31 players from three states battled through six rounds, three formats, and nearly nine total hours. When the dust settled, Denelic was crowned our 2008 Champion, Viktor/Takar was voted Fellowship Winner 2008, and Travis “GuppyLips” Schultz won the Second-Chance Championship. (You may recall that Denelic won the Southeast Regional Championship at DragonCon ’07, Takar took 4th place at US Nationals ’06, and GuppyLips won the Featherweight Class - Solaris Worlds at GenCon ’07.)

Let me add a brief personal note: I think I knew more of the players in attendance than anyone else. I’ve played several times at our state’s two larger venues – Kingdom Comics and The Deep – so there were only 4 players or so from those two venues whom I hadn’t met before. Then I met GalenCox81 and Denelic for the first time. So out of 31 players, I had met about 25 of them previously. I had not seen bluewithwhite in four years since moving from his area of the state, and also had not seen Takar or his son JabboBubba since meeting them at Unrestricted Worlds in 2005. It was really amazing to see how a big event like this can draw people together, and to realize just how many people I’ve faced across the 36X36 square in the last six years. My congratulations to everyone who has stuck with MechWarrior since the beginning!



We began the day with three rounds of straightforward 600-point play, no battleforce sanctions and standard hands of 3 planetary condition/mission cards. Before the tournament began, we agreed to have one Battlemaster per round take a bye to judge the tournament. However, we had not planned on the number of people who showed up, and Lead Battlemaster Mike Oakes had to go make some extra playing boards to fit everyone. So he and I took a bye that round, in addition to Rich “Tungz” O’Connor. Then I also judged the second round, as we had planned earlier, while Rich and Mike faced each other in the dreaded “Coffee Table Match”:

http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/l...urrent=072.jpg
(The game on the right-hand side was played on four tackleboxes. Mike has his back to the camera; Rich is across from him.)

So finally, about three hours after the tournament had begun, I had my first chance to actually play in Round 3.  I faced a young player named Greg, who had won both his earlier matches with Sturmgrief, two Merc Snipers, and six DF Gnome Battle Armor. I placed a WH Mjolnir with Kelly Bonilla, BR Solitaire with Mattia Valenti, two SS Arrow IV Tanks, five Liao ATV Squads, five SH ATV squads, and two HS Sylph Battle Armor. Early in the game, the Mjolnir and the Solitaire both landed ranged combat assault orders on the Cave Lion. The Mjolnir finished Sturmgrief off a few turns later with some artillery help, while the Solitaire destroyed both Snipers. The Mjolnir eventually finished off three of the artillery-weakened Gnome Battle Armor, and we called the match at that point. So although I had three wins (two from byes), I had a total of only three Victory Conditions and around 580 VC 2 points!


Three wins were enough to get me into the Top 8 single-elimination rounds for the Championship, in spite of my low VCs earned and VC 2 totals. The Top 8 format was a lance battle: one Mech each of the light, medium, heavy, and assault weight classes. (No colossal Mechs allowed!) The build total was set at 1050 points.

I chose to play Vengeance with Phelan Ward and Evade, Kuro Ha with “Into the Breach” Katana Tormark and Brawling, a JF Loki with Deodatus and IT, and Refuge with Marc-Andre Leblanc and Camo (just to fill points). Fester Wan Kenobi faced me with a Nova Cat pure force: Vixen with pilot and IT, Sabertooth with “Fast and Furious” Matt Lossey and IT, Veteran Nova Cat with pilot and RISC Hyperlaser, and Marauder IIC with pilot and Command Retrofit. His build total was 1047, and mine was 1048. Strangely enough, that one point difference meant that I could play it easy and win the game with VC 2 if no Mechs were salvaged or eliminated.

