’t worry though, doubles will be back next year under the direction of the redoubtable Kevin Johnson. Day one was pre-900 A.D. And that included everything from Assyria to the Vikings. After four years of toy throwing and arguments over the Swiss chess system, the Tercio’s central committee decided on a new approach. Historical opponents were a starting point, then the algorithm allowed for place of origin, minus what we lovingly call the CJ modifier- players who have been subject to undue stress in a tournament are allowed to avoid the more ambitious ” player(s)”.

The system seemed to work. The draw gave soon very exciting games and the atmosphere was nail-biting. All looked good for the second day and another thrilling three games, post 900 A.D..

First place went to the Warring Chinese of Mark Clarke but there was a real tussle for second place. The winner was decided by total number of victories , allowing for number of losses to determine the overall winner. Both Ian Speed and Richard Walker had the same number of wins and draws but percentage wise, Ian snuck second place.

Mark Fry’s Early Imperial Romans, together with donkey artillery, claimed fourth place. Kevin Johnson’s Assyrians came fifth and Jason’s Russ taking sixth. Mr. Hacker (7th) lost two games but the win put him in front of Chris Jackson.

With six solid losses between them, Eddie (9th) and Keith (10th). Three games fitted well into the day and set our minds thinking about a forthcoming ironman one-Dayer!?