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ASLOK XXIV -
2009 RECAP
Thanks to all 144
ASLOK XXIV attendees...Impressive to see attendance up in a recession!
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Grofaz |
| First Place: |
Steve Pleva
(7-0) [CT]
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| Second Place: |
Gary
Fortenberry (6-1) [VA]
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| Third Place: |
J.R. Tracy
(6-1) [NY]
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| Fourth Place: |
Brian Wiersma
(5-2) [NY]
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USA vs World Cup |
| Overall: |
World 39 to US
30 |
| World
MVP: |
Philippe
Briaux (7-3)
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| US MVP: |
Stan Jackson
(5-0)
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Wednesday "Mark Nixon" Minis |
| Theme |
Winner |
| Godzilla King of
the Monsters: |
Gary Fortenberry
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Gor
Gor Hereticall Variant Mini:
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Bill Cirillo
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From
Russia with Love: |
Mattias Ronnblom |
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From Russia with Love #2:
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Rob Feinstein
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From Russia with Love #3:
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Bob Bendis
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Welcome to the Jungle:
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Lars
Thuring
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AARP
ASLers: |
Chuck Payne
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Gunned
Up in the Desert: |
Doug Sheppard
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Thursday Theme Tourneys |
| Theme |
Winner |
| Night: |
Randy Rossi
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| Deluxe: |
Larry Zoet
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| Pacific: |
Will Fleming
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| Australian Balance System: |
Steve Pleva
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| Night #2: |
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| Making of the Grofaz: |
Bill Cirillo
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| Barbarossa & Beyond: |
Mattias Ronnblom
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| Paper Tigers: |
J.R. Tracy
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Der Commissar's in Town:
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Don Holland
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Friday "Mark Nixon" Minis |
| Theme |
Winner |
| Best of the
Best (Grofaz mini): |
Gary Fortenberry
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| Best of '09
(Grofaz mini): |
Brian Wiersma
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| Rumble in the
Jungle: |
Stan Jackson
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| Schwerpunkt 15: |
Neil Stanhagen
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| Schwerpunkt 15
#2: |
Anthony Flanagan
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| Biggest Loser No
More: |
Hank Wit
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| Riding with the
King: |
Chris Garrett
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| Tortoise &
the Hare: |
Fred Schwarz
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| Back in the USSR: |
Rich Domovic
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| The Decade of War
(AP6): |
Wai-Kwong Wong
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Saturday |
| Theme
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Winner |
| Best
New Artist: |
Hennie van der Salm
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| Best
New Artist #2: |
Bill Cirillo
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| Chariots of Fire: |
Neil Stanhagen
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| Spitting Into the Wind: |
Michael Rhodes
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| Slaughter at Ponyri Micro-CG: |
Steve Tinsley & Russ Hall
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King of the Jungle:
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Mattias Ronnblom
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Chinese Fire Drill:
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George Tournemire
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ASL Starter Kit:
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Mini Scenario Lists
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TD AAR
Here's the TD recap as ASLOK was happening...
Saturday Update:
I'll use this thread for actual updates on ASLOK XXIV...
Stopped by the hotel around 4 today - counted at least 17 ASLers
already in attendance with plenty of more poised to arrive shortly.
Likely the most exciting news is the COMMANDING World Cup lead the US
has having sprinted out to a 1-0 margin as Wild Bill downed Lars
Thuring in the Opener Friday night. Obviously this is our year!
Ray Woloszyn and Phillipe Briaux were close to finishing their World
Cup game. Nigel Blair & Doug Sheppard were dueling and Mike
Faulkner and Peter Struijf were just getting started on a scenario.
Mike was already in the "Excuse Phase" - not sure that bodes well for
that particular World Cup action. Dave Ginnard was facing off with
Hennie van der Salm. Gary Fortenberry had his AP6 stuff on display -
looked great.
Wild Bill & Stan Jackson were throwing down. Mark Pitcavage was
playing someone I actually didn't recognize & there was even a Mike
Daniels sighting. I'm sure I forgot a few, but it was a relatively
impressive early turnout.
For those arriving by tomorrow evening, don't miss Dave Ginnard's ASLOK
Picnic which will likely kick off around 6 tomorrow night at his place.
He'll have info on how to find it on-site tomorrow.
I'll likely be back around 5 on Sunday...