Fester played very cautiously, trying to move into his impressive assault order ranges without moving into my shorter ranges. He worked his way around blocking, while I fell back and delayed. Finally, after about 8 turns, he finally rolled a 6 to bring Phelan Ward’s Zellbrigen into effect on the Nova Cat. At this point, Kuro Ha ran up and hit the Vixen, which had moved out by itself. Fester moved his Mechs up, but didn’t fire yet. I broke away and moved Kuro Ha back, and then moved Refuge and the Loki up behind it. Over the next few turns, he killed my Loki while I killed the Marauder and the Vixen. The Nova Cat hit Vengeance on a well-timed charge attack, but overheated the Nova Cat – which Vengeance then hit with an energy weapon and shut it down. After that, Kuro Ha and Refuge played with Sabertooth while the Nova Cat restarted and chased Vengeance in vain, until time was called. I had thought that it was really close, especially if he had managed to eliminate Vengeance – but the Marauder was very expensive with Command Retrofit gear, and I would have won with or without the Solitaire. It was a great game against a real sportsman.



The Top 4 round had a very different format: 1050 points, no unique pilots or Mechs, faction-pure, 5 orders per turn, and a limit of two artillery pieces. There were some very interesting builds for this one. I took the Davion/Swordsworn alliance with two Vixens with Pulse gear, two Paladins, two Balacs, two Mobile HQs, a Bishop loaded with a Mars Assault Tank, six Davion Purifier and five ATV Squads. Rich “Tungz” O’Connor played Clan Wolf and the Steel Wolves against me: three Thors (yes, the ultra-rare ones!) which had two Improved Targeting cards and one Streak Missile card, two J-37s with an Arrow IV Tank and a SW Padilla Artillery Tank, and a Recovery Vehicle.

During playtesting in the months prior to the Championship, I noticed that many players tended to take at least two heavy or assault Mechs in this format. They are very order-efficient, given the shortage of orders for such a large army, and take a lot of damage before yielding points to an opponent. I designed my army to counter this: base two large Mechs with the infiltrators, keep artillery tokens on them every turn with the Paladins, and protect the artillery with the Vixens and the Mars. My plan worked, for the most part. Rich’s Thors tried to wait things out in a water terrain piece near his DZ, but he continued to fail break-away orders even with his Jump Jets special equipment, and took some artillery damage. Then he ran one of the artillery-damaged Thors up, to try to get around blocking terrain that I had placed mid-field. After a turn of movement, I was able to hit that Thor with 6 damage from a Vixen with Pulse and 5 damage from the disembarked Mars, killing it in one turn. The Thor with Streaks finished off one hurt Vixen. After some cooling and more failed break-away rolls, the surviving Vixen charged a Thor and then several Purifiers also landed shots on it, sending it into Salvage. When time was called, Rich had won VC 1 with both Vixens, a Balac, and several infantry against his one Thor – but I had won VC 2 (by only 100 points) on account of the salvaged Thor, and VC 3 from some helpful ATV Squads. Real close game, and I was moving on to the Championship Round!



Final match was another straightforward 600-point round, against Southeast Champion Denelic. His army consisted of the Hammerfall Atlas with One-Eyed Jack and Anti-Personnel, the BR/SW Situational Alliance card, numerous SW minigun cycles, three BR Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor, and a SW Arrow IV Tank. I had decided on a Gamma Regiment Scourge with the P-A28 Wolf Spider Major and Improved Targeting, a ROTS Bishop with DF DI Schmitt Tank, four Liao ATV Squads, five SH ATV Squads, two HS Sylph Battle Armor, the Bayin’ Killer Clowns, and one WH Minigun Cycle. We both played Perfect Day. 

The early game favored me slightly – both the tankdrop and the Scourge outranged Hammerfall. I moved both the Scourge and the Bishop into position, while Hammerfall eliminated one Liao ATV and other infantry units moved around. Denelic placed his Infiltrator Mk IIs in just the right place to prevent the Scourge from making a ranged combat assault order with its 13 speed, but the tankdrop was in range and had clear line-of-fire. I successfully charged the Scourge into Hammerfall, then followed up the attack with a hit from the dropped DF Schmitt. Hammerfall further damaged the Scourge with a close combat attack – but that brought TSEMP gear onto the Scourge’s dial. After a successful TSEMP shot for three more damage (and several lucky heat rolls for the Scourge along the way!), the HS Sylphs moved in and took advantage of the “Aggressive Stance” ability to hit several shots on Hammerfall. Despite repair from his Situational Alliance card, Hammerfall was eventually eliminated from all the attacks.

