88

6/18/20 to 8/31/2020

Final MATCHUPS

Updated 08/1/2020

Congratulations to Richard Beyma.  He is our new King!

1.Jim Kramer (Allies-2) vs Richard Beyma (Axis) Tie (Axis Advances in Rd 89)

(Two point come back by the Axis in T8)

2. Jonathan Lockwood (Allies-2.5) vs Phil Watkins (Axis) Allied Victory

3. Jim Bodenheimer (Allies-1.5) vs Robert Drozd (Axis). Allied Victory

4. Karl Bodenheimer vs Scott Beall                               Karl wins by forfeit.

5. Andy Gardner (Allies-2.0) vs Denis Nicholson (Axis) Allied Victory

6. Avi Solomon (Allies-1.0) vs Ken Pascoe (Axis) Allied Victory

7. Greg Hultgren (Axis) vs Tal Seaman (Allies-2.0) Allied Victory after 2

8  Daniel Blumintrit (Axis) vs Bruce Monnin (Allies-1.5). Axis Victory

9 Bob Jameli (Axis) vs Tim Tow (Allies-1.0) Axis Victory by 3

10 Nicholas Markevich (Allies-1.0) vs Dave Elkin (Axis) Allied Victory*

11 Mike Morrison (Axis) vs Mircea Pauca (Allies-1.5) Allied Victory

12 Vince Meconi (Allies-2.0) vs Bob Hamel (Axis) Allied Victory by 1

13 Mike Kaye (Allies-1.5) vs Jeff Lange (Axis) Allied Victory

14 John Pack (Allies-?) vs Eric Anderson (Axis) Axis Victory

15 Robert Frisby (Allies-1.5) vs Lee Kendter (Axis) Allied Victory

16 Pete Shelling (Axis) vs Andy Choptiany (Allies-1.5) Axis Victory

17  Robert Dragan (Allies-2.0) vs Dick Jarvenin (Axis) Axis Victory by 1.0!

18  Rick Vrost (Allies-1.5) vs Hilton McManus Axis. Axis Victory

19 John Sharp (Axis) vs Greg Wong (Allies-1.5) Axis Victory

20 Bryan Brinkman (Axis) vs Mark Bayliss (Allies-0.5) Allies win by default*

Extra Games

 

Allied Victories  11    Axis Victories   7   Ties 1

52 Comments to “88”

    
  1. usafkong
    July 29, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    Mike Kaye’s Allies (bid 1.5) defeated Jeff Lange’s Axis with an early Axis surrender

    Reply
  2. punditas
    July 29, 2020 at 1:21 am

    Avi Solomon (Allies, 1 POC) defeated Ken Pascoe (Axis) with 10 POC (excluding the bid). We have played before.

    T1: Allies did not enter the Barents and Pola was sunk. POC Axis 2

    T2: Allies go to the Barents and the Germans keep 1CA in the Baltic and all the rest go to the NAO with Bismarck and 2 x 225 failing their speed rolls. The Allied LBA tried to strike them in Germany and failed and so did Courageous in the NAO against the two 357s. In the surface battle with 2×553 and 3×443, Gneisenau and Scheer are sunk, Hipper crippled and Blucher disabled. Rodney 4d, Nelson 1d and disabled, 2×443 disabled. Scharnhorst and Hipper escape back to Germany. However, in the SAO, the Allies had Eagle, Royal Sov and 2 CAs vs 4 UBs and 3x Italian CAs. ASW sunk 1 UB and disabled another. The two remaining UBs sunk Royal Sov. Eagle missed with her aircraft and so did all three ships in Rd 1. Axis damaged Eagle and sunk Suffolk. In Rd 2, Eagle sunk Fiume but was sunk itself and in Rd 3 Gorizia and Zara sank Sussex. POC Axis 5

    T3: NAO sees the Allies with Courageous, Ramillies and CA escorting Convoy1A against 4 UB and 2 Italian CAs. Allies miss with 8 ASW in NAO and the 4 UBs disable Ramillies. I can’t find any Air attack but in Rd 1 the Convoy sunk Zara and I was mentally prepared to resign if the convoy was sunk eventually but Ken missed Kent in response and withdrew to France. Both LBA ineffective. Convoy1A moves to the Barents. POC Axis 5

    I am not used to writing so much and there wasn’t much more exciting stuff after that as the Americans joined two by two T4 to T6, all three Convoys got through to Russia (though one was damaged and disabled) and Finberg rolled so many 1s to 4s for both of us we decided to change to Firish after T4. The only exception was that on T5 Ken split his subs 4 and 3 between NAO and SAO and with my 6 plus 6 dice rolled 663363 and 146265 which crippled his UB efforts afterwards. Ken fought on bravely till the end but did not roll LBA well enough against the Convoys, which won me the game.

