Welcome to the early days of Barbarossa when the Soviet rules of engagement were to attack no matter what the strategic situation happened to be. In this scenario such an attack is hard wired to hit the Germans hard. The Soviets even have a plus 2 on initiative and the Germans lose theirs VERY quickly. At least that's how it's supposed to work out.

The Germans were terribly surprised in reality. I got the option to see what happened if they had 15 minutes warning. The initial initiative roll was German=6, Soviet=1 leading to the situation that the leading Germans ran into covering terrain in time to avoid the armored rush of the Soviet light tanks.

The Soviet tanks engaged the German tanks and after a fight of about two and a half hours the Soviets prevailed. This was important since the Soviets tanks were desperately needed by their infantry to dispose of the German halftracks which were providing incredible fire support to the outnumbered foot soldiers. They were able to take the first town but did not have the time to accomplish more

At the 1/2 way point a major German win appeared likely but in the end they were barely able to hold onto a minor victory. One can only imagine what the results would have been had the Germans not gained the initiative on that first turn.

A great chance to watch the Germans run away. Well worth the time. While both sides have ample forces they both have critical decisions to make. How far forward can I deploy my halftracks and their 5 DF factors? Should I maneuver my BT-7s to gain crossfire on the Pz38ts or should I blow up some halftracks before they shoot more riders, etc. etc.