davegin
Senior Member
Last weekend I spent my time idling away in St. Louis for the 21st annual ASL Tournament hosted by the incredible Jim Burris. This has been a must stop on my tourney schedule for three years no. Kicked off round one on Friday at noon in Checking Out against master blogger, K. Scott Mullins. This was our first ever ftf meeting and we were both looking forward to it. Scott has the US on defense as I gave him his choice having played this one before. I had the attacking SS. My attack started slowly as Scott has some well positioned fire lanes and I couldn't roll low enough to effect his defense. Through a persistent offensive push on his left flank with a feint to his right, I eventually managed to crack the defense and open up a hole in his backfield. With one over the necessary building and Scott having little left to counterattack with, he graciously conceded on the last turn. 1-0.
Round two found me facing my March Madness roomie and eventual champion, Randy Schurtz. We chose Silesian Interlude with Randy taking the Russians against my German force. This was a tough fought match that could have gone either way, but Randy's superior defense and his ability to roll threes on his attacks soon spelled doom for the german attack. Always fun playing Randy and absolutely no shame in falling to the eventual champion. 1-1.
Round three found me matched with previous champion Craig Walters. We chose Tip Off at Tauroggen. After dicing for sides, I once again found myself attacking with the germans against a stout Russian defense. This was a game of constant eb and flow. Due to a late start and a lunch break, we were still quite involved as time was running out for the round. Of the eight building needed, I only had six but had flamethrowers across the street from two buildings which Craig only had one squad apiece occupying, and was end running for his three undefended left flank buildings. The germans at this point had suffered minimal losses whereas the Russians had only three and a half squads left. As time ran out, Craig, being the outstanding player and gentleman he is, conceded. 2-1.
Round four found me playing a personal favorite: Crickets in the Spring against the man who put the "grand" in Grand Rapids and traveling companion to ASLer extrordinare, Larry Zoet, the always enjoyable Mark DeVries. Although I gave Mark choice of side, he decided to dice it. He was awarded the Russian defense and for the fourth straight time, I would be attacking as the German. Mark's defense was unlike any others that I faced in this scenario which forced me to attack through my left flank as opposed to where I usually like to attack on the right. Mark aggressively pursued my Panthers and although one broke down the MA, he was fairly successful in using his 6 T34/85s to outmaneuver one while one of his HIP guns took care of the other. However, his use of the tanks to shore up his infantry came at a high cost as he would lose 5 of the 6 to PF and Psk shots. At game end the german had a 4 point advantage in armor CVP. A three building advantage and a 13 point advantage in infantry. Great scenario, great game, and worthy opponent. 3-1.
Finally, Sunday morning, sitting in third place behind Rich Domovic and Randy. Randy had it sewn up by this time having beaten Rich, myself, the fourth, and fifth place players. So he would play the seventh ranked player, Mike Reed. I was to be in a battle for second place with Rich. We chose Brigade Hill as we have a habit of playing each other in PTOs. The dice would give Rich the attacking british and I the defending Japanese. This would prove to be the tightest best played and most enjoyable scenario of the weekend. I set up a rear defense as I felt the british would overwhelm an up front line. This worked to perfection as now not only would Rich battle the Japs but also the terrain. Over the first few turns it seemed as though neither Rich nor I could convince our dice to roll any lower than an eight. We both rolled a lot of tens. Rich creeped forward with few if any losses. Although my Japs would eventually all make it back to defend the rear two hills. Rich brought in his reinforcements off the southwest edge to hiht the one rear hill from behind. This forced me to bring my reinforcements in the same area to equalize the situation. Going into Rich's last game turn, he had no unbroken squads remaining to attack the southwest hill and only one squad, one half squad, and an 8-1 leader to attack the other victory hex which had a Jap 8-0, second line squad, and a first line half squad in it. Rich assault moved the full squad adjacent and I hit him with a 6 down 1; a 4 down 1; a 2 down 1; and another 4 down 1; and a 4 flat. I managed only two pin checks which he passed. His 1/2 squad ran to an adjacent hex around the back and was hit with a 4 down 2 and a 2 down 2. Two rolls of ten saw him survive. His 8-1 then ran into the 2 residual for a 2 down 2 and also survived. These were some tough Brits (probably of Scottish descent). Rich had the CC odds at 7-6. So he would need a five or les to take out the defenders. I would need a four or less to take out his attackers. I was feeling a bit overconfident at this point. Rich cocked his dice and promptly rolled snakes, thus ending my dream of finishing in second place and dropping me to sixth. Rich after having won the last two St. Louis tourneys would now take second.
I felt I had played the best I have in a while and can take some consolation in having only lost to the first and second place finishers. This was my third St. Louis tourney, having finished third two years back and fourth last year. At sixth, I seem to be slipping, but fear not as I will return next year to once again challenge. Hopefully, my normal St. Louis roomie, the always entertaining Tom Cvetinovich, will be coming with me in 2019. I would like to extend my gratefulness to this year roomie, Bob the butcher Bendis and Stanlito, for helping me defray rooming costs. Also, congrats to Bob as he finished 4-0 and would have contended for the crown had he not come late and missed the first round.
