The 2001 tournament was run along the lines of a role-playing game. Each player took on the role of a trooper sent on a mission to rescue survivors at Itzatrap Outpost on planet Yuldye (pronounced "you'll die"). If the player's character was killed by Arachnids during the mission, he was out of the game.

Twelve players volunteered for the mission, divided evenly between two squads. Each squad pursued the same mission but on separate boards. The six-man squad started in the valley of Roughneck Quadrant and had to cross the high plateau to the south into the next valley (Blackguard Quadrant) where Itzatrap Outpost sat. As GM, I kept the Outpost, Bugs and Bug Holes hidden from view until at least one of the squad members had a line of sight to that object. Sad to say, of the twelve volunteers, only three survived the mission, once more proving what Johnny Rico says in the movie: "M.I. does the dying!"

Squad 1 demonstrated how to snafu the mission in four short turns. Though any one of the six members could have carried a radio (as either Carmen or Zander), which could have been used to call in a tactical strike or to call for retrieval, they elected to go instead as follows:
Rasczak: Tim Evinger
Johnny: Jason Levine (2000 winner)
Dizzy: Nick Evinger
Ace: Mike Lam
Sugar: Joseph Sposito
Nuke: Lance Fogel
The players were informed at the start of the mission that Itzatrap Outpost was equipped with a T-50 chain gun, but that weapon might or might not be serviceable. The outpost also contained a radio link, so if a squad member could get to the center of the outpost, he could call for retrieval.

On turn 2, most of Squad 1 had reached the top of the plateau to discover a Tanker, Hopper and six Warriors waiting for them. The Arachnid rush seemed to unnerve the squad because they couldn't shoot straight. Rasczak did manage to take out two Bugs (one in a last gasp effort). Nuke jammed his weapon, and though his misfired round killed a Warrior, a Hopper impaled him from behind. Dizzy's firing was, well, dizzy and missed. She died quickly in the front line. Ace, Sugar and Johnny then tried to dash across the plateau, but the Bugs stopped them short. Ace and Sugar fell first. Johnny was the last trooper firing, but when attacked from all sides he had only managed to kill a single Bug.

The Squad 1 players didn't get to play very long on account of poor luck. This highlighted the flaw in the tournament format. If STP uses this format again in 2002 (but with a different mission), it will be changed so that any player who is killed early can come back later in the scenario as a reinforcement brought down on a retrieval boat or drop ship. This gives the player a second chance.

Squad 2 consisted of the following personnel, in order of command rank:
Rasczak: Nick Kramer
Dizzy: Robert Eastman
Shujumi: Mike Sincavage
Sugar: Daniel Hoffman
Nuke: Jeff Ribeiro
Zander: Andy Lewis

The same formation of Bugs attacked them on Turn 2, but because the squad had climbed the plateau a little further west than Squad 1 had, fewer Bugs could reach them in the initial rush. Unfortunately, Sugar fell in the attack, so the squad lost its man with the scoped rifle. Nuke put a round into a Bug Hole, closing it, and the squad was able to reach the south edge of the plateau without further loss. Itzatrap Outpost lay before them in the valley. Two Warriors were to the south of the outpost, and there were also two craters in the valley floor (which the squad members could not see into).

Members of the squad entered the outpost and discovered a trail of human blood leading off to the south in the direction of the two Warriors who were very slowly moving away from the outpost. Dizzy climbed the chaingun tower and quickly fixed the jammed weapon, while Rasczak and other members of the squad moved south to investigate the nearest crater. Rasczak reached the crater's edge to find it occupied by a Tanker and two Warriors. At this same moment, a Hopper and two more Warriors popped out of the other crater. Rasczak died in the rush. Nuke plugged the hole in the nearest crater, while Dizzy chopped down some Warriors with the chaingun. Nuke unwisely sent another round after the two distant Warriors who were escaping to the southwest. He killed one of them, but it happened to be dragging a wounded trooper from Itzatrap Outpost, who was also killed in the blast.

Zander suspected there was another Bug Hole in the other crater, so he called in a tactical strike, but it missed the Hole. Zander and Shujumi then chased down the one fleeing Warrior. Shujumi was able to kill it and rescue the wounded trooper it had been carrying. Dizzy stood on watch at the chaingun while Nuke moved up to the other crater and plugged the Hole. However, the last few Bugs brought down Nuke, who was out of rounds and throwing grenades, before Dizzy could finish them off. As the highest ranking survivor, Dizzy ordered Zander to call a retrieval boat. Dizzy (Robert Eastman), Shujumi (Mike Sincavage), Zander (Andy Lewis) and the wounded trooper were thus rescued. Because they had completed the mission and made it back alive, Eastman, Sincavage and Lewis will each receive one free re-roll in the 2002 STP tournament, to be used at their discretion.

Jeff Ribeiro as Nuke had scored the most points, even with the penalty of killing a wounded trooper with one of his rounds (in hindsight, I should have made the penalty greater), and even though Nuke died in the mission. Robert Eastman (Dizzy) and Mike Sincavage (Shujumi) each had the next highest score, but since Dizzy had a higher rank than Shujumi, Robert nudged into second place. Thanks to all for playing, and I hope we can do it again next year.