I was a youth soccer coach for several years working with girl's teams. My teams were generally made up of a group of girls who enjoyed each other's company and were willing to run around aimlessly on a Saturday morning and then have snacks together. My job was to make the actual playing of soccer fun for them (this was recreational, not club soccer - 'scuse me football).

While the game was on the girls generally had a decent idea of what to do but that all broke down when we got a corner kick. You see, corner kicks generally work best when you have someone who can put the ball in front of the net from the corner in the air. I didn't have anyone who could do this with any regularity on the team. As a result, we worked on a "short" corner kick scheme that focused on controlling the play towards the near goalpost, the one we could actually reach.

I thought of that as I played this scenario. The Soviets in 2 battalion strength with significant artillery support are tasked with ramming through the GD regiment and exiting the board in large numbers (10 units). The GD has little artillery but a full battalion of troops to defend the area. There are only 12 turns so there is little time after the setup to do anything.

It would be tempting for the Soviet to try to push through the center of the German line but I noted the poor morale of the Soviets and instead focused on trying to unhinge the German line at its nearest point and then slide units off the board past the broken hinge (the "near post" of the title). As of turn 8 this appeared to be possible due to some terrific results from artillery barrages. The Germans had lost their 9th step and any ability to win the scenario outright due to some awful rolling on morale.

By turn 11 the Soviets had exited 7 units and had three remaining in range when a German counterattack surrounded the Soviets and demoralized the potential exiters on turn 12. This was a fun, tense and decidedly messy scenario with assaults and friendly fire a regular occurrence. It is well worth the time. I believe that luck was definitely on the Soviets' side in this play so I would expect more German wins than even draws but it is nevertheless a good one. I give it a "4".