This was scenario 8 of the Barbarossa campaign with all three leaders participating. One Captain was assigned to the motorcycle recon that was to rush ahead to secure objectives. The other were support to the armor columns moving up to support the attack. All units were able to be mounted so speeding across the maps was a large part of the attack. Why? You are not just fighting the Soviets but the weather too. At some point in the battle rain starts and you lose your air support and visibility, then a little while later mud sets in and you lose mobility. This means that you need to get VP's quickly. The Soviets have the positions with a small defense force but KV-1's and T-34's are on their way to help. They too will lose mobility when the rain starts, but you don't want to be in the middle of a fight with them when the rains start.

In my play the recon team was able to dash around the Soviet defense force and threaten the towns when VP control is key. Keeping the main force together will help minimize the chance of the Soviet tanks appearing and getting a straggler. By the first hour the defense forces are reduced from air and OBA attacks and the main force just mops up. My Captain and LT get a few points for DF but soon move on to attack the towns. At that point, Soviet tanks have started to engage the recon force, with the armor cars moving out of range but the motorcycles still holding a a small woods. The T-34's press them with HE and machine guns eventually killing the Captain. In a panic the units break and start to move back to the main force.

Meanwhile the main force works toward the town and is able to get into position to attack when the rain starts. This helps the Germans as the T-34s and also the KV-1s will be slow to get to the towns. The Germans quickly assault but causalities are high without some DF/BF first to soften them up. Enough assault teams get into beat back the Soviets when mud season starts. At this point all movement is severely limited. The German Panzers setup to support any assault by the T-34's and KV-1's. Slowly they lumber forward to try to counter attack but the Panzers beat them back with the help of the remaining INF units. In the end the Germans pull out a win 23-15.

In rereading the AAR for this I could see why this one was exciting as it has quite a bit of uncertainty and could have gone either way. Having to fight the Soviets and the weather made it just that much different to rate it a 5.