Great War Tournament 7

Can anyone tell me who "JR" is and how to contact him?

I have been assuming it is JR Tracy, but that may not be the case.

If it is Jim McCann (Clexton27), if I understand correctly, he had to unfortunately drop out.

Round 1 140 - Niergnies - 8 October 1918

Mark McG (German) 6 Medals 2 Figures lost
mirkobruner (Allies) 0 Medals 17 figures lost

all the action was in the centre, with the German tanks and artillery doing all the work. Game played close to the historical script, with the British tanks coming forwards and the Germans blowing them away. Germans eliminated two British tank units with their male tanks, and roughly handled the Brit infantry with spotted artillery fire (the FOO).

In the end the German tanks advanced and got one into the Trench line, which was enough to win.

Round 2

gdnuke (Allies) 7 medals won and 20 figures lost
gotigerssc (Germans) 6 medals won and 19 figures lost

This was a very close game the whole scenario with chances to win for both sides. The game started incredibly well for the French with an Artillery Bombard and Box Barrage combination killing the German machine gun and its loader on the first turn. The Germans responded with two recons in their first two turns.

After that fast start, the Germans fought off a determined but ultimately too weak attack by 3 French infantry units on the German left flank. The French shifted their effort to the German right flank and made decent progress killing a couple infantry units there. As with the German left, the German right flank ultimately held firm. The French made it into each flank’s farmhouse but were immediately expelled by German counterattacks before the French could score victory medals. The French tanks both bogged in German trenches, but while the St C stayed bogged for several turns far from the action in the first German trench, the Schneider recovered from its bog in the second German trench before it could be killed and made its way off the board for the last two medals and the win. 3 medals for the French for occupation of the German trench and the tank getting off the board and 4 medals for German units destroyed. 3 medals for the Germans for recons, and 3 medals for French units destroyed. The closest game possible!

The figures reported lost above (20 French and 19 German) are actual losses without adding figures back due to card play.

The French ended up short 18 figures due to play of a Physician card and the Germans ended up short 17 figures due to play of a Replacements card. We spaced on which figures counts are being used for the tiebreaker so are reporting both.

I am expecting to get three of my four remaining games in over the course of the next week: Gdnuke on Tuesday, JR on Wednesday and Mirko on Sunday. It is a week full of TGW!

Round 3

gdnuke (Allies) 7 medals won and 25 figures lost
jimdauphinais (Germans) 6 medals won and 27 figures lost

Very close game won by Allies when a British unit was able to get to the second German trench line and not get pushed off or destroyed before its next turn. Each side lost 5 units to the enemy. Germans only got one time pressure medal. British got medals for occupation of each German trench line at the start of the British final turn.

Continuing my last post since my slow typing is getting me logged out before I can finish…

The Allies were helped from the start by a really effective no man’s land shelling, which cratered several German trenches and opened lines of advance through the wire into the first German trench line.

Jim played a good game using a couple Storm of Fires and both mortar and MG barrages, and a couple Infantry Assaults to good effect. His outnumbered Germans gave as good as they got. The Allies were helped by a Rush and Rotation card followed immediately by a Whistles and Bugle Calls that enabled a quick advance deep into the German left flank.

The epic fail of the night was the Allied play of Big Push, combined with Counter Intelligence to enable immediate play of Physician. The intent was to strengthen a bomber unit for a close combat, but the Big Show roll of 2 HQ, 2 burst, and 1 deadly die rendered the whole effort useless.

Good times and a good game. Thanks to Jim for a fun game and some handy vassal pointers!

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Round 5 MM07 - Cantigny - 28 May 1918
 
 
JimDauphinais (German) 6 Medals (1 majority temporary, 2 by eliminated units, 2 by recon cards and 1 by Allied concession), 1 Figure lost (as of the time of Allied concession).
  
mirkobruner (Allies) 0 Medals (as of the time of Allied concession), 13 Figures lost (as of the time of Allied concession).
 
