Scenario 28 was a fun little night time scenario that saw the mistakes of the German initial deployment determine the outcome of the scenario.

Situation: Soviets have just seized two towns west of the Oder river, control of which will determine control of the "Reitwein Spur" - a dominant jut of high ground overlooking the flat lands of the Oder basin. Visibility is 4 reducing to two hexes.

Mission: German - To immediately wrest control of the majority of town hexes of Wuhden and the small hamlet nearby from the Soviets to deny dominance over the battlefield. Soviet - To maintain control of the majority of town hexes from the inevitable counter attack from the Fascists.

Execution: German - Phase 1: Main thrust of forces to encircle Wuhden where it is anticipated bulk of Sov forces will concentrate. Smaller force consisting of three GREN platoons, HMG and Mortar to use cover of darkness to get in position for assault on Hamlet to East of main town. Phase 2:Reduce forces of Hamlet, then consolidate and converge on Wuhden town proper. Phase 3:Attack and destroy remaining Sov forces in Wuhden. Soviet - Post token force in hamlet to tie down and split Fascists, main force to concentrate in Wuhden and deny control of town. Hold out at all costs.

AAR: The German decision to split forces and attack the small hamlet, as well as bad tactical choices by the Leutnant leading his Grenadiers there ended up in Phase 1 objective not being completed. The German commander, not hearing back from his Leutnant in time, decided to press ahead into Wuhden itself, resulting in bloody and chaotic fighting, to no avail. The Soviets were outnumbered, but fought stunningly well, and a Sgt Mostovoy and Snr Lt Savalyev particularly distinguished themselves that night, both were awarded the "Hero of the Soviet Union". The Soviets maintained control of most town hexes, 2 Sov to 1 German, the others disputed at scenario's end.

LESSON LEARNED: As the German I would advise against splitting forces in this scenario. Instead smash through with everything and try to overwhelm the opponent. As well, when preparing to assault never fully stack a hex, spread your men out! Rookie mistake!

OPINION: A fun little scenario, probably best with two players, as I found it difficult to accurately portray night time blindness solitaire. The Soviet player really has nothing to do but initially deploy either spread out or concentrated, and hold on. Interesting how my outcomes have so far followed the historical out comes!

This is a small compact scenario. Played over one board (17) the Germans enter form the south and have to control more town hexes than the Soviets by the end of the game. The Germasn outnumber the Soviets but have lower morale and in our game rather insipid leadership (thanks Vince). They also have communication issues which makes it harder to activate lower ranking leaders. The Russkie's under the leadership of Joesph Ladd are guards units with good leaders (thanks Vince) and the SGT Hero of the Soviet Union who never fails a morale check. The Soviet set up split over the two town with some dug in units acting as breakwaters to slow the German advance up. The Germans came on in two groups the main group advancing on the board edge the other much smaller advancing in the middle in order to keep the enemy units split. The HMG platoon led by the intrepid SGT was overrun quite quickly but the said Hero of the Soviet Union managed to escape and evade several German attempts to capture him and scuttle back into the main town. Accurate Soviet fire had stopped the middle German attack cold with one GREN platoon destroyed and the HMG unit with them spending the rest game being either disrupted of demoralised. The Guards units to reinforce the large town which was coming under some pressure. However here is where the poor German morale kicked in and although casualties were light, at one stage most of the German force were disrupted including all their leaders. This prevented any real coordinated attack and by the end of the game only two town hexes were not controlled by the Soviets. This scenario though simple is good fun and just what was needed on a cold Jan morning, played in just about three hours its an ideal starter scenario but with enough options for replays. Play it.

This was a very enjoyable little scenario played via skype with Wayne Baumber. It has a small counter count but some interesting terrain and scenario special rules that add some flavor. It is certainly balanced in favor of the Soviets, particularly in our outing where the leadership draw for the Germans was very mediocre and the Soviets had an incredible run of initiative advantages, fully 50% of the Soviet initiative rolls came up sixes. The Soviet force split to cover the two towns with some advance units and a leader in the edges of the fields to provide for the possibility of some mortar sighting. Guard Sergeant Mostovoy commanded an HMG platoon dug in on the right to try and prevent a flank attack by the German forces. The bulk of the German troops advanced towards the Russian HMG position. The HMG's did their job and slowed the advance but were eventually overwhelmed by the German numbers. Sgt. Mostovoy survived and escaped to rejoin his comrades in town where he was commended heartily for a job well done. The German right flank force, comprised of a GREN and HMG platoon advanced steadily, but some fortunate shots by the Russian defenders eliminated the GREN platoon and kept the HMG disrupted or demoralized for most of the battle. The Germans were able to advance through the woods to assault the town hexes, but their leaders had difficulty maintaining morale and communication. The battle ended with 2 town hexes under assault, but time had run out for the Germans. A boost to the German morale of 1 point would make this a very different scenario perhaps, but it is still an excellent game and well worth a play.

