This is a fast, small scenario wherein a split force of Soviet infantry and penal troops must defend against a combined force of Germans and Italians. The Soviets start with half their infantry defending one hill at the end of a short ridge, with the other half more than an hour's march to their east on the ridge. Two battalions of AT guns are a few hours march behind them, just beyond a second, longer ridge.

The Germans and Italians set up south of and between the two Soviet infantry forces. I put the Germans, consisting of two companies of infantry and a battalion of tanks, in the east half of the deployment area, facing the 2nd Soviet force on the short ridge. They were tasked with assaulting that enemy before turning and facing the other Soviet force on the hill. The Italians were deployed west of the Germans as a screen against a possible attack from this second Soviet force.

Victory conditions were very simple, first side to zero initiative looses. The Soviets are at a distinct disadvantage in that respect, so they must fight a defensive battle.

The battle lasted just over an hour, as the Germans easily steamrollered the eastern Soviet force and got enough step losses to reduce them to zero initiative. None of the other forces even saw any action, as the western Soviet force was trying to go around the Italian screen to strike the Germans, but the Italians were shifting position with them forcing them to travel even farther out of their way. The Soviet AT guns were only just clearing the long ridge in the rear at the end of the game. In the final turn, as the destruction of half the Soviet infantry was almost complete, I decided to have the remaining inf and the AT guns set up a 2nd defensive line on the rear ridge.

In retrospect, I should have had both Soviet infantry forces fall back and link up at the rear ridge, forcing the Germans and Italians to go farther to engage them and concentrating the defense. The AT guns might have come into play then and been a real threat to the German armor.

Not a really strong scenario design, not because the tactical situation wasn't interesting, but because it seemed like the scenario rules weren't fully fleshed out. There was no OBA for either side, which may have been by design but for some reason it just felt...missing. Like it was left out by mistake. The Morale ratings for the Soviets seemed suspect at 8/6, especially since no separate rating was listed for the Penal troops.

Still, not a bad way to spend two hours, and I would play it again just to try out the defense in depth idea.

Author	Ornitottero
Method	Solo
Victor	Germany, Italy
Play Date	2026-02-27
Language	English
Scenario	TaBa004

This scenario has great potential, but it has a huge flaw. The Germans can easily win by just sitting there and waiting for the Soviet penal troops to reach them and then annihilate them. This loses the Soviets 12 steps, and the game is over in less than an hour. I changed the victory conditions so as to motivate the Germans to attack. They made a successful attempt to divide the two Soviet regiments and nearly got to the AT guns before they could be safely deployed. I suggest changing the Soviet initiative to 3. And changing the 1 loss of initiative level for both sides to 6. That might give the Soviets a chance.