    Reply
  3. chopper
    July 24, 2020 at 7:44 am

    Pete Shelling (Axis) defeated Andy Choptiany (Allies). Andy bid 1.5 POC for the Allies.
    The Allies surrendered after T5 with the POC Axis 5 (6.5).Pete and I have played before.

    Reply
  4. Nicholas Markevich
    July 17, 2020 at 11:17 pm

    In match 10 Nicholas Markevich (Allies-1.0) defeated Dave Elkin (Axis) by 6 POC before the bid (5 POC after the bid). This was the first time we played WaS against each other. Dave sent parts of the Axis fleets to the South Atlantic on turn 1, but without U-boat support the Axis survivors were trapped and eliminated over the next several turns of combat in the South Atlantic. The U-boats disabled several convoys back to the USA, but never broke the blockade in the North and Barents Seas. Eventually one Convoy reached Russia, and the other two reached England.

    Reply
  5. Andy Gardner
    July 10, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    Match #5 is in the books. My Allies(bidding 2) edged out Dennis Nicholson’s Axis.

    Reply
  6. Mircea Pauca
    July 9, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    Mircea Pauca (Allies, bid 1.5) won over Mike Morrison (Axis) by surrender in Turn 5. This was our first play of WAS for AREA. Substantial swings of luck helped me more.

    T1: ‘My’ Barents-in-1 with all 8CA in Barents. Both my battlecruisers missed speed rolls (!!) so Germans sent the surface fleet. Stukas disabled Hood too. Ark Royal hit back with all 3 strikes (6,6,6 !!!). After losing 3 cruisers and sinking Graf Spee, the British withdraw orderly. POC 1 Axis raw.
    T2: Germans contest strong North Sea (!?) while both battlecruisers repair in German ports. Airstrikes disable 2 Germans. Lutzow, Prinz Eugen vs Royal Oak sink. Germans withdraw. RAF sinks Fiume. Allies gain back 2 PoC, total 1 Allied.
    T3: Germans stay in the Baltic and repair Bismarck’s minor damage. RAF sinks Gorizia. Allies gain 1 more PoC, total 2 Allied.
    T4: With 7U threatening, I send ASW stronger to NSea (18) then NAtl (14), Barents (14) where convoys sail. I think Barents is over-strong enough and do not send Anson. Germans concentrate everything (7 ships, 7U) on Barents. ASW only sinks 2 U, surviving 5U sink Hood and cripple Prince of Wales. Airstrikes disable Duke of York and cripple Repulse. In the battle, Germans sink 4 more units including both crippled ships, a cruiser and the Convoy vs only damage 8 on Tirpitz. 3 British cruisers retreat separately, Germans let them go to concentrate on the Convoy. Axis gains back 1 PoC, total 1 Allied raw.
    T5: Barents gets now strong protection for Convoy 2B, both Anson and Howe reach there. The 7U split to neutralize the Baltic and SATL. Germans fight again in strong-ish North Sea (?) while Tirpitz repairs. They lose Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Zeppelin vs 3x 444. No Germans remain at sea. Convoy 2B unloads in Murmansk with moderate damage from the air. Axis surrenders due to heavy loss.

