This is my third scenario from Kursk: South Flank and all have been gritty nasty battles between Guards units with ample AT and SS infantry forces with some armor support. All three have involved assaulting a well defended town. All three have been a blast to play.

My selections have been somewhat dictated by what I can complete in a single sitting since I am using the family's breakfast table and playing at night - so if it ain't picked up by nightime it is covered with cereal and milk in the morning. With the repetition of theme and structure I would have expected a certain level of boredom to have crept in. Not in the least.

The general feeling is one of extreme tension as the SS need to complete their task in a compressed timeframe in order to support the actions of the spearheads elsewhere (I look forward to playing those after the puppy is a little older). The Guards are, of course, looking to disrupt those plans.

In this one an understrength Guards battalion holds a 4 hex town and the SS battalion needs to enter from the east and take the town in 2 1/2 hours. The Soviets set up with the bulk of their forces in the town but with AT coverage both north and south of the town to deter the German vehicle (a mounted 20mm AA gun) from supporting the attack. The Germans enter from the southeast using the woods to mask their entry somewhat and sending the motorcycle platoons to deal with the AT gun south of town. As that assault occured the infantry force advanced on the town and took the opportunity fire in stride, losing some steps and units to disruption and demoralization.

As the HMGs came under assault the Soviets brought their 76.2mm into the town to bolster the defense (it had been dug in in the field to the north of town where the mortars remained). The SS were able to use their engineers and HMGs to good effect, taking one town hex and keeping the Soviets in a losing attritional battle. The motorcyles, meanwhile looped north of town and made short work of the mortars and demoralized troops who had fled to the fields to try to recover.

The fight in the town was leaning towards the Germans and the commander (a lousy 7-0-0 major) decided to commit his weapon to an assault hex to see if they could break open a deadlocked battle. It did contribute to loosening the Soviet hold on the hex but in the process became adjacent to the Soviet 76.2mm which made short work of the vehicles. The motorcyclists, having finished their gruesome work in the fields finally assaulted the 76.2mm in a fit of revenge but the gunners managed to hang on to contest the hex.

The final tally with the Germans holding one town hex, the Soviets holding one and two contested was 15 to 9 in favor of the Germans, a minor victory, much like the actual action. Without the folly of using the weapon as they did, the Germans might have had a major victory. Then again if the engineer hadn't successfully rolled on four morale checks in as many turns, the assault might have stalled completely and left the situation at a draw.

A nice small action with a surprising amount of technical play involved on both sides. Use of the motorcycle troops is critical to the plans of the Germans. I give it a "4".