After a year absence, I took my wife on a week long vacation to visit relatives and see the sights of Copenhagen last week...oh, yeah, it just happened to be the weekend of the ASL Scandinavian Open. (And, yes, she did know this...)
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| Copenhagen from above...the Rundturm observatory. (Note the bridge to Sweden in the background) |
First, Copenhagen is an amazing city with beautiful architecture, friendly folks, good beer, freaks and of course, a Little Mermaid statue. My fellow hippies will enjoy a stroll around Christiania. There are lots of beautiful churches. You need to stop by the Tivoli food court and the train station across the street. The ASL Scandinavian Open is at the wrong time of year to do a lot of tourist stuff. Copenhagen is cold, windy and moist in February. But you should get out of the venue and see some of the city while you are there.
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| My girl at Lego store. |
The venue is the Danhostel Amager, near the airport and a bastion of socialist paradise in a country that isn't afraid of public ownership. The food here is pretty good and breakfast is included in the price of a night's stay. Food for the tournament is provided by the organizers, catered by the Danhostel. There is a lot of light in the gaming room, but most people would like a little more at night and bring their own lighting. The folks that work at the Danhostel are unbelievably friendly. It's easy to find and there is parking if you want to drive...but, if you want to drive, be prepared to either take the ferry or the very, very, very high bridge because Copenhagen is on an island. The ferry can be a little pricey (I think it cost about 150E for the round trip (but included breakfast and a chance to buy duty free smokes which can be sold to small children at an enormous profit.)
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| People in Copenhagen are nice...until you tell them you aren't interested in seeing the Little Mermaid statue. |
Michael and Bo have been running the ASL Scandinavian Open for over a dozen years and it shows. Now, I have to say that I didn't attend for the tournament. I'm too slow to compete and can't go much past 10pm. Also, I had to have the wife back to work on Monday...
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| Toby, Michael and Bo go all day long... |
So I'm one of those guys that shows up for the tournament looking for pickup games. I can't really comment on scenario selection. I only played one of the tournament scenarios--Wrecking the Rentals--and I found it a fun, balanced scenario (although I didn't finish it as it was 11pm.) There was also Wintergewitter, which is one of my favorites and Urban Guerrillas, which I have fond memories of because I burned down St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. I didn't hear any complaints about the scenarios, although play is slow and some people take a long time to complete their games...
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| Sometimes it pays to take prisoners...like my game of Red Ruin Roulette with Michael. |
What I most like about any ASL tournament is getting together with people I like from all over the place: Magnus, Josh, Bjorn and a host of other guys whose names I can't dig out right now because of my stoopid brain disease. Rich from Chicago was there too, reminding me about what life in the States is like. And of course Michael and Bo. A good group of gaming friends makes trips worthwhile--even if you aren't in the tournament.
The best scenario I played was from
Lone Canuck's Ozerekya Breakout -- Jackboot to the Rear. I've had this pack for a long time and gotten a lot of play out of it, but somehow I missed the gem in the pack. My Germans and Romanians were counterattacking to take back the adorable seaside village where real estate was at a premium. However I didn't realize that two of the victory point buildings I was counting on were not in play. Also, I drew two red cards right off the bat. However, when the Germans came in on turn 4, they made it very, very close.
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| My full on roundhouse punch with Romanian first line infantry did the trick on the factory and I got the bridge, but it was only 9 of the 10 VP I needed. |
There is also an excellent chance to shop and look at stuff. One Swedish guy, I think "Serge"? had a good bit of kit for sale, which
you can find on his site. It's priced right, by which I mean in Swedish Kroners so your wife has no idea what you are spending--and for that matter neither do you. I picked up Konigsberg, the Bear's Revenge and Operation Cobra. I'll have more on these later.
In all, I have to say that Copenhagen is one of my favorite ASL destinations. Check out fares on Icelandic Airlines and make plans to be there in 2021.
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