The Germans advanced straight up the road and were surprised at the Russian dispositions- nearly all the Russian infantry was dug-in, out in the open either on or straddling the road in front of the woods. Their machine guns were in the larger woods, sighted mostly down the road at the advancing Germans, and their AT guns... well, they weren't anywhere to be seen. Yet.

The Germans had some trouble with their advance- mostly due to misplay on my part- my leaders always seemed to be in the wrong place; I moved a leader independently of his platoon and he succumbed to a 2 in opportunity fire; an entire platoon of engineers was lost to opportunity fire as they retreated after failing a recovery attempt for demoralization; the Russians even taught the Germans a new trick about on-board artillery- they disrupted and demoralized more men with 2 shots at 8 and 1 shot at 12 than by rolling once under 21. However, once the Germans got their act together, the panzers and infantry working together easily began ripping apart the Russian infantry positions in assaults. Russian counterattacks took their toll by knocking out half a panzer platoon, but the Germans ground forward. The Russian AT guns, placed in the smaller forest, waited until the panzers were within range and opened up with even shots to no effect. Needless to say, the AT guns were taken out over the next two turns by the German artillery. The SPW 251s could now run amok with the AT threat removed. The Russians conceded after losing 14 or so steps compared to the German loss of 6.

The Germans definitely have the firepower, the leadership, the artillery support and the time to accomplish the objective of this scenario- get those pesky Russians away from the road. The Russians, who were mostly on the road, just couldn't withstand the German juggernaut out in the open. It's an unbalanced scenario, surely. But it's a scenario in which the Russians need to figure out how to use the woods and their fanaticism to neutralize all those German advantages. In this play, they didn't.

Giving the enemy artillery the ability to hit the Soviet artillery with for maximum results was a major mistake. Where to place your artillery in this scenario is difficult. It will be destroyed once found, since it can not be moved. The Germans are slowed only by the fear of moving into the artillery blindly and once found lost all fear of the Soviets. So the slaughter began: SPW251s, Infantry and Tanks all in the same square all firing or assaulting was deadly. Also the place of the infantry dug in outside of the forest was to protect the location of the srtillery for as long as possible. This lead to the premature death of many units. I am trying this again.

I read the AAR's after I had played to see how others had done. I was very surprised that no one tried to spread out in the woods and maintain direct fire on the road in depth. Seemed obvious as snow slowed movement by 1 hex and the Soviet rifle platoons could reach the road with DF from the woods. Combined with 8/8 morale it seemed like a few turns to demoralize or force each unit to retreat. Put the AT guns in the front to stop the APC's from getting a good start and put the 120 mortar deep in the woods where no one will get it. The Huns had 48 OBA, but it was relatively ineffective. That 8/8 morale mitigates a lot of demoralize and disruptions.

The Germans struck through a small gap in the South. They had their armor go out in front to attack the AT guns. They needed to get a leader around the trees to spot the AT guns for OBA. The SPW's had to stay far away as 1.5 AT range would have decimated them. The infantry advanced on foot at 2 hexes/turn anf the MG's at one hex/turn until the ATG were eliminated. Then the battle was on when the infantry came in and engaged. The woods provided excellent cover against DF and many small troop movements in the woods kept them protected. In the end there were just too many platoons scattered and guarding the road. Another hour may have produced a Hun victory but not guaranteed. A good solo scenario, but pretty slow action.