A battalion of German cavalry is given the task of piercing through a Soviet infantry battalion and securing a lodgement in the town to their rear. The horsemen have the usual support weaponry and fair off board artillery support. The Soviets are helped dramatically by the fact that the bulk of the German force is cavalry with its intrinsic inability to weather direct and bombardment fire.

From the statistics on this scenario it can be seen that the Germans fare very well. The primary reason for this is the requirement that the Soviets set up in a forward position with no forces in the town at all and that the Soviet victory conditions require them to not only keep the Germans out of the town but at least 1 1/2 kilometers away from the town (south of the road). Given the early war Soviet morale of 7/6 and the German long range weaponry this can create some very difficult situations for the defenders.

I am glad to be coming back to Eastern Front after an extended time away. My tactics have improved and my patience is far greater. This is a 36 turn scenario so the Germans have plenty of time to let their support weaponry have an impact on the Soviets. The one troubling issue right off the bat, however (well there were really two) is that the Soviets can (and did) set up in the woods directly in front of the cavalry entrance. Plenty of troops remained dug in along the road in order to provide the Soviets with some depth to their position.

It was a bit of serendipity that made me find the key to the German advance. They have a small section of armored cars (a reduced 222, probably two armored cars) which has the ability to get behind the Soviets quickly. I saw an opening and within the first hour the armored car was behind the Soviet line. As the Soviets saw little benefit to abandoning their line (dug in and all) to try to chase after the armored cars, they left it there. What that did, however was force any fleeing Soviets to flee away from the town. The "5" range on the machine guns in the armored cars kept the Soviets running towards the fields.

The cavalry meanwhile, was busy defeating a company of Soviet infantry which had taken refuge in the woods and the mortar unit that accompanied them. The Soviet artillery was very effective against the cavalry causing losses and demoralizations. The high morale of the cavalrymen, however, provided the Germans with the assault capability to crush the Soviets and move through the woods. Upon losing the woods the Soviets no longer had the available force to block all avenues of advance to the Germans so they blocked the direct route to the town and let the cavalry swing around the fields (which were not yet full of demoralized Soviets. As the Soviets attempted to get into position to block the 6-7 platoons of cavalry they were hit with all the support weaponry, including the 75 infantry gun. The resulting demoralizations and the effect of the armored car near the town provided safe passage for the cavalry to move behind the Soviets and gain a strong lodgement in the town.

This was about turn 15. The remainder of the scenario was a process of Soviets trying to recover from disruption and demoralization in sufficient numbers to permit a counterattack at the town. Eventually the support weapons were able to move into the town making it nearly impossible for the Soviets to pull the draw out. I was able to devise a couple of company sized attacks which did not manage to ever keep sufficient morale between the leaders and troops to manage an assault. Overall the Soviets lost about 12 steps to the German loss of 2 steps. A sound and effective victory for the cavalry.

The scenario is not balanced but was fun to play anyway as a solitaire endevour. I would not suggest it for face to face play except as a learning experience (in particular how to use longer range weaponry to shape a battlefield). I give it a "3".