Up Front Caveat: We only got ten turns into this 20 turn scenario, which is why it's listed as a draw--it wasn't clear how it was going to eventually turn out. The Germans were just staring their assault into the town and it was pretty clear that it was going to be a bloody diciest to decide the winner.

My opponent is learning the tank/anti-tank rules as previously we were playing infantry-only actions. This was his first FTF foray using the full 3rd Edition rules with no options but with OOBs for both sides featuring tanks and ATGs. This was also his first foray into EASTERN FRONT (we'd been playing ELSENBORN RIDGE before this). He chose the scenario and took the Germans. Tough row to hoe for someone new to the game/system, but there's no other way to learn! Plus, it feels easier to play the Germans in most games.

Of course, with the VCs solely based on possession of the majority of town hexes and since the Germans get five on Board 1 right off the bat, it makes sense to pile absolutely EVERYTHING into Senno to deny the fascists the needed 8 more hexes to win. So here was my defensive concept for the game:

Senno is shaped kind of like an egg with the pointy end facing south. The first idea was to create a "ring of steel" using the tanks on the outer town hexes--two tank platoons per hex to face the western approach and pointy ends of the football. There's a few left for the back side, but the Soviet doesn't have enough to stack two tanks per hex. Then, the 76.2mm IG guns and 45mm ATGs are moved and unlimbered on the ends--you have a pair of each, so one of each goes on each end. I put the IG so it has line of sight to the west approach to the town. Yes, this means you are stacked to capacity on those ends, which means you don't get the full terrain benefit of the town. More on that in a bit.

I moved the HMGs in trucks on the western edge hexes and marched infantry on all the other ones. So that means full-capacity stacks on all the outer hexes. Yes. I'll explain later. Mortars are trucked in and unloaded (but not unlimbered) in a generally central location. I put highest morale LTs stacked with the76mm IGs and the other two lieutenants where I think I have the best view to call for mortar fire. The mortars will move and then unlimber adjacent to them once the Soviet discerns the German main effort.

March order on board are the cavalry tanks, then the guns in transport, then the HMGs. Infantry begins marching but empty transports come back to pick up the rear of them and get them into town before the Germans show up.

Once the Germans close on the town, they'll generally have to mass practically everything against the Schwerpunkt if they are to be successful, so the Soviet adjusts his defense oriented against it. That means having those 3-combat unit stacks ringing the town so that you can create 4-2 infantry paired with 7-4 HMGs as backups adjacent to where the Russian thinks the German Point of Penetration into Senno is going to be. Putting the Captain and Major mounted in the two KMS one hex back from the defensive crust where they can best activate the most units near that anticipated Penetration is a good idea.

Here's the rationale for this. The Soviet needs room to move around in the town interior given the stacking restrictions, which apply at all times (to include the movement phase and, especially important--when Demoralized units are Fleeing to Safe hexes inside Senno. Room has to be left for this. If you have interior hexes stacked to capacity so you can fully take advantage of Town defensive shifts on the outer crust, then you are going to have problems moving around reinforcements and units that need to Recover. The second important thing to realize is that when the German starts destroyed the Soviet tanks on the outer crust of town, he's going to create wrecks. Three steps of wrecks means his vehicles can't get in via that hex without burning up activations to "push" wreck levels down to where he can. Those Pz-38s have "7" as DF values which the German can surely use when doing Direct Fire and Assaults in town. But he's got to get them in there...

The two senior leaders are mounted in KMS so they are relatively protected from Direct Fire/non AT Fire and--especially--bombardments. I don't advise putting them on the front line where they can be spotted; keeping them adjacent to max chain activations and do Recovery of Disrupted and Demoralized units are what is most important. Eventually they can be dismounted when staying in the KMS is more dangerous than being on foot.

While the Germans are closing, it's best advised for the Soviet Fire concept to aim at disorganizing large "base of fire" groupings and units forming up to assault. There's temptations to go for step losses as the sole criteria for what to shoot at and when. if the Soviet can induce delays in assaults on the town, there will likely more German casualties/step losses suffered over the long run.

The Germans will likely go for one of the ends of Senno, probably the southern/"pointy" end of the egg, and that can be made to work against them. Once they commit, there's not a lot of maneuvering room inside the town and the Soviet has a narrower front to defend. It's not likely the Germans can create a significant flanking force to draw off infantry fire from Town hexes. They'll need every infantry and HMG platoon they have to sustain a continuous attack at the Point of Penetration (as front-line units will get Disrupted/Demoralized and have to be drawn off and replaced). The German will be most nervous when he only has a single hex or pair of hexes on the fringe of town--it's a long, long way to a Safe Hex for any Demoralized units that fail to Recover! The Soviet can counterweight against the Point of Penetration and turn the fight into an urban nightmare of carnage and mayhem...aiming to buy time (but of course, German step losses are bonus!). In the town, Disruption is often good enough--can't generate significant combat power that way on the Direct Fire table! Demoralizations and step losses are icing on the cake!

Would love to hear about other Soviet players who adopt this or something similar and go through the rest of the scenario to see how it turns out. Maybe then we can get some observations on what it takes to defend against urban assaults (and the German tricks to guard against).