combat commander  

Updated 11/30/2009

2009 WBC Report  

 2010 Status: pending 2010 GM commitment

Bob Heinzmann, FL

2009 Champion

Offsite Links

  ConsimWorld 

Event History
2007    Bob Heinzmann      48
2008    Mike Galandiuk     55
2009    Bob Heinzmann     56
 Laurels

 Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
   1.  Bob Heinzmann      FL    09     88
   2.  Mike Galandiuk     OH    08     40
   3.  Bryan Collars      SC    09     32
   4.  Brian Hanchek      MA    09     24
   5.  David desJardins   CA    07     24
   6.  Rob Winslow        NY    09     16
   7.  Greg Courter       MI    08     16
   8.  Chris Storzillo    NJ    07     16
   9.  Jim Mehl           VA    09     12
  10.  Mark McBride       OH    08     12
  11.  Ray Stakenas       MI    07     12
  12.  Bruce Young        SC    07      8
  13.  Dan Dolan Sr       NJ    09      4
  14.  Joe Chacon         VA    08      4
  15.  Dennis Nicholson   NY    07      4
   

2009 Laurelists                                                  Repeating Laurelists 

Brian Hanechek, MA
2nd

Rob Winslow, NY
3rd

Jim Mehl, VA
4th

Bryan Collars, SC
5th

Dan Dolan, NJ
6th


Past Champions

Bob Heinzmann, FL
2007, 2009

Mike Galandiuk, OH
2008

 

The button man, Greg Schmittgens, battles Eric Martin.

John Wetherell and Bryan Collars trade war stories.

Balanced and Clear Again ...

Combat Commander celebrated its third year at WBC by using scenarios specially designed for this tournament. The scenarios went the length of the war all the way from 1939 (The Winter War) to Berlin in 1945, and also including action in the Pacific Theater of World War 2.

56 gamers including both familiar names and new faces dueled over a Mulligan round on Wednesday morning and then into six Single Elimination rounds starting Friday afternoon and ending Saturday morning.

As always, play was fast and furious and fun was had all around. Some of the more memorable moments included yours truly losing in the first round on the last turn of the card as my opponent's British Commandos won their close combat with my conscripts holding the needed bridge hex for victory (scenario based on Pegasus Bridge  - part of D-Day). Also memorable was a 1939 Soviets versus Finns scenario that had a Hamlet ending - virtually everyone on both sides was destroyed.

Ultimately the tournament came down to a tense final between original champion Bob Heinzman's Canadians and Brian Hanchek's Germans fighting over the Italian city of Ortona in 1943. Although Brian put up a very good fight, Bob ultimately ground him down and reclaimed his crown. As the winner, Bob claimed the DVD set of The Rat Patrol series, and Brian claimed the DVD of Combat Season 2 Mission 1.

Play balance this year fared very well, as the scenarios all had roughly even records between sides. As these scenarios were designed using the built in scenario designer provided with the game it stands as a testament to the strength of that system. The scenarios will be posted on both ConsimWorld and BoardgameGeek for the enjoyment of those who did not attend.

As in previous years, rules questions were minimal and readily answerable from the rulebook.  This is a further testimony to the rules, which are widely considered one of the best written rulesets in the hobby.

I want to extend special thanks to Bryan Collars, who not only went way above and beyond in his conduct as Assistant GM but also was my nominee for Sportsman of the Year for his conduct in the games he played. The color scenario cards enjoyed by everyone were created by Bryan, who also collaborated with me in scenario design and provided the necessary loud voice to get everyone's attention when I was not equal to the task. Also I want to thank everyone who played and made this event the success it was.

Finally, I look forward to next year as Combat Commander tries to post its fourth straight year of increasing attendance. You the player can have input into the design of the event by visiting the Combat Commander discussion topic on ConSimWorld.

 

Mike Stanley and James Terry wage war with cards.

Bob Heinzmann regains his title in the Final with Brian Hanechek.
 GM      Joel Tamburo [3rd Year]  NA
    bereancouncil@mac.com   NA

2009 Preview Page | View the Icon Key | Return to main BPA page