It was on the next turn that Denelic noticed a mistake: I had dropped the Schmitt Tank into water, and it has the Wheeled speed mode. Major mistake! Mike Oakes came over and discussed several solutions with us, and I offered the game to Denelic. It was my mistake, and the damage from the tank was obviously critical in lowering Hammerfall’s defense and helping along the other attacks. Mike ruled that the Schmitt could re-board the Bishop and the Bishop could return to cruising altitude – but Hammerfall received 7 clicks of repair and returned to the battlefield in the same position.

I spent the remaining 10 minutes or so of the game trying to finish off Hammerfall, but to no avail. The Scourge was too beat up and constantly based by Denelic’s infantry (preventing charges and assault orders), and the Sylphs lacked enough attack value by themselves to hit the repaired Atlas without the Aggressive Stance bonus. The Bishop tried to move into range, but was salvaged in mid-air by shots from his SW Minigun Cycles – eliminating the Schmitt Tank. I had won VC 3 – but had not made any kills of my own, since I had focused on Hammerfall the entire game. Once again, a great match against a very good player. Denelic deserved to be named our Champion. And I learned a lesson about future DI Schmitt drops. 




Now, about the prizes . . .

For this tournament, Tom “Valiant One” Keller had created six custom Mech pieces, based on famous CBT designs: Adder C, Bushwhacker, Stormcrow B, Grizzly, Mauler, and Blood Asp. To say that these things look amazing is an insult – they have to be seen in person to be believed! He put great detail into each one, and everyone seemed excited about these pieces. On the paint jobs, Tom used a basic digitized camo based on current US Army colors, but then added additional color to the left arm of each Mech. Each piece was designed around a particular color of special equipment, and the left arm color matches the color of the SE. So, for example, the green-painted Adder has a combination of Homing Beacon, TSEMP, Camouflage, Repair, and Decoy throughout the dial. Here’s a pic:

http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/l...urrent=074.jpg

I don’t know for sure which Mechs were picked by which players, but the order of choosing was: Denelic first, as Champion; Takar second, as Fellowship Winner; GuppyLips third, as Second-Chance Winner; Kawthesword fourth, as second place overall for the tournament; Mike Oakes, as randomly-chosen Battlemaster; and Edaw as randomly-chosen player.

I hope that other participants will chime in with their own war-stories after recovering from this weekend’s incredible slug-fest in sweet home Alabama. My thanks to everyone who came and participated, and let us remember once again (as we did last year) – MechWarrior lives in Alabama! SEYLA!!

The tournament was very fun and I wished we could do that more often. I accopmlished my goal of getting to the top 8 portion of the tournament. I will be there next year and look forward to getting another shot at the title.

This tournament was a good frikkin time. I had a blast!

I played quite a few good matches, but the last one against Victor (Takar) was the tensest for me at the outset. We played the exact same SA, which was something I had noticed earlier in the tournament and joked with him about. He played the BR/JF SA with Hazen/Black Rose/SU Pulse and Bart Bradshaw, and I played it with Ingwe/Lowell Steiner (CJF)/ RISC Overcharger and a BR Solitaire/Valenti/Improved Targeting. I had more room for support, so I was running a repair vehicle, Medchelke, BR Sprint with JF Fenrir, CBA, Peasants, and a Sylph against his CBAs, Fa Shih, and peasants. He had me out powered, and I had him out supported. He played perfect day, while I played Horrible day. It worked out for both of us.

The key thing in the game was Black Rose failing break away rolls. I felt bad for Victor on this. He shut down to take out my Solitaire, and I based him and started dropping pogs. He vented to restart, and proceeded to roll two ones to get away. Hazen got pummeled by arty and fire support. He played solid; his luck just went real sour when it mattered.

