In this one a small Slovak force is asked to drive into a town which has seen some previous partisan activity and secure the town. Unfortunately for the Slovaks, who are once again under the dubious command of Pilfousek (although he does not make an appearance on board, his incompetence shines through given the situation), the partisan force has not left the area, it has set up an elaborate ambush.

The Soviets set up in a semicircle around Lojev, hanging in the edges of the woods. While it is tempting to set up the ambush along the road through the woods a cautious Slovak player could choose to eschew the road and any Soviets set up there would not be able to get back to Lojev in time to fight.

The Slovaks, sensing the trap that is the road decide to skirt north of the woods and approach Lojev through the gap in the woods to the northwest of town. They began to approach Lojev on turn 4 (of twelve) when the Soviets sprung their trap. Nearly the entire Slovak force was trapped between Lojev and the approaching partisan force. One platoon of cyclists and the armored cars did make it into Lojev but were brutally handled and destroyed. The remainder of the force was hammered within 400 yards of Lojev and left the field screaming.

This is a short sharp action. By the end all of the Slovak and most of the Soviet force, with the exception of the NKVD, were demoralized. It does, however, show the danger of an organized force of significant size in a "secure" area. The Slovaks lost 11 steps, including both armored car steps, to the Soviets 4 steps of partisans and while they did penetrate to the town their hold was untenable.

The victory conditions virtually mandate that the Slovaks try to get into the town otherwise they would have tried to run earlier but they likely would have experienced most of the losses anyway since they were actually trapped by the ambush. A nice short scenario. I give it a 3

A short (12 turns) and tough scenario for the Slovaks.

The Russion partisans with two HMG's get to sit up hidden, and ready to ambush the Slovaks as they approach the town. The Slovaks enter along the road on the west edge. On the 2nd turn, as they move along, the Russian 45mm fires without effect on the Slovak AC.

The Slovaks close on the ATG position to try and overwhelm it, and then quickly move on to the town. The 45mm quickly reduces and demoralizes the AC. The partisan opportunity fire is ineffective.

On the next turn, the 45mm finishes off the AC, and the partisans retreat back into the southern forest. The Slovaks continue to advance, but cannot pin the partisan defenders down.

The Slovak force continues west, and the Russian HMG's and remaining partisans rally in the town. The Slovak force closes and attempts to circle around the south side of the town, but the Russian shift forces and counter the Slovak flanking maneuver.

The scenario with very few losses on either side, but the Russians retaining control of the town. I think this is a difficult scenario for the Slovak force to win. They have fewer forces and lower morale than the NKVD, so assault is not really an option.

A very small and short scenario but it looked interesting to try. The Partisan force really is much stronger, even if the Slovaks have an OA.30 armored car and occasional air-support, as the Partisans have the terrain advantage of forest on both sides of the road running through map board number six, the exact route I took as the Slovakian player. In hind-site, I should have taken the long way around but I doubt I could have taken the town hexes on map number three with this small Slovakian force either. In the end, the Partisans controlled all the town hexes only losing one step, while the Slovakians also lost a step. In fact, they didn’t even make it off map number six to challenge the town hexes on map three. A total Partisan victory.