    Reply
  7. Rick Virost
    July 6, 2020 at 3:07 pm

    Hilton McManus (Axis) defeated Rick Virost (Allies, bid 1.5 POC) in Match 18 of WAS Round 88. Speed rolls, LBA, and U-Boats played a critical role in setting up extensive ship slaughter for both sides. Double six speed rolls to the Barents in Turn 1 plus an LBA disable result for Hood led to the sinking of four Allies cruisers with no loss to the Axis. The Turn 2 battle was also for the Barents, where Axis U-Boats and surface ships worked together to sink Hood and Repulse as Prince of Wales missed its speed roll. At least this time the Allies did manage to cripple Scharnhorst. Turn 3 could have been a turning point for the Allies when two pocket battleships missed the speed rolls to the North Atlantic and a carrier air strike put five damage on Tirpitz. Allies managed to sink Gneisenau, Blucher, and Prinz Eugen in the first round of surface combat while a carrier and two of the three British battleships were disabled (but one carrier was sunk.) In the second round Rodney survived fire from Bismarck and the damaged Tirpitz and managed to sink Tirpitz. Unfortunately the third round saw Rodney go under while Bismarck was only damaged (and not disabled). These three POC from the North Atlantic put the Axis into an almost unbeatable lead. Turn 4 brought out three Americans to help, and led to a Turn 5 delivery of Convoy 1A to Russia. But Turn 5 U-boat attacks in the North Atlantic sank Convoy 2B, giving the Axis a permanent lead (and even greater with the bid.) At this point the Allies conceded the match. The Axis player believed that an Allies victory was still possible by using a Mediterranean attack. The Allies player did not agree, given that three of the eight fast Allies battleships were sunk and four of the remaining five were in the Barents. So the players switched sides for a “fun follow-up”. The new Allies player had terrible speed rolls, with seven Allies battleships in port for Turn 6. Meanwhile the U-Boats broke control of the North Sea which set up a Turn 7 battle for the South Atlantic. Here the three fast surviving Axis surface ships joined forces with three Italian cruisers and all seven U-Boats in a titanic struggle. But U-Boats disabled two of the five Allies battleships and Graf Zeppelin disabled a third and crippled a fourth. The “fun follow-up” was finished before the surface fire could commence, with Allies battleships looking to be stuck in the Neutral Port for Turn 8 while the Allies fast attack force aiming for the big Mediterranean battle going to be blocked by Axis control of the South Atlantic. The two parts of the match were interesting for both players, but a strong Axis victory in either part.

    Reply
  8. Jim Bodenheimer
    July 5, 2020 at 12:25 pm

    Jim Bodenheimer’s Allies (bid 1.5) defeated Rob Drozd’s Axis in a hard-fought campaign that saw lucky dice make the difference. The Axis moved into the South Atlantic early and continued to devastate the British southern squadron over the course of the first three turns, racking up an impressive score. The Allies only held on by safely delivering the first 2 convoys to Russia. In turn 4 Allied ASW crushed the UBoats, killing 3. In T5 Axis lost 4 more subs and failed to block Allied control in the South Atlantic. In T7, Allied ASW again crushed the UBoat menace, sinking 4 of the 5 subs in the rebuilt wolf-pack. With Convoy 3 safely delivered, the Axis conceded with an Allied POC of +4 before bid.

    Reply
  9. Vince Meconi
    July 3, 2020 at 7:05 am

    Match #12 has ended with Vince Meconi’s Allies (2.0) prevailing over Bob Hamel’s Axis after the full 8 turns. We have played many times previously, including the game where Bob’s Axis sank all 7 of my Allied carriers, and the game where the Allies resigned after Bob’s Axis sank 17 Allied ships over the first 3 turns while receiving 1 damage point on one ship in return. This game started off as if it were going to make up for those previous Allied humiliations. Facing a Barents on 1 opening, the Axis sailed their entire fleet to the South Atlantic, but 2×225 failed their speed rolls. The U-boats broke control with one sunk. Then the Allies sank 2×357 and a 127 and disabled the remaining 225, while losing only a 443 in return, in the first round of combat. The remaining 5 Axis cruisers hightailed it for Montivideo. The Allies were gleefully expecting an Axis resignation shortly. Instead, Bob played one of the best games the writer has ever seen; never have I seen an Axis player do so much with so little. With an Axis fleet divided between Germany and Italy, Bob successfully used his reduced fleet, his U-boats, and his LBA to keep the game close to dead even in POC until turn 7. On turn 7, Bob’s 6 U-boats plus last 3 Germans in Norway, the Graf Zeppelin and 2×496, headed to the Barents against the Formidable, Convoy 3C, 2 damaged BBs, and 4 cruisers. His U-boats got the convoy, but his 5 airstrikes removed only a cruiser and Allied surface gunnery sank or disabled all 3 Germans. The 3-2 POC margin for turn 7 moved the adjusted (after bid) POC to +1 Allies. On turn 8, in order to win, the Axis had to win an area; using his 4 U-boats to break control in 2 areas would result in a tie. 2 U-boats survived 9 ASW in the N. Sea, but the remaining 2 U-boats plus 127 and 2×117 sailing from Italy into the South Atlantic could neither break control nor win the area. Final, Allies +1 after the bid.

