I was very happy with the terrain boards once they were done. I thought they allowed both players equal opportunity to win, as I thought the terrain was balanced. At Origins, they stressed balanced boards in tournys. I like bringing in weather and different conditions to game under. More realistic. On the weather board we limited visiblility to 32", but like chris said, it would be fun to have it change during the game. Maybe everyother turn roll a die and see what visibility is for the next 2 turns. We will have to try that.
Impressions of the armies. Surprises- Very little artillery, even with the new changes. Air, while occasionally effective was not a big factor. Antitank guns where for the most part, not present. I found this strange with so many german players. The german AT guns are very good and much cheaper then there armor. I think most the players were very offensive minded and we didn't see many defensive, dig in armies. No armies with artillery and mortar batteries that sit back and pound anything that they see. I see now why I have not fielded a large group of panthers, just not enough tanks to cover objectives defensively and take an objective offensively.
What worked- AA- Good AA, well positioned will keep air off your back. Also, AA is good against infantry. Mobility- Recon, halftracks,light tanks, even with our increase of terrain still allowed them to exploit poor deployment. Lack of antitank guns made alot of this possible. While some assaults on tanks were successful most failed. Mid war infantry still don't have the punch needed unless they are specialized infantry. To everyones credit, the snow table had very few people grumbling. At Origins, there snow and weather tables had people really upset. I didn't field a marsh, stream table like at Origins but it is another real challenging table. Maybe next time.
The Battles- While playing I tried to make the rounds. No matter who Chris played his infantry turned it into a blood bath. Hard fought and usually were decided with a few key rolls and luck or lack of reserves arriving and where. Seans, russians proved very tough and his games were also close. He recovered nicely after a first round tough match. His game with sean cruz was very interesting to watch. Sean cruz had a light Dak force that really surprised me. Light, flexible with killer air, he showed what flexible troops can do. His deployments were very good and that is a big part of FOW. Poor deployment can kill you. Pauls Romanians were just neat to see. I loved the cavalry and its sweeping moves on the board. Tabors US paratroopers did very well. They were steady and played well on offense and defense. Richards SS looked good but lacked numbers. The hummels never really got into the action the way they should have. He had several close battles and just needed a few more bodies. Scotts panthers suffered from the same problem of being strong but just not numerous enough. He lacked numbers in several key missions. The panther is tough going forward!! Andrew had a very nice mix of German panzers and T-34s. They did very well and only lacked numbers to be a good defensive force. William was are only British player. After a tough opening match with Andrew his Brits played well and had several good games. Evan's German Panzers did very well but suffer from the lack of numbers. Holding 2 objectives while going forward is very hard with 4-5 platoons. The most improving player is jeremiah. He played US infantry and is really learning fast. Add a little support and have AA, change a little mix and he will be fielding a killer force. My own Russian Tankovy really did well. I got lucky in my first game when Scott didn't have enough platoons to cover both objectives. The Russian Stuarts doubled down the flank to grab a objective. In game 2 , Evan had me on the ropes, as my reserves wouldn't come on. I survived several early reversals and massed my light tanks and swept his flank. Again, the light tanks save my bacon. Well, if it worked twice, do it a third time. Andrew was on defense, spread out and I massed all my light tanks and ran down a road to the objective. My 85mmAA and my 3 DSk AA Trucks made this all possible as his aircraft kept coming in but I shot them all down. The light tank commander was awarded the Star of Lenin.
Overall, I think it was a very fun day for all. We all had are ups and downs and the rules questions that came up were, I thought handled well by committee. I hope to make the next one even better. Never know what we will come up with to challenge your combat mind. Good Gaming Terry

Good write up. Thanks for sharing.

Chris

WOW you practically wrote a book Thanks for all of the comments terry!

P.S: I am still deciding the battle between a russian infantry force, and a russian tank. I will probablay go with infantry though, Because they are more fun and strategic to play!

Thanks!

Evan

Quote::

P.S: I am still deciding the battle between a russian infantry force, and a russian tank. I will probablay go with infantry though, Because they are more fun and strategic to play!

You fool! Dont start the glorious horde!....

Well... you might want to wait on starting Russians, unless you plan on playing them Late War. And another thing.... Do you have the budget to support a Russian army? (it costs a lot)

Yeah, this is the kind of thing, where I will once again buy them over time and for christmas money and gifts.

Terry,

thank you for the compliment. i enjoyed the tournament and learned alot from my opponents.

Jeremiah