Scenario 9 of Sinister Forces was fairly interesting but turned into a grind at the end.

This was a 4 mapper with the Germans coming in from the north and immediately having to cross a river to clear a Russian Cav battalion set up on the northern two map boards screening the NKVD forces. The Germans decided to clear the two small villages/hamlets of cavalry first before heading south. The victory conditions were heavily dependent on town/city hexes controlled. The Germans eventually were to clear the main town of an NKVD infantry battalion supported by two armored trains on the southern two maps. The two trains headed north early to support the Cav and slowed down the Germans for several turns and caused step losses to a couple of the German armored platoons.

As night was falling the Cav was finally cleared and the trains destroyed. The Germans started to surround the Russian "city" on board 2(the South West board) and a protracted city fight resulted. Eventually the Germans controlled the required 20 city hexes but also lost enough steps to meet one of a Russian minor victory so I ruled it a minor German win.

If the Germans had lost a few more steps of infantry their assaults in the city would probably have run out of steam and it would have left the Soviets with the victory. The last two thirds of the turns were at night which really limited the effectiveness of the German artillery. Several friendly fire episodes were recorded. I gave this scenario a rating of 3, almost 4, due to the grinding night city fight required. It was a dirty exhausting business and glad I was not there in the alleys with them.