bitter woods [Updated October 2005]  

2005 WBC Report    

 2006 Status: pending 2006 GM commitment

Randy Heller, NH

2005 Champion


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WBC Event History
1999    Phil Evans     19
2000    Randy Heller     16
2001    Rich Ogata     14
2002    Tom Gregorio     16
2003    Bob Ryan     17
2004    Bob Ryan     20
2005    Randy Heller     20

PBeM Event History
2000    Randy Heller     20
2001    Bob Ryan     27
2002    Tom Gregorio     25
2005    Phil Evans     27

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Randy Heller       NH    05    132
  2.  Bob Ryan           MI    05    116
  3.  Phil Evans         VA    05     94
  4.  Tom Gregorio       PA    05     79
  5.  Forrest Pafenberg  VA    05     42
  6.  Mike Mitchell      GA    02     38
  7.  John Grant Jr      CT    01     35
  8.  Rich Ogata         VA    01     30
  9.  Mike Pacheco       CA    05     24
 10.  Dan Tierney        CA    05     18
 11.  Bruno Sinigaglio   AK    01     15
 12.  Marty Musella      VA    05      9
 13.  John Popiden       CA    04      9
 14.  Nick Frydas        UK    03      9
 15.  Doug James         NC    01      9
 16.  Jim Tracy          OH    05      7
 17.  Steve Likevich     OH    00      6
 18.  Jeff Hacker        PA    05      6
 19.  Lance Roberts      AK    05      3
 20.  Rob Mull           CO    02      3
 21.  Chris Roginsky     PA    01      3
 22.  Paul Koenig        CA    00      3
 23.  Rob Beyma          MD    02      2
          

2005 Laurelists

Tom Gregorio, PA
2nd

Forrest Pafenberg, VA
3rd

Marty Musella, VA
4th

Jeff Hacker, PA
5th

Lance Roberts, AK
6th


Past Winners

Phil Evans, VA
1999

Randy Heller, MD
2000

Rich Ogata, VA
2001

Tom Gregorio, PA
2002

Bob Ryan, MI
2003-04


Designer Returns to Glory ...

Tom Gregorio moves as rookie Marty Musella studies the rules.

Only the L2 Design Group edition of was played in this year's event. 20 participants played a total of 27 games. For the first time, Allied wins exceeded German wins, 14 vs 13. This further attests to the play balance of the tournament scenarios. Players were free to choose any scenario, with the default game being the 8-turn tournament scenario.

Marty Musella won the rookie award by defeating a number of veterans. Marty was only stopped in the fourth round by the ultimate winner of this year's tournament. Hats off to Marty.

The real wild card proved to be Jeff Hacker. Jeff lost in the Mulligan, but vowed to make a comeback in the first round by playing the Yanks. He quickly won with this side in two successive games, and was only stopped a few rounds later by the rookie honoree, Marty.

The final round pitted two past champs, Tom Gregorio and Randy Heller. Sides were determined by a toss of the die. The opening guns saw only modest German gains. Randy's German forces were stymied in front of Clervaux by successive Engagements on 3-1 attacks against the Bloody 110th. An error in placement by Randy prevented the Germans from crossing the Our River until later in the second day. By turn 17 PM, the Yanks appeared to have a lock on the central and southern sections of the game map. However, a near fatal mistake in the vicinity of St. Vith provided a high odds attack on a defending artillery unit, which allowed for a generous advance after combat and unhinging of the Allied defense. A couple of key 6-5-4 units were trapped in the North by judicious sequencing of attacks. By mid-game the Allies were becoming unit poor. A crafty reserve ploy resulted in a regiment of 116th Panzer moving behind Bastogne to prevent any building of a fortification in the historical town. Tom banked on a high odds counterattack to put pay to the intruder, but rolled a 6 on the die. With the die roll modifier benefiting the Germans, due to a higher Endurance Rating, only a one step loss was incurred. Tom recognized that he could not recover from his awkward defense position, contributed to by high Allied losses, and conceded the game prior to the arrival of the German 19 AM reinforcements. This left the game's designer the winner of the tournament, marking his second DBW WBC first place wood.

 GM      Randy Heller  [5th Year]  NA
    RGHeller50@aol.com   NA

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