So you want to clear out a light enemy force with minor loss to your own forces and you see, waiting anxiously for an assignment, an elite large group of cavalry. Before you pick them consider the fact that with superglue and double sided tape, the demand for standard, Elmer's type glue has been reduced considerably.

The fragility of cavalry makes them terribly unsuited to these types of engagements. Where they shine is in situations where their shock value (the +1 for a charge) can disrupt a defense in order to permit more conventional troops take over and do the nasty clean up. You WILL have losses, lots of them.

Consider the fact that in WW I cavalry virtually disappeared from the battlefield after the opening campaigns due to the increased firepower of the infantry. Then add in the added firepower of WW II weaponry and you can see how terribly these units must suffer.

I like the rules in Fronte Russo for the Italian cavalry permitting them to dismount and therefore reduce their profile. But then again those units were superbly trained and highly disciplined and although the Romanian cavalry was an elite unit they still did not reach that level of training.

In this scenario I did set up the hedgehog on the hilltop as addressed in other AARs on this battle but frankly I never got to see if I could take it. Several "2" and "3" rolls on the OBA for the Soviets made that a moot point. By turn 6 the Romanians who were still working on clearing out the fields to the north of the hill had already lost 7 steps and had several demoralized units as targets for the Soviet OBA.

As I mentioned in my article the lesson of the scenario is clear. There is virtually no way the Romanians can accomplish this with their cavalry. If they could use their infantry as well, even as poorly led as they are, and could pool their artillery getting a "21" barrage and you could remove the ("if they tie the Soviets win") Soviet favorable victory conditions and permit a draw, a draw is clearly possible. Short of that, the Romanians will lose every time - just as they did in real life.

I am disappointed to be unable to help the Romanian statistics in the database but that's the way it goes. Great example of the inability of cavalry to participate in WW II action in a stand up battle. Difficult game play. Scenario gets a 3.

"Crossed Sabres" : This is a 2 board-map battle with a Rumanian Cavalry force backed up at the rear by some infantry. Their mission is to clear the main road of any Soviets within 3 hexes of that road without losing 8 or more steps.The Russians consisted of 6 x CAV steps, some HMG's and AT guns, MTR's and 2 x 12 OBA. The Rumanians had 1 x 10 OBA.

Some of the features of this scenario were that the Rumanian INF could not leave the rear board and therefore NOT assist any offensive movement, and the Rumanians were equipped with a can of beans disguised as a tank called the R1 (as weak as a KMS).

In the event, we had the oppurtunity to play this scenario TWICE in the day. The Soviet had cannily set up his HMG's, AT and MTR's on a hill within 3 hexes of the road. With their 8 morale plus a leader with a +1 modifier and dug-in, this made for a very tough hedge-hog for a Cavalry force to deal with.In the first play, the Rumanians grabbed a chance at a complete regimental charge at the hill as the OBA of the enemy (24pts) was always on the 30 coloumn (+1 v CAV) and would easily eventually knock out a substantial amount of steps. To the eye, it looked like this large charge might shift the enemy. In reality, with OBA, OPP Fire, defending uphill and 1st strike dug in......... It was a complete slaughter......... Game Over turn 4 (casualties were 8 x Rumanian CAV v 1 x Soviet CAV and a MTR). MY FIRST RUMANIAN LOSS !

In game 2 (or attempt 2) of this scenario, the Rumanian CAV force decided to stay in the woods, in limiting terrain and therefore unseen. In the meantime, their 2 HMG platoons with leadership would advance to said hill to begin a hopeful whittling down of the hedge-hog and prey for some double 1's with their 8 FP OBA to cause some damage. Meanwhile, a small flanking force caused the Russian Cavalry some problems. All this went much better than game one. The Soviets racked up some losses but that darned hedge-hog was still there.

In the end, with a lot of SOV forces around the hill dealt with, an attack had to go in up on THAT hill, though this time it came from the rear. Once more the CAV charged and this time they cut down the Soviet MTR crews where they stood. But this produced it's own problem. Standing there, in the open, point blank range they then sustained some more heavy casualties from adjacent hex Soviet troops firing (2 steps lost + disorder) thus taking Rumanian losses once more to 8 steps ! Game Over turn 13 Rumanian's lose 2 x HMG steps & 6 CAV steps, Soviet losses 6 x CAV and 2 x MTR)

End result and feelings on this game... 2 x Rumanian loss results in trying this task, and if you are the Soviet,then make sure to hedge-hog that hill, it looks unbeatable in this scenario.

Anybody else tried it, I'm sure there will be a Rumanian winner, but did the Soviets defend said hill ?

I cannot say that this is a "broken" scenario as everything is specific and to the point concerning VCs. But I knew well before setting this one up that the chances of the Romanians winning were slim to none, with "Slim" never even arriving in town. However, calvary versus cavalry always makes for an interesting encounter. Basically the Romanians have to somehow eliminate the entire Soviet force or drive it away from the road and manage this without losing 8 steps. Not an impossible task in itself but these are cavalry units on the attack and are very vulnerable to both direct and indirect fire. The Soviets have the HMG and mortar units begin dug-in on the hill within 3 hexes of the road while sending their outnumbered calvary to engage the enemy head-on before the hill can be contested. The first Soviet cavalry charge goes at the 60mm and 75mm guns and they are quickly eliminated. Meanwhile the Romanians counterattack and take more losses. Everytime a Romanian unit becomes demoralized it becomes an easy target for the combination of Soviet OBA and mortar fire. Though the Soviet cavalry is outnumbered more than 2-to-1 it is effective enough to keep the Romanians scattered and clear of the hill. Very soon the skirmish is over and though most of Soviet cavalry units have been hammered and in retreat, the Romanians take 8 step losses before the conclusion of turn 6. No point in continuing on as if both players win, the Soviets still win anyway.

So despite the odds against the Romanians winning this one it was an interesting enough showdown. Probably not the best scenario for competitive play. I still give it a "2" for what it's worth though with this ending after only 6 turns it seemed that it took longer to set it up than to play it out. I went into this scenario with very low expectations and at least in that aspect I wasn't disappointed.