A Soviet force of a reinforced company with plenty of HMG support has garrisoned a town and an outlying hamlet. The Germans have sent a battalion of Grenadiers to take the town back. The Soviets are bolstered by a Sgt. who never has to make a morale check. Helping the Germans is that the attack is at night so their average morale will not be a problem until they get close.

The Soviets set up with one platoon each of INF and HMG in the small town with the invincible Sgt with the remainder of their troops in the large town. The Germans decide to try to deal with the Soviets in detail and advance on the smaler outlying town with the intention of taking it and then turning their attention to the larger town.

In keeping with the nature of the scenario I chose to have the Soviets be aggressive. Rather than wait for the Germans to come to them I advanced the Sgt and his troops into the fields in front of the hamlet in order to give the Germans a bloody nose before they got to the assault areas. This worked like a charm with three platoons becoming demoralized. The Soviets then fell back into the town and accepted an additional INF platoon and Lt. transferred from the larger town. This still left the Germans with a 3-1 manpower advantage.

The Germans were able to enter the hex with the Sgt who ably avoided any negative morale checks, but not so the troops with him. The HMG demoralized quickly and the INF suffered a step loss. The Germans, however, were also disrupted so the assault stalled for the time being.

In the meantime, the Germans were having trouble getting their troops in the fields to recover and opportunity fire from the reinforcing Soviets had killed one of the German Lts. Seeing an opportunity for even more aggressive action the Soviets emptied the large town of troops and pursued a counter attack against the Germans in the fields. In three turns the counterattack managed to decapitate the German force and kill a Sgt as well as 5 steps of units. Three reduced and demoralized units (a face value morale of 5 so a roll of <4 required to recover) remained huddled south of the fields for the rest of the game.

Back at the town the Sgt continued to have morale problems with his troops. They were locked in an ineffectual assault with three German GREN platoons. The Lt. managed to get the HMG recovered while the Germans were decapitated and back into the town where they joined an assault which ultimately crushed the Germans. At the end of the scenario the Germans had NO leaders and only one non-DEM unit contesting one hex of the hamlet. A clear and striking Soviet victory and one which surprising had little to do with the hero himself.

This was a great little scenario and one which could easily have gone quite differently. The German rolls were hideous for morale. I give it a "4".

The Guards earned their title today! The German's lower morale hardly mattered, but the Soviets just would not roll over and die. The Russians set up 2 units and a leader in the two southernmost large town hexes and in both of the two town hexes to the east. Germans took advantage of the darkening skies to move as fast as possible and only moved into the woods when the got close. Initially, the first German direct fire attack on the southwestern town hex rolled some very good hits, eliminating 2 steps and demoralizing one surviving infantry unit, and when the Germans followed up and assaulted that hex, the finished off the troops, but the Hero of the Soviet Union Sergeant stacked with them evaded and moved into the next town hex with the Soviet captain, another infantry and an HMG, and while more germans fired and assaulted that hex, they damaged the two units, even demoralized the captain, but couldnt eliminate the two units. One infantry unit did fail their morale check and fell back into the northeastern town hex, but regrouped and held that hex while the Captain and his remaining troops continued to hold the southeastern town hex. The guards did more damage on the 1 and 3 assault columns than just about anything else, as they continued to disrupt and demoralize German stacks trying to kick them out of town. In the east, the Germans moved up into the fields, forgetting that the fields offered no concealment this time of year and found out how effective Russians could be in the twilight. After several turns, the German sergeant pulled his troops back to regroup out of visual range and hope that there would soon be troops from the west after they finished off resistance in the larger town. That help never came. In the end, after 6 or 7 turns of constant assault in both of the eastern hexes of the large town, the game came down to a draw. 2 town hexes in German hands, 2 in Soviet, and 2 contested. Another great game.