 
This is a challenging scenario for the Allied player that was much tougher than normal for the Allied player in our playing due to the very lucky German card draws and dice I received, and the very poor Allied card draws and dice that Mirko received.  Mirko as the Allied player had a very unpleasant game.
 
 
My starting draw of Command Cards as the German player included a Rush and Rotation card, center card, right card and an Artillery Bombard Card.  In addition, I drew three excellent Combat Cards: Lost Messenger, Short Supply and Butt and Bayonet.  This set the tone for German luck for the remainder of the game.  For this particular scenario, it is hard to see how I could have drawn a better opening German hand.
 
 
The Germans started with a temporary Medal for the possession of the majority of the three Building hexes.
 
 
Mirko as the Allied Player opened with a Recon in Force.   Given I was sitting on Rush and Rotation, I immediately played Lost Messengers on him -- costing me all of my starting HQ tokens.  Now limited to one ordered unit, he decided to go with is right Schneider Tank.  Unfortunately for him, the tank immediately bogged in the first hex it moved into.
 
I then as the German player played Rush and Rotation.  This is a huge starting card for the Germans to have in this scenario as a large portion of the German forces start on the German baseline.  With the card, I moved up my four ordered units five to six hexes to strengthen my front lines.  This left me with three units in my right trench line, two infantry units in my center trench line and my mortar in the non-fortified Building Hex on my right.  Crossing the lengthy (three to four hex) No Man's Land in this scenario was now going to be very tough for Mirko.
 
However, Mirko then came back with a Direct from HQ card play.  With it, he activated his four rightmost infantry units (including one with a flamethrower figure) and his bogged Schneider.  With is infantry he dashed forward two hexes.  With his Schenedier he tried to unbog,  throwing in 3 HQ tokens in the attempt.  Unfortunately, bad  luck struck again for Mirko and the Schneider failed to unbog, even with an Engineer figure helping (a four dice attempt, not a five dice attempt because Schneider's do not get a free unbog die).
 
I now played my Artillery Bombard mostly to get it out of my hand given I only have a four-card hand and only an up to 3 dice Artillery Reserve capability, but also because three of the infantry units he moved forward were in contiguous hexes and two of those units were in Countryside (open ground).  The two combats from the card resulted in the second combat roll producing two on target hits on his center unit, which was in a shell crater.  As a result, he was able to ignore one of the two solider hits from my results roll.  Note that in my subsequent command card draw i gained a Recon Left card.  Once again, luck was raining down on me.
 
Mirko then played a Probe Left.  He used this to dash one infantry unit two hexes to a shell crater and move another infantry unit once hex into Countryside.  Note that advancing on the Allied left in this scenario is extremely difficult as the No Man's Land on that side is four hexes wide.  Furthermore, in this particular playing, the pre-game No Man's Landing shelling only placed one shell crater two hexes from the left Allied front line and, via my earlier Rush and Rotation play, I had three units in my right trench line rather than just one.  The remaining shell craters on the Allied left were four hexes from the Allied front line.  Mirko took a one die shot at my right-most infantry unit that was in my trench line but failed to roll a Burst.
 
I came back with a Probe Right.  My MG fired 3 dice on his infantry units in the shell crater and scored two soldiers and one burst.  Mirko played Body Armor to block the solider hits, but the unit still lost one figure due to the burst result.  Fire (with one die) from one of infantry units on Mirko's infantry units on his left in Countryside was ineffective.
 
Mirko followed up with an Attack Left and Physican to fix his infantry unit on his left that had lost a figure.  With the Attack Left, Mirko moved: (i) the unit he healed up two hexes forward into a shell crater adjacent to my trench line, (ii) the infantry unit he had in Countryside two hexes forward into Countryside adjacent to a shell crater and (iii) a infantry unit from his trench line forward two hexes into the just vacated shell crater hex.  Since these were all two hex moves, Mirko could not attack my units.
 
