2012 US Open - Boston (actually Bedford) Massachusetts

[babyshark]

Well, my pike chased most of his LH all the way across the board, but did not get to run any of them off the back edge. The other LH were clobbered by my Lh, and by rolling a 1 to evade. My LF took a charge from his LF, saw them off, then pursued into another BG of LH. And held on long enough for the CV BG, fresh from crushing his evaders, to set up a flank charge. A couple BGs of his lancers impaled themselves on the superior Pikes.

Oh, and when my EL were about to roll melee dice against the last, fragged, BG of lancers that I needed to win, Dave asked if he could go back and do a charge with another BG of lancers. Being the very soul of kindness, I said he could. And then he proceeded to break the EL and turn that into a flank charge against another of my BGs. I won when his last BG of lancers impaled itself on more Pk.

It was a really good game.

Marc

[zoltan]

Well, my pike chased most of his LH all the way across the board, but did not get to run any of them off the back edge. The other LH were clobbered by my Lh, and by rolling a 1 to evade. My LF took a charge from his LF, saw them off, then pursued into another BG of LH. And held on long enough for the CV BG, fresh from crushing his evaders, to set up a flank charge. A couple BGs of his lancers impaled themselves on the superior Pikes.

Oh, and when my EL were about to roll melee dice against the last, fragged, BG of lancers that I needed to win, Dave asked if he could go back and do a charge with another BG of lancers. Being the very soul of kindness, I said he could. And then he proceeded to break the EL and turn that into a flank charge against another of my BGs. I won when his last BG of lancers impaled itself on more Pk.

It was a really good game.

Marc

"And the laaarts all went out in Ma a suh chew sits, and Massachusetts is one place ah have seen...
I will remember Massachusetts"(repeat to fade)

[dave_r]

Well, my pike chased most of his LH all the way across the board, but did not get to run any of them off the back edge.

i.e. did nothing...

The other LH were clobbered by my Lh

??? I broke one unit of light horse and lost a unit myself at the same time. The unit of Marc's Light horse that was "victorious" was broken later in the game.

My LF took a charge from his LF, saw them off, then pursued into another BG of LH. And held on long enough for the CV BG, fresh from crushing his evaders, to set up a flank charge.

i.e. Marc's LF were fragmented facing a fresh BG of Light Horse with a general in the front rank and were able to survive until my LH got slammed in the flank....

A couple BGs of his lancers impaled themselves on the superior Pikes.

And because of how Marc cunningly wangled it to get his pikes only two ranks deep when i hit them I disrupted him at impact, and had two dice at double plus and two dice at plus against four dice on minus / double minus. Marc actually managed to win this despite losing two bases and then broke my Cavalry........

Oh, and when my EL were about to roll melee dice against the last, fragged, BG of lancers that I needed to win, Dave asked if he could go back and do a charge with another BG of lancers. Being the very soul of kindness, I said he could. And then he proceeded to break the EL and turn that into a flank charge against another of my BGs. I won when his last BG of lancers impaled itself on more Pk.

I believe this is generally called justice. Although I must admit Marc was very sportsmanlike in allowing the charge to happen. Even if my Cv were only disrupted at the time

It was a really good game.

It was. I only lost because a three base BG of Cavalry failed their test to charge the aforementioned 6 base BG of pikes. Marc got six hits out of six dice (needing fours) and I lost a base at impact and at melee and broke. I had a unit of Poor LF one inch from Marc's camp and Marc had nothing within 24" of his camp.

We won't mention the second and third games which were even worse. I think this is my worst ever fog comp, but I've had great fun and I must state that the Americans have been superb hosts and have stopped at nothing to make my time over here as good as it possibly could be. Except Marc obviously.

[petedalby]

I only lost because a three base BG of Cavalry failed their test to charge the aforementioned 6 base BG of pikes

You've been here before though haven't you Dave? I still remember it well.

[iversonjm]

We won't mention the second and third games which were even worse. I think this is my worst ever fog comp...

Don't feel too bad Dave. You're really quite a good player for a Brit. Now that you've learned how proper infantry armies are played, I'm sure you can design an list that will be competitive.

[babyshark]

We won't mention the second and third games which were even worse. I think this is my worst ever fog comp...

Don't feel too bad Dave. You're really quite a good player for a Brit. Now that you've learned how proper infantry armies are played, I'm sure you can design an list that will be competitive.

Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

Marc

[hazelbark]

We won't mention the second and third games which were even worse. I think this is my worst ever fog comp, but I've had great fun and I must state that the Americans have been superb hosts and have stopped at nothing to make my time over here as good as it possibly could be.

So this US Open will be go down in the annals of history alongside Lexington, Concord and Saratoga.

Sad I missed it.

[hazelbark]

We won't mention the second and third games which were even worse.

PS I gather this means you were broken again by another American.

[zoltan]

How about a quick list of final placings please?

[iversonjm]

So this US Open will be go down in the annals of history alongside Lexington, Concord and Saratoga.

Sad I missed it.

The ironic part of this statement is that Bedford, where the Open took place, is literally alongside both Lexington and Concord.

[iversonjm]

How about a quick list of final placings please?

I don't have the full results (Peter Celella is the keeper of records) but to the best of my recollection, the results were:

1. Me
2. John Martin
3. Dan Martz Sr.
4. Bob Rioux
5. Graham Unger
6. Chris Burr

If I'm wrong on 4-6 (which I may be) please correct me.

And congratulations to Chris Johnston, who I believe was the first person to best my French Ordonnance army.

[zoltan]

And your English guest? How many players?

[iversonjm]

And your English guest? How many players?

Our English guest had a good time. We had 23 players (one slot was filled by two players).

[hazelbark]

And congratulations to Chris Johnston, who I believe was the first person to best my French Ordonnance army.

He beat you and Ruddock and didn't make top 5?

[iversonjm]

And congratulations to Chris Johnston, who I believe was the first person to best my French Ordonnance army.

He beat you and Ruddock and didn't make top 5?

In my game against him I managed to frag and then break a unit of his pikes on the last turn of the game through shear luck to hold him down to a 13-7 or so. It was Chris Burr that beat Ruddock. That said, Chris J. was playing on the second table in Round 5 against Martin, but Martin took him down. That sank him below Bob, who popped back up after beating Gino. Graham and Chris Burr were playing on the third table and gummed each other.

At least that's what I think happened. I was too busy desperately trying to keep my battleline from caving in under Marc's assault to pay close attention.

[pcelella]

Result for the US Open 2012 posted below:

Round One

Gino Agnelly 13.2 Jorge Chavier 6.8
Marc Crotteau 17.3 Scott Kimball 7.7
Phil Spera 0.7 Chris Burr 24.3
Chris Johnston 19.7 Graham Unger 5.3
Paul Georgian 9.3 Hal Edgett 10.7
Walt Burgoyne 5.3 Dave Ruddock 19.7
Alan Zanich 1.5 Matt Iverson 23.5
Justin Tebo 20.0 Peter Celella 5.0
John Martin 23.2 Silvio Marra 1.8
Bill McCampbell 9.0 Dan Martz, Sr 11.0
Tom McMillen 0 Bob Rioux 25.0

Round Two

Bob Rioux 13.3 Chris Burr 6.7
Matt Iverson 24.2 John Martin 0.8
Justin Tebo 1.3 Chris Johnston 23.7
Dave Ruddock 9.2 Marc Crotteau 15.8
Gino Agnelly 1.7 Dan Martz, Sr 23.3
Hal Edgett 0.8 Bill McCambell 24.2
Paul Georgian 12.6 Scott Kimball 7.4
Jorge Chavier 11.9 Walt Burgoyne 8.1
Graham Unger 14.4 Peter Celella 5.6
Silvio Marra 25.0 Alan Zanich 0
Philip Spera 5.4 Tom McMillen 14.6

Round Three

Matt Iverson 8.2 Chris Johnston 11.8
Bob Rioux 9.8 Dan Martz, Sr 10.2
Bill McCampbell 19.6 Marc Crotteau 5.4
Chris Burr 20.0 Dave Ruddock 5.0
Silvio Marra 15.9 Paul Georgian 4.1
John Martin 25.0 Justin Tebo 0
Graham Unger 14.4 Jorge Chavier 5.6
Jacob Kovel 8.6 Gino Agnelly 16.4
Tom McMillen 6.0 Walt Burgoyne 19.0
Hal Edgett 0 Peter Celella 25.0
Philip Spera 6.1 Alan Zanich 13.9

Round Four

Matt Iverson 25.0 Bill McCampbell 0
Chris Johnston 10.0 Chris Burr 10.0
John Martin 25.0 Bob Rioux 0
Dan Martz, Sr 11.3 Silvio Marra 8.7
Marc Crotteau 22.7 Peter Celella 2.3
Graham Unger 25.0 Dave Ruddock 0
Walt Burgoyne 9.0 Gino Agnelly 11.0
Paul Georgian 8.6 Jorge Chavier 11.4
Jacob Kovel 5.6 Justin Tebo 19.4
Tom McMillen 17.5 Alan Zanich 7.5
Philip Spera 0.6 Hal Edgett 24.4

