This scenario calls for a panzergrenadier regiment to take two towns, emasculate the defenders and send sufficient forces on across the battlefield to continue the offensive to connect the west flank of II SS Panzer Korps with their Army compatriots to the west. Facing them are a beat up Guards infantry battalion and a portion of an RKKA tank corps.

I am sure that there are people who would be more circumspect with their troops than I am. Certainly I am racking up some significant losses as the German commander (I lost 16 steps in this one providing the Soviets with their minor victory condition) but when given a goal (take the towns and exit units) I see little reason to husband my force. Having said that the Soviet success in causing losses was at least partially due to very favorable dice on opportunity, anti-tank and bombardment fire (despite abysmal luck in assaults, oddly enough). My losses were a bit high due to the Soviet marksmen but overall I feel that the result was reasonable.

The German flood hit the small town to the immediate front quickly and overwhelmed it. The defenders did, however, cause significant disruption and demoralization to the advancing Germans before becoming a mere bump in the road. Meanwhile the Soviet reinforcements set up in the fields northwest of the large town and filtered into the town itself. Included in the reinforcements were a large number of AT guns (76.2s and other lower caliber stuff). These guns made it difficult for the StGs to move towards the town to eliminate the Grants which had taken up position there. It was necessary for the infantry to move forward and assault the guns to keep them silent.

I have taken to using smaller detachments (a platoon or two) to accomplish these assaults. The goal is not to eliminate the guns, though that would be nice, it is to occupy them so that they can be ignored. Typically after the initial assault I do not continue to roll, forcing the defender to counterattack in order to free their weapons.

Having silenced the guns (and after losing an entire assault gun platoon, the Germans were able to address the larger town and with three turns left in the scenario (of 16 total), the Germans were able to focus on exiting units. The Soviets were reduced to some rag tag remnants and were incapable of stopping the exiting units despite mortar, OBA and direct fire (typically on the "4" column).

With two turns remaining it became apparent that the Germans would meet their exit requirements and the Soviets turned their attention towards the large town again. Several independent platoons attempted to rush the town but were checked by the town defenders through Opportunity Fire and assault at the edge of the town. There were simply too many Germans who had recovered from disruptions/demoralizations in the vicinity of the town to permit the Soviets a chance to get back in. The final result, German major victory versus Soviet minor victory. A fair result based on the play.

I give this scenario a "3". While there are a lot of forces on a small frontage (only one board) and the resulting carnage is interesting, there isn't a lot of maneuver possible and the Soviet player is very outnumbered and outclassed. This looks to be a tough one for the Soviets to win.

The Soviets desired to survive so they died without honor. They packed themselves into the town in the center of the battle field, the western fields and hills and died like cowards. They did nothing to stop the Germans from amassing overwhelming forces on 3 sides of the city inflicting heavy casualties in the first 2 hours of combat,which lead to complete demoralization of their command and a rapid withdrawal from the battlefield. A newly commissioned 2nd lieutenant could have led the Germans to victory.

As the Russian, I was unable to stop the Germans at all. I foolishly tried a point-blank defense, waiting for the Germans to get up close to the town, but I didn't have the firepower to stop them. I should have somehow disrupted his formation as they approached, but I guess I was too afraid of losing troops out in the open. Instead I consigned them to die in the town.

My reinforcements were squandered in defending against an attack that never materialized. I had sent most of them to the field to stop the Germans from getting off the board. All those Germans just changed direction and headed for the town.

What I did gain from this complete and utter rout was a reconsideration of how I usually map out "missions" for groups of units. I have made the mistake of sticking to these "missions" even when the circumstances of the game have been radically altered. It's easy to say that as a commander one has to be receptive to the opportunities and necessities caused by the fluidity of battle; it's much more difficult to recognize when and how to apply this little bit of advice.