Recon Takes the First Shots
No - it's really not Recon but
the next wave of ASL fans as ASL Starter Kit cranks up. The sounds
of dice tinkling in glass are much the same.
The first dice to fall in the nine days of WBC and its Pre-Cons
fell on Saturday morning as ASL opened the renewal of friendly
hostilities. RECON 2005 saw 27 intrepid Squad Leaders engage
in three days of hard-fought competition. While numbers were
down a bit, perhaps due to our relocation, the level of play
was as high as ever. In the end, 2003 champ J.R. Tracy edged
out 2004 winner Gary Mei to claim the top prize. Mark Pitcavage,
Zeke Crater, Bill Stoppel and Scott Romanowski rounded out the
wood in places 3 through 6.
JR and Gary chose "A Breezeless Day" for their big
match. The scenario is on the meaty side with lots of toys for
both players and an opportunity for each to test their mettle
with an impressive combined arms force .... in short, a perfect
scenario for the ASL championship game. Gary had command of the
German bad guys with JR defending with the Americans. Victory
conditions require the Germans to control ten buildings on board
42 while exiting 70 VPs.
Gary moved forward methodically, using his infantry to clear
the way for his armor. Things quickly turned sour, however, as
JR killed Gary's JagdPanzer VI and FlammHetzer with early Critical
Hits via shots from a Jackson (in motion!) and a Bazooka team,
respectively. Gary is as cool as a cucumber over the ASL boards,
and he knew he still had the tools to get the job done. He continued
to keep the pressure on JR's defending force through the mid-game
while positioning for the end-game push into the buildings and
off board.
Gary covered his final advance with copious amounts of smoke
which drifted due to a light wind that the dice gods served up
on this "Breezeless Day". Gary captured seven buildings,
but in the end the loss of material left him without enough tools
to capture the remaining three buildings while exiting the requisite
number of VPs. Hats off to Gary for valiantly defending his title
in the face of terrible luck and congratulations to JR for winning
a hard fought victory. It was a great game featuring two of the
best ASL players around. But watch out - two-time champ Gary
Fortenberrry who ruled in the hey day of ASL's 130 player fields
was spotted warming up in the Starter Kit event. A comeback may
be in the offing!
Thanks also to all of the players who make RECON a great event
- ASL, fun, camaraderie, and more ASL! Hope to see you there
next year
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