This past weekend we travelled up to the All Ireland tournament in Belfast. This was a single day 1780 point, Late War affair. It was sponsored by Battle Front so we were all eager to put on a good show. The three missions (in order) were: Dust Up, Fighting Withdrawal, and Breakthrough. The venue was the Masonic Hall in Belfast (for those keeping track this is the second FoW tournament we've attended--the first was in Birmingham--in a Masonic Lodge):
The tables were excellent--some will complain about the airfield but no matter. Coffee was at hand and everyone settled in to Game 1. Floody and Ulick had to play under the watchful eyes of Brother Braithwaite.
This game resulted in a draw. Ulick's 12 platoon strategy weathered the storm of naval guns.
Padraic's 2ID defeated a German mechanized list. Brother Swathmore, a distant relative of Padraic, approved of his no-155, 2 veteran TD gambit.
I played Chub who was a victim of a five platoon list in a 1/2 on mission. My Razvedki platoon zoomed up the road and seized the objective on the third turn.
Daniel defeated Jonny on the airfield. Jonny's look of realization at exactly how shitty the Soviets are in tournament play resembles that of Brother Didsbury when he heard that the Austrians had been defeated at the Battle of Sadowa.
The airfield had a great looking supply depot:
After the first game we enjoyed an affordable pint and soaked up energy from a nexus of power.
In round 2 my Forward Detachment was pummelled by Daniel's naval guns. Trained tanks truly stand little chance against them. I was happy to walk away with a 4-3 loss and I even shamed Daniel into buying me a beer. John played on this fabulous desert table:
In Round 3 Padraic played Daniel for all the marbles. After six turns Padraic was bruised but victorious completing a three game sweep of the tournament. This was an excellent tournament. The venue was great; the tables were high quality, and the entry fee provided a huge lunch, spot prizes, and a goody bag which included a really nice resin bunker among other treats. My game 3 timed out for a draw and I do think that increasing the time of rounds would be better for the game. Congratulations to Scott "Vapusa" on hosting an excellent tournament.Labels: Flames of War, Free Masons, Irish Tournaments
