Another river crossing scenario but this time the Soviets are the ones taking on the rapids. Four battalions of early war Soviets look to dislodge one battalion of Germans holding the river crossings on the Dnepr. Historically the Soviets made good progress with this crossing but it was not to be with my play. The Soviets have too much going against them to make it a viable effort and the German have a good chance of blocking all attempts to cross, given that the Soviets can have at most three crossing sites, the Germans will concentrate on those to close up quickly. The victory conditions are good, but the Soviet force is not strong enough from either a morale or initiative perspective for them to make a good showing. In terms of numbers and firepower the Soviets are impressive, but they tend to melt quickly under fire and Germans can grab the initiative on many turns. So chances are this will be German win most of the time. But on with the play,

The Germans setup south of the major river, they also control the lone bridge too. This is where most of the defense is setup a reduced company of INF with ENG, HMG and 37mm AT support hold the town and the bridge. Behind them, one company of INF and the 81mm mortars are dug in in the fields. To the west there is one platoon of INF dug in between the town with the bridge and the small river town. In the river town an INF with 37mm AT support as well as a dugin INF just to the west. Beyond that is the main eastern defense is two dugin HMG's and rounding out the western defense a company of INF in the eastern small woods with the 75mm IG. Backing up them is the 20mm and 150mm IG back in the woods and town on board 12.

For the Soviets, they advance from the north. They see the heavy defenses of the bridge town and look to cross to the west. From here they can pin the Germans in the town and race for the town on board 12, but they will need to cross the river first. One Soviet battalion advances south to demonstrate in front of the Germans in the bridge town. The other three battalions advance to the east to cross the river by the small river town and the eastern edge. But they will have to brave heavy fire from the defending German HMG's and OBA. The Soviets push onto the board with light casualties, a few disruptions but they are in good shape. In fact the Soviet OBA score the first casualties by getting a step loss on the German HMG's defending the southern river bank. Soviet HMG's move up quickly and establish a fire line to keep the German at bay. OBA and onboard fire from he Soviets continue to get results of step losses and morale checks. But the Germans only need to block from a distance and shift other units to the southern river banks to provide a block to any crossing site. The Soviets continue the prep fire and kill the German 75mm IG as well as an INF. This gives the Germans some pause and some reserves from the fields behind the bridge town are committed to the west. A reduced company with a good leader is dispatched.

The Germans reach the western defenses just in time a second INF is lost to Soviet artillery fire. They are able to bolster the units in the western woods, but more was needed and the StugIII is sent to the west. It holds the center small river town with after the loss of an HMG and 37mm AT. The Stug III and a lone platoon hold off two companies of Soviets and HMG's. They were able to keep the town under fire denying the Soviets the ability to move the ENG to cross at this site. To the west the German losses mount and the Soviet ENG's get a crossing established. They are able to ferry over four platoons but they come under heavy fire from the remaining Germans as well as the repositioned Stug III.

At this point the Soviets commit to attacking the bridge town with there T-26's and infantry support. They are able to close on the town but are hit with heavy fire and disupt and demoralize. Other INF's and HMG's advance but it was the same story, repulsed by heavy fire. Near the end the Germans position a 37mm AT and are able to reduce a T-26 looking to advance. This ends the Soviet attack as the other INF's are stuck trying to recover.

Back to the west the Soviets that have crossed look to charge the German Stug. They are able to disrupt them but also are disrupted themselves. The Germans are able to get the upper hand with this assault and eventually reduce the platoons. But a bigger issue traps the Soviets that have crossed. German OBA finds its mark on the Soviet ENG's and demoralize them which forces them to flee. This closes the crossing site and the other Soviets are trapped across the river. At this point, it was turn 22 of 26 and that would do it for the Soviets. With 9 steps lost and 13 units either disrupted or demoralized that would finish them off. But the Germans did not get an easy win, they to had 9 units lost and 3 key leaders went down during the battle.