Well, another St Louis tourney is in the books. As always, I had a great time. Tom and I arrived early evening Wednesday evening and many old friends were already arriving. I got in all five rounds going 3-2 against some monster opponents. In the first round, I got to play my razorback buddy, (winner last year and reigning ASLOK champ), Wes Vaughn in A Bit of Colored Ribbon. Great close game and managed to pull out the win. In the second round, I played Maurizio Grassi. Against my better judgement, we played the LFT offering. Unfortunately, I conceded after a close fight when we both realized that I had completely forgotten the 105mm OBA, (which is completely necessary for any chance of a German win). Maurizio graciously offered to just dice for the win, however, I take total blame for the faux pas and was happy to be at 1-1. Maurizio went on to play in the final. Third round, my old Chi-town friend, Rich Domovic. We chose Factory Fodder. My dice were slightly better than Rich's as his americans could not hold morale and I was able to secure the win. Fourth round, I got matched with famed Chicago ASL tourney director and long time friend, Dave Goldman. We chose Death Box. Dave conceded at turn four as two mmgs and a mortar on rooftops plus two tanks in his backfield were wreaking havoc on his defenders. Sunday morning found me matched up with one of my favorite PTO opponents, Stan Jackson. Little did we know that our match would determine third place. We chose Commandos at Kaiapit where Stan took the defending Japanese. This was brutally close. As Stan described above, his fallback defense was enough to secure a hard fought victory. My highlight having a 9-1 and a hero ambush and take out an 8-0, 2-2-8 crew, and a 4-4-7 squad. Stan got the third place plaque. Tom and I left hurriedly for the drive back to Indy and then Cleveland. Great time with great friends.
I would like to thank Jim Burris for running one of the best tourneys ASL has to offer. Doug Kirk for his ever challenging scenario list. Jeff Ital, well, for just being Jeff Ital. My travelling companion and roomie, the incomparable Thomas Cvetinovich, my five talented opponents. I cannot wait until October when I hopefully see you all again. You all make an old guy happy. (Could be the weed....).
