My opponent and I played this over the course of a couple of days. I took the Soviets for this one.

It was prescient for the Soviets to take the initiative in this battle. The Liebstandarte Division was in control of the town, with huge infantry forces on the way. The German artillery and aircraft were able to take a toll on Soviet guns early, but they were unable to blunt the combined infantry and tank attack. The Guards tankers proved crucial to the victory, while the RKKA tankers were sufficient.

The first hour of combat saw the massive tank assault successfully envelope the town from the North side. All seemed to be well in hand for the Soviet forces, but true to their elite status, the SS PanzerGrenadier reinforcements arrived with precise timing (first reinforcement roll). This required the Guards infantry to batter its way into the town from the north in a series of urban assaults. The eastern end of the town fell within the first thirty minuts of battle, being under the sights of Soviet artillery and being relentlessly blasted at close range by the tanks. The Western,ost end of the town would also fall quickly, allowing it to become a defensive strongpoint from which to defend against the German Tank Destroyers.

The German TDs were able to inflict huge losses on the Soviets, but this would eventually come to naught. The Soviet tankers began to pull back and reinforce the defensive line on the south end of town, leaving the counterattack to the more coordinated Guards T-34s. The center of the town would hold out for hours, only falling after repeated assaults by PPSh-41 wielding Guardsmen and their heavy KV-1s in support. The unfortunate Germans who were in the town were completely surrounded, and were thus unable to link up with their comrades who launched a series of abortive attacks from the West. The German artillery advantage and air power were not enough to dislodge the Soviets new hast defensive line, and once the last of the town fell (unsurprisingly with not one prisoner being taken), the SS commander called off his remaining soldiers rather than lead them into the murderous guns of the Guards Tankers.

Lessons learned: The Soviets are learning to use their tanks better every day. It is recommended that infantry assaults against armored units be avoided at all costs. Overall a good scenario. Can be punishing for the Germans if air is not able to whittle down the Soviet armor advantage. My opponent was lucky with his reinforcement die roll, but it probably would have been a walkover if they had delayed for two or more turns. I was forced to make some bloody assaults by his more sudden arrival, but even though this and some skillful use of TDs on his part caused a lot of casualties, the issue was never in doubt after the initial maneuvers were complete.