    Reply
  10. JONATHAN LOCKWOOD
    June 30, 2020 at 8:15 am

    Jonathan Lockwood’s Allies (2.5 POC bid) have defeated Phil Watkin’s Axis in a tense and exciting game that came down to a final one on one in the Barents! The Allies deployed with Monnin’s variant on the Barents on One opening, but promptly failed both speed rolls to the Barents with Renown and Repulse. Axis LBA scored three hits on Hood and two cruisers, sinking the latter and hitting Hood for three points damage, while Allied LBA disables a pocket battleship. Allies retreat at speed of 7 after losing another cruiser and disabling fast German ships on first volley. Axis takes initial lead of 1 POC (3.5 POC with handicap applied). In a rather perverse bit of “good luck” for the Allies, the failure of the Renown and Repulse to make their speed rolls would actually save them from being targeted and sunk by Axis LBA during Turn 1, that instead being the fate of two hapless British cruisers.

    Turn 2 sees the Allies attempting to reestablish blockade by holding all four seas. Axis bypasses blockading force with 8 ships heading to the North Atlantic (one 2-2-5 in Baltic) and failing no speed rolls. Axis takes NATL with loss of 3-5-7 and 2-2-5, bases 6 ships in France while having neutralized control of SATL. POC score goes to 5 POC Axis lead (7.5 POC with handicap applied.

    Turn 3 has Allies deploying in all four sea areas again, leaving Formidable and 5 1-1-7s in Barents while deploying 8 battleships in SATL, Ark Royal, Convoy 1A, crippled Nelson and crippled Malaya along with DOY and damaged Ramillies. Axis force in France heads for NATL again failing no speed rolls, but retreats to Germany after airstrike disables 2-2-5 to France and first volley from Allies sinks the other 3-5-7 and inflicts damage on Bismarck and two cruisers while losing only the crippled Malaya. Allied ASW kills 2 U-boats, but U-boats again break control of SATL. Convoy 1A heads for Barents. POC count remains unchanged with 7.5 POC Axis lead after handicap applied.

    Turn 4 has Axis repairing damage to Bismarck and two cruisers while the rest of the Axis fleet takes on the Marat in the Baltic. Marat acquits itself well by sinking a 2-2-5 before being sunk by the Axis return volley. Convoy 1A makes it to Murmansk while U-boats break control in SATL at cost of 1 U-boat. Allies cut the Axis lead to 4.5 POC after handicap applied.

    Turn 5 has Okt Rev activating in the Baltic while U-boats fail to decontrol an area while the 2-2-5 in France flees to the Med. Okt Rev acquits itself even more heroically in the Baltic by sinking the Prinz Eugen, then SURVIVING the Axis return volley with one point of damage to stick around for a second round. It sinks the Blucher before finally being sunk by the Axis return volley, but this leaves the Axis with Bismarck, Tirpitz, Graf Zeppelin. and Adm Hipper in the Baltic. Allies gain 4 POC on Turn 5 to slash the Axis lead to .5 POC after handicap is applied.

    Turn 6 has the Axis sending 6 U-boats to support the 4 Italian cruisers to the SATL accompanied by the Adm Scheer which makes its speed roll. It faces 5 British battleships. Allied ASW sinks 2 U-boats and disables a third, leaving 3 U-boats to decontrol the area, but failing to take out any of the 5 British battleships before surface combat. British battleships disable all but one of the Axis ships to the neutral port, while the Gorizia is sunk. Axis sinks one battleship and heavily damages another. Convoy 3C puts in at England for 1 POC to give the Allies a .5 POC lead after handicap is applied

    On Turn 7, the Allies spread their deployment more evenly to minimize the likelihood of the Axis decontrolling 2 sea areas with its 5 remaining U-boats while forcing the Axis to come out and fight. The Axis responds by sending its 3 1-1-7s and Adm Scheer from the neutral port supported by 5 U-boats. In the Barents, the Axis sends out Bismarck and Tirpitz supported by the Graf Zeppelin and Axis LBA while leaving the Adm Hipper to control the Baltic. Allied ASW sinks 4 U-boats and disabled the fifth to neutralize the U-boat threat, then sinks all four of the remaining Axis ships on the first volley. Axis sinks a 4-5-6 with its final volley. In the Barents, Allied airstrike hits the Bismarck for 4 points before surface combat, but Axis LBA and airstrikes disable the Renown and KGV before surface combat, creating a nearly equal surface battle, with the Dorsetshire, Hood (fully repaired during Turn 5) and 2 4-5-6s facing the Axis. Round One had the Allies disabling Bismarck and damaging Tirpitz with 5 points damage, while the Axis sank one 4-5-6 and disabled the other, leaving Hood and Dorsetshire screening the Ark Royal and Formidable (-1) against Tirpitz (-5) and Graf Zeppelin. Round Two had Tirpitz (-5) and Hood sinking each other, leaving Dorsetshire and Graf Zeppelin to decide the game. Round Three had Dorsetshire missing its shot, while Graf Zeppelin scored a hit, but for only 1 point damage, leaving the crippled Dorsetshire to stick around for Round 4. In Round 4, the crippled Dorsetshire came through to disable the Graf Zeppelin, while the Graf Zeppelin missed its shot, giving the Allies control of the Barents and the game.

