This small scenario seemed perfect for a saturday morning solo shot. Russian guards are holding the town on board 42 against a German battalion supported by a StuGIIIG and 2 engineer platoons with 2 OBA batteries. A re-read of the victory condition points out that The Germans need not only to take the town but eliminate any Russian threat in limiting terrain east of the town. And this in gathering darkness so by the second half of the game, visibility shrinks to a point that OBA and even mortars are just about useless. I set up the two entrenchments, one adjacent to the town to the northeast of it, and the other in a field on the northeast side of the map, putting an infantry and an HMG in the outpost with a really good 10-1-1 Sgt, and an infantry and the ATR in the other one. The Russian 57mm AT gun I set up with the wagon in the western of the 2-hex woods with the two SMGs and a good LT in the eastern woods hex. The Russian mortars were set in the center town hex where they could spot for themselves and the last infantry with an Lt in the souteastern town hex. The Russian CPT was in the entrenchment just outside of the town. I placed 3 randomly drawn minefields outside the town so they covered every other hex from the northern road to the southern. When playing solo, I dont want to know what the mines factors are so they dont affect my decisions for the other side. As it turned out, the northern and central mines were decoys, but the Germans avoided themn and encircled the town anyway. The Germans came on in 3 groups, with the 2 engineer platoons in halftracks accompanied by the StuG in a northern group, the mortars in the middle to ake up position on the small central hill, and the rest in 4 stacks, with the Colonel and Major each leading a platoon of infantry and an HMG while the German Captain and LT came along with two infantry platoons each. The Germans entered ouside of range of DF for the most part, but the Russian AT gun opened up with long-range fire as the StuG went by, to no effect. As the German infantry moved to the south, they split up so the two senior leaders formed a southern pincer heading for the town, the armor and engineers forming the northern pincer, while the Captain and LT lead assaults on the AT gun position. The SMGs, not having fired before because of limited range, moved into the hex with the AT gun and fought in assault for several turns before starting a gradual reduction in strength as the Germans were able to replace demoralized or disrupted troops while the Russians could not. While the assaults continued in the woods, the German pincer succeeded in taking the town and then moving to assault the Russian entrenchment on the outskirts. Germans won the day as darkness grew, and the German armor and armored engineers were tasked with moving on that last outpost in the fields northeast of the road, but luck turned against them, and as turn 13 ended, the Russians were holding with no loss while the Germans were all demoralised. Since casualty points were not part of any victory condition in this scenario, I saw no need to continue in a fight that could not improve the German victory level. Germans won a marginal victory. Great little game.

Neither side had a whole,lot to work with, but the Germans definitely have an edge. The Soviets took half of their u it's to hold the town and half to hold high ground. The odds of a Soviet victory are very slim, so it's a matter of limiting the German victory. The Germans don't take the bait in the town, going for the high ground instead. The Soviets are eliminated off the high ground and the Germans engage in the town, but run out of time before they can take the town. German victory.

Kursk: Burning Tigers, Scenario Thirty: Forgotten Success I: Forward at Last

On paper it looks easy for the Germans but it turned into anything but that. I made rookie mistake in the beginning and lost a loaded German Halftrack with a HMG unit on board to a Soviet 57mm Anti-Tank Gun unit. The Germans finally cleared the limiting forest terrain east of the north-south road but could not clear the Gertsovka town hexes, they lost three more steps in the attempt while the Soviet only lost two steps total.

It was Minor German victory but it didn’t feel like it when I compared the step loses. The German only had to achieve one out two victory objectives to get a minor victory.