This scenario is inherently more interesting for the German: How do I split up the forces to attack from both directions? How do I neutralize the fortifications and get close to the town? What are the initial dispositions of those pesky Russians? The Russian player has the unenviable task of setting up for a losing battle, giving the German a bloody nose whenever possible, and eventually watching his forces gradually dwindle before the German onslaught.

The Russian set-up was very conservative (centered entirely on defending the town) and extremely effective. Due to the routes my forces took, I couldn't by-pass his fortifications and was forced to assault, assault, assault; Those 76.2's, the Grant and the AT gun kept the STUGs hanging back, and assaults that had to be made without the benefit of armor until the last two turns cost me quite a few casualties. The Russians also placed the minefields so as to make command/control for assaults extremely difficult. But the weight of firepower was on the German side, and eventually the Russian positions collapsed.

However, as the German, I made several mistakes that I hope not to revisit any time soon. The fields looked like a great route to the town until I realized that with the mud, my tanks wouldn't make it to the battle on time! I also failed to get my HMGs into assaults until the last two turns- they spent most of their time demoralized or disrupted. Furthermore, I lost track of one of the minefield markers and stumbled into a 3 point minefield that I should have known about. I should have been much more aggressive from the onset- I should have just crossed through the open in a direct assault. I may have taken more casualties during the initial approach, but I wouldn't have been feeding troops into assaults piecemeal.

These are NOT the Russians of Eastern Front. Lucky rolls saved me on this one...