I came back with another Probe Right and played my Short Supply Combat Card as well.  With my Short Supply card, I sent his unit that had gotten adjacent to my trench line back to his baseline.  My subsequent ranged fire caused the infantry unit on his left that was in Countryside to lose a figure and retreat one hex.  During Command Card draw, luck continued to rain on me as I picked up a second Recon Card for my hand (Recon Right).
 
Mirko then came back with an Assault Left (it was clear at this point that Mirko was likely stuck with several left cards leading him to make this sustained attack on my right despite the width of the No Man's Land here).  With the card he moved forward the two infantry units that had not been sent back to his baseline forward to hexes into shell crater hexes adjacent to the far right of my trench line.  He also moved the infantry unit that had been sent back to his baseline forward two hexes into a vacated shell crater hex. Mirko also took a one die mortar ranged fire shot at a unit in my trench line, but, once again, he failed to get a burst result.
 
I came back with a Direct from HQ Card as the only right section card I had left was a recon card and Mirko now had two infantry units (one down to three figures and the other full strength) adjacent to my trench line in shell craters. I used the card to activate four units -- the three units in my right trench line and my MG unit in a fortified Building on my left.  My ranged fire and close combat on my right was devastating as his two infantry units were each knocked down to one figure.  Mirko then tried Butt & Bayonet back, but luck continues to not his way as it was ineffective.  My luck continued as I drew an Assault Right Command Card at the end of my turn.
 
Mirko then played a Recon in Force Card.  With it, he pulled back one of his two one figure infantry units by two hexes to a Countryside hex, moved an infantry unit two hexes from his center in the right most hex of my left trench line, and moved an infantry unit from his right into the left most hex of my left trench line.
 
I now played my Assault Right Card and attacked his two one figure infantry units on his left.  Both units were eliminated.  I was now up to 3 Medals (two from eliminated units and one from majority Building hex control).  Mirko still had none.  Amazingly, at the end of my turn a drew a Storm of Fire Command Card.
 
Mirko came back with a Probe Center Card.  He used it to move his center Schneider Tank two hexes forward into Countryside and an infantry unit in his center with a flamethrower two hexes forward into a shell crater hex.
 
I now played my Storm of Fire Command Card. I started scoring addition hits Mirko's units.  Mirko then had enough and wanted to concede the game to me. Note that at this point he had no medals and had only been able to eliminate one of my figures.  Furthermore, as can be seen from this report, all of the luck was going very heavily my way.
 
At first, I tried to talk Mirko out of the concession pointing out that it is important to continue because advancement in tournament is based on being the best German player or the best Allied player (i.e., you are really playing against the performance of the other German players or the other Allied players) and because of that Mark really needs fully completed game medal and lost figure counts.  However, after I remembered I still had two recon cards left in my hand, which would allow me within two turns to instantly jump from 3 Medals to 5 Medals, I accepted Mirko's concession as it clearly was going to be a painful situation for him to continue.
 
Luck clearly heavily favored me.  I essentially got about the best cards I could, and my dice rolls were very good.  Mirko's card draws initially only left him with multiple card plays on his left, which were not going to be very promising if I had decent number of right cards to respond with as I did.  Bogging one of his Schneiders right at the start of the game was also very painful along with the failing of a subsequent four dice recovery roll for that tank.
 
On his left, I think Mirko should have waited for Infantry Assault and/or Over the Top Cards, or for center cards to allow one of his Schneiders to move to attack the German right.  I think it would have been better to throw off some of the left cards rather than play them to put Allied units in Countryside hexes, which was a big gamble.  TGW requires significant patience to get the right card combinations (or card draws to get your tanks moving and attacking) when attacking over a wide No Man's Land even when your opponent can score medals on recon cards.
 
Also, I unfortunately did not notice this until I ran through the log to prepare this report, but Mirko also forgot to fire his tanks on the turns he moved them.  While they were only one or two dice ranged fire shots, they were a lost opportunity.
 
Other than with respect to the above, I thought Mirko's play was good.
 
I appreciate Mirko putting up with the luck situation in our game as long as he did and look forward to playing him again in the future.  

