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.
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