ITASLIA 2012 Scenario Selection Poll

[Paolo Cariolato]

We as ITASLIA organizers are always looking for new twists at our tournament formula.

We started with themed rounds, added a PTO optional round, went to themed tournament.

This year we are going to poll this forum on the scenarios we selected for the five rounds of ITASLIA, in order to get your opinions and votes. The poll is about scenario deleting, you can select 0, 1 or 2 scenarios for each round that, in your opinion, are not up to the job and delete them.

Remember that this is not a poll about the best scenario but it’s about maximize the enjoyment of people playing at ITASLIA 2012, deleting the scenarios you feel not up to the job.

As organizers we experienced that some players are somewhat slower than others, so selecting the scenarios fitting with the round time-frame is definitely an issue for us. Finishing games on time is even more important for the 1st and 3rd round, whose delays (due to judging one or more games) set back 2nd and 4th round. 2nd and 4th rounds are somewhat more relaxed on time issues: because if players like play it slow, they can play right into the heart of the night.

This year the Tournament Theme is Eastern Front in it’s purest form, you need only your Russian and German counters to play. The optional PTO round is about Japanese against Russian and Chinese opponent. ITASLIA is a 5 rounds tournament (3 scenario per round), that will start on Friday at midday and finish in the afternoon of Sunday.
We tried to fit into our Eastern Front Theme different scenario types (pure infantry, combined forces, pure defence, attack-counterattack, city fight, forest and countryside), last year we spiced up things with DASL scenarios, this year it’s about Stalingrad Historical Maps. The only unchanged feature since our first tournament is the 4th round scenario that has always been about “Old Classics” (ten years old minimum).


ASL community as a whole is encouraged to participate to this poll, your votes are welcomed, if you also take the time to explain your vote, that will be most appreciated.

In order to avoid posting 6 different post we are dividing the poll in two parts. The first is this one, the second part will be posted the 6th of January 2012 and will be about the 4th, 5th and optional PTO rounds.

You can delete a maximum of 6 scenario of the 15 that are in the poll, and no more that 2 scenarios per round, so read the list carefully before casting your vote.

Thanks for your help

Mario Aceto, Enrico Catanzaro, Paolo Cariolato


1st round is 04:45 hour long;
2nd round is 05:00 hour long;
3rd round is 05:30 hour long;

ROUND 1 Friday, 15th June, h. 13.45- 18.30
VoTG 9 Eviction Notice
BFP 102 Tolstoy Woods
FT 165 Shopino Struggle
SP 198 Fish in a Barrel
FT 162 Assault to District Rovno

ROUND 2 Friday, 15th June, h 19.00- 01.00
DB055 Sturmgeschutz Forward!
J146 Ragnarok
SP 142 To no Avail
BFP 101 Panzer Spirit
BFP 95 Obian Highway

ROUND 3 Saturday, 16th June h 9.00-14.30
RB 3 Bread Factory #2
SP 181 The Elephant of Surprise
FrF 20 Adolf's Amateurs
FrF 58 Order 831
J63 Silesian Interlude

 

[ecz]

Thanks Paolo,
I would just add that we'll add ABS for each scenario finally selected at the end of this process. so any possible balance iussue, real or supposed, could be fixed.

 

[Markdv5208]

I am appropriately jealous. So many good choices.

Mark DV
Ada, MI

 

[Blind Sniper]

Done!

Surely one of the best scenario selections for the ITASLIA tournament.

 

[Paolo Cariolato]

Thanks to all people that took the time to vote.
At the moment the 3rd round seems the most difficult to judge. If you could also explain your choices that could be a great help.
Again thank you all.

 

[Mister T]

At the moment the 3rd round seems the most difficult to judge. If you could also explain your choices that could be a great help.

Bread Factory #2 and Silesian interlude are decent designs, but sooo old... (in addition BF#2 is markedly pro-German IMO).

 

[ecz]

Bread Factory #2 and Silesian interlude are decent designs, but sooo old... (in addition BF#2 is markedly pro-German IMO).

thanks for your comment Mister T

Let us explain why you find these titles in our list.
We have nothing against old scenarios because the fact a scenario is old does not mean necessarily it was played up to boredom by each partecipant. O at least this is true for most players.
Anyway we have strongly softened this policy year after year because the pressure from players and because the quality and number of new tournament scenarios have increased lately.
For itASLia 2012, in fact, we'll end with a list where - except for round 4 titled "Old Classics"- the old scenarios are a clear minority.

About BF#2 I can agree is slighty pro German, as ROAR says (117-140), but a wise use of ABS easily fixes any balance problem, expecially when the scenario is not a large one as BF#2.
Besides we think that the use of scenarios fogotten in the tournament scenes for a decade - but they must be very good designs, of course - distinguishes our tournament from the others you can find elsewhere, and where you usually play the same "brand new" scenarios, with all risky consequences that this choice implies.

 

[Mister T]

Just to clarify that this is all about relative preferences. These two scenarios are ok as far as i am concerned and the level of imbalance is indeed easily manageable through ABS.
I even have a certain tenderness for Bread Factory#2 as I played it in a Volgograd hotel lobby with three other players. That was great.
Therefore they would be welcomed into round... 4
But, hey, time to move on, I am happy to unearth old scenarios that have not been played extensively. In Tussle in the Tundra this year, they used an old MP scenario, Power Struggle, and we had a blast playing it.
If short of ideas, think about a entire round dedicated to Festung Budapest, there seems to be a ton of tournament-sized scenarios in it (looking only at scenario length.

 

[Paolo Cariolato]

I want to thank all the people That took the tme to vote the poll, since results for the third turn are somewhat difficult to judge, sole written comment Will be mostly appreciated.
Thanks again.