Played my son. His Soviet infantry set up in the six town hexes with the mortar platoon in the woods north of the larger town. The Germans split their force with the bulk advancing from the western edge using the woods as cover while the remainder advanced from the middle of the map between the woods and the fields. The Germans conducted a pincer movement, using both forces to encircle the four hex town. The Soviet fire at the advancing Germans was ineffective, allowing the Germans to quickly take the two western hexes of the large town. Then the Germans assaulted the other two hexes of the town but were met with stiff resistance. Poor rolling by the Germans meant they couldn't generate any Soviet casualties but at the end of the game the scenario came down to a single die roll. As was the case during the entire scenario, the Germans rolled poorly, allowed the Soviets to remain in one of the assault hexes. In the end the Soviets controlled two hexes, the Germans two, and two still had assaults raging. A very close game, but very frustrating for the attacking Germans.

I was the Soviets while my dad played as the Germans. I set up a unit in each town hex, with HMGs in hexes 0610 and 1008. The Germans entered along the south edge, with a group coming west of the forest and one coming east of the forest. The Germans mostly concentrated on the 4-hex town, ignoring the 2-hex town. I retreated my defenders in hexes 0509 and 0510, preferring to make a stand in hexes 0610 and 0609. The Soviet defenders took losses in two assaults in hexes 0610 and 0609, with both sides getting many demoralizations but very few step losses. By the end of the game the Germans held two town hexes (0509 and 0510), two hexes were contested (0609 and 0610) and the Soviets controlled two town hexes (1008 and 1108). Overall a good scenario, although it would have been a pushover for the Germans had my dad actually rolled well.

This is the first scenario I chose to play from my first boxed game, Road to Berlin. Its small size and low turn count made it good to get the rules down better.

The Soviets deployed forces in both towns to start, although the greater weight of forces was located in the larger town. The Germans decided to only advance on the larger town, and they split into three company-sized task forces and advanced along the tree line towards the bigger town. The approach went smoothly as darkness fell, and once within range of the town, the Germans tried to soften to Soviets up a bit before committing to an assault. Unfortunately, the single 81mm mortar platoon was woefully inadequate artillery support, and direct fire accomplished little. However, in spreading themselves out, the Soviets had left one town hex open, and the Germans jumped on the chance to enter bloodlessly. Opportunity fire from the Soviet defenders hampered the German push, but eventually the Germans made it into the town, and from there the assault began.

Things quickly bogged down. The inferior morale of the German forces gave them much less staying power, and soon enough a number of demoralized platoons were headed to the rear. The Soviets had pulled forces from the small town to reinforce the big one, so the Germans altered their strategy and made a push for the small town, but they were unable to push the remaining Soviets out, and soon more Soviets arrived to neutralize the threat. At this point things were looking bleak for the Germans, so a desperate attempt was made to outflank the Soviets and enter an unoccupied hex of the small town. The Germans made it into the town hex, but Soviet fire took a heavy toll on the Germans as they advanced, and on the following turn, the Soviets kicked them out. Faced with bogged down assaults for the larger town and the failure of the push for the smaller one, the Germans tried a last desperate push for the bigger town with some reformed platoons, but it just wasn't enough. The Soviets brutally smashed the German attack, wiping out an entire platoon and forcing the Germans to abandon all of their assaults. The end of the game saw the Germans controlling only a single town hex, which translated into a quite comfortable Soviet victory.

The low morale of the German force was quite frustrating, as once the German platoons became demoralized, it was incredibly difficult to get them back in the fight. Desperately needed forces spent hours hiding away in a demoralized state, and precious leaders had to be pulled from the front to try to reform them. The efforts to soften the defense failed miserably, and it produced predictable results: a weak attack that floundered in the face of a solid defense. With the burden of attack on the Germans, the Soviets always felt comfortable in this one. Despite the result, the game was still fun, as the Germans had multiple attack options to consider, and the Soviets had to use their small force wisely to cover both towns and stop the German attacks. The scenario was also helpful for getting the rules down, since it was small and manageable, but that did take some of the fun and excitement out of it, since it was pretty basic and lacked many of the "bells and whistles" involved in WWII tactical gaming. I think bigger scenarios with greater unit variety will improve my enjoyment of the gameplay, but this wasn't a bad start.