Bitter Ender ASL Tournament April 18, 2024 through Sunday April 21, 2024

[cvetzor]

Just checked with hotel my reservation is confirmed

 

[sarfs]

Who won? Gary or Al?

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

Who won? Gary or Al?

See next message.

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

FLASH! Gary Fortenberry ("Fort") has defeated NC's Alan Saltzman ("Big Al") at this year's edition of the "Bitter Ender." Congratulations are in order for these formidable opponents and all the participants of the tournament. Thanks to all who made it to the event and to Chuck Payne as tournament director who kept things running smoothly. Participants numbered forty-eight with thirty-two in the main tournament. Others were there to play larger scenarios or relearn the game with other gamers sharing their gaming time to do this.

 

[davegin]

Tom and Jim just left my place for Indy and Illinois. Drove back Sunday to Cleveland. What an extremely fun weekend was had by we "carpetbaggers". Great to see the North Carolina crowd and the unexpected major turnout. 48 attendees. That has to be a record attendance. Got to play 6 games (two of which were playtests for an upcoming HazMo venture). My four tournament games were mostly all down to the last turn against great players. Was fortunate enough to win the French mini. Great food, great (and friendly) hotel staff. Big thanks to my opponents: Tim Deane, Doug Sheppard, Nelson Harris, Mika Harvaila, Dave O'Dell, and my homie Ken Daughtey. Congrats to my roomie Jim Serafin for making it to the third round. Adulations to Gary Fortenberry for the win and even higher adulation to Al (my sarge) Saltzman for making it into the finals. And lastly, what can be said about the TD and staff? Chuck Payne (TD), Ray Woloszyn, and those Tar Heels that make the Bitter Ender so special. I am always in their debt. This was my third trip and I plan on returning for as long as they continue. If it has any value, my opinion, is to put this event on your calenders.

 

[Fort]

Had a great time. Thanks for all the fishes!

 

[Jplott94]

Had a wonderful time at the new venue! Many thanks to Ray and Chuck for getting this going again so quickly after we lost our last meeting place!

 

[gbartlett2001]

Also had a great time and want to extend my thanks to Chuck and Ray for organizing and running the event and congratulations to Fort on winning the big tourney. I’ll second the positive comments about the venue. Next up for me is Gettysburg in July and Spreading Blaze (Atlanta) in August.

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

Bitter Ender 2024 AAR
Hi Everyone,
I first want to thank the 49 ASL players who attended this
year’s Bitter Ender Tournament held at the Four Points by Sheraton
hotel. Everyone seemed to enjoy the hotel facilities. Next year we
will have two game rooms booked to alleviate the crowding we
had this year.
We had 3 players from California attend (Dan Plachta, David
Nicholas and David O’Dell plus a Midwestern trio of Dave Ginnard,
Tom Cvetinovich and Jim Serafin. I appreciate all who attended
but these six made an extra effort to be here.
This was the 35th year of an ASL tournament in NC. It is and
has been a team effort to put this event on each year. I want to
thank Ray Woloszyn, Alan Lipka and Al Saltzman for their help in
organizing Bitter Ender this year. We ran from Thursday to Sunday.
Grofaz Event
Gary Fortenberry won the 5 round Grofaz Event over Al Saltzman
in Fuller’s Folly. Tom Kearney and Nelson Harris mad it to the semi
finals before going down to Gary and Al respectively. 32 players
competed in this event.
We ran 5 mini tournaments on Saturday.
French Mini
Dave Ginnard won over Tim Dean in the final.
Deluxe Mini
Ed Fritz, Jr. won over Doug Sheppard.
Eastern Front 1944 /1945
Ken Daughtey won over Tom Arnold


Late War 1945
David Nicholas won over John Stadick
Battle of the 9-2’s
Neil Stanhagan won over Ed Fritz, Sr.
This year’s winner of the Darryl Wright Sportsmanship
Trophy is Dave Ginnard. Darryl we truly miss you and we
presented it to a very worthy Dave Ginnard.
We look forward to next year’s Bitter Ender and seeing
everyone again. It is a tournament that you are sure to enjoy. And
I promise to have the mini tournament scenarios better organized
for distribution next year.
We are presently looking at April 24th to 27th, 2025.
Sincerely,
Chuck Payne
Bitter Ender Tournament Director
2002 - 2011, 2024
(Some guys just don’t learn!)