 
 
 

Round 2 260 - Battle of Malmaison (Laffaux Salient) - 23 October 1917
 
  
JimDauphinais (German) 7 Medals (2 for eliminated soldier units, 3 for recon cards and 2 for an eliminated tank unit), 13 Figures lost.
   
jrtracy (Allies) 4 Medals (2 for eliminated soldier units, 1 for a Trench hex and 1 for a Farm hex), 21 Figures lost.
  
  
As the German player, for my one special figure, I went with a loader for my MG unit that starts in the Bunker.
 
As the Allied player, JR went with 2 Elites, 2 Bombers and an Officer -- the Officer potentially allowing him to move fast enough to eventually get an exit medal (later foiled as we will see).
 
The No Man's Land Bombardment was average, creating three holes in the wire line.
 
JR opened with a Recon Right 5 dice Artillery Reserve Activation with a Box Barrage targeted on my MG unit in the Bunker (very nice play by him!).  He successfully knocked my MG unit down to two figures, but didn't touch the Loader.
 
I came back with an Attack Left to move an infantry unit from Vaurains Farm to the trench hex on my left/center boundary and fire my Mortar and MG units at his infantry unit with an officer that was in its starting a Countryside hex.  The Officer lived, but a figure was lost and the unit retreated.
 
JR came back with a Probe Right two move his St. Chamond tank forward a hex toward my Bunker and move an Elite Infantry unit two hexes onto a shell crater hex in the wire line.  His subsequent ranged fire knocked my MG unit down to a single figure, but the Loader continued to live on.  In response to the ranged fire from his St. Chamond tank, I played a Return Fire card.  This allowed me to roll 6 dice in ranged fire back at his tank.  I scored two bursts on the tank, but neither reroll was successful.
 
To push JR's assault on my left back, I played the Big Show Command Card along with Three on a Match. Three on a Match failed, but I got an Infantry unit and two wildcards for activation on my Big Show roll.  I used that to concentrate ranged fire from my mortar and my MG units on the Elite infantry unit he had moved up to the shell crater.  The fire was highly effectve and eliminated the unit.  Germans 1, Allies 0.
 
JR came back with an Infantry Assault Command Card which he played on his left section.  With it, he was able to get five infantry units (one each with a bomber and a Elite figure) into the leftmost hexes on the wire line, where two of those hexes had shell craters.  His subsequent ranged fire was not effective and allowed me to once again play a Return Fire Combat Card, knocking his bomber unit down to a single figure.
 
I came back with Recon in Force and used a Counter Intelligence Card to pull the Return Fire Card back into my hand.  I then tried to take out his Bomber infantry unit thaat was down to a single figure and also tried to score a hits on his St. Chamond tank that was just three hexes from my MG unit that was down to a single figure but still had a Loader.  His Bomber infantry unit was able to retreat and his tank survived undamaged from a reroll of a single burst.
 
JR then played a Direct from HQ Card, activating five units total on his left and left center (including his Schneider tank) as well as his St.  Chamond tank.  The Schneider tank successfully moved two hexes to the wire line inthe center section without bogging.  However, JR's St. Chamond tank bogged on its first hex of movment (into the wire line).  It was now only two hexes from my Bunker with the MG unit that was down to a single figure.  In the subsequent ranged fire and close combat, I was able to play a Surprise Ambush Card against one of his Elite infantry units in the center section that was down to 3 figures and was able to eliminate the unit.  However, he knocked down my infantry unit in the trench line on my right down to a single figure.  Nevertheless, the score was now Germans 2, Allies 0.
 
I then played another Recon in Force Card. I pulled back units on my center and right (to the Guillain Farm with the infantry unit down to a single figure), while continuing to have my MG unit fire on the St. Chamond tank that was now bogged on my left.  I got a burst, which allowed two rerolls with the bog, but, once again, both rerolls failed.
 
JR came back with an Attack Left Card. With it, JR advanced three full strength infantry units into the trench line on his left setting him up for a temporary medal at the start of his next turn.  His subsequent ranged fire was ineffective in trying to elimiante my infantry uit in the Guillain Farm that was down to a single figure and I was able to play Return Fire Card again causing once of his infantry units to lose a figure.
 
