3rd Annual Burning Wreck Barbecue: President's AAR

I am pleased to report that we had 21 members in attendance for our 3rd Annual Burning Wreck Barbecue this past weekend. When I arrived at about 8:15 AM there were already games being set up, and by our 9:00 AM start time there were several scenarios already underway. By late Sunday afternoon the last of a total of ten games wrapped up:

Rob Stai’s Germans seemed to hit a lot of bumps early, and fell to Mike Cirrincione’s Russians in “Hill 621”. Dave Reinking and Rob Feinstein paired up for “Priests on the Line”, with Dave’s Germans defeating Rob’s Americans. Eric Johnson’s Germans defeated Stance Nixon’s Americans in “Disobry Defiant”. In an epic two day struggle, Dave Perham’s Germans vanquished Stephan Tourville’s Russians in “Breakout from Borosov”.

Ray Woloszyn’s Americans defeated Dan Plachta’s Germans in “Snake Charmed”. Ray then paired up with Rob Stai for “The Generalissimo’s Own”, with Ray’s Japanese defeating Rob’s Chinese. And in another Japanese-Chinese struggle that played over 2 days, Glenn Sellar’s Chinese fell to David Rosner’s Japanese in “Tiger of Toungoo”. Eric ‘Mr. Deluxe’ Visnowski and Mike Soffa also chose a Deluxe scenario; “Last Act in Lorraine”, with EV’s Germans eventually defeating Mike’s Americans. Dan Plachta’s Germans defeated Mike Cirrincione’s Brits in “Going Against the Grain”. And Ray Woloszyn (playing his third scenario of the weekend) paired up with Mike Soffa in one of my favorites, “Husum Hot Foot”, with Ray’s Brits falling to Mike’s Germans.

And while all that was going on, six players squared off in our epic event. Though we had nicknamed it “Kick Hitler in the Ass” the actual scenario name was “The Downfall” from the CH HASL module “Tyrant’s Lair”; a massive 56 turn scenario that covers 4 historical maps depicting downtown Berlin on the last day of the war. Even with Eric Morton’s pre-recorded German set-up, it still took us until lunch time on Saturday to actually get the game underway. Eric, Henry DeVries and Geoff Coward took command of the war criminals against a true Russian horde commanded by Matt Cicero, Scott Thompson and I (along with a special guest appearance by Dave Reinking). By the time we wrapped up on Sunday afternoon, the carnage made even Red Barricades pale in comparison; there were 54 squads and 10 leaders in the dirt cup. It was truly an epic event and an incredibly enjoyable experience for the players.

After a couple of less-than-stellar group meals at Crowne Plaza, we decided this year to have our Saturday dinner at El Torito Grill, the excellent Mexican restaurant down the street that many of us have frequented at WCM’s past. It proved to be a very good choice. Although there was a snafu getting some of the meals out in a timely manner, the food and service were superb.

On a personal note, I had a blast playing in the epic event, and it was great to spend the weekend with so many good friends. I want to extend a special thanks to Eric Morton, who organized “Kick Hitler in the Ass”, and V.P. Matt Cicero for handling the money and registration. Finally, I want to thank all of the members who came and supported this event. In all, it proved to be our most successful Barbecue to date.