So I finally played in a Flames of War tournament. At TundraCon I filled in for a round but had other commitments, so when the Battle Badgers announced they were running a 16 player mid-war tournament at Adventure Games in Oshkosh I was excited. Especially since it gave me a chance to play with my Italians in a situation where they might actually stand a chance.
So I put together my Squadrone Esplorante (Recon squadron) of 1710 points and stumbled on down to Oshkosh. I say stumbled because I'd been sick the whole week before but finally felt recovered enough for the day. My list had a bit of this and that. Armored cars, motorcycle infantry, light tanks, medium tanks, self-propelled guns, a platoon of "Demolishers" (pioneers), portee AA, a pair of 100mm guns, two 88s for tank killing, and sporadic air support.
Round 1 I faced Joe from Madison and his Soviets. We don't play Soviets much around here so a mass of KV heavy tanks supported by lend-lease armor kind of steam-rollered me. I think I had my chances, but the dice failed me when I needed them most.
Round 2 against Soviets again, facing Chuck from La Crosse. I could compete with T-34s and SU-85s and my 88s earned their points, even though one died without firing a shot. Showing real class, Chuck pointed out a potential game-ending brain fart on my part. I'd like to chalk it up to fatigue, but regardless the mark of a gentleman by Chuck. This game the dice failed my opponent and I won.
Round 3 found me on a table of all ruins and rubble facing an American tank company. While not ideal for a light recon company it worked well as I was the defender and my 88s were in ambush mode. Once again, my opponent Jack was a pleasure to play with, alleviating my fears of running into a tournament power player. I stopped playing tournament chess many years ago because I want to game to have fun, not destroy someone's ego. I only took one picture but it was the game-ender when my Demolishers swarmed the last two American tanks.
So I put together my Squadrone Esplorante (Recon squadron) of 1710 points and stumbled on down to Oshkosh. I say stumbled because I'd been sick the whole week before but finally felt recovered enough for the day. My list had a bit of this and that. Armored cars, motorcycle infantry, light tanks, medium tanks, self-propelled guns, a platoon of "Demolishers" (pioneers), portee AA, a pair of 100mm guns, two 88s for tank killing, and sporadic air support.
Round 1 I faced Joe from Madison and his Soviets. We don't play Soviets much around here so a mass of KV heavy tanks supported by lend-lease armor kind of steam-rollered me. I think I had my chances, but the dice failed me when I needed them most.
Round 2 against Soviets again, facing Chuck from La Crosse. I could compete with T-34s and SU-85s and my 88s earned their points, even though one died without firing a shot. Showing real class, Chuck pointed out a potential game-ending brain fart on my part. I'd like to chalk it up to fatigue, but regardless the mark of a gentleman by Chuck. This game the dice failed my opponent and I won.
Round 3 found me on a table of all ruins and rubble facing an American tank company. While not ideal for a light recon company it worked well as I was the defender and my 88s were in ambush mode. Once again, my opponent Jack was a pleasure to play with, alleviating my fears of running into a tournament power player. I stopped playing tournament chess many years ago because I want to game to have fun, not destroy someone's ego. I only took one picture but it was the game-ender when my Demolishers swarmed the last two American tanks.
A satisfying finish of 2-1 for a first outing. I accomplished all my tournament goals, played three new opponents, got to run my Italians and sampled the tournament circuit. Adventure games had a nice package of prizes to choose from and with the 5th drawing I picked up an Irish Guards dice and token tin and another set of 82nd Airborne tokens.
Rick Gearheart as director did another fine job keeping the rounds running on time and keeping it light with banter. Terrain was nice looking and there was plenty of room. Highly recommended.
Rick Gearheart as director did another fine job keeping the rounds running on time and keeping it light with banter. Terrain was nice looking and there was plenty of room. Highly recommended.
Great looking terrain, beautiful pictures for this nice report...
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