Sands of North Africa - Let's have a Round 3 update please [Archive]

Don Maddox

05 Aug 02, 14:37

The Sands of North Africa page has been updated and is ready for your review.

So far the Africa Korps has proved a tough nut to crack, but the Allied Forces seem to be gaining steam in Crusader '41.

Could we please have an update of Round 3? It's been in progress since June 10th so there should be some endgame reports before too long.

Siberian HEAT

05 Aug 02, 15:52

Keef and I played a surprisingly exciting game with the victory level hanging around the draw level for most of the way. Due to some fortuitous delaying action early in the game, I was able to place my defensive cordon in front of Sollum and managed to hold most of the major VP hexes in the Sollum-Bardia area.

That was my first experience playing against Keef and I highly recommend him as an opponent...especially if you like to talk strategy. I feel very fortunate to escape that scenario with a draw!

HEAT

ALF

05 Aug 02, 17:05

:) I saw Dan thinks we're heading for a draw... I think he's heading for an OL! :D I figure one of us must be wrong. :D

Dan Neely

05 Aug 02, 19:38

Originally posted by Gordon
:) I saw Dan thinks we're heading for a draw... I think he's heading for an OL! :D I figure one of us must be wrong. :D

I was reporting the current VP level (not having looked at the latest turn), I never said I'd expected to be able to hold it where it was.

Chuck?

05 Aug 02, 20:04

ER_Chaser kicked my @$!.

Eric Weider

06 Aug 02, 01:09

Wow...I am flattered by Siberian Heat's generosity in describing our game. :)
I half-jokingly asked Jamiam to pit me against Siberian in the 3rd game and well...he did! In exchange for a draw I gained more knowledge about TOAW than I had in a year's worth of games prior to that. Siberian was a class act all the way...responsive, funny and generous with his feedback and tips at the end of the game. I am amazed at the generosity displayed by our ladder leaders like Siberian and Jamiam towards the "newbies." Thanks guys for passing on the knowledge!

ER_Chaser

06 Aug 02, 15:32

Chuck, you were creative in that strategy, but just caught unlucky though.

But your new picture is interesting, who is that guy? (must be famous, pardon my ignorance.. :) )

RavenStrike

06 Aug 02, 17:49

Desert Rat and RavenStrike are starting turn 9 in a draw, but things are slowly slipping toward the CW favor.

Chuck?

07 Aug 02, 10:38

Originally posted by ER_Chaser
But your new picture is interesting, who is that guy? (must be famous, pardon my ignorance.. :) )

William Tecumseh Sherman, Union General of the American Civil War

ER_Chaser

07 Aug 02, 15:06

Originally posted by Chuck

William Tecumseh Sherman, Union General of the American Civil War

an even bigger name than I could imagine :P

Siberian HEAT

07 Aug 02, 17:30

Just got an email from our Finnish friend Jyri (Sheik Yerbouti aka Cletus A...oh nevermind you all know who he is!). He has been taking part in the annual Reindeer roundup going on in Lapland and therefore has been unable to maintain contact on the forums or in his games. Sometimes, his trail bosses allow him to use their laptop for 3-5 minute increments, but not often. Naturally he writes home before he writes his comrades at WarfareHQ in those hasty few minutes. This time I guess they gave him a few extra minutes, maybe as a bonus for gathering the most units of deer for that day?

Anyway, he said he will return next week so if you have a game going with him you can expect it to resume at that time.

CHorn

07 Aug 02, 19:36

Originally posted by Siberian HEAT
He has been taking part in the annual Reindeer roundup going on in Lapland and therefore has been unable to maintain contact on the forums or in his games... This time I guess they gave him a few extra minutes, maybe as a bonus for gathering the most units of deer for that day?

Let's all pray that Rudolph is OK... I have terrible visions of him crushed under the tracks of a Panzer Mark V...

JAMiAM

07 Aug 02, 19:53

Originally posted by CHorn

Let's all pray that Rudolph is OK... I have terrible visions of him crushed under the tracks of a Panzer Mark V...

I have it on good authority that Rudolf is piloting one of those M4-76mm tanks. He should have few worries against a bunch of Finns in Panthers...:D

Brevet

07 Aug 02, 19:59

I think they eat reindeer in that part of the world. :(

CHorn

07 Aug 02, 20:17

Originally posted by JAMiAM

I have it on good authority that Rudolf is piloting one of those M4-76mm tanks. He should have few worries against a bunch of Finns in Panthers...:D

LOL. Phew! Thanks. Now I can sleep easier. Let's just hope Santa doesn't show in a T34/85. Then it'll really hit the fan.

Who knows? The Sheikh could spend eternity in Santa's Grotto wrapping Christmas presents... If Santa was feeling really vindictive they could all be miniature Shermans...

