bulge '81   

Updated Nov. 23, 2013

Grognards Pre-Con
2013 WBC Report     

 2014 Status: pending 2014 GM commitment for Bitter Woods

Bill Morse, VA

2013 Champion

Event History
1991    Pierre Menard      14
1992    Rob Beyma      13
1993    Randy Heller      12
1994    Phil Evans      12
1995    Randy Heller      14
1996    Bruno Sinigaglio      10
1997    Phil Evans      15
1998    Bruno Sinigaglio      13
1999    Bruno Sinigaglio     13
2000    John Grant Jr       8
2001    Bruno Sinigaglio     10
2002     Steve Likevich     18
2003     Steve Likevich      23
2004     Steve Likevich      20
2005     Bob Ryan        20
2006      Bill Morse      18
2007     Steve Likevich      21
2008      Steve Likevich      18
2009     Phil Evans      20
2010     Phil Evans      21
2011     Rob Beyma      23
2012      Rob Beyma      18
2013     Bill Morse      17

 Laurels

Rank  Name             From  Last  Total
  1.  Steve Likevich    OH    08    152
  2.  Forrest Pafenberg VA    13    151
  3.  Bill Morse        VA    13    144
  4.  Phil Evans        fr    10    112
  5.  Frank Sinigaglio  NJ    13     66
  6.  Bruno Sinigaglio  AK    11     66
  7.  Rob Beyma         MD    12     60
  8.  Bob Ryan          MI    09     60
  9.  Vince Sinigaglio  NJ    12     42
 10.  John Clarke       VA    11     34
 11.  Randy Heller      MD    08     21
 12.  John Grant Jr     CT    01     20
 13.  Joe Angiolillo    CT    13     18
 14.  Robert Frisby     VA    13      6
 15.  Bill Riggs        VA    13      6
 16.  Martin Musella    NC    12      6
 17.  Bill Scott        VA    04      6
 18.  Jim Falling       IL    99      4
 19.  Chris Withers     CA    05      3
 20.  Mike Mitchell     GA    02      2
 21.  Martin Svenson    VA    99      2
 22.  Buddy Sinigaglio  CO    02      1

2013 Laurelists                                          Repeating Laurelists: 

Joe Angiolillo, CT
2nd

Forrest Pafenberg, VA
3rd

Frank Sinigaglio, NJ
4th

Robert Frisby, VA
5th

Bill Riggs, VA
6th


Past Winners

Pierre Menard, CT
1991

Rob Beyma, MD
1992, 2011-12

Randy Heller, CT
1993, 1995

Phil Evans, fr
1994, 1997, 2009-10

Bruno Sinigaglio, AK
'96, '98-'99, '01

John Grant Jr, CT
2000

Steve Likevich, OH
2002-04, '07-'08

Bob Ryan, MI
2005

Bill Morse, VA
2006, 2013


Joe Angiolillo and Marty Musella in preliminary action.

Bill Riggs and Marty Musella turn a result in to GM Frank Sinigaglio.

still fighting the Bulge ...

All Good Things Must Come to an End ...

Conventions come and go, and so do the games that form the basis of the competitions which make WBC what it is. Most games have a very short shelf life ... here today, collector's items tomorrow. With relatively few exceptions, interest in a game peaks after its initial release and steadily ebbs away until it can no longer sustain a viable tournament between tested players. Some of the better games become the subject of reprints by the same or different publishers willing to invest in quality despite the likelihood of reduced sales for what amounts to a reprint. At WBC, old games tend to hang around a lot longer than elsewhere, because here the game - and not sales - is the prime motivator. However, when competing versions appear at WBC, the original edition becomes the default version while both are allowed to be played in the same event to the extent that is possible. Gradually, the majority of interested players usually migrate to the newer version which assumes the default position until the original game is no longer contested. While there can be a certain amount of controversy over which version is better or whether the two games are significantly different to merit having separate events, the general rule of thumb is that having two events instead of one on the same subject and game system hurts attendance at both and leads to a shorter WBC "shelf life".

One such game which fell between the cracks and has eluded classification for years is Bulge '81 despite the appearance of a newer game by the same publisher under the same contract with the same designer on the same subject and scale and using the same game system. The presence of both Battle of the Bulge and Bitter Woods at WBC has done a disservice to them both - preventing either of them from reaching their maximum field and threatening the survival of both. Consequently, they will be combined into one event in 2014 using the Grognard Free Form scheduling format with Bitter Woods being the default version whenever players cannot agree on the version to be played.

During the preliminary rounds, Bulge '81 managed to top the 16-player threshold for the 11th consecutive doncon due to the liberal grognard free form scheduling that allows these older games to continue with a reduced following. Making it through the qualifers to the Final Four after 20 games were decided was 2006 champion Bill Morse, past laurelists Frank Sinigaglio and Forest Pafenberg with first-time finalist Joe Angiolillo.

In the first semifinal Forrest Pafenberg's Germans got off to another bad start as the vs Bill Morse. It was not as bad as his legendary 16AM turn in a Bulge Final a few years ago, but it was reminiscent of that folly with only two kills. In the legendary game, Paffy registered zero kills on the 16AM turn - a 1 in 798 possibility. In this game, Paffy managed to roll exchanges on surrounded attacks and engaged results on every possible breakout attack. By the end of the 17AM turn the Americans had lost only six units and all the major avenues of advance in the center were clogged with stacks of engaged units. At this point Paffy threw in the towel yet again.

In the semifinal Frank Sinigaglio's brilliant tactics were unfulfilled by his Germans. Frank, fresh from the eastern front, was unable to inspire zeal in the dejected Goose-Steppers. GI Joe Angiolillo, who had transferred from a desk job at West Pernt, heaped praise on the "sad sacks" in addition to plying them with vodka and prune juice, which turned them into human pile-drivers. While leading at the front, Joe inspected an abandoned King Tiger tank and found that it was very heavy - consequently, Joe had all bridges in the Ardennes destroyed, so that they would not be damaged by the heavy German tanks. Also, Joe demonstrated his vast knowledge of physics and statistics, by smelling that the Tiger was out was of fuel so he had all fuel dumps in the Ardennes destroyed, making sure that no one had fuel. In the end, Frank secured two Victory Point cities; Trois Ponts and Stavelot, but could not kill enough American units while losing too many of his.

Bill Morse's Germans slapped Angiolillo's GIs silly on the 16AM turn. The Germans eliminated seven units and engaged two more, leaving Joe with a serious case of unit hunger. On the16PM turn, the Germans eliminated two more units. Usually, the Amis can expect to lose eight units in the first four turns, but in this game they lost nine in the first two turns. In order to form a line and block all roads west, Joe dropped back towards Malmedy on 16PM, allowing Bill to capture the city early and release the 2SS and 9SS Panzer Divisions on 18AM. After the collapse at Malmedy, the American situation was toast. This had a subliminal affect on Joe, so he surrendered and went to the bar for some toasted rye while Bill celebrated his second Bulge title.

 GM      Frank Sinigaglio [6th Year]   NA 
   franksinigaglio@hotmail.com   NA

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