 

[Actionjick]

Bitter Ender 2024 AAR
Hi Everyone,
I first want to thank the 49 ASL players who attended this
year’s Bitter Ender Tournament held at the Four Points by Sheraton
hotel. Everyone seemed to enjoy the hotel facilities. Next year we
will have two game rooms booked to alleviate the crowding we
had this year.
We had 3 players from California attend (Dan Plachta, David
Nicholas and David O’Dell plus a Midwestern trio of Dave Ginnard,
Tom Cvetinovich and Jim Serafin. I appreciate all who attended
but these six made an extra effort to be here.
This was the 35th year of an ASL tournament in NC. It is and
has been a team effort to put this event on each year. I want to
thank Ray Woloszyn, Alan Lipka and Al Saltzman for their help in
organizing Bitter Ender this year. We ran from Thursday to Sunday.
Grofaz Event
Gary Fortenberry won the 5 round Grofaz Event over Al Saltzman
in Fuller’s Folly. Tom Kearney and Nelson Harris mad it to the semi
finals before going down to Gary and Al respectively. 32 players
competed in this event.
We ran 5 mini tournaments on Saturday.
French Mini
Dave Ginnard won over Tim Dean in the final.
Deluxe Mini
Ed Fritz, Jr. won over Doug Sheppard.
Eastern Front 1944 /1945
Ken Daughtey won over Tom Arnold


Late War 1945
David Nicholas won over John Stadick
Battle of the 9-2’s
Neil Stanhagan won over Ed Fritz, Sr.
This year’s winner of the Darryl Wright Sportsmanship
Trophy is Dave Ginnard. Darryl we truly miss you and we
presented it to a very worthy Dave Ginnard.
We look forward to next year’s Bitter Ender and seeing
everyone again. It is a tournament that you are sure to enjoy. And
I promise to have the mini tournament scenarios better organized
for distribution next year.
We are presently looking at April 24th to 27th, 2025.
Sincerely,
Chuck Payne
Bitter Ender Tournament Director
2002 - 2011, 2024
(Some guys just don’t learn!)

Well done to all!

 

[Chuck Payne (ASL)]

The PDF contains all the pairing for the games plays din the Grofaz and Mini Tournaments.

 

[Sparafucil3]

The PDF contains all the pairing for the games plays din the Grofaz and Mini Tournaments.

One mistake. That's all I made. Just one. Sigh. -- jim

 

[Actionjick]

One mistake. That's all I made. Just one. Sigh. -- jim

It's better to have rolled and lost than to have never rolled at all. Still sucks though. Better luck next time Jim.

 

[Actionjick]

One mistake. That's all I made. Just one. Sigh. -- jim

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.
Captain Jean Luc Picard

 

[Sparafucil3]

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.
Captain Jean Luc Picard

I played a game against Kearney who made the semi-final against Fort. I had a plan but adapted on the fly when I saw his attack. I gave on one side and allowed him to have ground with the intent of out-pointing him. I executed my plan pretty well. I stuffed one side with an easy chance to make it into the VC are while denying him the same. I was ahead by a decent margin but wanted to land the knock out punch so I challenged his Sherman with my Stug III. I did not see the BAZ stacked below the Sherman. Now, admittedly, it was the ROF on the Sherman that killed my AFV and I had to pull my other Stug to the center to deal with that Sherman. I lost the game by 1 CVP. If my AFV is alive, I am up by 6. My Stug which was pulled to the middle is in a position to stuff his remaining Sherman (also 6 CVP). My greed was the impetus, and the original sin. The mistakes however, were legion.

1. I missed the BAZ under the Sherman. Had I seen that, I would not have challenged. I wouldn't risk two shots. I survived the BAZ and the first 2 ROF shots from the Sherman but I did not survive the 3rd.
2. I failed to declare Gun Duel. This was just stupid on my part. I would not have won but I most definitely would have taken the 2nd shot. I would have needed a 5TH and I had APCR 5. I would have better than a coin toss (55%) to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE he took his next two shots.
3. Even if I missed, I should have declared Gun Duel after the 2nd shot too. Lower odds on this with the inherent Intensive Fire, but it would have been a chance to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE the 3rd shot.
4. I should have kept a closer tally on the score. I thought I could afford to risk the Stug when I really couldn't. It was the difference between a reasonably up to uncomfortably close. This punishment was only enhanced with a rolled a 12 on a crew self Rally (eliminating 2 points in the VC area, remember I lost by 1).

