An American B-2A Spirit Stealth Bomber

Awards Page

The second game is problematic from an awards standpoint. The game ended prematurely due to moderator burnout, and only a couple players added significantly to their territory in the brief time the game went on. However, during the brief time that the game lasted, some notable deeds were accomplished, so, here goes:

Joint Winners: Chris Yarwood (Scarlet Zaikai) and Matt Hutchinson (Green Guerillas). They are the only two to add significant new holdings to their empires. Matt in Green added the entire Caribbean to his territory, and was about to conquer Orange when the game inconveniently ended due to Moderator burnout. Chris Yarwood had added Indonesia and part of India to his holdings, and was about to grab China when the game ended.

Honorable Mention: Josh Wooden (Obsidian Order) and Andy Wooden (Vermilion Vanguard). Josh was a part of the SAC coalition that conquered India, and he managed to hold on to some of that territory, and was surprisingly active in diplomacy for someone with intermittent internet access. Andy Wooden was pretty inactive for the first half of the game, but his active diplomacy and military operations in the Second Invasion of India and the attack on China saved him from getting the "Doing the Least with the Most" award.

Doing the Most With the Least Award: Matt Hutchinson (Green Guerillas). He started out with one of the weakest positions, and not only survived, he actually added to his territory and was a significant player on the global diplomacy stage.

Humor Award: Danny Reid (Fuschia Federation) and Tina Wooden. These two always wrote humorous and enjoyable articles for the newsletters, and were a delight to conduct negotiations with. Danny was handicapped by joining the game late, and by having a weak position. Tina took a while to really understand the rules, or she would have done a lot better. However, they both made up for poor performances by excellent STYLE.

Short Timer Award: Martin Hohner (Crimson Commonwealth), Rachel Hohner (Jade Junta), and Marcus Johnston (Khmer Brun). All three were only in their positions for a few turns, but all did a good job while they were there. Rachel was only in Jade for 3 turns, but in that time, she played a key role in the First Invasion of India, before being forced to quit by an extremely heavy school and activity schedule. Martin was in Crimson for 4 turns, before having to resign to take over as moderator. While in Crimson, Martin first almost blundered into a war with Black, but managed to extricate himself from a VERY sticky situation at the last minute. Then, he planned and coordinated the First Invasion of India, the biggest battle of that game. Martin was also a good and very active Moderator for a while, before being forced to step down by a heavy work schedule. Marcus Johnston started out as Moderator, then lost his email access when he graduated from College. Marcus eventually regained intermittent access at work, and was able to take over in the Tan Tetrarchy when Nick Wooden retired. Marcus was very active and suprisingly successful, considering that he took over a country devastated by a civil war and which had lost a significant part of its territory. He even managed to help plan the Second Invasion of India and the invasion of China that was cut short by the end of the game.

Prozac Award: Tina Wooden. This award is given to the player who was the most insane and evil in the first game, yet who settled down and did a darn good job in SW3. Back in SW1, Tina was the "Bleach Borg", an alien race sworn to conquer Earth and "decolorize" all it's inhabitants. This game, while Tina didn't do all that much, she was handicapped by a poor understanding of the rules, and had some big plans in the making that she probably could have actually pulled off if the game hadn't ended prematurely.

Doing the Least with the Most Award: Andy Baumann (Black Republic) and Ben Montag (Malachite Monarchy). Neither really did much for most of the game, which is a real shame since they had the two most powerful positions. To be fair, Andy Baumann DID help Matt in Green conquer the Caribbean, and near the end, he was involved in the attack on Orange. However, considering the relative strengths of the two countries, what was an amazing accomplishment for Green was a poor performance by Black. Ben Montag did absolutely nothing until the very last turn, when Scarlet managed to prod him into invading China as part of an allied force. Basically, neither of these players did anything without extensive prodding by their allies.

Big Loser Award: Seth Thomas (Olive Omnipotence/Burgundy Bloc/Jade Junta). Seth has the dubious distinction of being the first (and until recently, ONLY) active player to get conquered in the Spectrum Wars. The fact that he managed this feat in only 3 turns is quite amazing. But, in his defense, he was a good loser, and showed excellent sportsmanship, agreeing to not use his nukes when it became obvious that he was beaten. He even proved to be an excellent diplomat for a while, bringing together a coalition of several nations to help him defeat a rebellion in his new country. However, he blew THAT away by getting involved in a cheating scandal late in the game, and was severely disciplined. He was forced to change countries yet again to pay for setting up puppet government under an assumed name in the other country, then draining it of weapons to build himself up. Only the end of the game saved him from being invaded and conquered yet again, by pretty much the same people.