In this one, Col. Pilfousek's men, smarting from their first brush with the Soviets, enter an area which has been bypassed by the German offensive but may have some Soviet troops. Since they were entering an area which had been fortified by the Soviets the Slovaks have their own and some German engineers to help blow stuff up.

The Soviets get to set up hidden for the most part. This helps because their force is almost entirely immobile (straongpoints, HMGs and AT guns without transport) and even those units with moderate mobility (INF) are hampered by low numbers and few leaders (and in my case really bad leaders).

Nevertheless, the Slovaks are so few in number and so "blah" as troops that there is some tension as to whether the Slovaks can find the Soviets and then appropriately deal with an entrenched enemy. The scenario is relatively short (20 turns) and as a result does not give the usual 45-60 minute rest periods the Slovaks need to recover morale after each small action.

In this instance, however, the Slovaks are matched against an equally "blah" force which had a quirky habit of becoming demoralized as soon as the Slovaks attacked (whether a strongpoint or an entrenchment) and then getting slaughtered as they ran away. In seven turns the victory point total went from 53-4 Soviet to 37-26 Slovak with the Soviets incapable of turning it around. The Slovaks basically held on to the ground after that and the Soviets couldn't bring any troops to bear, given their immobility, for a counterattack.

Omniscience (I played this solo) may have played into the result somewhat but I did manage to run Slovak tanks right into an AT gun. That was shortlived, though, as the OBA took out the AT gun the next turn. The Soviets certainly rolled hideously during the game and the Slovak morale rolls were equally lucky in the other direction. I believe this one is much better face to face but I can't imagine that the Soviet player has much to do. Interesting situation but maybe not much fun to play in reality. Give it a "2". Lesson learned: poor morale in bypassed troops leads to easy "Mopping Up".