Note: Proof just shows white on T, actual T-Shirts were one tone where the white areas showed the light blue T-Shirt fabric below.
TD AAR
Saturday Update:
Stopped by the hotel today a little after 5. 15 were there already and mostly playing. Wild Bill indicated some others had also arrived. The US has a commanding 1-0 World Cup lead as Wild Bill knocked off Philippe Briaux in one of Fort's new PTO scenarios (believe it was AP206 Jungle Rats, but I don't know sides).
We are planning some bonus minis this year - the hope is 2 playtest minis from Fort's next - hoping to do one Monday and another Tuesday. These can count for World Cup if applicable. We'll also have 2 Schwerpunkt bonus minis - thinking those will likely run Thursday and Saturday. These will probably be late arrivers and early KO's especially for Thursday. And finally we're trying a Bill Cirillo playtest mini although I'm less certain on when that one is likely to run as of yet, but there's a plaque. If any of those are of interest, let us know either via email or at the front desk.
Sunday Update:
Sunday morning saw an early morning setup effort at the hotel. Our room hosted a large wedding last night so in negotiating to get us in the room as early as possible, I offered that we would aid in setup somewhat to get us going. Major thanks to Big Bad John Stadick & Al Saltzman for helping with setup - I can only presume the dice gods will be blessing them with a -1 on each roll for much of the week.
The US now has a commanding 2-0 lead in the World Cup as John Garlic recorded a win over Michael Rodgers on Saturday. Philippe was setting up a game against Rob Loper. Michael was around but I'm not sure who he was squaring off against.
Monday Update:
US forces entered Monday with a commanding 4-2 lead which quickly became 4-4 after Philippe beat David Nicholas in a rollover game from Sunday and The Italian Stallion, Andrea Pagni, downed 4 time Grofaz Champ Gary Fortenberry in an Arnhem scenario (AR3 Bricks in Flames). Gary had the Germans and does not like their chances.
I've got 54 through the door as of Monday evening and "Official" attendance is up to 117 thanks to 6 walk-ins. We have had some cancellations thanks to the double hurricanes unfortunately.
8 players dove into a Fort "Bonus Mini" of "Honneur et Patrie" Playtest mini. Currently Walter McWilliams & Alan Saltzman are dueling in one semi while David Goldman faces off against the man of many sound effects, Anthony Flanagan in the other bracket.
For Tuesday we hope to have a 2nd run of Gary's playtest mini along with another play test mini from Bill Cirillo, "Twilight Journal Playtest". The normal minis kick off Wednesday morning at 8AM sharp.
Four World Cup games are ongoing as Ray Woloszyn duels Michael Rodgers, Mike Zeimentz battles Philippe Briaux, Bob Bendis takes on Grofaz Slayer Andrea Pagni and Gary Fortenberry engages Camille Goureaux in The T-Patchers.
Bob Bendis has put the Americans on top 5-4 in the World Cup as Bob was a Grofaz Too Far for Andrea Pagni. Bob's Crocs were anything but cold as they brought the heat and scorched Andrea's Germans in Cold Crocodiles.
Mike Zeimentz overcame Philippe and Gary Fortenberry dismantled Camille to give the Americans a gaudy 7-5 lead heading into Monday night. Bob Bendis and Wai-kwong Wong are the only outstanding game and are now planning on resuming play Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday Update:
Official attendance has bumped up to 119 as a couple of the reliable attendees that don't pre-reg made it into Greater Cleveland. 71 through the door so far presuming I haven't missed anyone.
John Garlic collects the first wood of the tournament with a triumph in Big Game Hunters.
Al Saltzman wins the Monday Fort Playtest mini with a triumph over David Goldman in the finals.
12 folks are playing in 2 more bonus playtest minis today.
US forces started the day up 7-5 and have gone 3-2 today for a commanding 10-7 lead. Stan Jackson knocked off Camille Goureau, Fort overcame Philippe and Nelson Harris knocked off Andrea Pagni to lead the US forces today. Canadians Wai-kwong Wong and Andy Beaton triumphed for the World with wins over Ron Kyle and David Nicholas respectively.
The Canadians have arrived and rallied the World forces. Jeff Wasserman downed Kevin Killeen in a Cirillo playtest and Wai-kwong Wong got his first win against Bob Bendis in AP192 Not Fade Away. Wai had the Germans.
The World Cup is currently tied at 10 apiece. 5 games are currently going on: Plachta vs. McDiarmid, Anderson vs. Goureau, Golden vs. Rodgers, Garlic vs. Briaux and Killeen vs. Beaton.
