Flames of war, mid-war, southern nationals, war games - May 22, 2019

Southern Nationals: “That’s a Wrap!”

As the Tournament Organizer it was our pleasure to host and organize this year’s “Flames of War: Southern Nationals (Mid-War)” tournament. It consisted of five two and a half hour rounds of play held over the 18th and 19th of May here at Hard Knox Games in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Players brought and battled other 109 point Mid-War armies. The winner will receive an automatic invite to this year’s Masters Tournament.

First the demographics: We had thirty-nine players participating over the weekend. The nationalities included; six American, six British, thirteen German, two Italian, and twelve Russian. On our tracking sheet players self-selected their type of list, there were; twenty armor, nine mechanized, and ten infantry lists. Players travelled from Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, Minnesota, Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Arkansas, and even included one who flew in from sunny California. Those players were representative of at least eleven game clubs including: Able Kompanie, 757 Rangers, Screaming Eagles, Tough ‘Ombres, Legions, T.R.P., All American Gamers, Lakeshore, Golf Kompanie, GITSUM, War College, and Hard Knox Gamers. Our youngest player, Ian Gall (15) came with his father Tom Gall, and friend Walker Fursa(18). There were also two other father/son duos participating. Seventeen out of twenty tables were supplied by players; and fifteen of the twentygot at least one vote for best table.

The Results: Joe Lewis came in at 1st place with 5 of 5 wins and 35 of a possible 40 points. James Best Jr. came in at 2nd place with 4 of 5 wins, and 29 out of 40 points. John Cedarberg edged out the competition on strength of schedule with 3 out of 5 wins, and 28 out of 40 points. Charlie Clay’s Italian army was voted for 13 times for Best Presentation. Charlie also earned five out of five opponents votes for Best Sport. Lastly our Best Table was brought by Chuck Hiner with five votes.

There are at least two forthcoming articles in the works to give an in depth analysis of the action. One will be an analysis of the lists on www.NoDiceNoGlory.com by Tom Burgess, and the other will be an analysis of the strategy involved on www.battlerankings.com by Chris Fretts.

For those interested I've uploaded the info on 2019 Southern Nationals to the official Facebook groups file section. It is a word document with one page per player, in order of their final rankings. It includes: Their name, ranking, and Strength of Schedule score. Their record of battle: stance, mission, opponent, opponents' stance, and score. And lastly their army list. That file is available here: http://tiny.cc/hfd26y

We also have a short video of the action here: http://tiny.cc/e8c26y

Thanks,
Wayne Milam & Chad Underdonk
Hard Knox Games

Rank Nation Type Name Score Wins Str-of-Schedule

1st American mech Joe Lewis 35.0 5 (118)
2nd British armor James Best Jr. 29.0 4 (112)
3rd German armor John Cedarburg 28.0 3 (123)
4th Soviet Armor Brian Koches 28.0 3 (120)
5th German mech Tim McLelland 28.0 3 (106)
6th Soviet Infantry Erin Macheski-Preston 3 27.0 (90)
7th British Infantry Chris Jackson 26.0 3 (112)
8th German armor James Best Sr. 26.0 3 (91)
9th German mech David Vigor 24.0 2 (110)
10th German Infantry Tyson Swigart 24.0 2 (72)
11th Soviet Infantry Andrew Hopson 22.0 2 (101)
12th Soviet armor Richard Sanders 21.0 2 (107)
13th Soviet armor Ed Hall 21.0 2 (101)
14th Soviet armor Chuck Hiner 21.0 2 (97)
15th German mech William Brown 21.0 2 (74)
16th German armor Patrick Connolly 20.0 2 (105)
17th German Mech Chris Novak 20.0 1 (77)
18th British armor Tom Burgess 19.0 2 (110)
19th Soviet Infantry Chris Fretts 19.0 2 (100)
20th Soviet Infantry Dick Hurchanik 19.0 2 (98)
21st Soviet armor Ben Ivancza 19.0 2 (77)
22nd British armor Jim McKinney 19.0 2 (47)
23rd British armor Ian Gall 17.0 2 (79)
24th Italian armor Charlie Clay 16.0 1 (98)
25th German armor Richard Baier 16.0 1 (95)
26th Italian Infantry Tom Gall 16.0 1 (92)
27th German Mech William Stone 16.0 1 (85)
28th American armor James Markstone 15.0 1
29th German armor Raymond Loh 14.0 1 (124)
30th American mech Walker Fursa 13.0 1 (91)
31st Soviet Mech Richard Novak 12.0 1 (92)
32nd Soviet Infantry Mike Pike 12.0 1 (83)
33rd Soviet Infantry Larry Nicastro 8.0 (96)
34th German Infantry Lawrence Pousard Sr. 8.0 (91)
35th German Mech Alan Wright 8.0 (70)
36th American Armor Scott Erny 6.0 (50)
37th American armor Lawrence Pousard Jr. 3.0 (48)
38th British Armor Allen Underwood 3.0 (45)
39th American Armor Chad Underdonk (Ringer) ***18.0 2 (35)