    The Axis resigned at the end of Turn 7 with the Allies having increased their lead to 4 POC (1.5 POC lead with handicap applied). While this last battle seems to have been decisive, the real heroes of this game were the two ships of the Russian Navy, which sank a pocket battleship and two German cruisers on Turns 4 and 5 to actually inflict superior casualties on the German fleet! This was one of the most exciting games of WAS that I have had in quite a long time. My congratulations to Phil for a well played and aggressive game, and best of luck in Round 89.

    Reply
  11. James F. Kramer Jr.
    June 28, 2020 at 3:56 pm

    Jim Kramer Jr. (allies – 2 POC bid) and Richard Beyma (axis) have played to a tie. Richard, as the axis player, will thus advance to the tiop spot of the ladder. The game may have been decided in the bidding process. Richard, with first bid, bid 1.5 for the allies. This is my usual bid for the allies and feeling I could still win at a bid of 2, I did so and Richard accepted. As usual I used my Barents in 2 opening.

    T1: The axis take the safe points for a +2 POC lead. In the MED Italian fleet ships at sea are attacked. Allied LBA come up with 3 5’s against the Italian targets.

    T2: Allied deployment: NA – Rodney, Nelson, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Exeter and Courageous. SA – Valiant, Warspite, Eagle, Glorious. NS – QE, Barham, Malaya, Revenge, Ramillies, Resolution, Sussex, Kent, Ark Royal. Barents – Formidable, Hood, 5 CA, speed rolls (KGV, POW, Repulse, Renown). KGV and POW both fail. The axis respond by patrolling the MED as before and sending the entire German fleet with the LBA into the Barents. The u-boats stayed out of harms way in the Baltic. Allied airstrikes cause no damage, axis LBA hit Repulse for 2 damage. Surface combat in the Barents sees allied fire sinks Scharnhorst, damage (4 points) and disable Bismarck, cripple Blucher and disable Gneisenau. Axis fire sinks Hood, Repulse and 3 CA with Renown disabled. The allied cv and remaining 2 CA retreat. The 2 German CA pursue and in 2 pursuit rounds the allies see both retreating CA sunk but manage to disable a German CA and sink the other, saving the CV. POC for the turn is 4 to 3 axis advancing the game score to +3 axis.

    T3: USSR rolls see no ships available. Allied deployment: A pullback is done. NA – Convoy 1A, Rodney, Nelson, KGV, POW, DOY, Glorious and Courageous. SA – QE, 3 CA, Eagle and Formidable. NS – Valiant, Warspite, Barham, Malaya, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Renown, Ark Royal, Victorious. Barents – A slow token force of Revenge, Ramillies and Resolution. Only Ramillies passes speed with the other 2 BB failing to Russia. Axis deploy in MED as before. The axis sends Tirpitz, Gneisenau and the LBA to the Barents. The remaining fleet units go to the Baltic. Bismarck and Blucher are repaired. Allied LBA in the MED sink Zara and Cripple Andrea Doria. Axis LBA disable Ramillies before surface combat. POC for the turn in 5 to 3 axis. Game score is now +5 axis. Convoy 1 A will move to the Barents.

