Ukraine '43
The inaugural Ukraine '43 event saw Stephen Campbell
take home the "wood" defeating his gaming partner,
Martin Sample, in the finals. Stephen and Martin were the two
most experienced players having played each other a half dozen
times prior to the WBCs. However, this was Stephen's first victory
against his buddy and no doubt Stephen will tout his victory
in front of Martin on every occasion. The moral of the story
is that practice does make perfect. Martin's downfall was his
desire to play the Soviets; bidding eight victory points; this
was the highest bid for the Soviets in the tournament. Regardless,
Martin made the final a challenge by capturing the requisite
total of eight victory points by the seventh and final Soviet
turn. However Stephen was able to claim the title by retaking
one of the key cities in the last player turn of the game.
Martin
did demonstrate an exquisite handling of the Soviets using a
broad-based operation with a multitude of low odds attacks of
1:1, one-and-a-half to one and 2;1. He coupled this strategy
with excellent placement of the Soviet guards to negate German
tactical superiority. He would methodically advance the Soviet
artillery, one hex each turn to avoid disruption penalties and
keep them in the fight. Martin's Soviets generally ground all
Axis players in his path on the road to the finals.
Stephen had a somewhat easier task making the finals by virtue
of a bye. His first opponent in the tournament was a relative
newcomer to the system, Rich Ogata; Rich is no slouch to wargaming,
captured the Bitter Woods title this year. Stephen did
show remarkable ability in winning as both the Soviets and the
Germans; the only player to achieve a victory handling both sides.
The optimal handling of German troops was by Rob Franz who
consistently formed fire brigades of Panzer Corps to slow the
Soviet onslaught. He rushed these ad hoc formations to and fro
across the board to hit and disrupt Soviet Tank Armies, combining
this strategy with a defense in depth, in key sectors, to minimize
the Soviet advances. Unfortunately for Rob, he did not pay homage
to the dice deities, as he had the most atrocious run of luck
whether or not he rolled the dice. While he made an early exit
from the tournament, the opponent to defeat him was heard to
mutter something to the effect of its "better to be lucky
than good."
A special mention is warranted to Nick Frydas who, as the
Soviets, took Kharkov in the last turn to reach his victory point
bid. Nick captured Kharkov despite it and the two adjacent hexes
having German troops in fortifications. His opponent was so demoralized
by this action that he offered to resign. The special mention
is not for the taking of Kharkov against all odds but for refusing
to accept his opponent's resignation and subsequently pointing
out the counterattack possibilities to the German
player. Based on Nick's advice, his opponent captured a victory
point city and eliminated Nick from the tournament. While Nick
may not have won the tournament, in the end, he is a real winner.
David Lindsay was in his first face-to-face game of Ukraine
'43. While he did face one of the most experienced players
in the tournament; his entry does demonstrate that the tournament
is open to all players regardless of experience. Hopefully, David
will profit from the experience and make a return appearance
next year.
A total of six games were played due to winners dropping from
the tournament to continue in other events. Four games resulted
in Soviet victories. The tournament used scenario 2, the initial
Soviet breakout. Players bid to play the Soviet, with the bid
equal to the number of victory points that they would achieve.
The bids ranged from a low of 5 to a high of 8, with a median
bid of 6.
All participants received a t-shirt with artwork by Mark Simonitch,
who not only designed the game but also did the counter and map
graphics. Purely by coincidence, the Ukraine '43 participant's
t-shirts were the same forest green as the BPA t-shirts. The
significant features on the Ukraine '43 t-shirt are the
silhouettes of a Tiger and KV-1 facing each other below the words
"UKRAINE '43." These shirts are bound to be collector's
items, as they were only available to tournament participants.
A limited quantity was produced and will unlikely be replicated,
although the remainder of the shirts may be available at future
tournaments where the WBC GM is in attendance.
The Soviets players exhibited two distinct strategies. There
were the broad based attacks with few attacks achieving more
than 2:1 odds, but attacking every adjacent German unit or stack,
particularly, Panzer Corps or isolated Panzer divisions. Here
the Soviet Guards units are used in those low odds attacks to
counter German tactical superiority. The alternate Soviet strategy
was to allocate one or two assaults at odds of 4:1 or higher,
to virtually guarantee an advance, with other attacks at lower
odds. The alternative strategy results in fewer combats per turn
but generally ensures a successful push somewhere along the front.
Time will tell what the optimal Soviet tactic should be for either
the tournament or campaign scenario. Perhaps a reflection of
the lateness of the starting time for the tournament, Soviet
airborne units saw decreased action throughout the tournament.
No doubt, this reflected the Soviets' commanders declining mental
facilities as tournament fatigue took its toll.
German strategy typically involved massing the Panzer corps
to counter attack and disrupt key Soviet stacks and remove these
units combat during the ensuing Soviet player turn. This approach
was generally coupled with a defense in depth, at key locations,
to limit the penetration of Soviet attacks. There was also the
tactic of leaving sections of the front virtually undefended
to relocate the precious few infantry divisions to more vital
sectors; although, this is likely not an optimal strategy in
the campaign game.
A PBEM (play by e-mail tournament) is in development. Sixteen
players are needed for this tournament to qualify as an official
BPA sanctioned event with a championship plaque. The tournament
format will be single elimination, using the historical setup
with the specific hexes as designated. However, the German player
will have the option to specify which four mechanized units are
reduced.
Given the length of time that scenario 2 (the initial Soviet
breakout) requires, inquiries have been made as to whether a
viable three- or four-turn scenario may be developed for the
early rounds of face-to-face tournaments. Such a scenario may
reduce the playing time by half, to about four hours. This should
encourage more players to enter and allow a Swiss-Elimination
style of format, with two rounds - one as each side, with the
top players advancing to the quarterfinals and beyond.
While Ukraine '43 did not draw the requisite 16 players
to ensure continuation as part of the WBC's century group; a
PBEM (Play By E-Mail) tournament is in development. See http://barbara.michael.home.mindspring.com/uk43tournament.html
for details. Hopefully, this will entice additional players to
Ukraine '43 and form a veteran cadre for next year's WBCs. If
this GM has anything to say about it, Ukraine '43 will
again be a trial event at next year's WBCs, as the organizations
current charter and by-laws allows tribunes and sponsors to host
trial events at any event that drew at least eight participants.
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