Victory Cut Short
18 players showed for the 2005 Squad Leader event at Lancaster,
PA. Even though the numbers fell 25% from last year's record
total, the event still draws new players. Some of the usual
suspects were not around this year, including the scheduled
GM, Bill Thomson. 21 games were played using scenarios selected
entirely from the Squad Leader level of play. These scenarios
included a few from the initial 12 provided in the game as well
as scenarios developed from On All Fronts, Alan Yngve and Bill
Thomson.
Along with the standard play for the WBC plaques, a Personal
Leader (PLC) competition ran concurrently to add some flair to
each game. As long as the player'ss PLC survived each round;
he was eligible to win a plaque for best PLC. Also, whoever kills
the PLC of the previous year's competition would receive the
,"Pollard Memorial" plaque. Pete Pollard won last
year's competition so the plaque's name was appropriate, as
it so often is. However, Pete Pollard's PLC somehow slipped
past the sniper scope this year and this year's PLC winner would
attempt to stay out of view of the sniper's scope.
Round 1 saw a mix of scenarios with a few of the top seeded players
suffering a loss. Andrew Cummins' Germans sliced through the
American defense in Scenario 7 "Buchholz Station,".
The GIs folded under the heavy firepower and well directed
shots. Bob Menzel's German defenders staved off a Russian infiltration
in Alpha 1 (Alan Yngve's scenario). In Bill Thomson designed
scenario, Recon in Force, Dan Leader's American troops made
good progress through the wheatfields, advancing toward Mike
Pacheco's German defenders. Dan led his troops to each objective,
but was turned back at the last building, providing a victory
for Mike. In another game of "Recon in Force", Eric
Strange's Germans held the crossroads from the American attackers.
Bill Beswick made his advance after disrupting the southern
flank of the German defense. Eric rallied his troops and brought
to bear a heavy machinegun onto the U.S. advance. Eric's machinegun
fire destroyed the American forces in the north and prevented
Bll from securing the final objective.
In Round 2, Eric Stranger continued his winning streak beating
back the Germans at the "Tractor Works," in scenario
2. Eric also enjoyed the benefits of promoting his PLC after
round 1. His leader did quite well in his first round game,
promoting him to 2nd Lieutenant. Eric's Russians swarmed Andrew
Cummins Germans and pushed him out of the tractor works. Dan
Leader's Russians overwhelmed Allen Kaplan's defenders in scenario
1, ,"The Guards Counterattack".. Bob Menzel defeated
Eric Filipkowski in Alan Yngve's scenario Delta "Backs
to the Sea,"
In Round 3, the competitors were reduced to the stalwart few,
but this did not reduce the excitement. Andrew Cummins led
the Russian forces in Bill Thomson's ,"Tooth and Nail,".
His troops pushed through withering fire from Mike Pacheco's
Germans, taking many victory locations. The Russian armored
support, four T-34's, ranged far ahead of the tired infantry,
and harassed the German troops giving time for the Russian infantry
support to catch up. The German armored support entered into
the fray. Mike brought in his halftracks first, hoping to draw
fire from the T-34's. These halftracks, surviving the defensive
fire, now had free range to attack the infantry. After overrunning
many troops and strategically positioning the vehicles near rout
areas, the halftracks eliminated eight squads, turning the tide
for the Germans. The Russian commander's words describing those
halftracks cannot be placed on this page without endangering
our PG rating. Andrew's PLC did do well in this round pushing
him ahead of most of the competition.
The final round saw Eric Stranger and Mike Pacheco vying for
the plaque. Mike Pacheco set up his German defenders in Bill
Thomson's "Eviction Notice". Eric brought on his Americans,
looping around the German defenses, in the hopes of wresting
control of the key building. The U.S. troops were led by Eric's
PLC, a newly promoted Captain, and the highest-ranking PLC in
the tournament. Though Eric's troops entered the German village
nearly unscathed, Mike's Germans were able to regroup and fall
back to a tighter defensive ring around the main building. Unfortunately,
this round started late, on Sunday morning and the completion
was deferred to an online play with VSQL. This did not progress
and after much mental wrangling from the GM, it was finally
adjudicated by a five-member panel (author and GM excluded).
Though Eric's forces appeared well positioned and ready to attack
the victory location, four of the five panel members voted in
favor of the German defenders.
From this adjudication, Mike Pacheco wins the Squad Leader event
and Eric Stranger takes the PLC competition. It has been determined
that Bill Thomson must make it to Lancaster next year to take
over this event and ensure that the rounds are completed as designed,
precluding the need for future adjudications.
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