    T4: No USSR again, but NY and Wichita come out. Allied deployment: NA – Rodney, Nelson, Anson, 2 US ship and Courageous. SA – Valaint, Warspite, Kent, Eagle. NS – QE, Barham, Malaya, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Renown, Glorious, Victorious, Formidable. Barents: Convoy 1A, 3 R-class BB, Sussex, Exeter, Ark Royal, speed rolls (KGV. POW, DOY). POW fails. Convoy 2B stays in port. The axis sail only Pola, Gorizia and the 2 new BB’s in the MEDwith Andrea Doria repaired. The entire German force (2 BB, 1 BC, 3 PB, 2 CA, the CV, 7 u-boats and the LBA) attack in the Barents. Allied LBA in the MED cause no damage. Allied ASW sink 3 subs and disable another. The remaining axis subs fire at the convoy disabling it. Ark Royal air strikes disable Tirpitz, 5 axis airstrikes all miss. Graf Zeppelin commits to the battle line. Surface round 1 sees allied fire sinks Adm. Scheer and Graf Spee. Bismarck receives 7 points of damage. There are no disables. Axis fire causes damage and disables to Ramillies (4d), Resolution (3d) and DOY (1d). Also damaged are Revenge (3d) and KGV (3d). Both sides stay for a second round. Zeppelin again shoots. Allied round 2 fire manages to sink Graf Zeppelin. Axis return fire disables KGV and Revenge. Exeter is sunk and Sussex is hit for 1. The remaining CA and CV retreat separately. Axis pursuit is after Ark Royal with 5 shots yielding 2 hits for 1 damage and a disable. The axis pick up another POC with the game score now +6 axis.

    T5: No Soviets again but Augusta joins the US force. Allied deployment: NA – Convoy 1A, 3 US ships, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Eagle and Courageous. SA – 5 4-4-4 BB. NS – Rodney, Nelson, Anson, Howe, Renown, Glorious, Victorious, Formidable. Barents – POW, Illustrious, Kent, damaged ships DOY (1d), KGV (3d), Revenge (3d), Resolution (3d), Sussex (1d) and Ark Royal (2d). Ramillies repairs in Russia. After a false start by Richard he settled on the following deployment. MED – The Italian fleet except for Pola and Fiume staying in port. Baltic – The damaged Bismarck. Barents – Tirpitz, Gneisenau, Lutzow, Blucher, Prinz Eugen and the LBA. The 6 subs go to the SA. Allied ASW disable 2 subs. The 4 remaining subs then shoot at and cripple Malaya. Allied LBA strike Italy sinking Fiume. Allied Barents CV strikes disable Tirpitz and hit Gneisenau for 1 damage. Axis air miss the carriers but sink Revenge. Surface combat sees the allies sink Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen and disable Blucher with 1 damage. Axis return fire sinks KGV and Kent and disables Sussex. Lutzow now retreats but is pursued and sunk by POW and DOY. Her return fire scores no hits. POC for the turn is a 3 to 3 push. Convoy 1A will proceed to the Barents.

    T6: Again the Soviets cower in port. Washington and Texas do not. Allied deployment: NA – Convoy 2B, 5 US ships, Formidable and Victorious. SA – Rodney, Nelson, Valiant, Warspite, Eagle, NS – Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, QE, Barham, Howe, Renown, Courageous, Glorious. Barents – Convoy 1A, POW, Ilustrious, damaged DOY (1d), Ramillies (2d), Resolution (3d), Sussex (1d), Ark Royal (2d). Anson joins the force after a successful speed roll. Malaya repairs in England. Axis deployment: The Italians keep Pola in port and sail the remaining ships. The Germans Send Tirpitz to the Baltic, repair Bismarck and Blucher, LBA to the Barents and 7 subs to the NA. Allied LBA concentrate on the old Italian BB’s but roll 3 4’s. ASW is strong sinking 3 subs and disabling 2 others. The subs return fire at the convoy and score 3 points of damage. Axis LBA come up empty in the Barents. With convoy 1A successfully to Russia the allies pick up 3 POC for the turn. Game score now +3 axis. The crippled Convoy 2B moves to the Barents.

    T7: The final US CA comes on and Marat finally is available. Allied deployment: Baltic – Marat. NA – Convoy 3C, 6 US ships, Renown, Glorious and Formidable. SA – Rodney, Nelson, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, QE. NS – Howe, Valiant, Warspite, Barham, Malaya, Eagle, Courageous. Barents – Convoy 2B (crippled), the same 5 damaged ships from T6, POW, Anson, Illustrious and Victorious. Axis Italians keep a CA and 2 old BB’s in port, sailing the rest (4 new BB, 2 old BB and a CA). The German forces have Bismarck and Tirpitz in the Baltic, 5 subs in the NA and the LBA in the Barents. Blucher stays in port. Allied LBA miss all targets in the MED. The ASW is again hot sinking 4 subs and disabling the 5th. Marat disabled Bismarck before being sunk. The big rolls are in the Barents with the axis LBA sinking both the convoy and Ark Royal, major blows to allied hopes. The allies do pick up a POC this turn with the game score now +2 axis. Convoy 3C moves to the Barents.

