Chris Harris (right) accepts congratulations from Carl Copeland in a preliminary game as 2006 champion Paul Fletcher watches. Harris finished 4th overall.	Tom Oleson (left) and Bob Ryan battle it out in the Final. Tom's revised maps and scenarios published on his own dime have breathed new life into a classic wargame.

Venerable grognard Tom Oleson once again devoted his efforts, time, dedication, and innovation to the Anzio experience.  This year he came equipped with a new rulebook for the game (minor clarifications only); at his own expense! The Sicilia scenario introduced last year remained popular. It has units with undetermined strength (Italians) and is only six turns long.  This makes it a popular option to introduce new players to the Anzio event. As in 2007, Bruno Sinigaglio graciously agreed to GM the event during the 'Grognard' Pre-Con due to the GM not being able to arrive until Monday.

The points scoring system to advance four finalists to the semi-finals the last few years was once again used. The loser in any scenario is awarded one point. A winner of the 15-turn Anzio scenario earned 15 points.  The Sicilia scenario was worth five points and the 21 turn combined Sicilia and Anzio earned 21 points.  However, a winner also gains one bonus point for each win a loser previously had.  In addition, only the best three games counted for each player.  This effectively deals with the issue of a contestant playing more games than any other and/or a player only being involved in matches with less experienced players. 

At 5:00 PM on Friday the four highest scoring players entered into the single elimination portion of the tournament. Those four players were:

1.     Tom Oleson 79 pts

2.     Bob Ryan 65 pts

3.     Robert Frisby 44 pts

4.     Chris Harris 44 pts

The semi-final matches were Tom vs. Chris and Bob vs. Robert. Tom Oleson was the first to move on to the Final round.

The other match had Bob with the 16th Panzer guarding the beaches at Termoli so Robert came ashore at Terracina. The Germans eliminated the Port at Taranto on the September 2 turn and put pressure on the Allied beachhead. The Allies had a long ways to go from the toe to get help up to the invasion force without the use of Taranto. A mistake by Bob on the September 4 turn allowed Robert to execute a Retreat Forward and effectively relieved the immediate pressure at Terracina. While the Germans held at Terracina, they had to give ground, albeit grudgingly, to the Allied forces advancing northward up the boot. Robert executed the Second Invasion at Termoli on the November 2 turn. The German was able to create a line across the peninsula from Termoli to Naples to keep the Allied forces at Terracina isolated. The game came down to a December 3 counter-attack at Pescara by the Germans that was successful. 

The Final began Saturday morning with Tom's Allies landing at Salerno. The game proceeded in what would be called a relatively 'normal' fashion with both sides punching and counter-punching until the November 1 turn when the Allies invaded at Mondragone! The second invasion had effectively cut-off two German divisions just north of Naples. The German had protected Rome, Termoli and Terracina from the second invasion, but did not have enough units to cover their rear area at Mondragone. The Germans counter-attacked and dug in from Formia to Foggia. The November 3 turn saw the Allies attacking full bore toward Termoli. The Allies still had their fourth Port counter in hand and wanted to open a Port on the east side of the boot (though this never did happen). On the December 2 turn the Allies went back to putting the pressure on at Formia, but could not get even a 'stick' to force the German to either attack or backup. By holding at Formia to protect Terracina and stacking as much as possible at Casino the game came down to a series of attacks by the Allies toward Termoli. The game ended after the December II turn following two consecutive '1' die rolls by the Germans. So, for yet another year, the Anzio Final was memorable for an unusual course of play. 

Lastly, many thanks are again due to Bill Morse for the time he contributed in logging all matches, keeping score, posting results, etc.  Thia tournament as well as all the Grognard events owes much to his efforts.