I lost this scenario but it was the best of all that I played. Now we play double blind so minefields are not noticed until you stop next to them or enter them. Those in entrenchments are seen from a distance of 3 hexes or less. Airplanes can identify troops in a target hex and the 6 adjacent hexes only. The Germans had overwhelming fire power 19 tanks which included 5 tigers, The Soviets had only 11 AT guns and 8 AT rifles and a huge battle field to defend at the start of the contest. Yes they do have 14 entrenchments and 11 minefields to place but minefields can be avoided and entrechments can be taken and use against the defenders. For 4 hours the Soviets needed to defend, in order of importance, the main road, the large town, the foot trail, the other smaller towns on the board and their lives. I know that once a gun is fired,it is very difficult to move it,so initial placement is very important. Also the Soviets have one more asset that is FEAR OF THE UNKOWN.

The Initial Placement: The foottrail and the 2 small towns on the western half of the map were defended by phantom troops(5 of the poorest leaders, 2 AT guns and 4 infantry units good at retreating slowly). By placing all the minefields in the southern fields E, W and S edges and entrenchments on the ends of its Northern edge. It created a pocket to hide AT guns, infantry and Machineguns as could be placed in both fields. The 4 hex town between the fields was left undefended. The major town to the North was occupied by infantry, ATRs, HMGs, FLM. The remaining AT guns occupied the neighboring hills and woods with supporting infantry and Hmgs. Tanks did not arrive until the 6th turn. The Germans divided their forces into 4 groups placing 2 tigers for the foottrail and 3 tigers for the main road with supporting units, a large force was set to clear the country side of any units in the middle of the battlefield and the last mechanized group was set to drive along the eastern edge of the battlefield. The Plan: Let the Germans advance towards the main town avoiding combat as long as possible, hoping their lead Eastern groups would be far ahead of their supporting units. This would give me at least a fighting chance with enough fire power to take on the tigers.

The Resulting Action: The Germans were forced to attack my strong points(the entrenchments at the edges of the fields) not knowing how well they were supported from within the field. The Tigers took the bait and approached the main town from where smgs and infantry appeared ready to assault them and leave them helpless to a massive AT crossfire. AT fire and Infantry assaults killed 9of12 spw units, 3of5 tigers and 5of5 PZIVF2s however. The Soviet infantry lost completely 22of27 infantry units. Leaving insufficient infantry to hold the main town when the German battle group that was assigned to clear the country side turned east and attacked the main town. To avoid massive losses trying to hold the town. Soviet tanks saw the opportunity to retake the 4 hex town, allowing those on foot to retreat to the hills with supporting fire. The Germans won the field this day but armor and guns are much harder to replace than men.