advanced third reich [Updated August 2000]

A3R     
   10-24
   9-24     9-24
   9-17  

  Worthington

Herbert Gratz, Austria

2000 Champion

1st: Brock Heathcotte, AZ

2nd: Ryan Scoville, NY

2nd: Charles Krueger, MA

3rd: Michael Mitchell, GA

3rd: Randall MacInnis, GA
Event History
1991    None      -
1992    Joe Brophy       8
1993    Conrad Struckman      20
1994    Paul Ackerman      17
1995    James Sparks      41
1996    Bruce Harper*      17
1997    Rob Carl*      26
1998    David Middleton*      27
1999    Greg Wilson*     19
2000    Gratz-Scoville     25
    * = Global War    
ULTRA Ratings
 1    Bruce Harper      1972.47
 2    David des Jardins      1885.28
 3    Roger Hoffman      1872.99
 4    Bill Findora      1828.36
 5    Peter Baeckgren      1794.76
 6    C. Struckman      1788.13
 7    John van Valer      1786.44
 8    Brian Sutton      1784.87
 9    David Middleton      1779.88
10    M. Mitchell      1779.88

not your average tournament ...

The Advanced Third Reich tournament of earlier years replaced Global War this year. The latter's players also joined in the fun, but were not eligible for plaques. The tournament consisted of two rounds. Barbarossa was used for round one, and determined pairings for the second round. One teammember played the Axis, and the other the Russians. Each game used the same die rolls for both the Russian winter and the initiative. The score for each player was the number of objective hexes held at the end of the Winter 1943 turn. Out of four matches, two were blowouts, with the Axis achieving 13 points, in spite of two successive Russian winter die rolls of 6! The Russians won the other two, but by the close score of 7 to 6.

The second round was a campaign game with variants (four each), ending in Summer 1943, with victory city requirements to determine the winner. Herb Gratz (Austria) and Brock Heathcotte (Arizona) faced Michael Mitchell and Randall MacInnis (both from Georgia) for first place. Charles Krueger and Ryan Scoville (New England) faced the father-son team of Arthur and Joshua Winslow (Vermont) for second place.

Herb and Brock, as Allies, defeated Michael and Randall, as Axis. The Axis got off to a rough start in Poland, with 27 BRPs of losses! Their initial attack into France was also fateful, suffering a 4-6 result on a key 2-1 attack. The Allies took every advantage, and built up a sizeable Free French force in North Africa, while holding France until Winter 1940. Notwithstanding, the Axis were able to gain Spain as an associated ally in 1941, and prepared to invade England. Both sides were unprepared in
Spring. The Summer invasion was turned back with the help of some fleets moved out of the SW box. A second attempt in Fall was equally unsuccessful, and the Axis conceded. They did not have time enough to gain the Russian victory cities.

Randall and Ryan, as Axis, defeated Arthur and Joshua, as Allies. The game was slanted heavily towards an Axis victory when they exploited an Allied oversight and were able to conquer the Middle East. This gained them one victory city (Baghdad). The invasion of Russia eventually yielded the other victory cities (Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad). Arthur and Joshua put up a good fight, nonetheless.

Four games of the unpublished Global War 2000 were played. One new rule tested was the drawing of Ultra cards and Magic cards, to determine code-breaking effects for raiders and air-naval combat. Also tested was the reduction of the British armor available at start, along with harsher winter effects in Europe. These changes led to a reliable conquest of France by Summer 1940. At the same time, Britain did not make a major committment to France, and came out in good shape after France fell (as
did Germany). Each game resulted in some level of overall Axis victory. Japan was conquered in one match (but not Germany). Germany and Italy fell in another match (but not Japan). Everyone was pleased to see that each match reached 1945. Bruce Harper was given a certificate for Best European Axis play. Greg Bangs was given a certificate for Best European Allied play. Ed Schoenfeld was given a certificate for Best Japanese play. Bill Moodey was given a certificate for Best Pacific Allied play.

At the end of the conference, rules changes were discussed. The most substantive involve changes to French surrender that
will be simpler to compute, won't penalize France for using her air, and will encourage a British committment to the defense of France. Australia is now controlled by the U.S. if Japan declares war on Britain only. Rockets were discussed extensively. Based on Bruce's match, rockets again appear to be too strong, although the proper approach to making them attractive to
research, but not potentially decisive, is difficult to achieve. Although more playtesting is required to determine whether the game is balanced, it appears quite stable.

Everyone enjoyed the tournament and the same approach will be taken next year. The A3R tournament format may be revised. More detailed descriptions of the games played will be published in a future issue of Ultra.

 GM      Mike Crowe  [2nd Year]   5507 Callander Dr, Springfield, VA 22151
    Crowemike@aol.com   NA

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