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MBT WBC 2023 After Action Report

Jonathan Squibb regains his crown  

     MBT tournament participants battled through three qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the 2023 championship match.  The small field of competitors included three repeat champions, including the two new-edition MBT WBC champs Doug Smith and Jonathan Squibb.
     Round 1 action included three matches of homegrown scenarios.  Two matchups of “Out of the Woodwork” resulted in a NATO win for Jonathan over Ted Drozd and a Soviet win for Ron Jongeling (last year’s runner-up) over Charles Eastman.  In the third match, Doug’s M1 Abrams tanks held off perennial MBT tournament player Steve Proksch’s advancing Soviet armor for the win in “Rearguard Action”.  Three wins for past champs & last year’s runner-up in this round.
     Things got more interesting in Round 2 when Ron faced off against Jonathan in the Rearguard Action scenario, resulting in a Soviet (Ron) win over NATO.  Doug’s Soviet forces failed to overrun GM Rob Schoenen’s Bundeswehr defenders in the “Another Desperate Salient” homegrown scenario.  Meanwhile, Ted’s British reconnaissance force held of Steve’s advancing Soviet armor in another playing of Out of the Woodwork.
     The standings after Round 2 set the stage for some drama in Round 3, with the possibility of needing a dice-off to determine the two qualifying finalists.
     Round 3 matches again featured 3 homegrown scenarios “Check-In Time” (by the late Dave Sidelinger), and the previously played Salient, and Rearguard scenarios. 
     Being mathematically eliminated from the final did not dissuade Steve from playing in Round 3.  He used excellent fire & maneuver tactics vs. Rob’s defending American forces to earn a win for his Soviets in Rearguard, going out of the tournament with a win at 1W-2L.
     Ron’s Soviet forces were caught in the open when assaulting Ted’s dug in German defenders in Salient, resulting in a resounding victory for Ted’s NATO side.  Both Ted and Ron were at 2 wins and 1 loss after this match.

   The third match of Round 3 featured Doug and Jonathan facing off in a much-anticipated battle of recent WBC champions.  The close-fought affair featured Overruns, Close Combat, Dismount Attacks, and other tactics that had observers glued to the action. Each roll of the dice was crucial.  When the dust settled, Jonathan’s Soviet forces had wrested control of objective “Hotel-10” from their American adversaries.  Doug was eliminated from the tournament (1-2) while Jonathan joined the ranks of the 2-1 players.
     Having three players with equal face-to-face tiebreakers is about as undesirable a situation as possible for a 2-player wargame, but unfortunately it happened this year.  The GM will need to do better going forward.
     In MBT fashion (percentile dice), Ron Jongeling, Ted Drozd and Jonathan Squibb rolled to determine which two of the three equally qualified players would face off in the final.  Having rolled the lowest, Ted graciously accepted his fate and bowed out for a well-earned third place in the tournament.
     Ron and Jonathan decided to play “Late to the Party”, the GM-designed scenario dating back to the origin of the GMT Games edition of MBT.  Jonathan commanded the NATO M60s, while Ron led the Soviet T-72s and BRDM anti-tank vehicles.  Per the scenario narrative, both sides seek to gain high-ground advantage for their (theoretical) follow-up forces by controlling hills 3.20 and 7.21.
     In this scenario, each side secretly determines which of two entry locations they will use for their reinforcements.  Both opponents chose the northern options, foreshadowing a clash at Hill 3.20.
     By turn 3, as Soviet forces climb Hill 3.20, two T-72s break off the main force and head towards a potentially easy capture of Hill 7.21. Seven of NATO’s 9 M60s head for Hill 3.20, while two advance toward 7.21 to provide some defense against the Soviet aggressors.
     Cross-hill fire resulted in a brewed up M60 and damage to another in ensuing turns.  But the Soviet force took more damage than it dished out.  ATGM wires and wrecks are strewn across the battlefield, and at the end of the match, NATO prevailed. Jonathan Squibb regained his crown as MBT champion while Ron Jongeling earned 2nd place for a second year in a row.Many thanks to all the dedicated participants that continue to support this small tournament year after year, especially our Sponsor and game designer, James Day

     The two games of “Inattentive Column” played out very differently. In one, Ted Drozd’s Canadians led off their ambush of the poorly-armored Soviet transport vehicles with deadly point-blank .50cal fire from their M113s but left their infantry behind too far to the rear and were overcome one-by-one by Ron Jongeling’s Soviet tanks. In the other game, Rob Schoenen’s Canadians fared far better, avoiding Steven Proksch’s Soviet return fire and darting behind cover, leading Soviets to advance cautiously until time ran short and forced an ill-fated rush for the board edge.
     In Round 2 Ron’s defending Panzer Grenadiers defeated Doug’s second-echelon Soviets in “Another Desperate Salient”. Meanwhile, Rob outshot Ted in “Shootout at Schesslitz”.
     Round 3 included a game of MBT’s sister game Panzer as both Ted and Doug had bought a copy of the new North Africa expansion at the vendors and wanted to play it. In the other game, Ron defeated Steven in “Shootout at Schesslitz”.
     The Final featured Ron riding his hot streak against former Avaloncon champion Rob. The sleep-deprived contestants chose Scenario a fairly quick meeting engagement scenario from the British module; Ron advanced his forces in three columns while Rob advanced in two. Ron’s rightmost group held up Rob’s left on a hillside while his other two columns turned on Rob’s right, mercilessly shredding large portions of it into tiny pieces of metal. Rob didn’t foresee his afternoon getting any better and conceded after a few turns of punishment, handing Ron his first MBT tournament victory.
     Many thanks are due to game designer Jim Day for sponsoring the tournament year after year and, of course, making the game in the first place!

MBT WBC 2024 After Action Report

New GM, New Scenario, New Champion!  

     This year’s MBT tournament featured a new GM in Jonathan Squibb, taking over for Rob Schoenen who had run MBT for the past four conventions (plus several in the 1st edition of the game going back to Avaloncon) and giving Rob the ability to spend more of his Friday and Saturday actually playing games. As all the rounds had an even number of entrants this year, it was the new gamemaster’s turn again to sit out the fight.
     The tournament brought back Rob’s scenarios from last year, also adding two new ones from Jonathan. The first, “Inattentive Column”, is an ambush scenario with a small number of Canadians taking on a dense road column of poorly-trained Soviets, with the battle intended to indirectly model some of the fights early in the Russo-Ukraine War. The second is “Shootout at Schesslitz II”, a remake of one of Rob’s 1st edition scenarios from Avaloncon that features quick play and tank maneuver.
     The 1st round saw 6 entrants compete in three games, two of “Inattentive Column” and one of “Shootout at Schesslitz”. The Schesslitz game included Johnny Wilson, a new entrant who had joined the tournament after taking interest in the demo, with past champion Doug Smith showing him the ropes in his first game; although Doug demonstrated why he’s a past champion, Johnny learned quickly and the battle was not entirely one-sided. The battlefield ended up littered with the flaming wrecks of both sides.