Round Five

Matt Iverson 21.9 Marc Crotteau 3.1
John Martin 24.1 Chris Johnston 0.9
Chris Burr 8.1 Graham Unger 11.9
Dan Martz, Sr 17.5 Jacob Kovel 7.5
Bill McCampbell 5.8 Silvio Marra 14.2
Bob Rioux 23.5 Gino Agnelly 1.5
Justin Tebo 10.8 Tom McMillen 9.2
Peter Celella 10.0 Jorge Chavier 10.0
Hal Edgett 2.7 Dave Ruddock 22.3
Paul Georgian 12.6 Alan Zanich 7.4
Scott Kimball 9.1 Philip Spera 10.9

Final Standings

Matt Iverson (French Ordonnance) 102.8
John Martin (Later Horse Nomand) 98.1
Dan Martz, Sr (Early Hungarian) 73.3
Bob Rioux (French Ordonnance) 71.6
Graham Unger (Free Company) 71.0
Chris Burr (Western Turkish) 69.1
Chris Johnston (Later Seleucid) 66.1
Silvio Marra (Christian Nubian) 65.6
Marc Crotteau (Alex. Macedonian) 64.3
Bill McCampbell (French Ordonnance) 58.6
Dave Ruddock (Bosporan) 56.2
Justin Tebo (Med. German City Leagues) 51.5
Peter Celella (Norse-Irish) 47.9
Tom McMillen (Mayan) 47.3
Paul Georgian (Later Seleucid) 47.2
Jorge Chavier (Alex. Macedonian) 45.7
Gino Agnelly (Later Ottoman Turkish) 43.8
Walt Burgoyne (Bosporan) 41.4 (4 games)
Hal Edgett (Dominate Roman) 38.6
Alan Zanich (Arab Conquest) 30.3
Scott Kimball (Classical Indian) 24.2 (3 games)
Philip Spera (Mid-Republican Roman) 23.7
Jacob Kovel (Western Wei) 21.7 (3 games)

[philqw78]

Graham Unger 25.0 Dave Ruddock 0

Well at least all his bad luck should have been used up before Campaign next weekend
.
Or is he really just rubbish?

[iversonjm]

.
Or is he really just rubbish?

He's certainly not rubbish (and is actually quite a good sport I might add), but I think he may have been a little unprepared for what a well-driven American-style foot/combined arms army can do to a lancer-LH combo. In the FOG circle of life, foot (or at least combined arms) beat lancers, shooty cav beat foot, and lancers beat shooty cav. As you can see from the R&R, the US is firmly in the foot portion of this cycle, and that made Dave's job a lot harder. Note that John Martin's Mongols correctly anticipated this trend. He had the right army to face most of his opponents (as well as consumate skill in using it), and that shows in his score.

[dave_r]

.
Or is he really just rubbish?

He's certainly not rubbish (and is actually quite a good sport I might add), but I think he may have been a little unprepared for what a well-driven American-style foot/combined arms army can do to a lancer-LH combo. In the FOG circle of life, foot (or at least combined arms) beat lancers, shooty cav beat foot, and lancers beat shooty cav. As you can see from the R&R, the US is firmly in the foot portion of this cycle, and that made Dave's job a lot harder. Note that John Martin's Mongols correctly anticipated this trend. He had the right army to face most of his opponents (as well as consumate skill in using it), and that shows in his score.

Which, whilst may have been the case, we will never know

I lost against the Khazars, Alex Mac and Free Companies. I should have won the game against the Alex Mac and took out 12 AP's of a 13 BG army. The Khazars were all mounted and I could have had Spartans against Numidians and lost the third game on Saturday. I beat the Romans on the Sunday and the Bosporans on the Friday.

Still it was a thoroughly enjoyable event and well done to Matt for organising.

I still think that Bosporans are fine against good quality foot, but the Knights are what makes the difference, they are just to hard to deal with, especially drilled knights.

I am still going to claim I was simply unlucky

[dave_r]

Oh, and thanks to all the too-many-to-mention Americans who bought me lunch / beer / drinks over the weekend simply for me turning up. As well as Matt for driving me to / from the airport and showing me some of the sights of Boston. Much appreciated.