In the end, it was my greed that got me. Tom played a good game but I failed at the culmination point. I put the dice in his hands and then failed to even lift a finger to try and grasp the initiative back. I just sat there and waited for the inevitable. I stopped thinking. I stopped acting. I just threw it away.

Sadly, it happens. I pity my next opponent in this situation. I won't sit there again. -- jim

 

[Actionjick]

I played a game against Kearney who made the semi-final against Fort. I had a plan but adapted on the fly when I saw his attack. I gave on one side and allowed him to have ground with the intent of out-pointing him. I executed my plan pretty well. I stuffed one side with an easy chance to make it into the VC are while denying him the same. I was ahead by a decent margin but wanted to land the knock out punch so I challenged his Sherman with my Stug III. I did not see the BAZ stacked below the Sherman. Now, admittedly, it was the ROF on the Sherman that killed my AFV and I had to pull my other Stug to the center to deal with that Sherman. I lost the game by 1 CVP. If my AFV is alive, I am up by 6. My Stug which was pulled to the middle is in a position to stuff his remaining Sherman (also 6 CVP). My greed was the impetus, and the original sin. The mistakes however, were legion.

1. I missed the BAZ under the Sherman. Had I seen that, I would not have challenged. I wouldn't risk two shots. I survived the BAZ and the first 2 ROF shots from the Sherman but I did not survive the 3rd.
2. I failed to declare Gun Duel. This was just stupid on my part. I would not have won but I most definitely would have taken the 2nd shot. I would have needed a 5TH and I had APCR 5. I would have better than a coin toss (55%) to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE he took his next two shots.
3. Even if I missed, I should have declared Gun Duel after the 2nd shot too. Lower odds on this with the inherent Intensive Fire, but it would have been a chance to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE the 3rd shot.
4. I should have kept a closer tally on the score. I thought I could afford to risk the Stug when I really couldn't. It was the difference between a reasonably up to uncomfortably close. This punishment was only enhanced with a rolled a 12 on a crew self Rally (eliminating 2 points in the VC area, remember I lost by 1).

In the end, it was my greed that got me. Tom played a good game but I failed at the culmination point. I put the dice in his hands and then failed to even lift a finger to try and grasp the initiative back. I just sat there and waited for the inevitable. I stopped thinking. I stopped acting. I just threw it away.

Sadly, it happens. I pity my next opponent in this situation. I won't sit there again. -- jim

An extremely nice assessment of f@#king up. The best part is you know what mistakes you made.

It is Sergeant Kearney isn't it? Haven't seen him in years. Fish, Sarge and me played at my house in Ravenna wbitd. Good times!

 

[bendizoid]

I played a game against Kearney who made the semi-final against Fort. I had a plan but adapted on the fly when I saw his attack. I gave on one side and allowed him to have ground with the intent of out-pointing him. I executed my plan pretty well. I stuffed one side with an easy chance to make it into the VC are while denying him the same. I was ahead by a decent margin but wanted to land the knock out punch so I challenged his Sherman with my Stug III. I did not see the BAZ stacked below the Sherman. Now, admittedly, it was the ROF on the Sherman that killed my AFV and I had to pull my other Stug to the center to deal with that Sherman. I lost the game by 1 CVP. If my AFV is alive, I am up by 6. My Stug which was pulled to the middle is in a position to stuff his remaining Sherman (also 6 CVP). My greed was the impetus, and the original sin. The mistakes however, were legion.

1. I missed the BAZ under the Sherman. Had I seen that, I would not have challenged. I wouldn't risk two shots. I survived the BAZ and the first 2 ROF shots from the Sherman but I did not survive the 3rd.
2. I failed to declare Gun Duel. This was just stupid on my part. I would not have won but I most definitely would have taken the 2nd shot. I would have needed a 5TH and I had APCR 5. I would have better than a coin toss (55%) to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE he took his next two shots.
3. Even if I missed, I should have declared Gun Duel after the 2nd shot too. Lower odds on this with the inherent Intensive Fire, but it would have been a chance to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE the 3rd shot.
4. I should have kept a closer tally on the score. I thought I could afford to risk the Stug when I really couldn't. It was the difference between a reasonably up to uncomfortably close. This punishment was only enhanced with a rolled a 12 on a crew self Rally (eliminating 2 points in the VC area, remember I lost by 1).