The Americans have rallied. Kevin Killeen downs Andy Beaton followed by John Garlic overcoming Philippe Briaux. US 12. World 10. 3 games outstanding...
The Americans have won the World Cup! I repeat. The Americans have won the World Cup!
For only the 2nd time in 22 years the Americans have triumphed in the World Cup with a stunning 13-11 victory. The first and no longer last time the US won was 2018. Darrell Anderson clinched the victory for the Americans with a clutch win over Camille Gaureau.
John Garlic (2-0) and Gary Fortenberry (3-1) paced the American forces at +2 apiece. John wins the MVP tie-breakers to take home the plaque. Wai-kwong Wong (2-0) was the World MVP.
In the early week Bonus mini action Alan Saltzman downed David Goldman in the Monday Fort Playtest while Mike Zeimentz beat Jim Svette in the Tuesday final. In the Twilight Journal mini final Gary Bartlett is poised to battle Walter McWilliams for the wood.
Wednesday Update:
Wednesday morning saw 54 ASLers dropping into minis with 6 of the 8 being full. Kevin Killeen knocked off Russ Curry in the Sgt. Schultz #2 final to be the first Wednesday mini champ.
Wednesday "Mark Nixon" Mini Results
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Godzilla King of the Monsters: Chad Cummins triumphs besting the Big Game Hunter Champ John Garlic. Chad's Russians triumphed in a long game of Sowchos 79. Chad won a star-studded mini featuring 3 former Grofaz and a runner-up.
- Where Sgt. Schultz Fears to Tread: Wes Vaughn claims victory over Camille Gaureau in the final.
- Gor-Gor Heretical Variant: Jeff Wasserman overcomes Neil Stanhagen in a rare double jeopardy Wednesday final / Thursday opening round game.
- Stealth of the Ninja: Ken Daughety overcomes Stan Jackson for jungle superiority, at least on the first day of PTO minis.
- S.S. as in Social Security: Philippe Briaux overwhelms Randy Rossi in the final to claim the first social security mini title.
- Gunned Up in the Desert: Joe Devine wins his first ever ASLOK plaque with a triumph over Rich Fulcher.
- Where Sgt. Schultz Fears to Tread #2: Kevin Killeen dominates the field ending with a win over Russ Curry in the finals.
All 7 Wednesday minis finished in a timely manner which might be a record.
Thursday Update:
Thursday "Action Burk" Thursday Theme Results
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Night: Wes Vaughn beat Daniel Plachta a double jeopardy final of the Night and first round of Best of 2024 mini.
- Pacific: Stan Jackson avenges his day one PTO loss with a triumph at the expense of Camille Gaureau.
- Deluxe: Ray Vincent knocks off Bill Stoppel to become King of the Giant Hexes.
- Tincans & Popguns: John Gorkowski triumphs over Wai"kwong Wong in AP7 Directive #3
- Across the 38th Parallel: Mike Reed dominates Korea with a win over Fabio Mazzucchelli in the final.
- Twilight of the Reich: Ken Mioduski overcame Alan Saltzman in Rails to Perdition to decide the mini final. Ken had the Axis. Twilight of the Reich designer will always have to live with ignominy of not making it out of the semis in his own mini as Ken KO'd Bill Cirillo in the semis.
- Battling Buckeyes: Rich Summers overcame Bob Bendis in a throwback Windy City Wargamers final settled after each of their Grofaz hopes had died.
- Crazy Train: Steve Pleva won a dice-off with John McDiarmid to decided the final as they opted to pursue greater Grofaz glory.
- Tincans & Popguns #2: Andrea Pagni defeated Rob Loper in 199 Ace in the Hole in round 1 of the Best of the Best Grofaz mini to settle this one in a double jeopardy event. Rob had the defending Germans.
3 of the 9 Thursday minis finished in a timely manner. 8 of the minis were full and one had 6 meaning 70 folks were gunning for greater mini glory Thursday morning.
Friday Update:
Official Attendance has swollen to 123. Some hope we catch up to last year's 127 depending on how many stragglers we pick up over the weekend. Post Covid the attendance has been 113-111-127 and now 123 (and counting). Some signs of a slow recovery but still not back to the 140+ levels we were regularly enjoying in the before times. The biggest difference might be fewer overseas players than before for whatever reason as I think we only had 3 players that crossed an ocean to be here this year which is a far cry from the years that 9 ANZACs or 9 Swedes invaded greater Cleveland.
Friday morning sees 10 minis kicked off with 60 folks going for greater mini glory. 5 full minis and 5 that will be 2 rounders which probably means I made a couple plaques too many, but that also means 2 happier players at the end of the minis which isn't exactly a bad thing.
