This one was kind of quirky with the German deployment as no more than one combat unit and/or truck could be set-up in any road hex. This had German units spread out quite a distance and initial activations would be spent consolidating foot units together while the Soviets entered from the north and quickly took up positions in the the western town and eastern hills with a mass of T-26s rolling on towards the central field hexes. The German victory conditions seemed very easy to obtain with having to eliminate 12 Soviet steps in the course of 40 turns; the T-26s were not going to be able to outmanuever or hold out for too long up against the panzers and would easily fill that requirement, so right away I didn't put much faith in a Soviet victory. In fact I thought that this was going to be a very one-sided affair after the first few turns and didn't think much of this scenario to begin with. However, all the Soviets had to do was keep one unit remaining on a road hex (in any state of morale) or have a road hex in DF range by the end of the battle to pull out a least a draw.

Predictably the panzers were able to eventually eliminate all of the T-26s and German victory conditions were met by 08:00/turn 7, but 3 steps of PzIIIFs were lost in the process. Then, soon enough, the remaining Soviet foot units in the central portion of the map were all hunted down after being chased through the fields and wiped out. This left the two flanks for the Germans to deal with and they would not yield as easily. Resistance was tough in both of these areas as the Soviets managed to draw two very capable leaders out of the modest three alotted; one Major had a 9-1-1 rating and they recieved a 10-0-1 Lieutenant. Also, Soviet morale at 7/7, made reduced units just as hard to contend with as full strength ones. The Germans had to divide their strength up as there were two seperate battles taking place and be able to quickly redeploy units from one area to another as needed. Of course the road and the overabundance of trucks would help with that.

Eventually the Germans would be able to infiltrate the town and drive most of those forces back away from occupying or threatening road hexes there. On the eastern end of the map however resistance was a little more fierce with units dug-in within the hills there. The Germans mounting the attack there were constantly having to rally and soon had to be reinforced piecemeal from the western assault group. This made the overall attack quite a balancing act and as time ticked away things became more and more frustrating for the Germans as neither flank was entirely secured. Then, during the last two turns, Soviet foot units were able to breakout and scatter, making a mad dash for the road. The units breaking out of the town were eliminated along with the Soviet Major. On the other end, the units charging out from the hills made it and at the conclusion of turn 40 two Soviet SMG units occupied the road turning out a draw at the last moment. This scenario actually sat on the table for five days and to begin with didn't think much of it but for me it gradually gained momentum. It seemed to favor the Germans but in this case by forcing the Germans to attack on both the extreme ends of the map and dividing their forces up denied them their victory. I can't say that this would make for the best, balanced, shared match but as a solo play it gets a high mark from me as it was a nice tactical challenge. Also that as turns progressed so did my enthusiasm. To begin with I was ready to write it off as a "2" but midway play increased to a "3" and ended with a "4". A lot of patience is required on the German player's end and a lot of nerves on the Soviet. Also believe this one has a decent replay value, at least solo, as there are many variables as to the attacking and defending approaches.