Tim Carnahan vs Pete Pollard	Chuck Leonard vs Andrew Cummins

2013 was Squad Leader's 23rd year of competition under Don Greenwood at The World Boardgaming Championships (WBC) and it's predecessor Avaloncon. A little less for wear and tear is true of both the game boxes and a few players in attendance this year, each with color fading and sides starting to bulge a little. Although the 'new game smell' is long gone, both the game and player base remain remarkably resistant to the passage of time. The players sit across the board through years untold, with many opponents long ago a memory, to face off once again in the Streets of Stalingrad.

19 such worthies tested their tactical prowess and luck in 39 games of Squad Leader (19), Cross of Iron (13), Crescendo of Doom (3) and G. I.: Anvil of Victory (2.) Eight of them had participated in at least seven of the past eight years and six put their toe in the water for the first time. This year's first ever demonstration of the game as a "B" event actually added to the players list. The GM assisted players in finding games and play occurred in free form throughout the week and the preceding Pre-con. Players earned points for winning and bonus points for defeating better players. The four highest scoring players faced off in the elimination rounds at the end of the week.

Players could select from among 38 approved scenarios (and by mutual agreement many more unapproved scenarios) that covered specific actions in WWII including the American crossing of the Rhine at Hitdorf, the 82nd Airborne charged with blocking German troop movement in Sicily, the German capture of Balta, the Russian 37th Guards counterattacking German positions in Stalingrad and many more. The average scenario size was 60 counters with the smallest having ten counters and the largest having 164. Scenarios are rated by their record and an 'infantry to AFV' scale that assists the selection of an appropriate scenario. The scenarios included choices of infantry only, combined arms and AFV only.

Squad Leader play slowed on Thursday when several die-hard squad leaders dropped their rifles and took to the skies for a game of B-17: Queen of the Skies. These downed Air Crews were quickly captured and immediately returned to the front lines of Squad Leader, this GM was personally credited with four such captures.

Nevertheless, the creme always rises to the top. The semifinals paired four veteran foot sloggers with ten titles between them who were determined to up that number to 11. Bill Thomson and Pete Pollard played Mogilev, an On All Fronts scenario that charges the Germans with clearing a hill and roadway of all Russian units. The Germans receive seven squads and half-tracks, two PSW 222 armored cars and one Panzerjager I with a 47L gun. The Russians are challenged with keeping alive at least one unit out of eight inexperienced squads, eight regular squads and two T-26s. The inexperienced units, as they often did, broke and ran at the sight of the German half-tracks. Concentrating force and rolling low sealed the demise of the regular Russian troops and their armor was soon smoldering from the Panzerjager positioned on the hill. German victory.

Scott Bramley and Andrew Cummings played Eviction Notice, a Squad Leader Academy scenario in 1944 France with the Americans assaulting a German observation post. Six American squads and armor, including a 24 IFT M-16 'Chopper' strike hard at eight fanatic German squads guarding the observation post and their reinforcing STGs and Demolition Charge toting Assault Engineers. The OP was almost in American hands when their Demolition Charge rubbled the only stairs up to the second level and denied them access to the sole German leader occupying the OP. The last turn found the German leader hoping the building would offer enough protection from withering point blank fire and the Americans exhausting almost all of their firepower before eliminating him for a victory.

So fate thus found Bill and Scott squaring off in 'Tooth and Nail' which takes us to the Yelnia Salient during August of 1941. We find the Germans denuded of Panzer support and fending off Zhukov's first sustained offensive. This Scenario charges the Russians to occupy with a non-broken, non-berserk, melee free squad any six of nine victory hexes dotted across the board. They have a force of 24 squads and four T-34s to accomplish this task. The Germans start with nine squads, two ATGs and are reinforced with three Assault Engineers toting a Flamethrower and Demolition Charges, a STG III and two armed half-tracks.

Bill fought his Russians down the board and found himself in need of one more victory location for a win. The brave Russians try firing to clear a path for the T-34 but it is stopped by an IM roll of '1,1'. The last two charging Russian squads found an untimely demise in another KIA from the STG. The Germans hold four Victory Locations for a win and Scott Bramley joined the Band of Brothers of WBC champions.

The full After Action Report of 'Tooth and Nail' is here, remember to click 'display images'.

Links:

Eviction Notice Scenario Card: https://www.googledrive.com/host/0BxBhV3GHa1N8WGNrN0JJZGxRaUk/ADA00103A.pdf

Tooth and Nail Scenario Card: https://www.googledrive.com/host/0BxBhV3GHa1N8WGNrN0JJZGxRaUk/ADA00102A.pdf

Tooth and Nail AAR:

https://sites.google.com/site/2012squadleadertourny/squad-leader-after-acton-reports?place=msg%2Fsquad-leader-aars%2FncElEW5NpKk%2FCzv7E8TDwhsJ

Squad Leader Academy Scenarios: http://www.wargameacademy.org/sqla/Scenarios/ScenariosSqla/index.html

Frequent adversaries Bill Thomson and Pete Pollard meet again.	Defending champion Bill Thomson loses title to Scott Bramley.