I don't know who all played Victor, but if you have, you'll know he is a class act. I would have pulled out my hair (were it possible) if that had happened to me. He was all goodwill and smiles. Playing the guy makes you actually want to improve your attitude and be a better person (or at least a better mannered player). He really did deserve fellowship; it couldn't have gone to a better guy.

I made an early tournament bungle against Jade Phoenix, which I still hate. I dealt 7 clicks to a piece instead of 8, which would have killed it. It later died, but it denied possible contingencies that might have mattered. Sorry again for that, and thanks for a really good game.

I don’t think I can give a round by round summary. All my matches were solid ones. I took one loss from a really good build. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before, but Inferno Flamers on a BR Soliaire is pure genius. Awesome build, and the only way I was winning that match was by getting initiative. Victor’s son played a Peacemaker army with a decoyed mech that had me worried. I had built right to take care of it. CW Thor/Aggressive Stance/Improved targeting and Le Julz/Jack can crack any defense. Still, it held me at bay for quite a while. The family has skills. House Moro (Medium John) played me a good match, and wherever I placed in the tournament, the man was neck and neck with me.

It was a good atmosphere, and the BMs did a great job. This was probably the best organized event of this size I have ever seen. Moakes, Asburygrad, Kirk, and the other BMs really stepped up and made this great. No one can call out time like Dale.

People really brought their A-game, and almost every match was a tough one. Kudos to my opponents.

WizKids did a good job with supplemental prize support, and Valiant One really showed off with his mech sculpts. The Paint jobs are outstanding, and the mods are beautiful. I don’t think you could make a better piece even if you were using a mold. The man has talent, and it really showed.

The winner and fellowship winner received the new Thor. There were quite a few mechs besides that, and the tournament was very well provided for. I also saw concept art, custom made dice, and Solaris tokens. I received the Mauler (a thing of beauty), concept art for the Enforcer III, and smiley face dice. I dig it all.

It was really nice to see things going so well for the game here. I hope to be down at Kingdom Comics sometime again.

I was really glad to see the other Sea Bassers there. I always look forward to playing with the group at The Deep. I typically enjoy most of the venues I play at, but there’s an energy about the group that’s hard to match.

Kirk and Dale did a lot in helping me to fine tune things and get ready for the event. Dale especially did what he could to get me down to play. Thanks.

I’m really looking forward to GenCon after this event. Knowing that several people will be there from this event has me eagerly anticipating it.

Thanks for a good time guys.

This got me wondering: can we maybe organize a mid-year Championship, instead of waiting until next year?


@ GuppyLips: Sorry I forgot to mention it in the first post. (There's probably a lot that I'm missing!) After winning the Second-Chance Tournament, GuppyLips received the concept art for the Enforcer III, and asked if I wanted it. Before the tournament, I had decided that the concept art was the main prize I wanted - it's something unique, I can hang it in my office, and you can't really purchase it anywhere unless another winner decides to Ebay it. Travis said he wasn't too interested in it, and handed it to me. :) Thanks again man - I really appreciate it.

I'm sorry for the poor photo quality, but I think this is the only group photo we took:

Group Photo

Now, let's do roll call and see if AsburyGrad can get every name right:

BACK ROW (left to right):
JRLMFreak
Eisenjager72
V6Turbo
Broadsword08
53Leon
wolfGCSpencer
JadePhoenix
IceKlee/PHKlee
House Moro
GuppyLips
GalenCox81
Tungz
Sword_sworn

MIDDLE ROW (left to right):
Moakes
Edaw
Denelic
FesterWanKenobi
niteglider
Kawthesword
bluewithwhite
Takar/Viktor
jabbobubba
AsburyGrad (ME!!)
Cmoakes

FRONT ROW (left to right):
Woakes
Warrior31 / Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter
darktrooper272
Ld_Warden
Prometheus
Greg

NOT PICTURED: Reist, who is holding the camera.

First, thanks to Dale, Mike, and Rich for all of their hard work. 31 players! Who knew?

Vengeance was mine! Well almost... . Probably like everyone else, I arrived with dreams of glory. I went through about 6 iterations of each army, and play-tested all of them.