    T8: With the loss of convoy 2B in the Barents the allies are now forced to sortie to the MED to face the Italian fleet. The other Soviet BB does commit now to the Baltic. Other allied deployment: NA – The 6 US ships. SA – Royal Sovereign, Eagle, Glorious. NS – Rodney, Royal Oak, Victorious, Illustrious and Anson from the Barents. Barents – Convoy 3C, POW and the damaged ships DOY, Ramillies, Resolution and Sussex. MED – The desperation move, LBA, Formidable and looking to make speed Courageous, Howe, Renown, 5 4-4-4 BB’s and Nelson. Making speed, Courageous, Renown, Barham. Malaya and Valiant. The axis send his last 2 subs to the NA, 3 ships (2 BB and a CA) to the Baltic and the LBA to the MED joining them Italian fleet of 8 BB and 2 CA. In combat the ASW clear the 2 subs with an amazing 6 shots of 4,6,2,1,5,3. The Baltic sees the Soviet BB hit and disable Tirpitz before suffering 7 hits from return fire. Allied airstrikes in the MED disable a new BB and 2 old BB’s Axis air puts 2 damage on Valiant. Allied surface fire disables 2 old BB and hits 2 new BB, crippling 1 of them. Axis return fire eliminates the allied combat ships with 2 sunk and 2 disabled. Convoy 3C gets thru but the allies needed 5 POC on the turn to win but could only garner 4. Game score went to +2 allies but the bid sent the score back to zero with the tie going to the axis player.

    As I stated earlier I normally bid 1.5 POC for the allies. As the game played out, with that bid, I would have been looking at another close allied win, provided convoy 3C had survived the Luftwalle on T8. In my view any WAS game that keeps you engaged all the way to turn 8, even a tie, is worth the effort. A fine game by Richard and one that I will remember for a while.

    Jim Kramer Jr.

    Reply
  12. John Sharp
    June 23, 2020 at 5:59 pm

    In a game decided by poor dice early on, John Sharp’s Axis defeated Greg Wong’s Allies. Turn 1 John’s Kriegsmarine ventured into the North Atlantic against a small fleet of Royal Navy battleships. Greg’s gunners must have slept through their training, as no hits or disables were scored against the German fleet from 12 Allied shots. The Axis quickly dispatched the RN BBs. As Greg had left the Barents open so he could tackle the Regia Marina using the Mediterranean Strategy (check it out, John Pack!), the Axis won those two areas quickly NATL, Barents). Adding insult to injury, the Italians kept the Med, defeating the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet of LBA, a carrier, six battleships and three cruisers. T1 ended with the Axis showing a six POC lead. Turn 2 saw the Axis lose the Med (too many T1 disables against those RN BBs) but take both the South Atlantic (Italian CAs plus U-Boats) AND the North Atlantic (Allies strung out too thinly to hold). T2 ended with the POC at Axis +10 plus the 1.5 POC bid. Greg kept trying for a few more turns, but when Convoy 1A sank beneath the Barents waves, that was it. Greg kindly conceded. Thank you Greg, for sticking as long as you did with those dice rolls. If it weren’t for your bad luck, you’d have had no luck at all!

    Reply
  13. Robert Frisby
    June 21, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    Robert Frisby’s Allies (bid of 1.5) defeated Lee Kendter’s Axis in a five turn game featuring major fleet engagements on turns one and five. On turn one, the Axis took an early POC lead by seizing control of the South Atlantic, sinking four British ships while losing only two German ships. On turns two through four, the Axis lost four U-boats, two Italian cruisers to Allied LBA, and one German ship to the Marat before sinking it. The British did not lose any warships during these three turns. The Luftwaffe sank Convoy 1A on turn four, leaving the Axis with a lead of one POC before the bid. The bulk of the German fleet deployed to the Barents on turn five in the hope of controlling the area and sinking Convoy 2B. Both sides suffered heavy losses with each losing three ships. With only the Tirpitz remaining in the Barents after round one to fight the Prince of Wales, Suffolk, convoy, and two carriers, the Axis conceded control of the area. Convoy 2B having landed successfully in Russia on turn five, the Allies had a 1.5 POC lead after the bid. With no realistic chance of retaking the lead given the size of the surviving British and German fleets, the Axis conceded defeat.

