Author	Sonora (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Soviet Union
Participants	treadasaurusrex
Play Date	2024-02-09
Language	English
Scenario	PaGr018

Played this early war, movement-to-contact scenario over 6-sessions with the humorous and very deadly Treadasaur as the Soviet side. I chose the advancing German 4th Panzer boys with a crummy assortment of AFVs, and what turned out to be a very poor draw of combat leaders, compared to the unexpectedly good set that the Red Army got.

This way, too-long scenario turned into a big time, Russian delaying action where they shot out my slowly-diminishing thrusts, although the bridge changed hands 2 times in fierce fighting - but to no avail for the Third Reich - as the Germans lost more than 10 steps even before the end of the 7th turn. they had lost, but we played on!

We used the FOW, excess initiative, smoke, extended assault optional rules, as well as these two house rules: 1) Road Movement for Mechanized & Foot Units All FOOT & MECHANIZED units may move on roads at the rate of 1/2 a Movement Point (MP) per road hex, just like MOTORIZED units, and 2) Standardized Movement for Mechanized Units All mechanized units may move through clear hexes at a movement cost of only 1 movement point (MP) per hex, instead of 1 1/2. Add one to this cost if moving up, across, or down slopes hexes. These house rules greatly simplified movement and made for a more fun gaming experience.

Sadly, the only bright spot for the Germans was the substantial amount of OBA. Even the Luftwaffe failed to help as they bombed/strafed a "too close for comfort" friendly 3-stack in close assault, when I foolishly tried to take the bridge the first time! My rapidly moving and cross-firing opponent's, T-34s and KV-I heavy tanks had my armored units for lunch and breakfast, while I tried close assault, after close assault. In general it was too awful to behold, but quite a lesson in what not to do in close assaults with enemy tanks nearby. The Germans should have stood off in adjacent hexes and delivered many more direct fire suppression shots before assaulting. They suffered a senior leader decapitation, and ended up with just 3 leaders alive (6 killed or deserted!) at the end of 29 turns. Oddly, this scenario looks like a sure German win as published, but fickle, Lady Luck was not even close to being on their side this time. We endured 9 FOW-shortend turns and an endless number of (mostly German) combat 7-die rolls.

Together, we thought that this fight is suitable for solitaire and shared play, but needs its "all or nothing" victory conditions rewritten to permit the possibility of a draw. I give this scenario a generous 3, and think it is too long and not properly play tested.