27 Years PRESSMAP EUROPEMASTERS EDITION 2015 OPEN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP BOARDGAMES EuropeMasters edition 2015 Welcome to EuropeMasters On Saturday October the 10th conference room “Deutschland” was this year’s location where the Championships were being held. In total of 29 teams from all over Europe and Canada have competed at the 27th edition for the European title at the Open European Championship Boardgames. With this press map we hope to give you a review and some background information. Hopefully you will be able to taste a little bit of this exciting event. And that you will pay us a visit next year! Feel free to use the information provided with this map for your own publications. In case you need additional information or pictures, please do not hesitate to contact us. Nice dice, Ronald van Lent Organisator EuropeMasters : www.EuropeMasters.eu : [email protected] Welcome to EuropeMasters to Welcome Chapter: Chapter: 1 EuropeMasters edition 2015 Table of Contents Welcome to EuropeMasters ................................................................................................................... 1 EuropeMasters edition 2015 ................................................................................................................... 3 The tournament .................................................................................................................................. 4 History of European Championship Boardgaming .................................................................................. 8 16 years of EuropeMasters ............................................................................................................... 10 Gioco .................................................................................................................................................. 13 Hall of Fame ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Short list 2015........................................................................................................................................ 16 AquaSphere ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Kraftwagen ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Die Staufer ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Mangrovia ......................................................................................................................................... 20 Orléans .............................................................................................................................................. 21 Five Tribes .......................................................................................................................................... 22 Deus ................................................................................................................................................... 23 ZhanGuo ............................................................................................................................................ 24 Fresh Fish ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Sponsors ................................................................................................................................................ 26 EuropeMasters 2016 ............................................................................................................................. 28 Welcome to EuropeMasters to Welcome Chapter: Chapter: 2 EuropeMasters edition 2015 EuropeMasters edition 2015 The EuropeMasters is a championship for teams (4 players), though the best individual player is also rewarded. During the tournament 4 different games will be played, resulting in 4 rounds of play. At each round a single game title will be played by all players simultaneously. Based on complex algorithm, a playing schedule will be generated; with result that each round a player will always compete at 3 new players, all of different nationalities. That is for the rounds 3 and 4. Based on feedback received from our participants we have dropped this restriction in the first two rounds. So it could happen that maximum two teams of the same nationality compete against each other. The result is that the EC champion always will have played against no. 2 making the competition even harder. Per round a player can earn up to 5 points by winning the games at his table. The maximum team score is therefore 20 points per round. And a maximum 80 points throughout the whole tournament. Besides a very friendly atmosphere, the gameplay is highly competitive, the final scoring is always very close and the winner is determined after finishing the last game. EuropeMasters edition 2015 edition EuropeMasters Chapter: Chapter: 3 EuropeMasters edition 2015 For this years’ event the following 4 tournament games have been selected from the nomination list: Deus – Pearl Games (Belgium) ZhanGuo – What’s Your Game (Italy) Orléans – dlp games (Germany) Five Tribes – Days of Wonder (France) The tournament This year the tournament will be tougher than usual as we have selected which resulted in an increased time pressure. The start was with Five Tribes. And after 1 round of play the top 6 ranking was as follows: Team Score Ranking Poslední Naděje (CZ) 17 1 Brettspielteam Hamburg (GER) 17 1 Bad Smurfs (IT) 17 1 Team Luxembourg (LU) 17 1 InTeam (GER) 14 5 Three Swedes and a Brazilian (SW) 14 5 After the first round 4 different nationalities take the lead. The top 6 consists out of 5 different nationalities (or 6 if we count the Brazilian). Team Score Ranking Second game to be played was Orléans. Brettspielteam Hamburg (GER) 37 1 (1) Brettspielteam Hamburg strengthens its Poslední Naděje (CZ) 33 2 (1) head position. But teams Pajdulák Opava from the Czech Republic as well as Pajdulák Opava (CZ) 32 3 (11) reigning EC champions Das Team mit dem Steppe Nomads (FI) 31,5 4 (7) Paukenschlag also from Germany Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag 29 5 (11) Aslo Steppe Nomads from Finland makes (GER) a move forward. InTeam (GER) 29 5 (5) EuropeMasters edition 2015 edition EuropeMasters Chapter: Chapter: 4 EuropeMasters edition 2015 In the first 2 rounds the playing schedules allows that two teams of the same nationality can compete against each other. This is a new tournament setting introduced in 2014 on suggestion of the players. This way all teams will have played against each other without exception. In round3 Deus was played. Brettspielteam Hamburg is still in the Team Score Ranking lead. Where the difference between Brettspielteam Hamburg (GER) 52 1 (1) number 2 has increased from 4 points Poslední Naděje (CZ) 45,5 2 (2) to 6,5 points. Since last round. But Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag is jumping Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag 45,5 2 (5) th nd (GER) up from 5 place to the 2 place. Brettvorleger (GER) 45 4 (8) With the entry of Brettvorleger on InTeam (GER) 45 4 (5) place 4, there are 4 German teams in the top 5. Steppe Nomads (FI) 43,5 6 (4) EuropeMasters edition 2015 edition EuropeMasters Chapter: Chapter: 5 EuropeMasters edition 2015 The last round of play was ZhanGuo. Team Score Ranking Brettspielteam Hamburg (GER) 65 1 Steppe Nomads (FI) 59,5 2 Poslední Naděje (CZ) 58,5 3 Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag 57,5 4 (GER) InTeam (GER) 57 5 Pajdulák Opava (CZ) 57 6 The final round was really close for places 2 to 6 with only a few points difference. Brettspielteam Hamburg played a good last round and did not give away their lead position and is now . Based on a tie breaker team InTeam were able to claim their ranking on the 5th spot. During gameplay as well as the prize giving ceremony was also visited by the publishers and authors (even from previous EC editions). Without their support there would not be an event like EuropeMasters! Best individual player of 2015: Team Name Player Name Score Ranking InTeam (GER) Robert Oestreich 20 1 EuropeMasters edition 2015 edition EuropeMasters Chapter: Chapter: 6 EuropeMasters edition 2015 Main picture: Brettspielteam Hamburg Jan Ruess (16 points), Sebastian Moises (14 points), Dennis Johannsen (18 points), Mika Seidel (17 points) Top right picture: Steppe Nomads Oskari Vuorio (15,5 points), Johannes Rimpiläinen (11 points), Iridian Kiiskinen (18 points), Juuso Lähdekorpi (15 points) Bottom right picture”: Poslední Naděje Mario Babunek (15 points), Mailan Horák (9,5 points), Karel Kozmik (16 points), Ondřej Demel (18 points) EuropeMasters edition 2015 edition EuropeMasters Chapter: Chapter: 7 EuropeMasters edition 2015 History of European Championship Boardgaming How it all began The European Championship Boardgames has a long and rich history. It all started back in 1976 when KRONE, a German cigarette company, founded a games club. In 1977 the first championship for individual players was held in Berlin, followed in 1978 with a championship in Ostsee. This was the last championship for individuals. Sven M. Kübler participated at the championships in Ostsee and encountered there the joy of tournament play. But he also noticed that there was a drawback with a tournament type for individuals in the sense that luck dominates the championships. A tournament