If you want to work on your river crossing and infantry tactics this is certainly the scenario for you. One map, two battalions per player, no artillery or vehicles whatsoever, just a bunch of grunts fighting a bunch of grunts over a river and a bridge.

Not only that but this is a VERY balanced scenario. While I had an American victory it was within a die roll for the Russians to win or to end with a draw (with neither side "winning").

both sides enter en masse and rush towards the bridge. If the bridge falls to the American player it will almost certainly end with an American victory. As a result the initiative on turn 3 is of incredible importance. In my play the Soviets got the initiative and the bridge, a position they did not fail to hold or contest throughout the game. With lower firepower and fewer commanders the Soviets must carefully arrange their men to hold the bridge and deftly deal with any interlopers using engineers to cross the river elsewhere. Each side must deal with the fact that their morale is not the usual 8/6 but rather 7/6 leading to a lot more failures of morale checks than either the Americans or Soviet Guards are used to.

The initial American attempt was to establish strong fire groups around the bridge and chase away any Soviets trying to reinforce the bridge while sending one company with engineer support to cross the river near the small town. This was brutally dealt with by the Soviets and brushed away.

The Americans then recovered their engineers and pushed two companies to the far ends of the board, one to the south and one to the north, with engineer support to attempt crossings, both were ultimately successful but not without plenty of disruptions and demoralization.

Meanwhile at the bridge losses were piling up for the Soviets and ultimately groups of Americans were able to infiltrate across as the supporting forces for the Soviets were being decimated. A late attempt to reinforce the bridge by the Lt. Col. of the Guards and two HMGs came to nought as the American fire groups were able to demoralize the lot.

This is a brutal fistfight of a scenario but one that is balanced on a knife edge. It is well worth playing in any format. I give it a "4".

Setup: Neither side begins with units on the map, therefore there are no notes on the setup.

Play: Both sides scramble onto the map, entering on opposite ends of the east-west road. Over the next four turns, they both rush towards the bridge, but the Americans gain initiative on the right turn, and are able to capture both the bridge and the two hex town surrounding the pivotal hex. This leaves the Soviets on the attack.

The Soviets and Americans exchange fire at close range for half an hour before the Soviets assault. The American engineers, coupled with heavy machine guns, easily repel the first wave of Soviet attackers. The Soviets regroup on the tenth turn, and begin their assaults again, but the Americans continue to feed men in the assault. The Soviets continue the attack, but still loss more than the Americans, and the game ends with the assaults in progress, with the Americans having the advantage.

Result: American Victory. The Step Loss Count stands at 13-18, with the Soviets having lost five more steps than the Americans.