ANZACon 2026 - Melbourne, Australia, April 24-26

[bprobst]

Hi all,

The plan is to hold ANZACon again this year, same as last year, but maybe even better?

Please advise (if you haven’t already) if you intend to participate.

Dates will be Friday 24 April to Sunday 26 April, inclusive. As previously discussed, please note that Friday is NOT a public holiday, and make your plans accordingly.

It is expected that the site will remain the same: Reservoir Scout Hall, 73-77 Leamington Street, Reservoir VIC 3073. Tournament fee will likely be $50 per head for the weekend (tbc).

There will be two rounds each day Friday and Saturday, and a single round on the Sunday.

Feel free to pass this preliminary information on to anyone else that you think might be interested.

 

[bprobst]

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder to everyone that ANZACon 2026 is coming up soon. The hall has been booked, scenarios have been chosen, and Tim Reade has constructed a most unusual trophy for the winner!

I ask again, if you have not already advised me directly that you are likely to attend, please do so, as it assists me somewhat in organising things (particularly the restaurant bookings!).

On the subject of restaurants, current plans are to repeat the Italian and Indian bookings of last year. Please advise if anyone has any strong objections!

See you soon!

 

[bprobst]

5 scenarios were played over 3 days by 8 participants (including myself). One person made the poor choice of contracting Covid only a few days before the weekend, but was able to join in (with the agreement of all) via VASL; not ideal, but far better than not participating at all.

The scenarios played were:

1. RPT51 Arrivederci Nembo
2. SP204 Yankee Pride
3. AP167 All the King’s Enemies
4. D24 Back to School
5. SP150 The Legrew Maneuver

I’m pleased to report that everyone seemed to find these to be an interesting and enjoyable mix!

The final placings were:

Jonathan Woodger (4-1)
David Wallace (4-1)
Alan Smee (3-2)
Jamie Westlake (3-2)
Andy Rogers (2-3)
Bruce Probst (2-3)
Shane Pask (1-3) *
Gordon Stokes (0-4) *

* Did not play all rounds.

(Ties were broken by applying some arcane 4th-dimensional calculus.)

Many thanks to all of those who attended (even virtually), and to Jamie for organising the hall booking, and especially to Tim Reade who constructed the most unusual winner’s trophy.

Let’s have more of the same for next year!

 

[bprobst]

More photos

 

[Michael R]

That’s quite a unique trophy.

 

[Actionjick]

5 scenarios were played over 3 days by 8 participants (including myself). One person made the poor choice of contracting Covid only a few days before the weekend, but was able to join in (with the agreement of all) via VASL; not ideal, but far better than not participating at all.

The scenarios played were:

1. RPT51 Arrivederci Nembo
2. SP204 Yankee Pride
3. AP167 All the King’s Enemies
4. D24 Back to School
5. SP150 The Legrew Maneuver

I’m pleased to report that everyone seemed to find these to be an interesting and enjoyable mix!

The final placings were:

Jonathan Woodger (4-1)
David Wallace (4-1)
Alan Smee (3-2)
Jamie Westlake (3-2)
Andy Rogers (2-3)
Bruce Probst (2-3)
Shane Pask (1-3) *
Gordon Stokes (0-4) *

* Did not play all rounds.

(Ties were broken by applying some arcane 4th-dimensional calculus.)

Many thanks to all of those who attended (even virtually), and to Jamie for organising the hall booking, and especially to Tim Reade who constructed the most unusual winner’s trophy.

Let’s have more of the same for next year!

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Very nice accommodating the player with Covid.

I've wondered how a hybrid event of ftf and VASL would work. Are there any events that use that format?

 

[bprobst]

The VASL element was only done out of desperation. I’m not really in favour of a “mixed-media” event, I think a substantial part of the experience is the face-to-face interaction both with your opponent and those others playing in the same room. While Wal was “there” in one sense, in most other senses he wasn’t really “there” at all. That’s a loss for all of us, IMO.

Of course, we’ve done all-VASL events in the past and that works fine, and certainly other all-VASL tournaments are happening pretty much all the time. Again, though, while such events have their own charm, I don’t think they generate the same atmosphere that you get from having a bunch of like-minded people all together. (Not to mention the lack of any social dinner events.)

As for people all playing VASL in the same room against each other, well, while there are certainly “convenience” aspects to that, there’s a lot of “inconvenience” too. Everyone needs to wear headsets all day (otherwise there’s too much background noise), and that can get uncomfortable. And if I’m going to just play VASL, why do I want to outlay a good chunk of cash for travel, accommodation, etc.? Perhaps I’m just a traditionalist, but I think a f-t-f tournament should involve people playing f-t-f.

 

[synicbast]

[QUOTE="bprobst, post: 2217327, member: 2466"

Of course, we’ve done all-VASL events in the past and that works fine, and certainly other all-VASL tournaments are happening pretty much all the time.
[/QUOTE]

Not as many as you might hope or think. There are three live VASL (as opposed to PBem) running currently (the eASLOpen which usually runs March to May and offers 7 games; the VASL league which runs for most of the year but only has four rounds and has historically been plagued by forfeits and no shows; and a testbed month-long online tournament). but after May, new online tournaments are pretty much non-existent, probably becaue operating one is akin to herding cats at times.

 

[M.Koch]

How COOL is that, please?

 

[Sparafucil3]

How COOL is that, please?

A: VERY COOL! I really like the idea a lot.
B: As I recall, Dave and Martin made a mistake in this game and I think it has been corrected here in this trophy.

 

[Robin Reeve]

Perhaps I’m just a traditionalist, but I think a f-t-f tournament should involve people playing f-t-f.

I don't read any traditionalism in what you express.
I think that our human nature fully includes our body and that F-t-F offers a much more rewarding social experience than online interaction.
I remember, when the curfew imposed by the Covid stopped, my sigh of relief to be able to teach to students physically present in my classroom: I noted how much subtle body language and mutual interactions in 3D made things much more... "human".

 

[von Marwitz]

A: VERY COOL! I really like the idea a lot.

/Signed.

And even the counters are correctly clipped...

von Marwitz

 

[Sparafucil3]

And even the counters are correctly clipped...

Nope. Someone used one of those nanny-state Oregon clippers. Propper clipping is done with nail clippers.