Another Grognard Classic returns
to the Century
The 2002 WBC Waterloo tournament was played using a
swiss format followed by two rounds of single elimination . Players
could play one game per day, Tuesday through Friday, with the
best four players squaring off for the semi-finals and eventual
championship game. The 20 participants received points for wins,
losses, factors eliminated and factors lost. Scores from the
best two performances were used to determine the best four players.
During the preliminary rounds, a total of 21 games were played.
The French player won nine. As usual, there were several hard-fought
noteworthy games and some unexpected upsets. In fact when one
game ended there were less than five factors left on the board
and in another there were none! Due to the more flexible format,
many more folks were able to rekindle their love affair for this
classic game.
After the Swiss Rounds, the best overall player performances
were as follows:
Forest
Pafenberg 2114.
Rob Beyma 2097.
Ed Menzell 2083.
Greg Smith 2069.
Ivan Lawson 2059.
Marty Musella 2051.
John Clarke 2050.
Larry Lingle 2017.
The final four would have been the top four performers, however,
certain events and conflicts caused Ed, Greg and Ivan to decline.
As a result, others on the list moved up to fill the vacancies
and go for the plaque.
Semi-Finals
The semi-finals stacked Forest Pafenberg's French against
John Clarke's PAA for a second time at this convention. Forest
bid zero to play the PAA to assure that he would have the French
a second time. Unfortunately for Forest, two times was once too
much as John defeated Forest handily to advance to the final.
In the other semi-final game, Rob Beyma's PAA defeated Marty
Musella's French. Rob's 6 bid to play the PAA was enough to secure
his choice. The game was close until 7PM of the first day, when
Marty rolled poorly on his attacks, while Rob rolled well on
his counterattacks. Things went downhill for Marty at that point
and he surrendered after the 3PM turn on the second day.
The Championship as chronicled by Napoleon Beymapart
John Clarke won the bid with +10 for the PAA. Rob Beyma bid
7. I too believe that the PAA side holds an advantage in Waterloo
but not quite as much as John does.
My plan was to maneuver on the first day, extend the PAA line,
probe for weaknesses, and not give John any easy counterattacks.
I went with my standard French setup and a near usual opening
move. Noticing the sizeable Prussian reinforcements heading towards
Nivelles, I decided to turn the French left into primarily a
diversionary force while making the main assault in the Quatre
Bras / Tilly sector. The French moved major forces down the Tilly
corridor and started infiltrating the woods to the east and north
of Quatre Bras. The PAA player spread out his forces and expended
a few well-timed 1-factor delay units.
The PAA launched the first major attack of the game on the
7PM turn with a 3-1 (EX) in the Quatre Bras slot. The French
responded on the 7AM turn on the 17th with two 3-1s on the Quatre
Bras front and a 3-1 on a Prussian 5-4 south of Nivelles - all
resulting in DRs. The PAA player realizing that the fast moving
French cavalry on the right was going to flank his line near
Wavre, started pulling back towards the Lasne river. The French
pulled some of their flank forces in to put heavy pressure on
the PAA Quatre Bras position. A second French 3-1 south of Nivelles
on the 9AM turn resulted in a DE although a 2-6 cavalry unit
died on a 1-3 soak-off. The PAA finally forced the French back
across the river on the far west edge but failed to cash in when
a French 4-6 retreated on a 4-1 attack. The losses at the end
of day 1 were six French and 16 PAA factors.
The French picked up the pace of the attack on the 17th. By
late morning the PAA forces were withdrawing to Genappe and were
deployed along the Lasne. The French Quatre Bras forces were
linking up with the right flank infantry which had flanked the
Genappe river line. 26 factors of French cavalry were descending
on a weakly defended section of the Lasne river line defenses.
A small French force had pushed through the gaps in the woods
just west of Nivelles. At the end of the 11AM turn, the losses
were 10 French and 29 PAA factors. Note: The losses are actual
combat losses and do not include the 10 factors that the PAA
had to remove. At this point the PAA player began making a series
of low odds attacks, mostly out of frustration. This essentially
ended the game. The French had significant factor superiority
at this point and the time to use it.
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