Bonus Mini Results
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Honneur et Patrie Playtest #1: Alan Saltzman triumphs over David Goldman to win the Gary Fortenberry playtest bonus mini on Monday.
- Honneur et Patrie Playtest #2: Mike Zeimentz wins against Jim Svette to take home the Tuesday run of Fort's playtest mini.
- Twilight Journal Playtest: Walter McWilliams wins the wood from Gary Bartlett in the finals of the Bill Cirillo playtest mini on Tuesday.
- Schwerpunkt #1: Scott Cochran triumphs over Paul Washington to garner the wood in the first run of the 2024 SP scenarios. Each player in this mini was given a set of Schwerpunkt dice, courtesy of Evan Sherry.
- Schwerpunkt #2: Joe Devine knocked off Steve Tinsley in Saturday SP Bonus Mini to take home his 2nd wood of both the week and his ASLOK career.
This year we had 5 bonus minis. A bonus mini is loosely defined as any mini which we didn't have on the original registration form in January. We ran 1 playtest mini on Monday, 2 on Tuesday and then the SP new scenario minis ran as a staggered late start on Thursday with plans to do the same for the 2nd run on Saturday.
Friday "Mark Nixon" Theme Results
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Best of the Best (Grofaz): Maurizio Grassi overcomes Chad Cummins to become the first player to ever win a Grofaz mini after losing a Semifinal matchup as John Gorkowski had to leave the cardboard battlefield early
- Best of 2024 (Grofaz): John McDiarmid upsets the defending Grofaz Champ Wes Vaughn to claim the Grofaz new scenario mini.
- Bushido Way of the Warrior: Stan Jackson continues his PTO dominance with a win over Steve Tinsley in the finals - Stan's 2nd straight PTO mini win of the week and 3rd finals.
- Viva La Resistance!: Paul Washington knocks off Larry Zoet for greater partisan glory.
- Chariots of Fire: Philippe Briaux edges Mike Zeimentz for flamethrowing tank superiority.
- From the Old Country: Pete Mudge knocks off Anthony Flanagan to win the Euro scenarios mini.
- Just a Flesh Wound: Randy Rossi defeats Dave Reinking for mini glory.
- Biggest Loser No More: Jim Manfredi downs Erik Spurlock to garner his first ASLOK mini title.
- Bushido Way of the Warrior #2: David Kocot overcomes David Lamb in a PTO battle of the Davids.
- Chariots of Fire #2: Rodney Callen beats Doug Smith to win wood in the 2nd run of flamethrowing tanks.
Friday Grofaz Update
Best of the Best
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Chad Cummins and Rich Summers are playing in an early meeting of former Grofaz. Chad has the Americans in 199 Ace in the Hole which oddly enough the entire first round is playing. Poor Le Herisson and Return of the Black Company being neglected so.
- Andrea Pagni is facing off with Rob Loper in Ace as well. Rob has the defending Germans.
- Bob Bendis is battling Maurizio Grassi with Bob controlling the attacking Americans.
- John Gorkowski and Mike Reed are the 4th game of Ace with Mike having the Americans.
Best of 2024
- John Garlic and Fabio Mazzucchelli battled in AP205 A Kick in the Teeth with Fabio's Japanese coming up victorious.
- John McDiarmid's Japanese also kicked in Ray Vincent's teeth to triumph in AP205.
- Wes Vaughn and Dan Plachta are battling in a double jeopardy match of AR4 The Overlook. Wes has the Brits.
- Fabio and John McDiarmid will be facing off at 3-0 in 300 Nor Will Deep Hell Receive Them. Fabio has the Germans.
At the moment there are no one vying from the open play side of the Grofaz bracket but I guess that could change depending on how things go. But it is looking like a 6-0 Grofaz is the most likely thing this year...
First view of the Grofaz Big Board:
Saturday Update:
Saturday "Mark Nixon" Theme Results
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Bill Sisler Memorial: Rodney Callen knocks off Rob Loper to win his 2nd mini in as many days.
- Samurai of the Rising Sun: John Stadick downed Kevin Meyer as they settled this at Winter Offensive.
- Heavy Metal: Jim Manfredi continues his wood winning ways by downing the original Grofaz, Ray Woloszyn, in the final.
- Little Short for a Stormtrooper: Jeff Wasserman knocks off Randy Rossi to win the SS Mini.
- Cold As Ice: Paul Washington woods again with a win over John Haughey.
- Wrongway's Ready or Revise?: Fabio Mazzucchelli triumphs over Mike Reed in Pete Shelling's playtest mini.
- Samuarai of the Rising Sun #2: Ray Vincent knocks off Ken Daughety to claim victory in the jungle.
