Romania always seems to get the short end of the stick in most of their 'Eastern Front' ventures. I knew full well before going into this scenario that there wasn't much of a chance of Romania scoring a win but I had to give it a try anyway. In this one there was plenty of time (30 turns) to clear off the lower-moraled Soviets from the west bank of the river but not near enough resources. In most cases when attacking foot the tanks play a supporting role but with this one they ended up relying on the infantry to support them. Unfortunately for Romania things did not work out that way as planned.

The Soviets divide their forces between the west bridge/river area and the town as expected but do not send any forces into the northern most woods, choosing to dig-in by the river. This was not the best command decision as it would of been easier to linger or manuever around in woods than to be out in the open. But the bridge was of one of the prime Romanian objectives and the Soviets were not just going to hand it over to them. The Romanian attack has the foot units making for the town while two triple stacks of R-2 tanks make for the woods by the bridge to harass the north flank of the bridgehead. Soviet OBA at 2 x 16 was telling right away and got the best Romanian leader, a 10-0-1 LOC, pinned down on the east-west road along with a HMG unit. By 11:00/turn 5, that Locotenent was easily eliminated through compound demoralization and the small attacking force of foot units had just two leaders left; one of which, a 6-0-0 Capitan would also soon perish. Romanian OBA is very weak at 1x 10 and they only have one 81mm for additonal fire support but somehow with just that are able to polish off one of the two 45mm AT guns standing in the way of the R-2s, enabling them to close in on units by the bridge unopposed by AT fire. A desperate attempt is made to transport the remaining 45mm AT gun from the town to firing range but it is disrupted from indirect fire soon after unloading before it can unlimber, fire or dig-in; soon enough it too would be eliminated leaving the Soviets with no AT capable units.

While the tanks begin to harass the bridgehead with little oppostion the foot units trying to take the town begin to get ripped to shreds; mostly by Soviet OBA alone. Romanian HMG units are the first to go and then the INF begins to get whittled away. However, the defending units in the town are kept on their toes with failed morale checks and the Soviets have to constantly keep units on rotation to maintain a solid defense. Romanian INF units get close to the town but soon lose their Capitan, leaving just a 8-0-0 LOC left to rally and lead. This Locotenent would continue to be targeted and soon would be forced to abandon the remaining INF to recover from demoralization. It was very simple, all the Soviets had to do was eliminate the last Romanian leader and there would be no further threat from the infantry with no-one to lead or press them on. The attack on the town is going nowhere and at 15:15/turn 22 the Soviets have eliminated 8 enemy steps for their VCs. Realizing that that the remaining Locotenent's days (hours, minutes ...) are numbered the R-2s go on assaults spltting up; three platoons south to the town and the other three to rollover soviet HMGs guarding the bridge. The armored assault on the northern edge of town goes well at first, eliminating two steps of Soviet INF there but those units are rotated and the assault hex reinforced for a succesful counterattack. A step of R-2s are eliminated and the other two full platoons forced to exit leaving just a reduced R-2 to hold it's own in the town. The armored assault on the HMGs send one unit fleeing but that assault is soon reinforced by INF units. The assault by the bridgehead soon flounders and R-2s begin to flee that assault as well. Soon the inevitable happens and at 16:45/turn 28, the last Romanian leader is eliminated leaving the last three platoons of INF helpless and incapable of assisting the armored assaults on the town. 30 more minutes pass and the battle is over with a clear Soviet victory.

Losses on both sides were almost equal; the Soviets lost at total of 9 steps defending both areas but Romania lost 11 steps and all their leaders. None of the Romanian objectives were met but they did make their presence known. It seemed like a hopeless mission for the Romanians from the start but was surprised that they got as far with the attack as they did. Had this been a FTF match then I would rated it lower for balance issues but for a solo exercise I got a fair "3" out of it. While a Romainan victory may be hard to come by I do believe they could salvage a draw. I was also surprised that the tanks managed as well as they did on their one with only one step of the R-2s lost by battle's end.