Art Lupinacci (left) managed to return to the Final of his design again but is yet to win it.	Damn ... these counters get better looking all the time.

The field for the second Russia Besieged tournament was slightly larger than the first and much improved in quality. Three more veteran wargamers joined the field and one of the returnees had noticeably elevated his game. The seven-turn scenario ending in May/June 1942 was played.

Even though the average bid was up from last year, the Russians won all but one of the games played. Someone forgot to tell "newcomer" Tracy James about the Russian edge. Jim defeated a good player in Round 1 with the Germans and had a 60% chance of capturing Kharkov on the last turn in Round 2 to win again with the Germans against a returning laurelist. James Tracy earned best German player honors.

In another good preliminary game, Charles Drozd's Germans had veteran James Miller on the ropes in Fall 1941 with Lt Mud / Lt Mud weather rolls in both Sep/ Oct and Nov/Dec. However, a strong Russian winter offensive eliminated a dozen German units and left them in a weak position by the spring of 1942.

In the semi-finals, James Miller's Germans squared off against Art Lupinacci. Art made the high bid of the tournament (18 RPs) to play the Russians. Note: The average bid after Round 1 was 13. The Germans got off to a good start eliminating or trapping 18 units but suffered a couple of X2 results. Turn 2 saw German panzers racing towards Leningrad and Veliki-Luki but also five more X2 rolls. The German fortunes improved with Clear / Clear in Sep/Oct and Army Group South swept into Dnepropetrovsk. Nov/Dec saw Lt Mud/Snow weather and a German assault on Leningrad supported by four Stukas. The Russians counterattacked in the center and inflicted heavy German casualties. The Germans did get Lt Mud/Clear in Mar/Apr but were too weak to mount a major offensive.

In the Final, Rob Beyma bid 14 to take the Russians. Art's Germans had a good first turn eliminating 15 units and cutting off four more while losing only a step. On Turn 2, the main German panzer force crossed the Dnepr bend and captured Smolensk while positioning themselves well for Turn 3. Army Group Rumania supported by two panzer corps took Odessa while the remnants of the Baltic and Kiev Military Districts were mopped up. Rob reluctantly fell back, abandoning Bryansk to defend Moscow, Tula, and Kursk.

Rob was relieved when a Lt Mud/Lt Mud was rolled for Turn 3. However, Art noticed that Leningrad was defended only by a weak infantry army. Art railed up a German reinforcement from Helsinki and invaded next to Leningrad on the 2nd Impulse and added two Stukas. Rob tossed in Zhukov on defense but the Germans cleared Leningrad on a '9' roll (X2). The Russians rushed reinforcements to the Leningrad area and made a 1-1 (+1) counterattack. An '8' (D1) was rolled and Leningrad was saved. The Russians also counterattacked west of Dnepropetrovsk, eliminating a 4-5 on a 5-1 but losing a 5-4 on a 1-3. A 2nd Impulse 1-1 resulted in an AR. The Germans rolled Lt Mud/Mud in Nov/Dec. Art assessed the situation, including the 48 Russian units on the board, and conceded the game, and Rob had his second Russia Besieged plaque.

Next year we plan to add a Mulligan Round so that everyone who wants to can play at least two games. We also plan to play with the 2nd edition rules in 2008.

RUSSIA BESIEGED: Overview: Armchair warrior is proud to host the first BPA Sponsored "RBS PBeM Tournament". This single-elimination tournament will be used to crown a "Wood-worthy" RBS champion in the newest BPA Century event. Starting date is November 1st. Full details are available at http://armchair-warrior.tripod.com/id3.html  Contact jeff.lange@mac.com