Jointly organised by Eddie and the Geylang Serai Tabletop Wargaming Group and supported by Blitz and Peaces and Springer Pinsel Brushes, the Cold War Rising tournament was held on 12th October 2019 at the Wisma Geylang Serai community centre in Singapore.
An 85-point tournament using the more missions pack, the event also had an added twist in that no allied formations were allowed in list building, forcing players to double down on their respective nations' strengths and weaknesses. A total of 11 players participated in the tournament, with one unfortunately dropping out due to a bad case of the flu.
Player lineup:
Kenneth (USA airborne)
Tham (USA mech)
Matthew (France tanks)
Shawn (West Germany marders)
Dino (West Germany marders)
Syalabi (Canada)
Xiang Jun (Canada w/ Abrams)
Hongxi (Soviet T72)
Victor (Soviet BMP)
Sherman (Soviet T62)
Round 1 matchups
First round matchups were randomly generated and where possible with Red vs Blue scenarios.
Kenneth (USA) vs Dino (WG) (Free for all) 6-1 to USA
Tham (USA) vs Hongxi (Soviet) (Dust up) 2-3 draw to Soviets
Sherman (Soviet) vs Shawn (WG) (Breakthrough) 4-3 to West Germans
Syalabi (CAN) vs Matthew (FRA) (Counterattack) 6-1 to France
Xiangjun (CAN) vs Victor (Soviet) (No retreat) 6-1 to Soviets
Round 2
The second round ended with 4/5 of the matches ending in draws due to an even match-up in player skill and a lot of defensive scenarios, particularly rearguard, which is by far the rarest mission played in Team Yankee.
Syalabi (CAN) vs Xiangjun (CAN) (Free for all) 3-3 draw
Kenneth (USA) vs Matthew (FRA) (Counterattack) 3-3 draw
Victor (Soviet) vs Shawn (WG) (Rearguard) 3-1 draw to Soviets
Hongxi (Soviet) vs Dino (WG) (Contact) 6-1 victory to Soviets
Tham (USA) vs Sherman (Soviet) (Rearguard) 3-3 draw
Round 3
With the draws resulting in a deadlock between player scores, the final round would determine final victory to the player who could score the biggest win.
Kenneth (USA) vs Hongxi (Soviet) (dust-up) 3-1 draw
Matthew (FRA) vs Victor (Soviet) (Bridgehead) 5-2 Soviet victory
Tham (USA) vs Shawn (WG) (Counterattack) 6-1 to West Germans
Sherman (Soviet) vs Sya (CAN) (Breakthrough) 4-3 to Soviets
Dino (WG) vs Xiangjun (CAN) (Dust-up) 3-3 draw
Final placements
1. Victor (Best General)
2. Kenneth (1st runner up)
3. Matthew (2nd runner up)
4. Shawn (Best painted)
5. Sherman (Best sportsmen)
6. Hongxi
7. Tham
8. Syalabi
9. Xiang Jun
10. Dino
Thoughts and a short analysis:
There was a fairly even mix of Red and Blue players (3/4 red players to 7 Blue players). While it wasn't parity, it does show that Soviet forces are popular enough to be taken in a tournament setting. Curiously, there were no British players at this tournament, but this can be chalked up to the British forces having low popularity in this region with their static playstyle. In addition, there were no Oil War forces present at this tournament. Lance, himself an Iraqi player and our judge, pointed out that Oil War was a very recent addition to the game and most of the new players were still collecting armies, so we should see an influx of Israeli or Iranian players in the next tournament.
Overall, consistency was the name of the game and Victor, the champion of this tournament proved it by sticking to a defensive stance for the entirety of the tournament, something of a rarity for Soviet players. Despite having to fight night missions in every scenario, his strategy of simply having too many bodies to kill worked in his favor as his opponents struggled to destroy 2 medium infantry platoons within the time frame of the mission. By keeping his reserves deployment consistent Victor was also able to capitalise on having a set pattern for reinforcement with his T64s.
Similarly, both Kenneth and Matthew also aimed to stick to a maneuver and attack stance respectively. In their case, because their opponents also chose similar stances, they were drawn into meeting engagements where their tank-heavy forces could make full use of 1st turn movement to get into better positions or reinforce and still fire effectively.
Overall it was a very enjoyable experience for all players involved and valuable lessons were learnt in how to run wargaming tournaments more effectively. We hope to run even more tournaments and also do events for Flames of War in 2020 and beyond!
About the Writer:
Eddie is an avid painter who also enjoys anime, studying military history and hopes that Girls Und Panzer will come true one day so that everyone can resolve their differences with tank Airsoft.
