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Afrika Korps (AFK) WBC 2017 Report
Updated February 13, 2018 Icon Key
 
22 Players Bert Schoose 2017 Status 2018 Status History/Laurels
  2017 Champion   Click box for details. Click box for details.
 

The Unforgiving Game

This year’s group of semifinalists featured a returning semifinalist from last year (Roy Parsons), a two-time AFK champion (Bert Schoose), a veteran journeyman player (Bill Morse) making his first semifinal appearance, and newcomer Dick Boyes. Defending champion Robert Frisby was knocked out of the semifinals on tiebreakers and finished 5th because of the new challenge match procedure that allows players in 5th through 8th place to challenge a player in 1st through 4th place in an effort to defeat that player and move up into the semifinals. Dick’s Boyes also successfully challenged GM Jonathan Lockwood to a rematch of their previous game where Jonathan’s British had defeated Dick’s Germans after a long grueling match that went to April 1942. This time Dick’s British managed to hold off Jonathan’s Germans in a similarly long match that culminated with Jonathan’s unsuccessful 1-1 Holy Hand Grenade (1-1 all-out assault on Tobruch) in July 1942, sending him to a 6th place finish.

The first semifinal match had Roy Parsons’ Germans going against Bert Schoose’s British, with Roy having bid one supply for the privilege. Roy had stormed into the semifinals as the #1 seed, defeating Jonathan Lockwood in the process with a stunning victory in the early rounds. Parsons directed an aggressive German offensive that had the Germans at the El Alamein line by July 1941! On Aug I 41, Parsons attacked along the coast with a 4-1 and 7-1 combination that eliminated 5 British factors. But then Bert Schoose demonstrated why Afrika Korps is called “The Unforgiving Game.” He noted that Parsons had advanced his 7-7-10 panzers with a 2-2-12 Recce to where they could be surrounded and counterattacked, albeit with 1-5 soak off attacks. Bert used three 1-5 soak off counterattacks and a 3-1 counterattack against 21/3 Recce. All of his attacks succeeded, which forced Ariete (4-5-6), 21/5 Panzer (7-7-10), and 15/8 Panzer (7-7-10) to counterattack without supply on Aug II, automatically eliminating them. Roy immediately conceded, sending him to a 3rd place finish, equaling his WBC 2016 performance.

The other semifinal match featured Bill Morse as the Germans taking on Dick Boyes as the British. Dick used an aggressive counterattacking style against Morse, eliminating a 7-7-10 on a 1-1 attack in the open on July I 41, and almost eliminated the other panzer regiment as well. But Bill counterattacked on Jul II 41, gaining an automatic victory against two exposed 1-1-6s in the open and exploiting the gap with 21/3 Recce and his remaining to take the British Home Base on Jul II 41. Undaunted, Dick cut off the Germans in Alexandria while he formed a new defensive line in an effort to hold off the rest of the Afrika Korps. Dick had cleverly positioned one of his supply units behind the Qattara Depression in U-64 (!), where they could supply all remaining British units even if the Home Base fell to the Germans! This forced Bill into a prolonged “cleanup” campaign with low odds counterattacks from both sides that gave Dick time to prepare his Tobruch defense. By the time Bill arrived at the gates of Tobruch, it was Sept II 41. The first German attack resulted in an exchange. Bill had supplies and forces sufficient for one more attack before the arrival of the British November reinforcements. On Oct II 41, Bill unleashed a 2-1 HHG on Tobruch, which fortunately for Bill resulted in a D back 2, taking the fortress and sending Bill to his first championship match, while Dick would finish 4th. in a worthy first playoff appearance.

In the championship match, Bert Schoose’s Germans took on Bill Morse as the British with no bid for supplies. The opening moves seemed to proceed normally until June I 41, when Bert once again struck with a decisive game-ending combination. Bert noted that Bill had 2 1-1-6s positioned along the coast road between Tobruch and Alexandria as delaying units, but Bert had cleverly positioned his units to take full advantage of Bill’s misplaced units. He executed an Automatic Victory (7-1) with both of his 7-7-10s against the two 1-1-6s on the coast road, then sent his 21/3 (2-2-12) to exploit the gap, having just enough movement factors to reach Alexandria and capture the British Home Base along with its supply unit! Realizing that such an early loss of Alexandria would give the Germans plenty of time to reduce Tobruch before the arrival of November reinforcements, Bill immediately conceded, giving Bert one of the fastest championship victories in the history of the Afrika Korps tournament, making him a three-time AFK champion and qualifying him for Boardmaster status. His skillful exploitation of his opponents’ errors show why Afrika Korps is truly The Unforgiving Game!

 
2017 Laurelists Repeating Laurelists: 3

Bill Morse Roy Parsons Dick Boyes Robert Frisby Jonathan Lockwood
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
 
Greg Hultgren and Bert Schoose discuss Board position Getting ready to start the battle
 
GM     Jonathan Lockwood  [18th Year]       P.O. Box 3436, Reston, VA 20195-1436
    jsl552009@hotmail.com    703-476-2005