- Start Me Up - ASLSK: Mark Zielinski takes home the Starter Kit crown defeating Collin Zielenski in a hard fought SK matchup.
Saturday Morning Grofaz Update
Best of the Best
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Chad Cummins beat Rich Summers in an early meeting of former Grofaz. Chad had the Americans in 199 Ace in the Hole which oddly enough the entire first round is playing.
- Andrea Pagni defeated Rob Loper in Ace as well. Rob had the defending Germans.
- Maurizio Grassi triumphed over Bob Bendis's attacking Americans.
- John Gorkowski downed Mike Reed and his Americans.
- - Apparently Ace in the Hole is perfectly balanced for high level play as we ended up with 2 German and 2 American Grofaz wins.
- Chad Cummins overcame Andrea Pagni in 135/A68 Acts of Defiance. Andrea had the Germans - I believe they played with no rain possible as a pre-selection condition.
- John Gorkowski edged Maurizio Grassi in Acts of Defiance. Maurizio had the Germans straight up and apparently boxcarred a CC to end it.
- - Unfortunately John had to leave the battlefield and thus Maurizio is playing as a spoiler at 3-1.
- Chad Cummins and Maurizio Grassi are playing AP62 Shouting Into the Storm. Chad has the defending Russians.
Best of 2024
- John Garlic and Fabio Mazzucchelli battled in AP205 A Kick in the Teeth with Fabio's Japanese coming up victorious.
- John McDiarmid's Japanese also kicked in Ray Vincent's teeth to triumph in AP205.
- Steve Pleva downed Jeff Wasserman in AP210 The Driven Draw Blood. Steve had the British.
- Wes Vaughn overcame Dan Plachta in a double jeopardy match of AR4 The Overlook. Wes had the Brits and took home the Night title as well.
- John McDiarmid defeated Fabio Mazzucchelli in 300 Nor Will Deep Hell Receive Them. Fabio had the Germans.
- Wes Vaughn ended Steve "Gor-Gor" Pleva's reign of terror this year with a Russian win in SP285 The Muzsla Noose.
- Wes Vaughn is playing John McDiarmid in AP169 The Beasts Have Arrived. Wes has the defending Russians.
Team Italy put 3 into the final 8 which is incredibly impressive, but they all took the L. Although Maurizio has second life as a spoiler. If Maurizio beats Chad things get wild. If Chad wins it becomes a fairly simple affair with a duo of 5-0's advancing to become Grofaz at 6-0.
Chad & Wes are both former Grofaz winners while John McDiarmid has finished 2nd multiple times.
The latest Grofaz Big Board:
Saturday Night Grofaz Update
John Gorkowski had to leave the cardboard battlefield so Maurizio subbed in as a spoiler and after spoiling Chad he had a viable path to the crown still if he could beat John given his only loss was to someone not really involved in the tie-breakers. If Gorkowski had been able to stay and play to 6-0, things would have been a lot simpler.
John McDiarmid is the new Grofaz! For only the 2nd in 38 years of ASLOK, a non-American has laid claim to the Grofaz title. John had 3 runner-ups, but finally broke through this year.
John defeated Maurizio Grassi in The Coming Storm, a Bill Cirillo playtest - for the Twilight Journal I believe. John had the Germans and won on the CVP cap after inflicting heavy casualties in CC early in the scenario. Maurizio will likely place 3rd or 4th depending on the other 4-1 game. The win pushes John to a perfect 6-0 which is the minimum needed to win the Grofaz.
Wes Vaughn defeated Chad Cummins in the new SP287 The Vienna Bypass. Wes had the defending Germans. The win places Wes 2nd at 5-1 with his only loss being to John in the Semis.
Maurizio defeated Chad Cummins in AP62 Shouting Into the Storm which made for an interesting Grofaz finals as suddenly with a 4-1 player battling a 5-0 there was the possibility of no 6-0 and three 5-1's to figure out a tie-breaker. Great times as a TD [!@#$!@# Gorkowski!]
John McDiarmid's Germans defeated Wes Vaughn's Russians in AP169 The Beasts Have Arrived. It sounded like John was behind the 8-Ball late as he was prognosticating around a 25% chance of success late, but in hindsight feels that may have been an overestimate as Wes had 4 chances at rolling a 4 which sounded like any of which might have been game winners. John then got a K to open a path to CC and then broke the defender to waltz in for the win.
Official Grofaz Finish:
- John McDiarmid (6-0) [Canada]
- Wes Vaughn (5-1) [AR]
- Maurizio Grassi (4-2) [Italy/FL]
- Chad Cummins (4-2) [AZ]
- John Gorkowski (4-0) [VA]