Siberian HEAT

07 Aug 02, 21:28

DISASTER!!! This picture just in from the frozen North! Could this explain Jyri's long absense?

Major Banned

10 Aug 02, 17:49

My apologies. Bruce and I have reached turn 15 since his return from vacation. Our game has turned into a real WW I blood bath and is currently at draw status. After this battle, both Rommel and Montgomery will have to withdraw their forces for a long rest period.

Siberian HEAT

11 Aug 02, 16:54

Good news for the Axis. Kerry has held on for a Draw in his round 2 game vs. Brevet!

Don Maddox

12 Aug 02, 13:16

The tourny page has been updated with a lot of fresh results. This one is going to be closer than I thought.

The deadline for all games will be 24 August. That includes both Rounds 1 and 2. This tournament is already way over schedule.

JAMiAM

12 Aug 02, 16:12

Looks like results 254 and 255 are duplicates. Major Catastrophe and Bruce only played one game, AFAIK.

JAMiAM

12 Aug 02, 16:22

BTW, the game between Makelord and myself hasn't been updated on the tournament page. It should be an OV for the Allied Army. It was logged on the ladder, however.

Don Maddox

12 Aug 02, 16:58

Okay, thanks. It's fixed.

Fistandantilus

13 Aug 02, 03:33

Originally posted by Maddog
The tourny page has been updated with a lot of fresh results. This one is going to be closer than I thought.

The deadline for all games will be 24 August. That includes both Rounds 1 and 2. This tournament is already way over schedule.

There is no way Jyri and me could finish by the 24th. :(

Don Maddox

13 Aug 02, 12:15

After talking to the respective commanders, I have adjusted the tournament deadline to 7 September.

RavenStrike

13 Aug 02, 22:16

Maddog... Someone's future vision is better than my own, for although the Sands tournament page shows a draw between myself and Desert Rat, we are only at turn 10 and still have 7 turns to go. I'm sure the Desert Rat will do much better than a draw when we finally do finish.

JAMiAM

13 Aug 02, 23:37

Originally posted by RavenStrike
Maddog... Someone's future vision is better than my own, for although the Sands tournament page shows a draw between myself and Desert Rat, we are only at turn 10 and still have 7 turns to go. I'm sure the Desert Rat will do much better than a draw when we finally do finish.

LoL...sounds like someone needs to clean the bratwurst and mustard off of his crystal ball... :D

Don Maddox

14 Aug 02, 16:08

Sheik Yerbouti

14 Aug 02, 18:11

http://www.finembjak.com/images/ILMAK_SAVONLINNA_OLAVINLINNA.JPG

This is the landscape. No reindeers, santa clauses, panthers nor shermans...

General Staff

14 Aug 02, 21:11

Good Lord! Did you use a special filter? No, I don't believe it... let me check again... I see... DAYLIGHT! and.... RUNNING WATER! Even...no...I must be mistaken...A WHALE!... NO!... IT'S A BOAT! and MOVING!

Whatever happened to the permafrost? And the gloom of those terrible northern forests swallowing those Soviet hordes only 50-odd years ago?

Given the weather in the rest of Europe, it really looks like the place to be! Welcome back!

Now I'm off to Croatia Friday- I may need a boat given the weather in nearby Prague. And look at the US- burning to a cinder as we all drown!

Don Maddox

15 Aug 02, 02:19

Originally posted by General Staff
Good Lord! Did you use a special filter? No, I don't believe it... let me check again... I see... DAYLIGHT! and.... RUNNING WATER! Even...no...I must be mistaken...A WHALE!... NO!... IT'S A BOAT! and MOVING!

I believe it is a whale...:D

General Staff

15 Aug 02, 06:12

I'll check again...

Don- you must really miss the US weather (Texas?). Look what you brought with you... Prague's worst flooding since inception (800 years ago though I don't believe it's that late for a minute).

Where I am you'd be forgiven for thinking that summer just passed us right by. Mist and fog a lot of days, constant rain, the landscape the greenest you ever saw it and still no sun in sight. You'd swear it was March or October, not August.

Sheik Yerbouti

15 Aug 02, 06:20

Originally posted by General Staff
Whatever happened to the permafrost? And the gloom of those terrible northern forests swallowing those Soviet hordes only 50-odd years ago?

No permafrost. Lots of forests around those lakes, as you can see. In the picture there´s a railway bridge Soviets tried desperately bomb to pieces during the war years (important supply route), but didn´t manage. The bridge still has a lot of marks made by those bombs.

Summer weather has been superb here. :banana:

Don Maddox

15 Aug 02, 17:33

Originally posted by General Staff
I'll check again...

