This scenarios was one of the first that I believe we liked in HotSU. This has the Soviets trying to take a town, but in this scenario the Germans are forced to setup in an advanced position outside of the town. This caused the Germans to be careful to not let a breakthrough develop in their lines, because this would allow for the Soviets to "race" to the town with the Germans.

Setup became key to providing a line but having enough reserve to stop a breakthrough. The Germans have the ability to setup in the woods on board 6 and movement will be limited due to snow. The Germans have a line of troops setup around the woods and the a small reserve in the woods road to plug gaps. The 88 and mortars are positioned on the south side of the woods for bombardment support.

The Soviets advance in two groups from the north. One group moving east of the woods and one to the west. This will give the Germans something to think about in the advance. Six turns in the Soviets start to engage the Germans and on the west side the Soviets start to demoralize the Luftwaffe troops. Pushing beyond the initial troops the Soviets start to dash toward the town. The German reserves are forced to chase after them and in several OBA shots start to slow down the Soviets, but at a cost. To the east the Soviets are slow to breakthrough, but when they do they have a clear path down toward the town. The 88's and mortars try in vain to stop the Soviet advance, but it to much for the Germans and the Soviets take the town.

This scenario was very balanced, but the German setup was doomed from the start. With the two pronged attack the Soviets had stretched out the Germans and was able to force themselves through the lines. A more concentrated defense might have held a little longer and retreated back to the town to defend.

There are times when the best thing for your troops is to fail their recovery attempts and to run away, and therefore avoid getting wiped out. This was definitely one of those times.

A strong Soviet Guards force has to advance through heavy snow and take a town. The Germans (Luftwaffe troops) only have to keep a portion of the town while avoiding significant losses. The Soviets need to advance 3 kilometers to get to the town and they will face a substantial amount of German artillery. They have 4 1/2 hours to do so. If they sprint and the Germans don't try to disrupt their advance with outlying defenses the Soviets can get their troops near the town about 1/2 way through the scenario. The Germans see this and set up a roadblock with a platoon in the woods to remove the road from the advance, forcing the Soviets to slog through the countryside while being pounded by artillery. They also set up a delaying force of three platoons to the west of the town, supported by assault guns.

All seems to be going the German's way as the advance across the fields gets terribly disorganized by artillery fire and the troops that arrive to the front of the town's defenses are greatly reduced. The Soviets have, however, been firing their own artillery and have focused on some of the troops that have taken losses. After 14 turns it is clear that the Soviets will not take control of the town as they remain nearly a kilometer away from the twon but the Germans have taken 7 losses. The Germans are prepared to run to the town and in particular some of their demoralized 1 step platoons are looking to fail their recovery attempts and run out of sight to avoid being hit by the Soviet artillery. To the Soviet's tremendous disgust, the Germans gain the initiative.

It was at this point that a recovery attempt (which needed to roll a 2-4 on two dice) was made for the exposed demoralized platoon, they simply didn't want to face two shots of artillaery and would flee into the town and safety. Of course, they rolled a "4". They then were hit twice by artillery, failing both times and losing the step to double demoralization.

This is a nice small scenario with a good deal of tension. I give it a "4" for the tension. I do think that the Soviets have very little chance to win the game outright but they can push forward to a draw.

So this past Saturday 09/02/2017 I was lucky enough to be invited to Games Plus in Mount Prospect IL. for my very first Face to Face playing of PG. Thank You richvalle! I am a PG beginner - only recently thoroughly reading up on it - mostly here at PG-HQ - and quickly grew interested. I bought a few Box Sets and Modules and played a few scenarios solo and I really like it. So richvalle asked me for a FTF with HOTSU # 4 - Demekhi. 18 turns. Board 4 and Board 6. Woods and fields. Russian Guards Assaulting across 2 boards to a 7 hex city cluster 1.7 KM away. A road runs from the north edge of the board right into the city - with a few twists and turns along the way. Deep Snow = Movement slowed. Guards start the game off map and enter from the North Edge. The Germans setup anywhere 6 hexes south of the north edge. Germans get plenty of trucks so they can either set up mass harassing fire way north and retreat back - or hunker down in the city and wait (It will take 8 to 10 turns of all out movement to get to the city) - or a combo of both. The Germans set up a small scout force overlooking the NW corner, another small force watching the road entrance and another small force kind of watching the middle of the board from a woods hex and a dug in position in the road itself. Leaders with platoons to spot for on board and off board Arty. Most of the German forces set up in the city to play the waiting game - and take advantage of the (-2) Arty Column Shift when they were finally spotted. The Guards started their march. A small force marched south on the far western edge - another small force marched south on the far eastern side - and the majority of the force hit the road in the middle. Early on the Germans watching the road entrance did well by calling in a few good arty strikes (with a few Step Losses and a few Leader losses) but soon the Guards were well past those first German scouts - and had them locked in an assault hex. The Guards were driving southward a little too quickly. When the Guards hit the middle of the board and started driving south on board 4 - they left the road and used the fields to make a sprint to the woods. Right around turn 6 or 7 or so it looked bad for the Germans. Their arty was ineffective after turn 2 or 3 - direct fire was ineffective - and the Guards were on the way to the woods on board 4. Then a German leader still on board 6 took a chance - sprinted into the middle of the road to get a spot on the advancing Guards and their high ranking leaders entering the woods - somehow survived a 30 Power Arty Shot. He spotted a few good Arty Shots that resulted in few "X"'s - after the step losses were taken and the M2 Survivor Die rolls rolled it was time for leader loss die rolls - and in the course of 3 or 4 turns - 3 leaders rolled modified 2's or less and were eliminated. Fantastic die rolls and luck for the Germans - unreal against the odds die rolling by the Guards. By turn 10 or 11 the Guards were basically without any leaders at the front lines to get the rest of the platoons to the city. The Guards on the far western edge of the board were still on board 6 due to the deep snow movement restrictions. The Guards with their leader on the far eastern edge of the board "surprised" a mortar and an "88" in the woods on board 4 - and succumbed to mortar fire from an Adjacent Hex during OP fire and an Adjacent Hex / self spotting "88" bombardment shot during a German Turn Phase. All in all it was a fun round and I learned a lot about both rules and some tactics. It is a good "beginner" scenario to get the infantry basics and mechanics down. It is also much easier to bounce questions off of someone knowledgeable and get answers instantaneously. What a concept. Face to Face. Human Interaction.