Sunday Update:
Dave Ginnard's 3rd Annual Picnic was another rousing success. I believe
attendance was at an all-time high - I counted at least 25 there at one
point and that's likely a few low as Rich Domovic showed up later &
rumor has it Bendis was in transit. Nice spread that Dave put on which
was enjoyed by all.
I think the attendance count is already in the 35 to 40 range which is
mighty impressive by Sunday night.
The World has regained the upper hand in the Cup competition (for now)
with a narrow 10-8 lead as of 6PM Sunday. Klas & Robert's luggage
mysteriously disappeared in transit from Sweden - if you see a host of
Friendly Fire's up for sale on EBay cheap that means someone found 'em!
Monday Update:
Don't worry some Friendly Fires have arrived safely - it was only part
of the shipment which was "liberated" by the luggage handlers...
47 are through the door already which is pretty impressive for Monday
evening.
The World led 12-8 after Sunday, but the US rallied to win the first 5
games today to briefly take a commanding 13-12 lead. Alas the World has
rallied to make it 18-14.
As of
Monday morning the World holds a somewhat commanding 26-18 lead, and
downed many of our best yesterday to take that lead. But hope springs
eternal as the US forces attempt to rally today. Hopefully that 8
morale helps despite the DM status...
Tuesday Update:
The World has opened up the lead to 10, with a 36-26 spread currently.
There's a movement afoot for the US to re-join the World & the
World Cup transition to something like Europe vs. the World. Although
we're worried they'd insist on hosting & frankly there's no place
like Cleveland in early October...
Official attendance numbers are already at 130...
Wednesday Update:
75 have walked thru the door already. 60 got up at 8AM sharp to play in
minis this morn as we have 7 full minis and one extra added from the
leftovers that'll be a 2 rounder with 4 playing...
Very high numbers for Wednesday morning...
Tradition
Reigns Supreme at ASLOK:
WORLD 39 - US 30
For the Seventh straight year, the World has dominated the US forces
with a 39-30 victory. The US led briefly 1-0 on Friday and for ~5
minutes Monday morning after winning the first 5 reported games of the
day to go up 13-12, but it was all downhill from there on as the
Swedish forces took control and rolled.
Stan
Jackson takes the US MVP with an impressive 5-0 mark. Next year we may
limit US entrants to "Guys Named Stan" to give the US a chance. Other
contenders for the MVP on the US side Ken Mioduski at 3-0 and a trio of
2-0's in Eric Givler, Bob Bendis & Stephen Frum.
Philippe Briaux takes home the coveted World Cup MVP with a 7-3 mark to
finish at +4 for the Cup. Lars Thuring (5-2), Klas Malmstrom (4-1)
& George Tournemire (4-1) all finished at +3 to pace the World
attack.
Wednesday "Mark Nixon" Mini Results
- Godzilla
King of the Monsters - Gary Fortenberry over Wes Vaughn in a grueling
game of Sowchos 79
- Gor-Gor
Heretical Variant Mini - Bill Cirillo defeats George Tournesmire -
thanks to the Pleva SSRs Bill was driving into buildings rather than
VBM'ing to freeze guys and even freezing broken units to make sure they
couldn't do the very special FPF...
- From
Russia With Love - Mattias Ronnblom knocks off Ray Woloszyn
- From
Russia w/Love #2 - Rob Feinstein triumphs over Chris Doary
- From
Russia w/Love #3 - Bob Bendis over Tim Kelly
- Welcome
to the Jungle - Lars Thuring defeats Klas Malmstrom in an all Swedish
final
- AARP
ASLers - Chuck Payne KO's Jeff DeYoung
- Gunned
Up in the Desert - Doug Sheppard dusts off Jim Wiseman in the final
Thursday Update:
Thursday Theme Results
- Night - Randy Rossi repeats as Night
Champ in downing Lars Thuring. If Rossi manages to Threepeat next year
we may have to give up on the idea that night is inherently dicey...
- Night #2 - JR Van Mechlen (AKA the King
of the Night Article Author) & Chuck Payne are set to battle for
the plaque in the finals when they can find time to finish.
- Deluxe - Larry Zoet overcomes Kemp Mason
- Pacific - Will Fleming reigns supreme, or
perhaps one should say Banzais Supreme, over Michael Koch as a last
second miracle banzai over Open Ground to grasp victory for Japan.