Don- you must really miss the US weather (Texas?). Look what you brought with you... Prague's worst flooding since inception (800 years ago though I don't believe it's that late for a minute).

Now I'm accused of environmental terrorism... :hurt:

Actually, the weather here in Bavaria has been very nice lately.

Sheik Yerbouti

16 Aug 02, 09:22

Back to the original topic. Fist is handing me my ass in a brown paperbag, so my question is, what is the lowest victory level needed for a significant defeat? :rolleyes:

JAMiAM

16 Aug 02, 09:54

Originally posted by Sheik Yerbouti
Back to the original topic. Fist is handing me my ass in a brown paperbag, so my question is, what is the lowest victory level needed for a significant defeat? :rolleyes:

Chris (General Staff) has created a handy little victory level calculator for occasions such as these. He might even be persuaded to offer it up to the members of this community...

Tex

17 Aug 02, 14:24

The Tex-Crecops duel is in its final 1.5 turns. We should finish up in the next 2-3 days. Currently the match stands at a Significant Victory for the Allies, but could still change to a MV or OV depending on the final 3 moves.

Sheik Yerbouti

18 Aug 02, 08:05

I made some calculations and found out that I have no chance of getting even SD anymore against Fist, so I´m going to surrender. :dead:

Tex

21 Aug 02, 14:37

The Tex-Crecrops match has ended in a Significant Victory for the Allied powers. The match has been reported.

Don Maddox

26 Aug 02, 02:02

How are those final games coming along?

Fading Captain

26 Aug 02, 02:39

Originally posted by Maddog
How are those final games coming along?

Grab and I are involved in a game that refuses to end! We just finished turn 19. Victory level at a draw.

Fading Captain

Fading Captain

26 Aug 02, 15:55

Grab and I just finished our game. In a hard fought battle on both sides, we ended up with a draw.

The scenario ending variable just about drove me crazy. We made it to turn 20, and I hung on desperately in the final few turns as Grab pushed my units all around the map.

Fading Captain

Mantis

26 Aug 02, 19:27

The Sands tourney is still not quite over, is it?

Brevet

26 Aug 02, 21:37

Fitz & I are on turn 10. Commonwealth OV at this point.

RavenStrike

27 Aug 02, 08:45

Desert Rat and I are in turn 13. Currently a Draw.

Don Maddox

27 Aug 02, 17:27

The tourny page has been updated. There is now an Excel worksheet available for download on the page. You can use it to see how your side is doing as it has formulas set up.

Dan Neely

27 Aug 02, 20:31

:ar15:

I just plugged in all of the remaining games as allied OVs, final score was 60.66 axis to 59.33 allied. Looks live we've won.

Major Banned

27 Aug 02, 21:09

Originally posted by Dan Neely
:ar15:

I just plugged in all of the remaining games as allied OVs, final score was 60.66 axis to 59.33 allied. Looks live we've won.

That total looks awful close. Sure there wasn't hanging chads?:D

JAMiAM

27 Aug 02, 21:14

Dan!!!

I bet you're the kind of guy that goes right to the end of a mystery novel and reads the last chapter to see whodunit!

Shhhhhh!

Dan Neely

27 Aug 02, 22:11

Originally posted by JAMiAM
Dan!!!

I bet you're the kind of guy that goes right to the end of a mystery novel and reads the last chapter to see whodunit!

LOL no. I read @ 80-100pages/hour (paperback) so there's not much point to it. I'll get there soon enough. In gradeschool when we were reading something a few chapters at a time with discussions inbetween, I never hesitated to speakup when I thought I figured out how it would end. I had the annoying habbit of being right too.

Don Maddox

29 Aug 02, 15:55

I think this one is going to end up a lot closer than most of us ever thought it would. The scenarios may not have all been perfectly balanced, but real battles rarely are. Rather, look at the tournament as a campaign of sorts. If you look at it like that the sides were roughly equal.

Siberian HEAT

29 Aug 02, 16:30

Originally posted by Maddog
I think this one is going to end up a lot closer than most of us ever thought it would. The scenarios may not have all been perfectly balanced, but real battles rarely are. Rather, look at the tournament as a campaign of sorts. If you look at it like that the sides were roughly equal.

Not sure how well I came across, but I tried to tell my players that the real challenge in any game is how well you handle hopeless situations. It is a real tribute to both sides that there was very little *****ing and complaining about the unbalanced scenarios and everyone just put their heads down and hacked through them.

The fact the whole tournament ended up so close is a real indicator how valuable each and every person's game was no matter what the score. I said over and over for each person to fight and scratch for each and every level of victory possible and NEVER throw in the towel unless it is absolutely hopeless. I am proud my guys took me up on that and fought as hard as they did. We shall see if it was enough!