As expected, things started out a little slow, but overall, the sign-up went pretty smoothly. Well we were short of tables, play mats, and boards, but Mike stepped up and took care of everything. There was that electricity of anticipation in the air as everyone was pulling out their stuff and building armies while we battlemasters were trying to get everything set up, and everyone signed up. I personally, tried to remain calm, kind of like before a major exam, or the SAT's. I had studied hard with Dale, Travis, Robert, Nick (denelic), and all my friends in Texas and Huntsville, and felt that I had a pretty good chance this year. Guess I should have studied with Rich (Tungz)… because he is the one who took me to school. More about that later.

The Deep made a great showing. We all successfully converged, with only moderate difficulty. Robert, Matt C., John, Leon, Scott, Matt W., Biscuit, Wade, Andrew, and I (I think that's everybody). Asburygrad (Dale) and guppylips (Travis) chose to align with us. Scott, and the Hartselle posse, who had stayed up all night for a Band dinner, presented me with a medal (which I wore proudly), and a touching narrative which, as Scott describes, was drafted late at night in a sleep deprived state.

We had a Deep vs. Kingdom Comics arrangement for the first round to maximize play against "new" people. My 600: Wolf Dragoons Scourge with PA-028 and IT as my centerpiece. I augmented with a SS Arrow IV, a Liao Arrow IV, a DI Shmitt/Merc Zahn TD, and a HK Amphib Transport with Wolf Dragoons Raiden BA, and BR Oni BA. My first match was against Woakes, son of Moakes, who I lost to after being knocked out of the final 8 last year by Tungz (see a recurring theme yet?). I still remember the surprise of discovering that Woakes' Davion Atlas had anti-personnel and a carry of two! I took this first match very seriously. Honestly, I underestimated Mike's son last year, and I didn't want to lose again. I took time to make sure I was familiar with his army. He had a Sword Sworn VTOL with 16" range, and Go Cho Ri Dimitri Sorkin JES II Missile Carrier. Once I discovered that Woakes was playing Overlord Jupiter, and that it could potentially turn off planetary conditions, I decided to accept risk for my later matches, and throw my Perfect Day the first round. I was also able to soften his support and heat up his mech with my artillery. I used my Scourge to keep my artillery accurate (+2 to attack). And eventually used my Raiden (with grapple) to tie up his Jupiter, while keeping everything else at arms reach. Towards the end of the game, when his jupiter was tied up, I took out the VTOL and JES II Missile Carrier with my Scourge. I took the JES II out with a DFA.

My second game was against Matt (Sword_sworn) from the Deep. Matt is very good and beats me about 75% of the times we play. He played a Republic pure force with primarily infantry (Wraiths and assorted BA), Bishop/Kelswa TD, and a light with TSEMP with the Republic +1 attack FP. I played Urban. He played a mission card (Captured Intel). His plan was to tsemp a mech, and capture with infantry. Matt tried to flank me and get at my artillery with his light mech, but with the Scourge's 14" movement, I was able to CCA his light. That tied my Scourge up for a while. Then it became a delay game. Delay as in pulling back and shielding my assets to keep him from capturing or killing something of value. We played at a normal pace, I didn't stall. I shot his Bishop with my DI Shmitt, but it wasn't enough. I don't remember the specifics, but I had another turn to shield my DI Schmitt with my Merc Zahn to prevent the inevitable return fire from his Kelswa TD. I threw my Raiden BA into one of his infantry formations to slow it down (eventually giving him VC 4) and based another formation with my Oni BA. He was able to get VC 3 and VC 4, but I won VC 1 and 2. I had a significant advantage because he built his army in the car next to me on the way down, so I knew his strengths and strategy.

My third round was a bye and I was battlemaster. I walked around and saw so many creative armies. Sure wish I could have played everyone.

