So I'm coming home after doing a couple small errands and I get a call that the puppy who had just been to the vet and got a vaccine was having a reaction. Her eye had swollen badly and was clearly itchy. The girls were taking her to the vet for immediate treatment (Benedryl and a steroid) and we were told to keep the puppy quiet as that would help the medicine work against the allergic reaction. Our puppy is hyperactive so this requires some serious cuddling to keep her from running all over the house. By the time I got her resting it was already 9:00 - not enough time to play a longer scenario so I took a look and at 12 turns this one looked pretty straightforward.

The SS come crashing up the board but the mud slows them somewhat. The Soviets put the minefields and entrenchments a bit farther out from the town to force the SS into a kill box. Actually ended up knocking out one step of the Tiger so it can't be said to have failed but in the end the SS firepower and engineers were able to clear the town with one turn to go.

The SS Major (I refuse to even try to spell the actual "rank") was caught in the open by the Soviet major and the FLM unit. While the Major didn't turn into a crispy critter he was demoralized (a ridiculously low morale of 7) and then decided that he had forgotten something back in Breslau and ran away, decapitating the entire foot force leaving only the StuG, mortars, SPW 251s and a couple disrupted and demoralized SCH available to move in the next turn. It looked to be a stroke of genius until the Soviet major found out that he was in a three stack next to two SS HMGs (which when you work it out means that you are rolling on the 45+ column with a column shift to spare. That turned out to be a mistake as 6 Soviet steps, including an HMG, the FLM and one INF were shot to pieces and then recovered permitting them to be shot to pieces in the next turn as well.

The town finally fell on turn 11. All four Grant steps were flaming wrecks and the Germans had lost 7 foot steps as well as the Tiger step to give the Soviets a minor victory. The German major victory for taking the entire town trumped the minor victory. This was a lot of fun in a very small package. Unit density is pretty high and the combat is remarkably vicious. About right for the kickoff to Citadel. I give it a "4" with a nod to something higher.