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Bill Morse's computer printouts keep
all the grognard preliminary scores current. |
James Tracy and Paul Koenig push cardboard
during the Free Form preliminaries. |
More Grognard Fare ...
In this year's Final, Robert Frisby's Soviets defeated Jim
Tracy's Germans. Tracy had prevailed as the Germans against Frisby
in the 2008 PBeM Final and Frisby prevailed in several earlier
WBC contests. On Turn 5 the Germans achieved a breakthrough northwest
of Smolensk after blasting several weak stacks of Soviet units.
This enabled them to surround and destroy several Soviet divisions.
The Germans subsequently moved south, surrounding and eventually
taking Smolensk. The Soviets mustered barely enough reserves
to plug the holes in their line, and the German offensive began
to slow down south and northeast of Smolensk after a string of
poor die rolls and the loss of a panzer division in a 1-2 overrun.
Having bid 61 VPs, Tracy needed to take Yelna and Roslavl to
win. With the Soviet line holding firm and both cites seemingly
out of reach, the Germans conceded on Turn 11.
In his semi-final match, Frisby's Soviets defeated John Popiden's
Germans. Frisby prevailed as the Germans against Popiden in the
2005 Final, and Popiden defeated Frisby in the 2004 quarter-final,
the 2006 and 2008 semi-finals, and the 2006 PBeM Final. On Turn
4 the Germans penetrated the Soviet main line of defense northwest
of Smolensk, forcing the Soviets to commit their reserves to
strengthen their line. On Turn 5 the Germans needed to prevail
in a 1-2 overrun in their second movement phase to break through
the Soviet line. Most of the German mechanized divisions were
in position to overrun or advance through the Soviet line if
the overruns succeeded. While in two previous matches Popiden
successfully used 1-2 overruns to create decisive breakthroughs
on Turn 4 or 5, this time around all of his 1-2 overruns failed
(including one that resulted in the loss of a panzer division).
This enabled the Soviets to stabilize their line. The Germans
later took Smolensk but their offensive stalled in the south.
Having bid 60 VPs, Popiden needed to take both Yelna and Roslavl
to win. With German losses mounting (one panzer division lost
and three mechanized divisions losing a regiment, two of them
to Soviet counterattacks) and the Soviet line holding, the Germans
conceded on Turn 10.
In the other semi-final match, Tracy's Germans defeated Michael
Pustilnik's Soviets. The Germans pressed forward and took Smolensk
without achieving a major breakthrough, but their offensive initially
made slow progress in the south. Tracy needed to take Yelna and
Roslavl to win, and the Soviet line west of the two cities held
until Turn 11. On that turn, the Germans took Roslavl on a 1-1
overrun and finally penetrated the Soviet line west of Yelna.
German mechanized units took Yelna and pinned down most of the
nearby Soviet reserves. On Turn 12 the Soviets proved unable
to recapture either city.
This year we continued the practice of bidding VPs to play
the Germans, and in games between experienced players the bids
typically ranged from 60 to 65 VPs. The Germans won most of the
games. They won 10 of the 13 games played prior to the semi-finals;
however, the Soviets won the Final and one of the semi-final
games. Thus the Germans won 11 of the 16 games played overall.
We will likely retain the bidding system next year.
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John Popiden and Kevin Hacker battle. |
James Tracy fell short in the Final
as Frisby took his fifth title. |
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