With 3 victories, I was seated in the final 8. That's where I met Tungz again (just like last year). My army was Jack with Julz and Beagle Active Probe, WH Mjolnir with Kelly and IT, WH Thor with PA-028 and Extended Range Ammo, and Requiem with Shizuka Findalay and SU Pulse. I had good success with my "lance" in practice, and it was a strong army, but I was outmatched. He parked Peacemaker cluster in water with Scrub Locust to counter Jack/Julz. Since he was a perfect 1050, and I was only 1048, I felt compelled to come to him (big, big mistake). I charged Peacemaker with the Mjolnir and moved Julz up to get my BAP into play. However, I couldn't land the hits on any of his high defense mechs and the game was over pretty quickly. In hindsight, I could have either stolen one VC 3 and them made him come to me, or I could have sit back with my Thor and just plink at his formation. I might not have won, but I would have done much better. I played on his terms, and I was summarily spanked.

After lunch, it was the "Battle of the Kirk's". The other Kirk is Nick's (denelic's) uncle. We had lots of fun saying stuff like "I bet $50 Kirk is going to win", and "Kirk is going to get his butt kicked." Denelic even fired off a "Kirk is jerk" from the first table. My army was based on PA-028 again. Wolf Dragoon's Scourge with IT, and the Wolf Spider's Thor with SU Pulse, both with PA-028 (+2 attack/-1 defense to infantry and vehicles within 6"). 2x Merc Palladins, Merc Zahn with Merc Kelswa TD, 2 x Hapheastus transports with Kage BA and Raiden BA. Also 2x more Kage BA and Merc faction pride. My opponent, Kirk, had a Davion pure army. He played the Enforcer, Atlas, 2x sniper artillery, repair transport, and some ATV squads. He countered my Merc FP with True Grit.

My immediate threat was his 5 ATV squads, which he infiltrated. I was able to get initiative and hide behind blocking. I used the Thor and Scourge to provide the threat of accurate artillery to get him moving. My Thor had AP, so he played the ATV's smart, 2 on one flank, 3 on the other, not in formation. I assaulted one with the Thor, based one with my raiden infantry drop, assaulted a third with my Scourge, and based/blocked the remaining two with my other Haphaestus. This prevented them from basing my artillery in his first turn. He had wisely put one of his snipers in his transport to protect it from being pogged the first turn, and dropped it the second. He chose to move one of his snipers forward in a formation to avoid the pog, and then dropped his other out of the transport and he pogged my artillery back. He was unable to break with all but one of his 3 ATV squads, and couldn't make it to my artillery because of the Hephaestus base. I had the potential for 4 pogs a turn, and decided to push one of my Palladins, the second turn for max effect. With a +2 from the Thor, my artillery from the previous turn hit close enough to do damage. I also picked off his remaining ATV squads (both my Thor and Scourge were in water on opposing flanks) eliminating that threat and keeping the artillery flowing. His artillery drifted off the board, and he moved his Enforcer straight up the middle. I was able to assault the Enforcer with the Scourge and the Thor, and then pull back the next turn before he got his Atlas into play. In vain hopes of being given 5th place, I tried to pour it on, with an advance on his Atlas. I set myself up by basing the Atlas. He failed to kill both infantry, and shut down. The following turn my Thor and Scourge within 6 inches to provide the +4 for a capture attempt. I needed a 7 to capture the Atlas, and rolled a 5 on one turn, and a 6 on the next! Regardless, Kirk was able to pull off a decisive victory.

Guess who I got to play for the last round? Tungz, again! I decided, after consultation with my peeps, to change out my successful Merc 600 for a 2x BR solitaire army with RAMP, Magister Raven with pilot, Medchelke, a BR SM2, and 5 peasants. Bad choice. He played a Republic army with artillery, 2x Bishop/Kelswa TD's, and a Loki (I think) with a pilot and some track bikes. He played the Republic +1 attack FP, and I played the BR FP (1 repair/450). He was able to reach my artillery on the second turn with his TD's, and vaporize Medchelke before I could resolve the Arty. I repositioned my peasants to delay his destruction of my SM2, but killed it soon after. I overheated with one of my BR Solitaires, and was unable to destroy his second transport prior to it dropping the Kelswa. It got so ugly so quick, I conceded the match, to his surprise, and asked if he would play again against my Merc army (from the morning). He agreed and we played another battle for fun.

