An undermanned German battalion with some armor support is tasked with attacking a slightly larger Soviet Guards force, in a town, and must take the town from the Soviets. In reality, the battalion was thrown back with significant losses and the tanks were all destroyed. In a not very surprising result my play closely resembled reality with the exception that I still had some tanks left.

My Germans attempted to work their way around the western edge of town to try to gain one hex of control in order to reach a draw. Unfortunately, opportunity fire and direct fire were sufficient to decimate the infantry coming along with the tanks and cause seven step losses by turn 7 (of 12), thus removing the possibility of a draw. Importantly, the short time frame (12 turns) and the heavy snow require the German player to comes to grips quickly so maneuvering through the woods which could provide a little more protection, really doesn't permit the German to reach town with enough time to accomplish anything. If you play for the draw this might be a good choice.

On the other hand, if Kaeter had decided to get the men up an hour earlier the approach to the town could have been made under cover of darkness which would permit the Germans to close without significant losses from Op Fire and Direct Fire which were the causes of the German loss in this scenario. Attacking at dawn so that the approach to the town occurs in daylight is basically suicidal.

I once mentioned that the lessons that these scenarios teach are often useful ones even when the scenario play is not all that exciting. This is one that proves the point. There really isn't much for either player to do that requires much thought but thinking about the situation and what the German could do to improve their chances brings to mind the need to move under cover of darkness if one is attacking a larger and well positioned force. The fact that Kaeter had to learn this lesson in real combat is the pity.

Not one of the more exciting scenarios you can play but one which can provoke a thoughtful response. I give it a 2.