In closing, if this tournament is not on your list please reconsider. This is one of the most competitive and best run tourneys I have ever participated in and there have been many. Til July rolls around next year, game much and roll low. (At least I have one of them down). PS: Thank you Mr. D. Wesley Vaughn for the bourbon!
Round two found me facing my March Madness roomie and eventual champion, Randy Schurtz. We chose Silesian Interlude with Randy taking the Russians against my German force. This was a tough fought match that could have gone either way, but Randy's superior defense and his ability to roll threes on his attacks soon spelled doom for the german attack. Always fun playing Randy and absolutely no shame in falling to the eventual champion. 1-1.
Round three found me matched with previous champion Craig Walters. We chose Tip Off at Tauroggen. After dicing for sides, I once again found myself attacking with the germans against a stout Russian defense. This was a game of constant eb and flow. Due to a late start and a lunch break, we were still quite involved as time was running out for the round. Of the eight building needed, I only had six but had flamethrowers across the street from two buildings which Craig only had one squad apiece occupying, and was end running for his three undefended left flank buildings. The germans at this point had suffered minimal losses whereas the Russians had only three and a half squads left. As time ran out, Craig, being the outstanding player and gentleman he is, conceded. 2-1.
Round four found me playing a personal favorite: Crickets in the Spring against the man who put the "grand" in Grand Rapids and traveling companion to ASLer extrordinare, Larry Zoet, the always enjoyable Mark DeVries. Although I gave Mark choice of side, he decided to dice it. He was awarded the Russian defense and for the fourth straight time, I would be attacking as the German. Mark's defense was unlike any others that I faced in this scenario which forced me to attack through my left flank as opposed to where I usually like to attack on the right. Mark aggressively pursued my Panthers and although one broke down the MA, he was fairly successful in using his 6 T34/85s to outmaneuver one while one of his HIP guns took care of the other. However, his use of the tanks to shore up his infantry came at a high cost as he would lose 5 of the 6 to PF and Psk shots. At game end the german had a 4 point advantage in armor CVP. A three building advantage and a 13 point advantage in infantry. Great scenario, great game, and worthy opponent. 3-1.
Finally, Sunday morning, sitting in third place behind Rich Domovic and Randy. Randy had it sewn up by this time having beaten Rich, myself, the fourth, and fifth place players. So he would play the seventh ranked player, Mike Reed. I was to be in a battle for second place with Rich. We chose Brigade Hill as we have a habit of playing each other in PTOs. The dice would give Rich the attacking british and I the defending Japanese. This would prove to be the tightest best played and most enjoyable scenario of the weekend. I set up a rear defense as I felt the british would overwhelm an up front line. This worked to perfection as now not only would Rich battle the Japs but also the terrain. Over the first few turns it seemed as though neither Rich nor I could convince our dice to roll any lower than an eight. We both rolled a lot of tens. Rich creeped forward with few if any losses. Although my Japs would eventually all make it back to defend the rear two hills. Rich brought in his reinforcements off the southwest edge to hiht the one rear hill from behind. This forced me to bring my reinforcements in the same area to equalize the situation. Going into Rich's last game turn, he had no unbroken squads remaining to attack the southwest hill and only one squad, one half squad, and an 8-1 leader to attack the other victory hex which had a Jap 8-0, second line squad, and a first line half squad in it. Rich assault moved the full squad adjacent and I hit him with a 6 down 1; a 4 down 1; a 2 down 1; and another 4 down 1; and a 4 flat. I managed only two pin checks which he passed. His 1/2 squad ran to an adjacent hex around the back and was hit with a 4 down 2 and a 2 down 2. Two rolls of ten saw him survive. His 8-1 then ran into the 2 residual for a 2 down 2 and also survived. These were some tough Brits (probably of Scottish descent). Rich had the CC odds at 7-6. So he would need a five or les to take out the defenders. I would need a four or less to take out his attackers. I was feeling a bit overconfident at this point. Rich cocked his dice and promptly rolled snakes, thus ending my dream of finishing in second place and dropping me to sixth. Rich after having won the last two St. Louis tourneys would now take second.
I felt I had played the best I have in a while and can take some consolation in having only lost to the first and second place finishers. This was my third St. Louis tourney, having finished third two years back and fourth last year. At sixth, I seem to be slipping, but fear not as I will return next year to once again challenge. Hopefully, my normal St. Louis roomie, the always entertaining Tom Cvetinovich, will be coming with me in 2019. I would like to extend my gratefulness to this year roomie, Bob the butcher Bendis and Stanlito, for helping me defray rooming costs. Also, congrats to Bob as he finished 4-0 and would have contended for the crown had he not come late and missed the first round.
In closing, if this tournament is not on your list please reconsider. This is one of the most competitive and best run tourneys I have ever participated in and there have been many. Til July rolls around next year, game much and roll low. (At least I have one of them down). PS: Thank you Mr. D. Wesley Vaughn for the bourbon!