I did much better in the next match, and I was definitely winning when time was called, probably because he was just plain tired (either from 9 hours of play, or 2 hours of kicking my butt up and down the 3 foot playing field).

Tungz is a great player. His knowledge and application of the rules is outstanding. He is calm, calculating, and ruthless. He used the water flawlessly in each game. In addition to the heat benefits, he deprived me of the ability to make close combat attacks on more than one occasion. He also keeps his mouth shut. He doesn't reveal his plans, and doesn't offer any assistance (which is often a critical element in competitive play). My learning points were 1), once again, to thoroughly analyze my opponents army in detail before the match, 2) the criticality of terrain placement (both in relation to my benefit, but also to deprive the enemy of what he wants), and 3) never, never play an opponent on his terms if you can avoid it. I look forward to playing him again, hopefully before next year. Might even be worth a drive… .

My 9 year old son, Andrew, played as well. He was able to pull off 3 wins! And I think he had even more fun than I did, and he plays like a gentleman. I'm so proud of him. Scott's write-up above describes the super-mega hot-drop action they had at the end of the day. Thanks to everyone who played!

Maybe next year we can do it in Huntsvegas.

Wow! Two weeks have passed and I can hardly believe we made it down and back. Work has been crazy, but here goes

First of all, I would like to thank Dale, Mike, and Rich for all of their hard work and to the other players of the Alabama Mech Warrior State Championship. Over 30 players!!! All I can say is AWESOME. If people think that Mech Warrior is dead, THEY ARE WRONG.

Fun was had by all.

1st round: me vs. Delenic (the rematch from Dragoncon we both had talked about so much, but did not expect so early) : I ran CJF/BR SA with Malvina and the Black Rose geared with SU Pulse, Bart Bradshaw, CJF Sylph, BR Fa Shih, 3 CJF BA and a BR Peasant Company. He ran a “Shot through Walls” Army with the Elite CNC NC, DeJesus and IT, Tomark in the Nyx w/ Anti personnel, DF Arrow 4, DF ATV, DF Shock Trooper, and a couple of SC CBA. Nice combination to deal with most any situation due to the Damage curve and blocking/bases being ignored by him from the beginning of the game. I did manage to kill Tomark, failed my Heat Sink overload and shutdown. He pulsed and pog’ed me to death. Nick played a Class game and won all 3 VC’s.

Next game a played was vs. a young man playing a WH Thor w/ IT and DeJesus, 6 to 8 Steiner Ravager BA, 2 SH Sniper Arty and some SH Atv’s. I played my mission card (Rule the Skies) and pulled off an early MDFA vs. the Thor and crippled him bad. He took it all very well and I talked to him after the match about using the Ravagers as meat shields for the Arty and Mech while using the range of the Thor to keep me back.

At this point I was 1-1 with 4 vc’s and had made a come back to the top 16 tables. So I then drew Kirk, who finished 2nd to Mike Donavan (2005 US Champ) at the Unrestricted Worlds in 2005. Kirk and I have played several times over the past few years and it is always a very enjoyable match. He ran a Steiner/SH type army with True Grit. We traded out killing our pawns (his SH atv’s and my CJF BA). I did kill his VTOL and was ahead on VC1 & 2 late in the game. I had to give up on the aspect of winning VC3, due to time getting close. In the end, Kirk is a Class Act all the way. The last declared action was close to being made and I had to clear my remaining units being unable to take any real “actions”. I am not very favorable to people who delay any amount of time when they are ahead and only have a few able units left near the end of the game. To me this is “bad form” at its worst. Time was called just as it came his turn and I knew he had to make the move to finish off Bradshaw with his ‘Mech. Timing is Everything. :cool:
We both agreed that it was only right that he make the attack roll as we both knew what his action was going to be before time was called. He rolled well and finished off Bradshaw and won all 3 vc’s. I am now 1-2 with 4 vc’s and very hungry.