Guess the guy living in Japan should have an advantage over the German
in a Jungle Duel...
- Australian Balance System - James Taylor
and Steve Pleva are still grinding it out to decide the Champ.
- Making of the Grofaz - Bill Cirillo over
George Tournemire in a redux of Wednesday's mini final - Bill also
downed Bob Bendis enroute to the title making it his 2nd straight over
the ever tough Bendis - one more and he has the right to join the
"Grofaz Slayer" ranks.
- Barbarossa & Beyond - Mattias
Ronnblom takes home his 2nd mini plaque beating Nigel Blair in an all
Euro final.
- Paper Tigers - JR Tracy overcame Philippe
Briaux's magical italian AT gun to eek out the victory, although it
seemed that AT gun was the only breakable thing not broken late in the
game.
- Der Commisar's in Town - Don "the Big
Noodle" Holland downs Derek Pulhamus to garner his first mini plaque in
a Thursday mini no less...
Friday Update:
Grofaz Updates:
Best of '09
Grofaz Mini:
- Don Holland defeats Nigel Blair
- Will Fleming playing Eric Givler
- Mattias Ronnblom playing Brian Wiersma
- Bill Cirillo playing JR Van Mechlen
Best of the
Best Grofaz Mini:
- Gary Fortenberry downs Kemp Mason
- Bob Bendis defeats Tommy Cvetinovich
- Chuck Payne playing Wes Vaughn (Wes won)
- George Tournemire playing John McDiarmid
for International Supremacy
Open Grofaz
Play:
- JR Tracy dueling Ken Mioduski in Tesza
Tease
- Alan Saltzman battling Lars Thuring in
SP174 Krupki Station
- Rodney Callen & Russ Curry are
throwing down in GD1
- Steve Pleva & James Taylor are both
2-0 but dueling in Insult
to Injury from the latest AP to settle the Thursday ABS Theme Tourney.
Evening Grofaz Status:
- Brian Wiersma bumped off the "Swedish
Terminator" Mattias Ronnblom as an IS2 buried a concealed squad in the
VC building for the win to advance to 3-0 in the Grofaz.
- John McDiarmid edged George Tournemire in
a Few Rounds More.
- JR Van Mechelen knocked off last year's
runner up Bill Cirillo and is now dueling Will Fleming.
- Will Fleming downed Eric Givler to
advance to 3-0.
- Brian Wiersma beat Don Holland to become
the first 4-0.
- Gary Fortenberry beat Kemp Mason in
Silesian Interlude as Kemp's IS2 gacked it's first shot letting the
Panthers prowl freely.
- Bob Bendis beat Tom Cvetinovich and then
Wes Vaughn to advance to 4-0. Wes advanced to 3-0 by downing Chuck
Payne.
- Gary Fortenberry is playing John
McDiarmid currently in Acts of Defiance.
- JR Tracy beat Russ Curry to advance to
4-0 and will face the winner of Lars Thuring and Guy Chaney (both 3-0).
- Steve Pleva & James Taylor are
throwing down again after their epic mini final put them behind
schedule far enough that they were the only 3-0's left and the
potential spoilers being contemplated weren't up to staying up that
late.
- Gary Fortenberry's Russians downed John
McDiarmid's Germans in Acts of Defiance to advance into the Best of the
Best Grofaz mini final where he'll meet Bob Bendis for a rematch of
their Grofaz quarter final game of a year ago...
Guy Chaney advances to 4-0 after edging Lars Thuring (dashing the hopes
of the last non-US citizen alive in the Grofaz although not the last of
the World team) in SP178 Chiang's Finest.
Guy's Japanese hung on by the sashes of their kimonos as Lars' 9-2 led
stack survived a 2MC, 1MC, 1MC sequence which resulted him in going
heroic, but the -1 HOB modifier for being elite kept him from battle
hardening to a 10-2. Which came back to haunt Lars as he failed the 1TC
to overrun an IJA leader by a mere 1, which would have allowed him to
advance off board for the win. Alas ambush was Sweden's final hope and
despite having a stealthy 9-2 leader, Lars again missed the W by a
single PIP...
Guy advances to face JR Tracy...
And on a later note, Tommy C has broken out "the secret weapon" which
is a relatively large scale model of a Tiger tank which fires bee bees
from it's main gun. The free keg may or may not have influenced the
decision making process to reveal the Tiger tonight instead of saving
it for the big Saturday night showdown...
