A large force of SS are charged with the task of clearing a road over a hill and taking the town beyond without losing too many troops in the process. To accomplish their goal they have a ton of infantry, some engineers and heavy weapons and two platoons of StG IIIbs. Facing them are soem T-34s, BT-7s and a battalion of SMG with a few leaders scattered in for good measure.

As anyone who has played with the 1941/42 SS knows, trying to accomplish a task without experiencing massive losses is a difficult task and so it proved in this scenario. Although they massively outnumber the Soviets, the SS simply melt away, especially since they have to advance across a relatively featureless mile or so to get to the town.

The basic Soviet plan was to hide in the woods on the hill on Board 14 and hope to survive to late in the scenario and then pop back out onto the road, thus denying the Germans a possibility for a win. The Germans, however, decided to clear the road and the adjoining woods first. The SS quickly found the hiding submachine gunners but could not eliminate them. Early in the fight it appeared as though the Germans would be successful when they caused a step loss and chased the only Soviet leader in the woods out (failed a recovery in an assault hex and had to flee twice, leaving the remaining troops without a leader. This greatly hampered their ability to get to the road and ultimately was the reason that the Soviets would not reach this victory condition.

On the other hand, the hunt for the three remaining platoons in the woods (of four that started there) tied up more than a whole battalion of troops and sapped strength from the mvoement on the town. Initially it appeared as though the Germans would be able to put up a fight for the town but poor morale checks did them in as the massed Soviet tanks were able to shred the advancing SS. The StGs were able to cause massive Soviet tank losses but just when it seemed as though the Soviets would yield a small counterattack ended up demoralizing a 3 high stack of SS which then fled, took losses and fled again. At that point the Soviets felt comfortable sending some BTs and T-34s to try to contest the road, leading to the German complete abandonment of the town.

A Soviet minor victory was thus acheived with at least a chance for a major victory. I would expect the Soviets to win most of these battles given the lack of morale superioty amongst the Germans. Still a very entertaining play and well worth it. There are some hidden units so this one will probably play a little better face to face but if you can play with one of the hidden unit workarounds or can play as though you don't know they are there this one can work solo as well. I give it a "4" and I did play it solo.