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Drums Along the Maumee 2007 packs them in!

All I can say is "What a turn out! Last year at Drums #7, there were 8 players for the DBA Open. This year, an amazing 21 players showed up to play. There were more than enough experienced players to match up with newbies and beginners. This meant that I didn,t have many questions to answer during play. As a result, I was able to play a few games in order to round the field out to 22 players. The usual camraderie, good sportsmanship, and overriding drive to have fun above all else which I have come to expect at any HMGS-GL / GLADBAG event was definitely present.

As is usual for events which I run, I ran a one hour long DBA school prior to the event. I did not get a good count of the attendees, but I think there were 12 to 14 people sitting in on the school. The attendees ran the spectrum from total newbies to somewhat experienced players who needed a refresher.

With this event being in Toledo, we got a great mix of players from Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana plus elsewhere such as Steve Verdoliva from California. My recruiting events this past year at the Michigan cons (Pro or Con, Spartacon, and Battlefields) paid off at Drums. By my count, at least one third of the participants came as a result of those events. If DBA attendance keeps growing at this rate, we may have some really, really big DBA events at Advance the Colors in September

A big thanks goes out to all who attended. A special thanks goes out to the Cobly Street Irregulars, the convention hosts, for being able to give me some extra tables to be able to handle the unexpected influx of players. Here are the results:

Place Name / Army / Record / Score (Points for - Points Against)

1 Robert Lohman, Norse Viking, 4-0, 16-6

2 Steve Smith, Trojan, 4-0, 15G-1

3 Steve Verdoliva, Early Crusader, 3-1, 16-7

4 Andy Swingle, Later Hungarian, 3-1, 15-11

5 Mike Porter, Thracian, 3-1, 13-5

6 Aaron McKibben, Seleucid, 3-1, 12-8

7 Mike Stelzer, Three Kingdom Chinese, 2-1-1, 10-6

8 Mike Demana, Early Bedouin, 2-2, 15-13GG

9 Joseph Bower, Early Samurai , 2-2, 14G-11

10 Mike Myers, Anglo-Danish, 2-2, 12-11

11 Jeff Chattin, Fanatic Berber, 2-2, 12-14

12 Ted Bender, Feudal English, 2-2, 11-13

13 Dan Joyce, Commnean Byzantine, 2-2, 10G-13

14 Larry Brown, Early Egyptian, 2-2, 9G-11

15 John Lawitzke, Numidian, 1-2-1, 5-10

16 Ian Erisman, Polybian Roman, 1-3, 10G-17

17 Les Steingass, Sea People, 1-3, 10-12

18 Scott Wells, Later Carthaginian, 1-3, 9-15

19 Brian Peruski , New Kingdom Egyptian, 1-3, 8-12G

20 David Shepps, French Ordonnance, 1-3, 6-15

21 Jim Yencer, Early Eygptian, 0-4, 7-19G

22 Ryan Steiner, Italian Lombard , 0-4, 5-13G

Pictured above: John Lawitzke teaching DBA's basic concepts to new player, Mike Myers

And here's the payoff to John's work: A packed house of DBA players at Drums 2007

Steve Verdoliva, aka "The Big Mexican," deploys against the tourney's youngest player, 9-year-old Ian Erisman

DBAer Dan Joyce brought up a nice-sized contingent from Lima, Ohio

Dan's Comnenan Byzantine army slugs it out against Mike Demana's Midianites (Early Bedouin)

Another view of the long table of DBA action: Here the reigning Emperor of Great Lakes, Ted Bender (in ugly UM hat), squares off against the chapter president, John Lawitzke

Steve Smith, left, and Andy Swingle prepare to close...Steve's Trojans would go undefeated in the Tourney...oops, Bring & Battle!

Also undefeated (until losing to the champion in the final round), were Mike Porter and his Thracians. Mike made the drive over for the day representing the NOWS DBAers in Cleveland

Ryan Stiener, left, and Brian Peruski square off in the early stages of their battle. Behind them, Scott Wells studies the board and wonders how much help he'll need this battle from his nifty Dice Tower.