2002

Advanced Civilization

Championship

 

 

This year, Origins will feature a three-round tournament of the classic Avalon Hill game, Advanced Civilization. In recent years at Origins, games of Civilization have been scheduled as events, but not in a tournament format. This year, players will compete in a 3-round tournament sponsored by Game Base 7, a major organizer of board game events at Origins & GenCon.

 

 

Tournament Summary:

 

Structure

Four preliminary round events will be held, Thursday and Friday, at 8a.m. & 5p.m. each day. The 2nd round is Saturday at 8a.m., and the championship game is Sunday at 8a.m. Players may enter any or all of the preliminary rounds, however, a separate entry fee is required for each, and you can only qualify for advancement once.

 

The players in each preliminary round will be distributed randomly and evenly into games of 6 to 8 players each. All games will begin at 8a.m., so all players should be present by 7:45 so that we can get started on time. These preliminary rounds will be in 8-hour time slots.

 

Rules

All standard Advanced Civ rules will be used. Optional rules and variants (with the possible exception of the western expansion map, depending on the number of players), will not be in play.

 

Scoring

Each player's rating for a given round is their game score divided by the winner's score, multiplied by 1000. Therefore the rating for the winner is 1000, and the rating for everyone else is something below that. The percentage method is used to determine overall ratings within each round for runners-up rather than simply using their score, so that players are not at a disadvantage for being on a board that played fewer turns. Essentially the top runner-up will be the 2nd place player who was closest, percentage wise, to being a winner on his table.

 

All first round winners get a berth in the semifinals. A minimum of 21 players will advance, so if there are fewer than 21 1st round winners, the highest rated runners-up will be taken to fill out the 2nd round. Similarly, the top 7 players from the semifinal games will advance to the championship game. Tournament rating scores are not cumulative from round to round. The winner of the final game is the Tournament Champion.

 

 

Prize

The Tournament Champion will receive a free admission to Origins 2003!

 

Details

Read the flyer which will be distributed to players at the tournament.

 

Send comments or questions to the Tournament Director.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Origins 2002

 

Origins is owned by GAMA, the Game Manufacturers Association. Now in its 28th year, Origins is one of the largest national gaming conventions, held each summer in Columbus Ohio. Last year's convention drew in excess of 9000 gamers from around the world, and organizers are working hard to increase that figure this year! Events are held in every gaming category, from board games and role playing games, to miniatures, trading card games, and computer games.

 

In the early years, Origins was hosted by different gaming groups in various cities across the US. In the mid 90s, Origins' management team, Andon Inc, decided to find a permanent home, in the hopes that this would enable the convention to grow more quickly. Columbus was chosen because of its central location and very adequate convention facilities. When Wizards of the Coast acquired Andon, they took over management of Origins and kept the Columbus location as its home. This year marks the first year that GAMA itself will be managing the convention. This year, as in recent years, Game Base 7 is sponsoring hundreds of game events, including Advanced Civilization.

 

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Advanced Civilization

 

Civilization, or "Civ," as it is more commonly known, is arguably one of the greatest multi-player strategy boardgames ever created. Designed by Francis Tresham in 1980, Civ was licensed for publication in the US by The Avalon Hill Game Company in 1982. Civ has been enjoyed by thousands of players for over 2 decades. While playable with as few as 3 or 4, Civ is best with 7 or 8 players.

 

This is the boardgame that inspired the bestselling line of "Civilization" computer games. While substantially different from its popular pc counterpart, Civ shares some of the same basic fundamentals. Players begin with a single “settler,” and strive to build a civilization, by learning various technologies and skills, and expanding and trading with their neighboring players.

 

"Advanced" Civilization was an expansion supplement released by Avalon Hill in 1991. The term "Advanced" is somewhat of a misnomer, since the game mechanics are really no more difficult than basic Civ. "Enhanced Civ" would probably be a better term. The Advanced Civ game changes a few rules, and adds a few, along with new technology and trade cards.

 

Advanced Civ is not a complete game by itself- you must also purchase basic Civ to have a playable game. Two other add-on's were published, a deck of extra trade cards, and a western expansion map. The deck of trade cards is only compatible with basic Civ, as Adv Civ contains its own extra trade cards. The expansion map can be used with either Civ or Adv Civ.

 

While basic Civ is still a fun game and played by some people, most prefer the Advanced Civ version. The game mechanics of Civ, (either version) can be taught in 15 minutes to a new player. However, the strategies and nuances of player interaction can take years to master. One big disadvantage to Civ, in the eyes of some, is the playing time, which can take up to 10 hours. An average game can be completed in around 8.

 

Sadly, with the acquisition of Avalon Hill by Hasbro a few years ago, many of AH's classic boardgames, including Civ, are no longer in publication. The best place to find a copy of Civ or Adv Civ is on Ebay or at a game auction at a convention such as Origins or GenCon.

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Links

  

Avalon Hill

Columbus Convention Center

GAMA

Game Base 7

GenCon

Search Ebay for Civilization

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