Neither Road under Soviet Control.

Soviets control 6 boards. (two west, three center, one northeast). Soviets Guards alomst managed to capture a third board on the west side, which would have given them the victory.

Final Casualty Count: 122 – 69

A fantastic epic battle which was undecided until the final turns. The different paths to victory for the Soviets make this large battle interesting enough that I was tempted to play it again right away and try something different.

I think the Soviet Guards had enough power, armour and morale to take the west road if I focused the first 10 turns moving them forward instead of using my activations on the Guards in the northeast. Also, I think clearing seven boards was quite attainable, particularly given the Spanish set up. Had the Soviet regular army focused on clearing out their corner, instead of pushing down into the southeast, this could have been a possibility. Or, again, if only the Guards pushed forward more quickly.

For the Soviets, this was a major logistical feat. The Fog of war really means you need to group and chain your leaders effectively, and keep some semblance of formation. It also means you must focus on what is most important.

For the Spanish, they started too far back and probably should have set more entrenchments on the road and also inhabited some of the middle boards. The reserves should have all pushed forward from the southernmost boards as the German reinforcements could have occupied those towns. As it was, they were forced to reinforce the center boards and the Germans took heavy casualties from the massive Soviet artillery. This was probably the event that robbed the Spanish from getting their 3:1 casualty ratio to win.

All-in-all a fantastic scenario and well worth the time setting up and playing!

Scenario Rating: 5/5. A Monster, but definitely worth playing if you have the space and time.

Author	Tankodactyl (Soviet Union)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany, Spain
Participants	treadasaurusrex
Play Date	2023-03-16
Language	English
Scenario	BluD015

Yes, I got my clock cleaned by the implacable & fast-on-the draw, Treadasaur, in 7 play-sessions (45 turns). This is a huge, relatively balanced scenario, in which I led the attacking Soviet side and managed to lose a ginormous number of steps trying to take a couple of stinking roads. My opponent had the Spanish and Germans, in what was supposed to be defense. I drew really awful leaders, and had equally awful luck with the dice, especially in OBA, initiative, close assault and morale recovery throws. Unexpectedly, the Soviet Guards performed poorly, and overall I lost more than 128 steps in this bloody fight. I was too aggressive with my armor and had trouble sustaining offensive momentum once engaged in close assaults and adjacent hex fire figths. My own artillery support ofen fell on my Soviet troops throughout this rout. Lost 12 leaders to boot. The ultimate outcome was a costly Axis victory stemming from a series of very effective Spanish counter attacks that started almost before the Red Army could get in range. This one was fun to play and I learned a lot about AT crossfires and moving combined arms groups. I give it a 4.