Granted, it was only a minor victory, but considering the fact that Russians historically lost this one, I'm pretty proud of the outcome. The German initial positions included all those hills and towns, and a line of defenders strung out in front of the fields to keep the Russian initial set up as far back as possible. The Russians were clustered on the big hill and basically across the road on their initial board. During the first few turns the Russians, using tank riders, managed to drive the Germans off their farthest hill positions. But the Germans made an orderly retreat and had to be fought all along the way to clear the board of them. On the Russian left flank, the Germans had left only a few defenders, so seizing a road hex on that board was hardly a problem. The problem was the assault on the town, the final victory condition. Russians held back their armor until the 16th or 17th turn, and the town simply couldn't be forced in time. Not only was the German defense extremely capable, but I had also created a reserve to hold my large town, just in case the German reinforcements had come marching up the road. Not having those machine guns available for the final assault was a big mistake.

However, it is becoming clearer to me that where one decides to bring on reinforcements can be just as important as initial set up. The German decided to defend the town, and to create a sideshow struggle in the fields on his right flank, so he sent his reinforcements there. This made my reserve group absolutely useless, and cost me a major victory. Furthermore, I'm beginning to realize that no two commanders see things the same way. I need to learn to better set up for the problems that actually occur on the battlefield, not for those I anticipate in my set up.