During setup, I was cursing my luck at being the Russians for this scenario. Thankfully, my opponent pointed out that the fields on board 36 were to be treated as hills. That changed the entire complexion of my initial set-up.

I decided to sacrifice the town, not without a fight, mind you, and to concentrate my forces on the Russian right flank, especially the large hill. I put nine T34 platoons on the largest hill, and a good number of my guards infantry. Artillery was concentrated on board 36 as well, to break up infantry attacks and to clear the closest of the German held hills. I was willing to sacrifice most of board 37; so I concentrated quite a few guns and tanks in the field in the middle of the battlefield on that board. It was a gamble, but it paid off.

The Germans advanced most strongly on their right flank, near the Russian held town. Relying on most of their armor strength, the Germans finally began to clear out the town during turns 11-14, but a few tough Russian units just wouldn't become demoralized or suffer step losses during the fight. In the middle of the battlefield, the initial German infantry advance was not stopped, but at least was slowed, by vigorous Russian infantry assaults, which forced the German to commit his HMGs to the center of the board, and to lose quite a few SPWs in the process. The Tigers, having been committed to the center of the board near the Russian held hill in the center, were stripped of their infantry protection by some very lucky artillery fire and infantry attacks from the hill. Although the Tigers should have been a powerful factor in this game, they were relegated to making sure my infantry didn't rush them.

On the German left flank, all hell broke loose once the Russians finally got into position on the big hill. A seemingly endless supply of infantry and tanks finally poured off the hill, and a few lucky shots took out a good number of the German defenders opposite them on board 39.

Although the scenario was far from over, and the step-loss count was nearly even, the German commander conceded defeat, seeing that the German held hill was doomed, and that little was left to hold his left flank.

I finally learned to MASS the Russians as much as possible, but I still need to work on waiting for the right moment to strike. I think I waited a bit too long and could have done more damage earlier. It's a difficult thing to master as the Russians: you take losses, and you lose initiative, but you hide and dig in, and maneuver out of sight until just the right time...