This game was played with Daniel (Hugmenot) on Skype in our first ever encounter over two sessions. Before I go any further, it is worth mentioning what an excitingly close tussle this was and certainly had a changeable ebb and flow to it both ways. The history of how we came to play this particular scenario is humourous too. A few months back, Daniel was experimenting with set-ups and showed a photo-AAR of this scenario where the Slovak defenders were easily overrun. Some forum-ites suggested various defences, including me where I suggested that the Slovaks should worry ONLY about holding the bridge at the expense of all else. If they do that successfully, then the Hungarian VC's do not allow for a Hungarian victory. After which Daniel wrote something to the effect of "Well show us the money". Given that the Slovaks had suffered a Major Loss in the AAR shown before, anything from a Minor Loss, Draw or any kind of win would all be an improvement. Therefore, I set up as I suggested I would and here is the AAR of our encounter.

The Hungarians were committed to capturing the bridge toward Sobrance as well as where possible securing the main road. At 0600 hours they advanced in three groups from the east. One straight at the bridge to Sobrance. Then one either side of the bridge’s flanks. The Slovaks, ordered to inflict as many losses on the aggressors as they could and if possible, hold the road and bridge, dug-in all their machine guns on that bridge and then instantly sent forward two platoons of infantry either side of the bridge to hunker down on the river bank both sides of it. The rest of the Slovaks were concentrated behind the bridge, dug-in and ready to react and reinforce where needed. The Hungarians made sure their two flanking forces crossed the river in large numbers, whilst the centre group kept the bridge engaged, albeit with little result from the action there. The first casualties came at 0815 hours when one of the two Slovak AT units ran off under bombardment abandoning their guns. The Slovaks responded by eliminating a step of Hungarian infantry.

The Hungarian advance had effectively hemmed in the Slovak defenders and before long, the attackers closed toward the Slovak positions. In the main, the advance had been successful though another platoon was lost to Slovak fire. At the western most point of the Slovak defence, a company of Magyar infantry were repulsed and virtually eliminated as they attempted to overrun a dug-in AT crew and infantry platoon. A counter-attacking bayonet charge led by the commanding Slovak Major proved decisive at this point in violently removing the threat. More Hungarian casualties followed as the first three and half hours of battle went little in their favour. The Slovak AT batteries had failed to knock out any of the Hungarian tanks when they presented themselves as targets and these missed opportunities would place more pressure on the defence later.

Despite the early set-backs, the Hungarians had closed in all along the positions occupied by the Slovaks by 0945 hours as assaults cropped up everywhere. The battle had become a little disorganized as the assaults took over. Much of the Hungarian force tenaciously attacked the fox-holes, whilst surviving comrades from other platoons drifted away from the battle demoralized. Slovak casualties were now mounting as a result of the continuous and now successful attacks. From 1015 hours the melee accounted for nearly five Slovak platoons ceasing to exist as Hungarian aggression paid finally dividends. But as the Slovak line dwindled, they too managed to inflict damage but were now struggling as light Hungarian armour, immune from any AP threat took advantage to join the attack. Only the desperate shuffling of Slovak forces kept the thinning defence going with any effectiveness and this was forcing the Hungarians to use their final reserves of relatively fresh troops.

But it was the bridge the Hungarians needed and with time running out, the whole battle was completely in the balance. The Hungarian commander launched a final company sized attack on the stubborn defenders of the desired feature. Brave though the attack may have been, casualties were taken. Seeing yet more of their comrades cut down, the whole company threw in the towel on the attack, and demoralized beyond recall, gave up once and for all. Their repulse signaled the end of the cliff-hanger struggle with the Slovaks taking a very close and hard-earned victory. Casualties were quite high. The Slovaks lost 11 FOOT steps, 2 officers and 2 ordnance. The Hungarian losses were 15 FOOT steps and 2 officers.

So the Slovaks run out Major winners this time but it was most certainly close. As turn 23 (of 24 begun, there were four of the five results still possible, meaning a draw and both sides still able to win. But as the title suggests. For the Slovaks, it is ALL about the bridge. Keep possession of that and as per VC's, you can not lose. The final assault on the bridge that failed for the Hungarians finally clinched it for the defenders. Despite some previous AAR writers claiming that one side or an other has no chance of winning this scenario, I believe the 6:5 result spread may suggest it is in fact well-balanced scenario and worthy as a competition candidate should such a thing ever happen. Our game had the Hungarians with the better leaders. They did quite well from their selection pool with the Slovaks only getting two with a rating. Hungarians have the numbers and OBA, Slovaks have the dug-in positions and hold the objectives. A classic attack/defence situation. I rate this a '4'. This is because I enjoyed using low moraled Hungarians and Slovaks, the battle was a tight one, Daniel as a new opponent, the scenario situation and because I won a close-call game