In this second game, the Germans are coming in on the middle map.
Some questions to explore:
German set up is similar to game 1, with artillery and infantry split between the east and west, and a small force of infantry up the middle with the 122. AFVs deployed in a similar way: 2 to the west, 2 up the middle and 2 to the east. What I need to do is figure out where my best positions are, and drive to those as fast as possible.
Russians are going to 1. Set up artillery in towns, and 2. Stick to the gullies because the high ground istoo hard to reach.
Race across the map.
Getting emplaced.
Germans emplaced to take out Russian 120 mm mortar in Grabyosh.
Russian 120 mm takes out Pkfw IV on 3:1 in clear, 50% chance of kill.
German armor take out 120 mm in Grabyosh. One key to this was getting some AFVs close enough to get that double AF.
Not looking good for the Germans. I suspect the key to a German win here is a lot of effective overrunning. The problem as it stands now is the Russians have built formations which will be very difficult to overrun.
Germans having a really hard time stopping or even slowing down the Russian infantry. Bad die rolls are getting single D effects at best.
Russians scored again, taking out a Panzer with a close assault and rollin a 1. That's pretty lucky. The Russians are inexorable.
Germans are finally picking up the pace: some decent rolls on a couple attacks, an overrun, and some close assaults have been reaping a nice little harvest of Russian units.
Russians countered with rolling more 1s. Close assault FTW! Another Panzer down!
Germans had bad rolls, only acquiredone more kill for a total of 8.
Russians rolled another 1 on a close assault, knocking out SG III-75 (G823). That's 4 for 4 on Russian on German armor close assaults. These close assaults could have just as likely been a complete whiff.
Russian truck R431 moved to Bednost, decisive Russian victory.
As usual, getting a game started is the hard part. Once I get into Turn 5 or 6, game play seems to move a lot faster. (I wrote that before I managed to get any units on the map.)
Mid-game it looked really bad for the Germans, with a mass of really tough infantry crawling down terrain inhospitable to overruns.
However, by the end of turn 9, it turns out the the Russian advance is slowed down by dint of having to stop and fight right aroung the Hex H line. This suggests that with a bit more aggression, the Germans could force the fight back a hex or two.
Turn 4 Russians should have gone for the Pkfw IV in the forest, 33% for kill, but 66% chance for at least a disable. This reduces odds on the next German fire turn to 3:1 instead of 4:1, much more survivable.
Also lost use of wagon unit after dropping off 76.2 mm howitzers on 1-E-7; should have moved it back to 1-D-7 ( Hill 126).
The Germans lost a Pzkpfw IV in the open, right next to a road. Given that Germans want to halt the Russian advance, it would have been better for the Germans to have lost this tank on the road, which would force truck traffic around it.
The Germans need to bring more units up faster to break up the Russians positioning.
The 75 mm gun (31) and 81 mm mortar (81) were really useful deployed far east on the map to control an end run by the Russians. However, they stayed emplaced too long, they needed to be moved on turn 7 or 8 to a more exposed position to get a chance at taking out the SU-76 (812).
Russian truck (432) transported recon unit (131) from Grabyosh to 1-D-11, to keep it from being overrun by a lurking PzKpfw IV (G941). Unfortunately, this exposed it to 81 mm mortar unit (G81).
I think I made another blunder in so far as forgetting that the exit hex for an overrun does not have to be clear. Only the overrun unit has to be clear, the overrunning unit can exit on a slope, in forest, etc.
For this scenario, it feels like the Russians have a real edge. An initial handicap for the Germans might be to add another Pzkpfw IV and SG III-75 pair, and an unmounted rifle company for reinforcement, coming in on the south side of Board 3. Or require Russian advance to reach the I Hex line instead H Hex.
The game aid for managing turns has been super helpful, allowing the intermittent gameplay after work and between chores.
The scenario appears to favor the Russians when played by inexperienced players.
With expert players, it seems to be fairly well-balanced. With mixed experience, adding a couple of units to the germans or moving the Russians victory position forward or back a hex line or two should rebalance everything.