    Reply
  14. John Sharp
    June 19, 2020 at 6:11 pm

    Greg Wong outbids John and takes the Allies, giving John Sharp the Axis and 1.5 POC.

    Reply
  15. Peter Shelling
    June 17, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    I will play in 88. Thanks

    Reply
  16. Nicholas Markevich
    June 17, 2020 at 2:21 pm

    I would like to participate in round 88. Thank you!

    Reply
  17. Gregory Michael Hultgren
    June 17, 2020 at 1:20 pm

    I am in at for round 88

    Reply
  18. JONATHAN LOCKWOOD
    June 17, 2020 at 6:49 am

    I encourage ALL of you who have not yet signed up for our WAS 2020 BPA PBEM tournament to do so, since the deadline for signup is 28 June. We now have 32 players signed up, and are trying to make it to at least 40. I will be sending out follow up messages on the tournament either today or tomorrow.

    Reply
  20. John Sharp
    June 16, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    I am in again… For another beating.

    Reply
  21. Tom Thornsen
    June 16, 2020 at 6:07 pm

    I will sit out this round.

    Reply
  22. Richard Beyma
    June 16, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    In for round 88

    Reply
  23. Richard Beyma
    June 16, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    In for round 88

    Reply
  24. Robert Frisby
    June 16, 2020 at 10:38 am

    I would like to play in round 88

    Reply
  25. Robert Hamel
    June 16, 2020 at 9:54 am

    I’m in too, thanks

    Reply
  26. Bob Jamelli
    June 16, 2020 at 7:29 am

    i am in

    Reply
  27. Daniel Blumentritt
    June 16, 2020 at 6:47 am

    I’ll play

    Reply
  28. Lee Kendter
    June 16, 2020 at 6:45 am

    Playing

    Reply
  29. Tim
    June 16, 2020 at 6:29 am

    Tim is in for round 88

    Reply
  30. Tal
    June 16, 2020 at 6:26 am

    please put me in the round
    thnx
    tal

    Reply
  32. Andy Gardner
    June 2, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    Hi Greg, Thanks for running the ladder! I am in for round 88.

    Reply
  33. Robert F Drozd
    June 1, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    I will play in Round 88.

    Reply
  34. Jim Bodenheimer
    May 30, 2020 at 7:25 am

    I will play

    Reply
  35. Dennis Nicholson
    May 29, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    I’m in for round 88.

    Reply
  37. Mike Morrison
    May 25, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    I’m in.

    Reply
  38. Bryan Brinkman
    May 20, 2020 at 1:22 pm

    I would like to return for Round 88

    Reply
  39. James F. Kramer Jr.
    May 20, 2020 at 7:36 am

    I will play round 88.

    Reply
  40. Mike Brophy
    May 20, 2020 at 6:50 am

    I will sit this round out, to focus on the SE tournament. Back in for #89.

    Reply
  41. Jeff Lange
    May 18, 2020 at 3:39 pm

    Count me in for the round

    Reply
  43. Rick Virost
    May 16, 2020 at 1:02 pm

    Rick Virost will play in Round 88 when it starts in early July.

    Reply
  44. Vince Meconi
    May 15, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    In for eighty-eight.

    Reply
  45. MARK Warren BAYLISS
    May 15, 2020 at 5:11 am

    Newbie keen to join round 88 if you need more numbers

    Reply
  46. JONATHAN LOCKWOOD
    May 12, 2020 at 2:37 pm

    In for what I hope to be another championship round. Thanks so much to Greg for running this ladder and giving us a much needed diversion.

    Reply
  47. Karl Bodenheimer
    May 11, 2020 at 11:50 am

    I will play, and I agree with others, thanks Greg for the hard work of keeping this going.

    Reply
  48. Eric Anderson
    May 11, 2020 at 9:17 am

    Count me in for Round 88!

    Reply
  49. Robert Dragan
    May 9, 2020 at 4:34 am

    I am in for Round 88.

    Reply
  51. David M. Elkin
    May 7, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    Agreed-Greg does a helluva job. I will play. I am playing the new Admiral’s War which is an interesting game.

    Reply
  52. punditas
    May 7, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    Avi is in for Rd 88. Thanks Greg for all your hard work running the ladder.

    Reply
    

Leave a comment