Late Night Grofaz Status:
- Pleva has the Brits on the Defense while
James Taylor has the balance with the Germans in DB075 Shifting Bricks
from the latest DB.
- Will Fleming has the Germans attacking
JRvM's Americans in SP176 Smiling Albert. They're a touch over half way
through the battle to meet Brian Wiersma in the finals of the Best of
'09 Grofaz Mini.
- Guy Chaney & JR Tracy have settled on
DB076 Out of the Shadows for their 4-0 match. Side negotiations are
ongoing with a morning kickoff expected...
Friday
Mini Results
- Best of the Best (Grofaz) - Gary
Fortenberry's Brits over Bob Bendis in The Sting of the Italian Hornet
- Best of '09 Grofaz Mini - Brian Wiersma's
Germans edge Will Fleming & his Russians in Encircle This!
- Rumble in the Jungle - Stan Jackson
defeats Nelson Harris
- SP15 - Neil Stanhagen over Henny van der
Salm
- SP15 #2 - Anthony Flanagan downs Jim
Aikens
- Biggest Loser No More - Hank Wit edges
Paul Chamberland
- Riding With the King - Chris Garrett over
Derek Spurlock who knocked out his own brother to advance.
- Tortoise & the Hare - Fred Schwarz
over Derek Pulhamus
- Back in the USSR - Rich Domovic over
David Perham.
- The Decade of War (AP6) - Wai-Kwong Wong
over Andrew Hershey
Saturday Update:
Grofaz Update:
- Guy Chaney & JR Tracy audibled out of
the DB scenario into one of Pete Shelling's new ones from SP - SP180
Encircle This! Guy has the Russians on the defense.
- Will Fleming & Brian Wiersma are also
playing SP180 with Will on the defense as the Russians.
- Bob Bendis & Gary Fortenberry are
playing FrF29 Sting of the Italian Hornet. Gary has the Brits on the
attack.
- Pleva & Taylor are still a game back
w/John McDiarmid looking to play the winner as the spoiler.
Encircle This! is an interesting scenario where the Germans have to go
about half a board width to capture and hold 2 factories with a mixed
force of 3x838s, some 468's and 467s supplemented by a duo of Panthers,
half track and 75 HT plus 2 squads & 8-0 on T2. In addition to
controlling the factories the German has to also exit 10 points, 5 of
which must be personnel off another half board width. The Russians get
2 T34s coming in on T3 which can either attempt to intercept the exit
or join the battle for the factory. The Russian on board D is 8x628s
with a 45LL, couple MMGs & LMGs and ATR. Interesting choices for
the German as to whether to bum rush off the exit or battle for the
factory & hope there's time late to exit.
The other neat feature is what could be the new trendy SSR - HIP rubble
placement for the defense which isn't revealed until there's LOS which
could change the German vehicle's best laid plans...
Steve
Pleva has overcome "Sweet Baby" James Taylor again to advance to 4-0.
"Gor-Gor" and John "the Spoiler" McDiarmid are in the scenario
selection phase currently.
Steve Pleva has the Germans vs. John McDiarmid in SP180 Encircle This!
3 of the 4 undefeated Grofaz matches are now playing Wrongway's latest
with the 4th being a mini where that wasn't a viable choice...
Brian Wiersma & Will Fleming are heading into the bottom of the
6th. Brian has already exited his points, but the Russians are
stubbornly holed up in the board edge factory with a T34 in each board
edge hex. The back one has burning wreck in VBM offering +5 TEM from
fire outside the factory & a MOL attack blazed up another of the
factory hexes to channel the Germans greatly.
A Panther and an imposing 9-2 stack do have a bead on the main Russian
position but from a few hexes away...
JR & Guy are in the top of the 6th with the Germans having the
factories secured, but needing to exit the 10 points, 5 of which need
to be "personnel". Both halftracks were Recalled by SAN 1 attacks. JR
appears to have the upper hand as a Panther seems a likely exit and the
Russian is infantry poor...
Gor-Gor's Germans are rolling over John's Russians as they have both
factories in the 4th along with a host of dead Russians. The Germans
still need to exit, but John seemed confident in Steve's ability to
execute.