The local deli is VERY Good. My son Jairus and I take the dinner break time to reminisce about our fights and wonder whom will make the top 8. We both figured the second chance tournament was our destination and was looking forward to the Lance vs. Lance matches.

I ran a CNC based army and Perfect Day. I used the CNC Marauder IIC with Leblanc and SU-Pulse, CNC P-hawk with Kelly and Evade, Rosse’s Revenge with her pilot and IT, Nebula Windigo with Anticipate Kesho NC and PPC Cap. I faced John who ran a mixed army of the “Not in the face” Light Mech w/ repair, the Comstar M2c with SU Camo, a Ghost Bear Violator, and a Heavy Mech that I do not remember (sorry). Basicly, He went for the woods, to take advantage of the Camo and hindering defensive bonuses. I used my speed, range and placement of water to flank him and I killed off the Light Mech and managed to crack the Comstar uber defense with a well placed IT shot from the Rosse’s Revenge. I took all 3 vc’s and felt like I was in good shape moving into the Faction pure round, non Unique Mech/Pilots but with unique vehicles and infantry.

This was the craziest round of them all. One man ran an all Construction/Agro Mech army. Wild!!! I went Davion/Swordsworn pure in honor of Kirk, Folks, this is stuff I never run in my regular army builds. I had 2 SS Balacs the Davion Atlas with Improved Tracking and a +2+1+1 pilot. This unit also has the 2 cap and I was carrying 2 SS Towed Auto cannons. He was flanked by 2 Davion Havocs with Pulse and +2+2+0 pilots. The filler units were 4 HD Simian BA, Gray Death BA, 5 HD ATV’s, the J37 carrying a Laser team, a towed Gauss Cannon, Elite Infantry with the Davion re-roll Faction Pride. My opponent, Greg, ran 2 Highlander Kelswa’s, the ROTS 16inch 6 AP Malice with Command retro fit, 2 or 3 ROTS ATV’s, and 2 Highlander Marksman, 1 Behemoth II Tank, and a Mars Tank flanked by some ROTS Elite infantry. Greg played it VERY slow and Smart. If he had one Highlander Hadur or if had one SS Arrow 4, things would have been very interesting and much faster. As it was we neither had any Arty and that made the difference in play. He kept the Tanks in formation using Aesir AA Gun, then Marksman, then Kelswa, then Marksman, then Kelswa, then Behemoth lineup to maximize defense. Then kept the Malace in base contact with one of the Kelswa’s. I used the Balac’s high attack/long range combined with the 2 Havocs/Atlas combo to nickel and dime his AA gun, crack the Mars then turned my eyes on capturing the Malace late in the game. Simian BA is fast and he focused on trying to kill my Atlas, which was ok with me as I knew time was getting close. Greg salvaged the Atlas, but I made my capture roll. Time ended and the VC’s were counted. The match finished with Greg winning VC1 and I won VC2 with the capture. I was 2-0 with 4 VC’s and 1712 points of VC2. Greg was a great sport and I nominated him for Fellowship when we were asked. He is a good young man and the players there should be proud of him. Anytime you want a rematch Greg, I would be honored.

I was not sure if I would make the top 2 in the second chance rounds, but I figured top 4. As it was, I ended up playing Travis for the 2nd Chance Championship. I danced with the girl that I came with: The Black Rose is still a solid piece and love having SU Pulse for when people really mess-up by activating her Special ability. Travis played solid and I failed Breakaway rolls. After all, this is a dice game and people should not get mad when the dice are not going their way. If you play to have fun and relax, you will have a good time.

After the match I found Jairus, who was having a great time and talked about his adventures most of the way home to Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

I am very humbled to receive Fellowship from such a GREAT group of players. Thank you!!!! I picked the Grizzly, 10 attack and IT w/ Jump Jets and a 22 Defense on the first click and then a Antipersonnel/Grapple combo after that. A 250 point "Crazy/Cool" design and I will not be leaving my ride anytime soon. Just toooooo sweet!!! Hope to see you folks next year.

God Bless and take care, Viktor