asl starter kit [Updated October 2007]  

2007 WBC Report  

  2008 Status: pending December Membership Trial Vote

Tom McCorry, VA

2007 Champion

Offsite links:

 
Consimworld Multi-Man Publishing
Event History
2004    Kevin Boles     30
2005     Daniel Leader     24
2006     Jim Munson     22
2007     Tom McCorry     18

 Laurels 

 Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
   1.  Jim Munson         UT    06     30
   2.  Daniel Leader      MA    05     30
   3.  Kevin Boles        AL    04     30
   4.  Peter Pollard      TN    07     30
   5.  John Vasilakos     VA    07     22
   6.  Tom McCorry        VA    07     20
   7.  Buck Markowitz     DC    06     18
   8.  Allen Hill         MD    04     18
   9.  Andres Dunn        MD    07     14
  10.  Bob Runnicles      FL    05     12
  11.  Andrew Maly        MD    04     12
  12.  Scott Sirianna     NY    06      9
  13.  Mark Guttag        VA    05      9
  14.  Nathan Hill        MD    04      9
  15.  Jonathan Squibb    PA    07      6
  16.  Alan Dickson       ME    04      6
  17.  Gary Phillips      MD    06      3
  18.  Michael Pacheco    CA    05      3
  19.  Matt Kirschenbaum  MD    04      3
  20.  Eric Filipkowski   MD    07      2

2007 Laurelists

Pete Pollard, TN
2nd

Andres Dunn, MD
3rd

Jonathan Squibb, PA
4th

John Vasilakos, VA
5th

Eric Filipkowski, MD
6th

Past Winners

Kevin Boles, AL
2004

Daniel Leader, MA
2005

Jim Munson, UT
2006

New and old Squad Leader players alike try their hand at the ASL Starter Kit but the numbers have declined enough to require trial status next year.

A pair of original Squad Leader players met in the Starter Kit Final this year with Tom McCorry (left) topping Pete Pollard.

The Rebirth : ASL Deja Vu

After a demo that saw about eight people come and go over the course of two hours, 18 players were matched randomly depending on who had a copy of the game (as they were throughout the event). Congratulations to ASL playtester Tom McCorry for going 4-0 to win the event this year.  Tom had been a regular ASL playtester for a number of years and was competing in the regular ASL pre-con only a couple of years ago. Tom didnít have an easy road to victory, however.

The first two rounds featured brand new scenarios that will eventually see publication in Operations magazine. The first, No Monumental Acclaim, split evenly between the attacking Americans and defending Germans. Players seemed to think it favored the Germans a bit, but form held. Tom McCorry's Germans stood strong against past runner-up Allen Hill, but teenagers Andy Dunn and Jonathan Squibb were among the successful Americans.

Round 2 saw masses of Italians attacking first-line Americans in Going to New York and split evenly between the two sides. Tom McCorry saw his Italians matched against the Americans of last year's third-place finisher John Vasilaskos. John]s poor setup doomed him, despite some hot dice in the mid-game. Allen Hill was pressed in as the eliminator, and by winning reduced the field to the four semi-finalists, including the two teenagers Andy and Jonathan and the 2005 runner-up Pete Pollard.

Round 3 featured scenario S20 Joseph 351, and paired Squad Leader grognard Pete Pollard versus teenager Jonathan Squibb and Tom McCorry versus Andy Dunn. Experience won out in both games.  Pete's Germans just managed to exit enough for victory while Andy's Germans stalled while heading for the exit area and so fell just short, leaving Tom McCorry as the only person to have beaten both father (fellow ASL playtester Ken Dunn) in the ASL Precon, and son in the ASL Starter Kit tournament (Andy).

For the final round Pete Pollard and Tom McCorry chose to play S2 War of the Rats. Although the Russian reinforcements were delayed, they were not needed as Pete's Germans couldnít mount a convincing attack. His assault engineers repeatedly failed to lay smoke to cover the attack, and his elite Germans were repeatedly broken or pinned by Russian conscripts, even in the safety of stone buildings. Adding insult to injury, the final Close Combat ended with a Russian conscript braving the odds to kill an assault engineer and 9-1 leader. Ho hum. It's tough to beat skill and luck, which is why Pete came up second again and Tom McCorry earned the wood for the 2007 ASL Starter Kit tournament.

Thanks again to the 18 great sports who graced this tournament with their presence, exhibiting non-stop good sportsmanship throughout. I didnít hear any complaints, and I was pleased to see the two scenarios work out so well. Thanks to Allen Hill for serving as an eliminator. Thanks to Ken Dunn for a great job as Assistant GM. And congratulations again to Tom McCorry, proving that while it is important to be lucky, it is better to be good.

 GM      Perry Cocke  [4th Year]   NA
   PerryCocke@comcast.net   NA

2007 Preview Page | View the Icon Key | Return to main BPA page