This is a strange scenario, I was intially going to rate this one lower than a 3 but after some reflection I have revised my initial opinion. Played over several session and months in a mix of Skype and FtF against Vince Hughes this was a real grinding slog for the Red Army. The scenario has a large Soviet force with several Panal units (the Chosen in the title) crossing a miner river to take a town and clear the east/west road. The German forces are highly motivated, entrenched behind minefields and in our game Vince had got excellent leaders. In my opinion Vince deployed the optium set up for his defense. Right behind the river he deployed as line of minefields streching across the board, these were covered every 4-5 hexes with entrenched HMG and +2 leaders. This was going to be a tough nut to crack. Special rules have reduced spotting due to falling snow, reduced movement due to heavy snow, pre planned Soviet bombardment and variable German off board artillery. This is the Eastern Front alright! I went for the flanks of the German defence while the poor old Penal troops tried to divert German attention by "bravely" rushing the centre of the German line. This failed totally as the "Chosen" were mown down by accurate and sustained fire from the Nazi trenches. The first flank attack went in and got bogged down on the German mines but the Soviet commander refused to call the attack off and kept presssing. Slowly, very slowly ground was gained and some German casulaties were caused. Soviet units who were demoralized or reduced were recovered and thrown back into the fray. This all sounds far more exciting than it actually was to be honest as it was obvious that even a minor Soviet victory would be almost impossible given the circumstances and looking at the the very strange VC's for the Germans meant that a draw was going to be thee most likely outcome from the halfway point. Still I had to get 13 units across the river which meant continuing the assault, I breathed a big sigh of relief when my T34's finally got across the river and minefield and eventually dealt with the entrenchment which had held up the Soviet attack foe several hours. This meant that I could dig in on the far bank of the river with just about sufficent unts to get the draw. In the last few turns I launched the northern attack mainly for some fun and also just to ensure I got 13 units acorss the river which would mean the game would be called a draw. This attack just underlined the futility of a frontal attack as wave after wave of brave Russians fell for very little gain. Still we played all 36 turns of this monster, the battle had an ebb and flow in it in as much there were several turns of relative nothing happening than all heel would break loose. I am sure Vince will comment on the VC's and much more besides. I for one am looking forward to out next tussle.