In the end, it was my greed that got me. Tom played a good game but I failed at the culmination point. I put the dice in his hands and then failed to even lift a finger to try and grasp the initiative back. I just sat there and waited for the inevitable. I stopped thinking. I stopped acting. I just threw it away.

Sadly, it happens. I pity my next opponent in this situation. I won't sit there again. -- jim

Well said, I like the way you admit your missteps. Most people can’t do that in earnest. It’s the only way to grow and learn. Even if one plays a great game there is probably a tweek or two or three. +1

Like I said, I played a perfect ASL game once (Will to fight eradicated) and lost anyway.

 

[Michael R]

I played a game against Kearney who made the semi-final against Fort. I had a plan but adapted on the fly when I saw his attack. I gave on one side and allowed him to have ground with the intent of out-pointing him. I executed my plan pretty well. I stuffed one side with an easy chance to make it into the VC are while denying him the same. I was ahead by a decent margin but wanted to land the knock out punch so I challenged his Sherman with my Stug III. I did not see the BAZ stacked below the Sherman. Now, admittedly, it was the ROF on the Sherman that killed my AFV and I had to pull my other Stug to the center to deal with that Sherman. I lost the game by 1 CVP. If my AFV is alive, I am up by 6. My Stug which was pulled to the middle is in a position to stuff his remaining Sherman (also 6 CVP). My greed was the impetus, and the original sin. The mistakes however, were legion.

1. I missed the BAZ under the Sherman. Had I seen that, I would not have challenged. I wouldn't risk two shots. I survived the BAZ and the first 2 ROF shots from the Sherman but I did not survive the 3rd.
2. I failed to declare Gun Duel. This was just stupid on my part. I would not have won but I most definitely would have taken the 2nd shot. I would have needed a 5TH and I had APCR 5. I would have better than a coin toss (55%) to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE he took his next two shots.
3. Even if I missed, I should have declared Gun Duel after the 2nd shot too. Lower odds on this with the inherent Intensive Fire, but it would have been a chance to eliminate the Sherman BEFORE the 3rd shot.
4. I should have kept a closer tally on the score. I thought I could afford to risk the Stug when I really couldn't. It was the difference between a reasonably up to uncomfortably close. This punishment was only enhanced with a rolled a 12 on a crew self Rally (eliminating 2 points in the VC area, remember I lost by 1).

In the end, it was my greed that got me. Tom played a good game but I failed at the culmination point. I put the dice in his hands and then failed to even lift a finger to try and grasp the initiative back. I just sat there and waited for the inevitable. I stopped thinking. I stopped acting. I just threw it away.

Sadly, it happens. I pity my next opponent in this situation. I won't sit there again. -- jim

Thanks for that detailed analysis. I can remember having similar experiences.

 

[Partizan Eric]

Our worst enemy is often ourselves.

 

[sarfs]

Tom and Jim just left my place for Indy and Illinois. Drove back Sunday to Cleveland. What an extremely fun weekend was had by we "carpetbaggers". Great to see the North Carolina crowd and the unexpected major turnout. 48 attendees. That has to be a record attendance. Got to play 6 games (two of which were playtests for an upcoming HazMo venture). My four tournament games were mostly all down to the last turn against great players. Was fortunate enough to win the French mini. Great food, great (and friendly) hotel staff. Big thanks to my opponents: Tim Deane, Doug Sheppard, Nelson Harris, Mika Harvaila, Dave O'Dell, and my homie Ken Daughtey. Congrats to my roomie Jim Serafin for making it to the third round. Adulations to Gary Fortenberry for the win and even higher adulation to Al (my sarge) Saltzman for making it into the finals. And lastly, what can be said about the TD and staff? Chuck Payne (TD), Ray Woloszyn, and those Tar Heels that make the Bitter Ender so special. I am always in their debt. This was my third trip and I plan on returning for as long as they continue. If it has any value, my opinion, is to put this event on your calenders.

Yes, this was a very good time. Southern hospitality at its finest!

Jim