Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 29th:
Spearhead Division #16 - Final Accounting
Brandenburgers go back to flippin' burgers when special ops flop
Author Brett Nicholson
Method Solo
Victor Soviet Union
Play Date 2014-01-31
Language English
Scenario EFDx014

I suppose this one comes down to a few very crucial dice rolls. I set up the modest Soviet force strung out along the road and bridge as checkpoints and the Brandenburgers decide to go off-road to avoid the first one. That must of aroused some suspicion as to why a "Soviet" truck would avoid a checkpoint. The commandos roll up onto the second checkpoint adjacent to the bridge hex and then they are found out on the first attempt when a "6" is rolled. They must of got the password wrong or not of spoken very good Russian -they were caught! A first attempt at blowing the bridge fails. The next turn the Germans get the intiative easily and the commandos assault. It seemed as if they would blot out the the 3 steps of Soviet INF easily as the KDO units has a direct fire value of 7 combined with a 10-2-1 rated LT, along with two more shifts on the assault table pushing it up to the 24 column. The Germans only roll a "1" failing to eliminate any steps though one reduced Soviet INF is demoralized. A second attempt at blowing the bridge fails as the 8th Panzer units continue to advance forward to support the burgers. Soon the Soviets are able to reinforce the assault hex just in time with HMG units and keep the commandos bogged down. A third attempt at blowing the bridge fails. The next German assault is more effective but has still failed to clear the hex of all Soviet steps and then it happened, on the fourth try the bridge was blown - a rare Soviet victory on the 5th turn.

With only five more turns to pass I finished this one off just to see what could be done with the remaining time. Sure enough on the 6th turn the road hex was cleared but no more bridge so German units begin to mount for a river crossing while the few remaining and demoralized Soviets flee to the town to rally. In a desperate attempt to redeem themselves the Brandenburgers are one of the first units to cross the river and paired with a SPW251 they rush into the town but time was up and they never got to make another assault. By the scenario's end only half the German force had made it across the river.

So I went into this one expecting very little from previous ratings and AARS and it turned out to be quite a surprise. Once the commandos were found out on the first attempt I knew the Soviets had a chance but figured that the one checkpoint would get rolled over on the first attack. So it really came down to lucky rolls for the Soviets and a blunder of a first round assault for the Germans. Go figure that a "1" would get rolled on the 24 assault table, it just wasn't mean't to be on this attempt. Most people will surely win playing the Germans as likely the commandos will make it to the bridge in time before it is blown. I suppose that if the Germans had won this one I may have rated it lower and wrote it off as a total bore. For a 10 turn length and easy set-up I don't think there is much to complain about though it is arguable that the scenario is broken in a few places. I definitely got a "4" out of it for a fast-moving solo play but as other's have suggested not much for competitive play as it is really dicey.

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