I then played an Attack Right to try to rearrange my units on my right near the Guillain Farm to get my infantry units down to a single figure out of the line of fore.  JR stopped this with a very nice play of the Trench Foot Combat Card causing me to have to keep my single figure infantry unit in the Guillain Farm hex.  However, I then got a lucky burst result in my subsequent ranged fire from my full strength infantry unit that was not affected by the Trench Foot Card knocking one of his three infantry unit on his left down to two figures.
 
JR then got his temporary medal for the trench line and played a Recon Left Card.  With it, he had one of his full strength infantry units move one hex forward into a Countryside hex in order to close combat my infantry unit down to a single figure in the Guillain Farm hex. His attack eliminated my infantry unit and he gained ground into the farm hex.  The medal score was now tied at 2 to 2, with a permanent medal for the Guillain Farm hex waiting in the wings for the start of JR's next turn.
 
I then played my own Recon Left Card to score a medal and continue firing my MG unit at JR's St. Chamond tank (still a 4 dice attack for ranged fire since the MG unit still had a Loader and the bogged tank was only two hexes away).  This time I got two burst results, allowing 3 dice for my reroll due to the tank still being bogged.  This time one of the rerolls succeeded and the St. Chamond took a hit.  The medal score was now Germans 3, Allies 2 due to my Recon Card play.
 
JR scored a permanent medal for the Guillian Farm Hex and then played an Attack Center that was transformed to an Attack Right by the play of a Tactician Combat Card.  With it, he aggressively advanced his bomber and officer infantry units on his far right along with trying to unbog his St. Chamond tank.  Despite throwing three HQ tokens into the unbog attempt, it was unsuccessful.  In addition, his subsequent ranged fire for the activated units against my MG unit down to one figure in my Bunker was ineffective.  Nevertheless, the medal score was tied again at 3 to 3.
 
I then played Recon Right for another medal and attempt to wear down his unit in the Guillain Farm with close combat.  I knocked him down by a figure, but he knocked my unit down to two figures with a Butt and Bayonet Card.  The medal score was now Germans 4, Allies 3.
 
JR came back with a Storm of Fire Card that he used with his units on his right to finally take out my MG unit in the Bunker that had long been down to a single figure and nearly constantly firing at his bogged St. Chamond tank. The medal score was tied yet again, at 4 to 4!
 
I then got to play a third Recon Card, this one on the right, along with a Physician Card to bring my weakened unit on my right back up from two figures to four figures. The subsequent close combat knocked one of his infantry units down to two figures.  I was now back in the lead with 5 medals to JR's 4.
 
JR then played Out Flanked and used it to move the bomber and officer infantry units on his far right toward the Vaurains Farm Hex and later possible exit from the map.
 
I came back with a Probe Center and a Stretcher Bearer Combat Card.  I used to Stretcher Bearer to remove his officer infantry unit from the map.  This is something I would not have been able to do but for the single hit I score on that unit early in the game.  In addition, I used one of the center orders to move my mortar unit into the Vaurains Farm Hex.  These plays essentially foiled JR's plans on his far right.
 
JR then played a Replacement Card to shore up his weakened units on his left and get them into position for a possible map exit.
 
Finally, for the closing play of the game, I played a Storm of Fire Command Card focused on firing my mortar and a nearby infantry unit at JR's bogged St. Chamond tank that already had one hit on it.  The mortar fired first with three dice (for a four hex range with Storm of Fire adding a die).  I got one burst result and rerolled two dice (due to the bog).  And, bam, one of the rerolls succeeded!  The beast was dead!  2 medals for that ended the game by placing the Germans at 7 medals.
 
JR had a little rust at first, but, overall, he played a very good game.  It was a pleasure playing him.

Does anyone know:

1. Whether Togan is still participating in the tournament?

2. The best way to try to reach Togan?

Thanks.