This is one of the more baffling terrain setups I have run into. The German force is moving through a river valley and the Slovaks are charged with the responsibility to keep the Germans from advancing for four hours. The Slovaks have the benefit of two companies of partisans of uneven quality (morale 8/5 and some odd restrictions on their activation capability) which can clog up the river valley and force the Germans to delay.

The only thing that forces the Slovaks to fight early on though is that the river runs directly through the map and can be crossed only at the bridge which is only two hexes away from the Germans entry point. So, rather than setting up a defense in depth the Slovaks are forced to set up in a "V" with the apex of the V at the entry point of the German force. Helping the Slovaks immensely is that the bridge is in a town and the Slovaks pulled their 1-10-2 Porocik who will command in the town.

The Germans are not forced to commit to both sides of the river, as the Slovaks must, without knowledge of the Germans deployment. They choose the east side of the river as the terrain is a little more open once the town is bypassed. They invest the town and use their armor as a direct fire support force and keep the pressure on the Slovaks by continuing to eliminate steps. The Slovaks, however, are elated as their control of the town and the resistance of their troops further south is holding up the Germans.

The losses however cause the partisans to become undependable, failing initiative time after time and leaving holes for the Germans to infiltrate and leave the board. At the end of the 16 turn scenario the Germans had managed to exist six infantry platoons and one armor platoon and managed to garner 46 VPs to the Slovak 18, a major victory for the Germans.

The play, however, was a good deal closer than the final score. The failure of the partisan troops to move when necessary was the real killer. A very interesting terrain situation and the variety of troops on the Slovak side gives the strong impression of an improvised defense. I sure didn't think it would rank highly but in the end I give it a four for the novelty and the "feel" of the frantic situation of the Slovaks.