| No Armor, but Illumination Serves the Soviets Well | ||||||||||||||
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This was a 5-session scenario with the tenacious Treadasaurus winning the coin toss and leading a large Soviet cavalry and tank, nighttime attack vs. my solid German infantry in a pair of towns and some woods. We played with the FOW, excess initiative and smoke/illum optional rules. We drew crummy sets of leaders, but the Soviet ones were slightly better. The Soviet side also had MUCH better luck in morale recovery rolls. By the end, the Russian cavalrymen and tankers that survived the stubborn defenders had captured all the required town hexes for a win. This was a costly one for both sides! Others have already covered this battle in-depth, so I will just say that a few well-timed, illuminated attacks made all the difference in our play-through. There was limited scope for maneuver in this one, and the Soviet CAV units hard a hard time getting where they could do the most damage. Unfortunately, I did not set up as well as I should have, and the rather porous German defense, proved easier to penetrate than I had hoped. Losing the German senior officer during turn 11 made for chaos and confusion in one of try 2 town as the Russians advanced from the south. As is his want, my opponent concentrated on destroying the German's AT guns a priority in close assaults, bombardments and adjacent-hex shoot 'em ups. In later turns, with adjacent-hex firefights, the T-35 made the difference repeatedly, in spite of the many useless, combat 7-die rolls thrown by both sides. We had fun with this scenario, but I think that this was much harder pull for the Bolshevik player and his more mobile force. Without illumination, this was a very close scenario. Key Soviet decisions and the exploitation of the gaps in the Axis lines are a crucial piece of this scenario. I like it enough to award a solid, 4 and recommend it for solo or shared play as it is a great way to learn how to maneuver in mixed terrain and fight at night. |
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