Tournament XXII: Day Two
After a long day of fighting, the US and Wehrmacht forces regrouped and met once again on the battlefields of Western Europe. The British and Panzer Elite sat on the sidelines as
GameReplays crowned its next tournament champions!
Quarters
This round was played on Wolfheze, with US spawning in the South position. Honorable mention goes to Game 3 of Gotta Eat vs. Allstars. In each of the games most of the conflict occurred on the right side of the map, between the high munition point and the second train station. Multiple support units were lost by each side, but as the game progressed Gotta Eat was slowly pushing in to the southern territory. In response, Lollypop constructed a pair of howitzers to keep the encroaching MG42s and Pak38s at bay. As the majority of the Wehrmacht infantry was repelled, Symbiosis sent his Shermans on a counter-attack directly in to the Axis headquarters. The Shermans were swiftly destroyed, but luckily Symbiosis got both back with Allied War Machine. As his replacements hit the field, he also called on a Calliope which was shortly followed by a second. Allstars used their four artillery pieces to maximum effect, killing both infantry and tanks with most barrages. This constant stream of indirect fire, Shermans, and two snipers sealed the fate of the Wehrmacht.
Semis
Game 1 from the Epsilon vs. my Mom's drunk series illustrated both text-book early game flanking and the power of late game Wehrmacht. Epsilon had a huge map control advantage in the early game, holding both of the medium fuels. As soon as both Seb and Contador were in position, they made a near flawless timing push on the oddly positioned and ill-prepared MG teams and Volksgrenadiers, forcing them in full retreat. Contador became overly complacent, remarking that he thought the game was won. He ditched his favored Airborne Company and instead built two Howitzers very close to the center of the map.
After recovering a fuel, evilInaCIoset made three Ostwinds and destroyed both of the Howitzers. The Americans did not have an answer for these infantry killing machines, and my Mom's drunk took Game 1. Epsilon did manage to win Games 2 and 3, giving them a shot at winning a consecutive 2v2 tournament. Allstars defeated Jim and Rainbow 2-0, sending them to the finals as well.
Finals
It was only fitting that the finals be played on the great map of Duclair. In the first game Allstars, playing as Allies, built a very early machine gun nest covering the center VP. The investment was well worth it, Epsilon did not drain them a single victory point for more than twenty minutes. The tables were tipped very heavily for the US when several Pumas were destroyed, just after they disabled a Howitzer. The late game featured several large scale tank battles, with multiple up-gunned Shermans and Panthers being produced. By the end of the game, the Americans had produced every non doctrinal unit at their disposal, except for M10s and a halftrack.
The second game featured very unusual play from Lollypop. He started with three bikes and then transitioned in to a T3 Blitz strat, using manpower blitz to pay for a handful StuHs and Stugs. After several minutes of fighting on their doorstep, Axis artillery killed two snipers. Then Lollypop used the heavy tank crush granted by Blitzkrieg to crush the hedgerow and destroy a Howitzer. This one attack effectively sealed the deal for Allstars, making them Tournament XXII champions!