Played in a little more than 4 hours with Matt.

Matt wrote a very detailed AAR so I will restrict myself to some general impressions.

Soviet setup. I drew three NKVD leaders with +1 morale modifier. With the NVKD having 8/8 and the Partisans 8/5, I thought my troops be resilient against Direct Fire due to their ability to recover quickly. That was the case in this scenario. The RKKA infantry have 7/6 morale and were not effective as a hidden speed bump to slow down the Germans. It may be better to hide them in a position from which they can threaten the road late in the game because it would force the Germans to recon all hexes within one turn of the road. I set up the mortars outside of town and the Germans discovered them early. Their loss was felt because the Soviets have very few units with range in this scenario.

Play Balance. Any scenario that is decided on turn 29 of 30 is well balanced in my book. It may favor the Soviets with better use of the hidden units or the Germans if they had better luck in town early on. There are plenty of choice as to the Soviets defend and how the Germans invest their troops.

Solitaire Playability. While I am sure it can enjoyed solitaire, I believe having no clue where the Soviets hide their units adds a lot of tension. The fight for the town is very technical – you need to manage your stacks and know when to bring in reinforcements – so that part can be enjoyed solitaire or face-to-face.

4th Edition Impact. Very little other than the urban assaults – and I think this change is a positive because killer stacks are not as effective.

Overall. 3.5 stars. This is a solid medium size scenario with good tension throughout.