2 July 1941. Report on Actions of 7th SS Rgt.

Elements of the 7th SS Regiment were ordered to support the German advance in Finland. The poorly-trained and led troops marched into a large forest and were met by a company-sized force of Soviets. The Soviets were stretched on a line to provide fields of fire against all areas and prevent German units from sneaking behind them. Following a cautious advance that began at 2200 hours, the SS forces threw themselves at the Soviet positions, supported by artillery. The Soviets handled the assault handily however, and inflicted mass casualties without suffering significant losses. Indeed, our intelligence suggests that the only losses suffered by the Russians came from friendly fire.

With the attack wavering, the SS troops finally broke off the assault at 0000 hours. By that time 3 infantry platoons and one machinegun platoon had been decimated, and one officer was KIA. The battle was a decisive loss for the SS forces.

I found this scenario to be mildly entertaining, with some tactical decisions required, but by the time the engagement began it devolved into a dice fest with little room for maneuver. This stemmed from the fact that most of the terrain on the map is light woods, meaning attacks can only be made at one hex, and also because the SS morale is so poor that the majority of the SS units failed even M morale checks, rendering them mostly ineffective. I understand that Benninghof was trying to establish the general poor quality of many SS forces in this supplement (which I believe was the first PG game to feature SS units), but the result here is really unbalanced, as the SS player would need to get very lucky or face an undisciplined opponent to have a chance to even pull a draw. While this may make for a good history lesson, it makes for a poor scenario. This is not one I would recommend.