Author	treadasaurusrex (Spain)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	Sonora
Play Date	2023-04-20
Language	English
Scenario	BluD020

This was a 5-turns play-through of yet another, enter & exit scenario. Sonora led the Bolshevik partisans trying to stop the retreating Spanish, while also inflicting at least 8 steps of casualties. I played the Spanish trying to get 12 units (24 steps) of the west edge of the battle map in only 20 turns. The leaders drawn were relatively poor. We played with the FOW, consolidation, hidden unit and excess initiative optional rules in this odd scenario. The Soviets are all hidden and set to pounce whenever a Spanish unit gets close, but in our play-through, none were in contact until game turn 4, when the ambushing began. The Spanish mostly moved to the northwest skirting the town and proceeding in a series of overwatched bounds -- mostly in th woods. Once the partisans started shooting, things rapidly heated up along the road, in the surrounding woods, and on the town's margins. This is a fairly gamey scenario, as the Spanish can just bull their way across the map and exit if the can avoid the bulk of the Soviet force. On the other hand, the Soviets can concentrate their force on the likely exit hexes for the Spanish force in hopes of eliminating the required number of Spanish steps, late in the game. There were endless morale issues affecting both sides in our play-through, as well as 11 FOW-shortened game turns, that materially benefited the Soviets over-and-over. In truth, this proved to be a game of: stymie me, stymie you, that ended in a narrow draw. Time, circumstance, high Russian casualties and the malign influence of the FOW rule, combined to deny victory to both sides. Not enough Spanish units exited, and not enough casualties were created by the Communist partisans.

All in all, not a very satisfying play-through, although we did have fun. I suggest that this one is suitable for SHARED play only, as the Soviet force begins hidden. I give this one a generous 3. With a more unpredictable OPLAN & better luck, the Spanish might have pulled off a win. The Soviets threw nearly 20 combat 7-die rolls, that undid and discombobulated a number of promising counter attacks.