September 17th Dame Day at Emerald Knights AAR

It was another great Saturday at Emerald Knights in Burbank for our September San Fernando Valley Game Day. We had 12 members and a cameo from Matt Cicero:

Dave Nicholas and Dan Plachta paired up for “Lend Lease Attack”, but the scenario was over in short order when both of Dan’s Tigers we destroyed by Dave’s Emchas. They decided to try something that was a little more winnable for both sides, and went with “Kempf at Meliknovo”. In this playing, Dave’s Germans fell to Dan’s Russians.

Rob Stai and Bill Yuen paired up for “Centauro on a Flank”, with Rob’s Italians defeating Bill’s Germans. Bill then joined the game already in progress between me, Mike Soffa and Eric Visnowski. Rob took on the late arriving Dave Rosner for “L’Abbay Blanche”, with Rob’s Americans defeating Dave’s Germans.

In a battle of the Reinkings, brothers Dave and Larry squared off for “Everything is Lost”, with Dave’s Germans defeating Larry’s Russians.

Kevin Kiff’s Germans fell to Phil Seymour’s Americans in “Seize That Crossroad”.

And because we started the day with an odd number of players, Mike Soffa and I took on Eric Visnowski in the Deluxe scenario “Into the Cauldron”. (Bill Yuen later made this a two on two by joining EV’s side after his game with Rob.) I have to say, this HOB scenario is a real gem. It’s a hard core, take-the-factory-at-all-costs, head butting battle of annihilation. The Germans have plenty of tools to get the job done. But with only 5 turns, they have to keep their foot on the gas and take some risks with their excellent assets to maintain their momentum. We all remarked we’d never seen so many close combats in such a short scenario. When the blood-letting ended, Mike and I were able to notch a German victory. This is a fun scenario that I really want to play again. Soon. Everyone else agreed.

We traveled over to Larry’s for our usual chili dog lunch, and adjourned to Bob’s Big Boy for our traditional late dinner. What a great day!