Guy fell back from the factories allowing JR to secure them by turn 2
and was looking to contest the exit which is looking more and more
difficult at the moment as he was poised for the last second Russian
charge in an attempt to intercept the German infantry...
Gary & Bob are in the 4th in the Sting of the Italian Hornet. Fort
has secured the front factory and it doesn't appear a ton of Italians
are poised to contest the back factory...
After
being the last to 4-0, Steve Pleva is the first to 5-0 as John "the
Spoiler no More" McDiarmid conceded at the end of the 4th as Gor-Gor's
exit was inevitable. Sounded ugly as the Germans rolled and the
Russians panicked...
Brian Wiersma's Germans just edged Will Fleming's Russians in Encircle
This! Will had a 228 in 1 factory hex, drove a T34 into another where
it bogged & got blown up in prep in the top of the 7th, had the
other factory in bog and then a 628 & leader in the back, but stuck
in smoke so he couldn't overly contest the OG approach to the factory.
Brian had a spare halftrack to VBM the factory & lock up the fire
for a safe approach and Will managed a 12 on the PAATC allowing the HT
to live.
It came down to CC where Will whiffed on a low odds shot and Brian
manged the 8 for the win...
JR Tracy managed to just hang on vs. Guy Chaney as while JR captured
the factories on turn 2, Guy's Jedi Mind trick worked in luring the
Germans out of the factory allowing Guy to recapture it. JR exited his
points and then had rush his entire OB back to the factory, survive a
12 down 2, which netted a 2MC, on his 9-2 and then break the Russian
interlopers to just snare victory from the jaws of defeat...
Brian Wiersma & Steve Pleva are in the scenario selection phase
while JR awaits the victor of the Bendis-Fortenberry showdown...
Gary Fortenberry KO'd Bob Bendis's Italians to advance to the Final 4
in the Grofaz. Tight game - Gary felt good on turn 2 until one of Bob's
47* guns went nuts on his Shermans and then it was a grind.
Grofaz Saturday Night:
- JR Tracy & Gary Fortenberry are just
kicking off in SP161 Federov's Incursion. JR has the attacking Germans.
- Steve Pleva & Brian Wiersma are
playing DB076 Out of the Shadows (the scenario Guy & JR audibled
out of after pulling pieces). Steve has the Germans and looks to be
grinding away on Turn 4. The US reinforcements are poised to enter, but
Brian didn't seem confident in their ability to stem the German tide...
Sunday Update:
Grofaz Finals
Set
Steve Pleva advanced to the finals around 11 last night as Brian
Wiersma's US force losses exceeded the CVP cap.
In a barn burner which ended at 5AM this morning Gary Fortenberry
manages to advance to the Grofaz finals just edging JR Tracy. Gary
managed to withdraw from a 3:1 melee (3:1 flat given covering units)
& JR used extremely poor tactics in not rolling low. With the unit
freed from melee & JR's troops all stuck in melee, Gary was able to
freely roam around to snag the needed buildings for the win.
Halfhearted
Hiwis for the Consolation Game
Brian Wiersma & JR Tracy are setting up SP170 Halfhearted Hiwis in
the "Grofaz Consolation Game" where the winner will place 3rd and the
loser 4th...
Sides TBD...
The Fort-Pleva throwdown for Grofaz Supremacy is set to tip-off around
10AM with the ever exciting scenario selection phase...
JR has the defending Brits & his OBA just whacked a motion German
tank on snakes...
Steve & Fort picked 3rd RTR in the Rain. Steve has the Germans...
11 or 12 games were going this morning at ASLOK. Pretty good for a wind
down Sunday. Down to 7 going currently...
JR Tracy (6-1) places 3rd and Brian Wiersma (5-2) 4th as JR's Brits
overcame the Hiwis on the attack. JR's defense was keyed off the OBA
which cut a flank and carried the day...
Steve Pleva Threepeats as Grofaz Champ as his Germans wore down the
Brit OB. Gary Fortenberry places 2nd...
Grofaz Big Board picture courtesy of Klas Malmstrom.
Pete
Shelling reports:
"The winner of the 'Slaughter at Ponyri' micro-CG team event was the
duo of Steve Tinsley and Russ Hall.
Sorry I forgot to take pictures."
Attendee AARs
- Gary Fortenberry - Grofaz Runner Up's
quick AAR.
ASLOK
XXIV in Pictures:
Scenarios:
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