Here we have a classic inversion. The Reich division is tasked with holding a road while exiting troops to the north along the road. NKVD and RKKA forces are attacking. The key is that the Reich troopers have the same morale as the RKKA and similar firepower (as opposed to HEER who outperform the RKKA on morale and firepower. In this case, however, the NKVD troops have better firepower and morale than the SS.

Having played a lot of Slovak vs. Hungary scenarios I was sort of ready for this. Battlefields when both sides have poor morale tend to become VERY messy with routing going in both directions, at the same time.

Early in the scenario it became apparent that the SS did not have the luxury of exiting units off the board if they were to be able to hold the road. There were too many Russians in total and the SS firepower (at that point in the war) was not sufficient to compensate for the low numbers of units available.

The SS almost held the road and caused plenty of casualites but could not retain their cohesion. Eventually the rout of an infantry/HMG fire position permitted a large hole in the line to form which was swarmed by the RKKA in the center of the SS line. In the north a large mixed group of NKVD and RKKA had gained the road, sucked in the SS to try to evict them and had worn down the SS so that by the last three turns of the game too many of the SS had lost their morale and routed.

The real difference between the two forces, however, was the leadership. Only one SS leader had any morale bonus and two had combat bonuses, that was it. The NKVD leaders were quite strong and permitted the RKKA to survive many M1 and M2 results unscathed. The Russians don't care whether you are an NKVD, Guards or RKKA leader, they all work, unlike the Germans whose loyalty was to service first. The impact was a steady stream of SS men running away.

I give this one a 4 because it gives your early was Russians a chace to attack and do well. Plus, if you like chaos, this one will do the trick. There were more red (disrupted) and black (demoralized) topped stacks than you could shake a stick at.