With less than 2 years of experience and only about 60+ games played, this has been my first ASL tournament and getting a taste of what advanced competitive gaming can look like. I had a wonderful reception - played two friendly games on arrival, Feast Day with Toby Pilling and the classic Bidermann's Escape with Michael Hastrup-Leth. Understandably I was quite nervous which led to some rule lapses and tactical mistakes but found both of them very supportive, thank you guys!
In the tournament I lost 4 games and won 1:
Round 1: Messenger Boys as the defender against Mr. T - After my discussions on the setup of this scenario with Juan Santacruz I decided to forego defending the forest road very strongly, which was a mistake. George waltzed through there and despite me trying to divert my scattered defending forces over there and build up at least some defense, he managed to send one squad as riders in my rear as early as Turn 2. My reinforcements managed to hold on to one of the two major buildings, but failed to hold two more of the minor ones... George, it was a pleasure meeting you in person, a game in a relaxed and yet meticulous manner...
Round 2: Red Horse Recon as the attacker against Mikael Strand - This one I played as a defender against Juan Santacruz in preparation to the tournament where I gained some valuable lessons. I opted for a careful strategy against Mikael's well-placed defensive forces. I hoped to break them early and continue my advance across the whole width of the map board. However, the dice were against me and his three squads managed to resist for 2 turns... So I chose a different strategy and focused on securing the road. On my turn 3 I managed to position my vehicles in key positions on the map along the northern road and after I prevented Mikael's reinforcements' advance he conceded.
Round 3: Speed over Caution as the attacker against Olivier Dietsch - Oh boy, where do I start... Olivier prepared a clever ruse and I ran into it full force. As the scenario title suggests, I went for the careless aggressive approach and it did not pay off. I sent my three best gyro tanks through the orchard to outflank his beast and I stumbled subsequently across three HIP squads with the result of three (!) burning wrecks. (A lucky firelane shot also KIA'd one of my leaders and reduced my infantry forces.) So the trap sprung shut in the most effective manner. The orchards went ablaze and the wind picked up, soon covering half of the map board in a fire and smoke inferno, which helped the advance of the rest of my forces but of course it was doomed.
Secret Round 4: To No Avail as the attacker against Søren Sørensen - I had a real shot at this one, had a good advance going. But after hitting a wall of wires on the left flank and a sequence of very nasty sniper shots which killed off my 9-1 and broke two squads, my spearhead lost focus and I let myself be embroiled in a to-and-fro in the center. In Turn 4 I developed a plan of attack which actually went very well, but alas a bit too late: I needed just 2 more MF with one squad in my last turn (and average dice rolls) to win...
Round 5: Order 831 as the attacker against Jens Thomander - It started really well but both of my tanks lost smoke in my first prep fire on turn 2... and I kinda forgot that they also had smoke mortars. Plus I also lost focus in my advance, was a bit too careful and slow in turn 3 and realised in turn 4 that I would not be able to reach the bridge in time (perhaps if I would have sent Riders, but I did not properly plan for that). In the last two desperate turns Jens started rolling threes and fours on his prep and def shots, which sealed my fate. I will replay this one this week with my buddy Gerhard to see what happens when the smoke works better
Overall, a game in a very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere, Jens you make for a great company!
Overall, I really liked the structured bidding system and the depth it adds to the scenario selection. (Of course it favours experienced and well-prepared players, but that is the point of a tournament...). I would like to thank Michael and Bo for faultless organisation, I came home drained like a grapefruit but inspired and my play has benefitted enormously! Looking forward to seeing everybody again (Gothenburg in November?) or playing on VASL!
P.S.: I am Slovak (SVK), not Slovenian (SLO), I would appreciate much if you could please update my player profile
P.S. 2: What is the member nick of Jim Bishop? Thanks!
P.S. 3: We had national elections on Saturday which I missed due to the tournament and my party did not make it into the parliament by just 962 votes... Eh!