In this one a weak German force faces the possibility of an escalating assault by Soviet armored forces. There are four Soviet reinforcement groups which arrive on die rolls throughout the game. Their goal is to take towns, kill Germans and exit the board. The Germans primarily are tasked with defending across two boards without a strong force, although they do receive some armored reinforcements of their own.

The initial Soviet assault avoids the strongly posted town to the east and focuses on creating a path for the following armored troops to pass down the road and exit, essentially foregoing the "town control" victory condition. The idea was to engage the Germans with their starting forces (primarily infantry) and then follow up with their first wave of armor, leaving the road accessible to the subsequent armored forces.

Unfortunately, the following armored forces seem to have stopped along the way for refreshments or to view the beauty of the countryside, or whatever, as several hours (10 turns) passed before the first reinforcements entered the fray. At this point the Germans had virtually destroyed the initial forces and were able to engage the late arriving Soviet armor.

The Germans, feeling comfortable in their impending victory, did not actively address the newly arrived reinforcements by moving reserves from the unengaged town. As a result, when the second group of reinforcements quickly followed on the heels of the first, the Germans had to do a bit of a scramble to have sufficient force to deny the exiting Soviets, which they did by the skin of their teeth.

Ultimately, the Germans were able to contain the late arriving Soviets but this was by no means a certainty. The Soviets nearly pulled off the exit victory condition despite not even getting all their reinforcements onto the board during the game. This one went from being a snoozer to a nail biter almost without notice. I am learning to be bolder with the Soviets (and when to pull out the bold move, by no means an easy topic, as timing is critical to a Soviet success). The unexpected drama gets this one a "5".