Author	cjsiam (Soviet Union)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Soviet Union
Participants	plloyd1010 (AAR)
Play Date	2021-10-21
Language	English
Scenario	FitS040

Playing with this adversary requires planning if you hope to beat his systematic application of German doctrine...i.e. he knows how to use his pieces. I figured my only hope was to try and keep him busy to the point that he can't get enough forces to the final large 7-hex city soon enough to wipe me out. The board arrangement let me establish some strong points (south town, north forest, south tiny forest, northern field, and then the big town). The scenario conditions gave me an MC +1 if I was in limiting terrain, or dug-in...so everything that could be, was placed in those conditions.

Small AT guns were distributed north and south, with the hope of some cross-fire.

The initial strong points took enough of his time to reduce that he reached mid-board about turn 12...My goal had been to keep him over the river until about then. I pulled back the forest forces into the northern field, but the initial southern town held out until annihilated. At this point he came at the remaining field position, and ignored the southern strong point remaining. I got some cross-fire on the Stugs and ended up taking out one of them (woohoo!!). The slow grind of crushing Russians in Dugouts---bombarding them into oblivion--eventually cleared the northern fields but it had taken so long that by Turn 28 (of 32) he was just approaching the final Town...The possibility of clearing 3 hexes to clear the road was just out of reach. We called it on Turn 30 for the Russians--Minor Soviet Victory. Germans had no trouble with doing > 2 to 1 in steps lost---Soviets are like that...

As always snake-eyes and box-cars popped their heads up---in fact at one point directly following each other. We used Peter Lloyds house rules with modified (2-die direct read) tables, and other "improvements"...They worked very well...I'm thinking they are going to be my chosen approach going forward.

Given I'm 1/2way around the world we could only get in 2 turns/week...it took a while, but was always tense and with a little better luck for the Germans, it could easily have gone the other way. GREAT FUN!