Kursk: August 1943. The men were poised at the edge of the street, ready to make the assault. The Russian Lieutenant stood up and made the signal to advance. As the squads ran across the street, German machineguns and rifles opened fire, mowing the men down. The Russians died in the streets, the last hope of taking the village gone with their last breath. What end of the barrel will you be on this year?

This is Squad Leader, a game of WWII tactical combat in Europe. Now you make the instant decisions resulting in life or death of your men, victory or defeat for your army, for you are the Squad Leader. You direct the fire of your squad, select your plan of attack, or set your defenses against massed Russian human wave or armor assaults. Will that hedgerow provide adequate cover for your flanking efforts, or will your men be cut down by the American machinegun position in the woods?

The decision is irrevocable and yours alone. You must live or die by the results.

This Squad Leader tournament provides you with two goals. One is to defeat your enemy in each battle and to be crowned the champion of this year's competition. The second goal is to raise the rank of your Personal Leader Counter (PLC) to the highest possible standing. Each act of daring or cowardice by your PLC will not go unnoticed on this battlefield. Who will
have the highest rankest PLC at the end? Will he get there through acts of bravado or by steadily pushing his men to greatness? You will decide.

Selected Scenarios

These scenarios are selected for either their brevity in turns, small opposing forces or their play balance. Each round will have one scenario from each level of play in the Squad Leader system, up to GI: Anvil of Victory. To determine which level of play, both players will agree upon the level for each round. If the level of play cannot be agreed, then the Squad Leader scenario for that round will be played. Once the level of play is determined, one die will be rolled to determine who plays what side. Example: a roll of 1-3 "Player A" is the Germans, 4-6 "Player B" is the Germans.

Copies of these scenarios will be available at the tournament. Due to the nature of some of these scenarios, certain adjustments or rules clarifications have been added.  The tournament scenarios will be defined and posted by June 30, 2009 on the Squad Leader Academy website.  Two selections will be defined for SQL and COI for each round to accommodate both slow/rusty players  and faster/veteran players.  Single selections for each round for COD and GIA pairings will also be defined.

http://www.wargameacademy.org/SQLA

Matched players in this Squad Leader Series event play at the lowest agreed rules level (SQL/COI.COD/GIA) from selected scenarios for that round; players bidding for sides. Typically four rounds are used but a fifth may be required. Best Personal Leader competition runs in parallel. Limited advance matches can be arranged by prior GM agreement to facilitate scheduling.  SQLA rule conventions and compiled Q/A are in force to supplement the last published rulebooks:  SQL (4th); COI (4th); COD (1st); and GIA (2nd).  SQLA tournament edition rulebooks if completed will be made available to all participants. 

Additional plaques are presented by the GM for the Best Personal Leader performance and elimination of the defending PLC champ (Bill Thomson).