2019 St. Louis ASL Tournament

Well...another ASL Tournament has come and gone. This was to be my third time to attend the St. Louis Tournament. The past two were a blast and I was looking forward to another great time in St. Louis. I was not to be disappointed...but it wouldn't be the games that made it fun. This time around it was the people. It's always been the people that make our ASL community so special. And I would finally realize this during my drive home last night. Of course the five games I got in during the weekend were great...but it was seeing everyone again that gave me the greatest satisfaction. 

Naturally, a big thanks has to go out to Jim Burris and everyone else who works tirelessly each year to put on this great tournament. If you have never been to St. Louis, I highly recommend it. The venue is fantastic. The Kirkwood Best Western is in a great location with a ton of shopping and restaurants within easy walking distance. The hotel itself is very nice and the meeting room is also pretty nice. It does get tight in the room though from time to time and especially with the massive amount of kit that some folks travel with. Personally, I try to limit my kit to what I need for each day. This was a little more difficult this year as the Rounds were not specific to a specific theater or front. So for instance there were 7 nationalities that could be played in Round 1. So even  I found myself with a bit more  kit than I wanted to lug around. 

A look at the Saturday crowd.

Another outstanding effort by Jeff Ital.

Friday morning registration line. Never did find out what they were looking at...

My Friday Round One opponent would be Dan Best...yep, ASL isn't just for Saturdays!! Dan and I always try and get in a face to face game at the tournaments.

Our Scenario would be FrF93 - Wiener Waltzer. Dan would take the Germans and quickly blow through my Russian defense. I would lose in short order as Dan put on a Panzergrenadier clinic. It didn't help that I didn't get ROF on either my 45L AT Gun or Tank. Oh and then I would MALF the 45L AT Gun. Yeah...that was not helpful.

The Germans have a very limited entry area and the Russians have a pretty good chance to drill them as they come on. Most of the other Russians players did a much better job of stopping the Germans than I did.

Overall, I'll be really honest...I did not enjoy Wiener Waltzer. I think it's a good scenario, but maybe not necessarily a good scenario for a tournament. Purely my opinion, but some really good players lost this on the first round as the Germans. I guess they should have played me!!!! So after one round I would be 0-1.

My Round 2 Opponent would be Peter Ward. This would be our first time playing one another. As you can see, Peter has a giant Dice Tower!!!  And he would  use it to great effect against me. Peter and I would play FrF97 Wrecking the Rentals. This would be another Russian front game...and again  I would be the Russians. I have a horrible track record of playing the Russians and usually lose when I play them. I would be attacking with a decent size force. Peter would put Panzerschrecks and Panzerfausts to good use and smack me around pretty good. I would attempt to have four of my tanks make trail breaks to get through a single row of woods for a breakout. I would bog every one of them....one right after the next. Peter and I would have a fun game...but it was clear after two turns that I wasn't going to win this one. I conceded after it was clear that I had no chance.

So after two rounds, I was sitting at 0-2. I retired for the evening feeling a little bit numb. I had lost two games in a row in really ugly fashion. I had not played well in either of them. My opponents played crisp and smart games and took full advantage of my poor decisions. 

 Standings after Two Rounds

Round 3 Pairings.

Saturday morning opened with Round 3 and a treat. Yep, I got to play against my friend, Richard Burton. Richard and I have played each other three times over the years and we are very evenly matched. I always enjoy the opportunity to sit across the table from Richard and play a really fun game. Our scenario choice would be RPT160 Willie and Fritz. Yep...another Russian Front scenario and for the third time in a row, I would be the Russians. This scenario is a bit pro-German. And honestly, as I looked at the victory conditions and short number of turns...I just mentally prepared myself for loss number 3. And the beginning of the game was pretty rough as Richard marked my tank locations with burning wrecks courtesy of some nice Panzerfaust work.

But despite his early success against me, my Russians managed to steamroll ahead with heavy tanks and secure the necessary building locations. Richard would MALF his first Panther's MA as my attack came into its LOS. I could well relate to Richard's anguish at MALF'ing the Panther. 

A look at game end. Our game came down to a final Close Combat. Whoever won the close combat would win the game. My Russians prevailed and I had won my first game of the tournament. But it was very nearly a victory for Richard. Just a great, fun game and I really enjoyed it. Can't wait till we play again Richard!

 Standings after Round 3. I was sitting at 1-2 after three.

Round 4 Pairings.

After the traditional BBQ dinner (which is always awesome!), Jim conducts the raffle. The raffle is fun to just sit and observe as much fun and ribbing proceeds with most of the barbs thrown at the lucky folks who win all the prizes!!! Just a ton of fun!

Jim Burris runs a great tournament...can't say that enough.

My Round 4 Opponent would be fellow Tulsan, Gary Bradley. Gary and I see one another at every KC and STL tournament, but this would be the first time we were matched up. We would choose to play scenario H4 Liehr Launches First. This would be my first Hatten scenario. So I was looking forward to playing it. Gary would be the defending Americans against my marauding Germans.

Well...things would not go my way. After two turns, I had lost both of my Panthers and one of my MK IV's to Gary's HIP Tank Destroyer, Panzerschrecks and two reinforcing Tank Destroyers. My infantry had been handled roughly and I quickly discovered that getting too close to Gary's 6 factor Squads was not a winning proposition. So mid-way through Turn 3, I threw in the towel and gave Gary the concession. I had been way too aggressive early and suffered from a stout American defense. 

So after my third loss of the tournament, I packed up my kit, said my goodbyes, checked out of the hotel and headed home to Quincy. The two hour drive in the night was a good time to relax and look back on a great time in St. Louis. 

I arrived home around Midnight and settled into bed. I was glad to be home. I enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces once again, as well as some new ones.. As I stated in the beginning...part of the tournament experience is spending time with so many great people that share your passion for the greatest board game ever made...ASL.

So that's a wrap on St. Louis. I'm probably done with tournaments for the remainder of 2019...although Dan does keep trying to convince me to go to Sioux City at the end of August.  No promises my friend...cause I think mama wants to take a train ride to Chicago that weekend. Mama usually gets what mama wants too.

POSTSCRIPT: I see that Bob Bendis emerged as the Tournament Champion. Congrats Bob!