I am starting a string of 3 matches of the same game. I keep my interest longer with smaller match strings to see what happens.

I brought a decently large Soviet Force against a relatively elite late-war German Force. The Germans, as a whole, were unable to do enough damage to stem the tide of Soviet tanks and thus lost the engagement. I did misplay a little and did not dig in with the 88s. Could have made a difference, we will never know. The Soviets literally brought 21 tanks to the fight. I maybe could have positioned the 88s better to avoid so much damage the first turn, but I don’t think it would have mattered.

The mission was counterattack and the lists are below.

Soviets		Germans
KVs Heavy Tank Regiment HQ	4	Tiger Tank HQ	12
4 KV1’s Guard Tanks	16	Tiger Tanks x3	36
4 KV1’s Guard Tanks	16	Tiger Tanks x2	24
Hero T34 Tank Battalion HQ	5	8.8 Tank Hunter Platoon 4x 8.8 CM Guns	18
4 Hereo T34 Tank Company	12	Luchs Scout Troop 3x Luchs	5
4 Hereo T34 Tank Company	12	8.8 CM Heavy AA Platoon 2x 8.8 cm AA Guns	6
3 Hereo T70 Tank Company	3
Recon Company HQ	2
Armored Recon Platoon	6
Armored Recon Platoon	6
Heavy Tank Killer Company 4x 76mm	10
4x 122mm Howitzers	8

The primary deployment is below. The Germans have three Tiger Tanks in reserve; they will enter the game from the bottom left.

One turn in, and you can see that the German reserves have entered the fray. A very successful Soviet artillery strike estimated the leading German 88 group, killing 3 of the 4 guns. The German tanks completely desecrated the T-34s, pushing up the middle of the field while the KV1s pushed the right flank. The Germans planned to use their infantry to hold the objective. The Soviet scout droop did a great job ranging in the artillery.

Turn 2 was much of the same, with more destroyed and bailed-out Soviet tanks. The German guns are safe for now. You can see the Soviet Tank hunters and infantry at the bottom of the table taking up positions.

Turn 3. Apparently, 4 tank hunter teams (side armor), and an artillery strike can destroy a Tiger Tank. I didn’t take many good pictures on the bottom of the board, but one of the up-gunned T34s also destroyed a Tiger. At this point, I didn’t have a plan for the Germans to win. Instead they just destroyed as much as possible and try not to lose.

Turn 4, a brave group of T-34s tried to surround the German Tigers. They were annihilated. The lone Tiger on the bottom side was maneuvering to help his two brothers in the middle. The KV1s are pushing to completely surround the Tigers.

Turn 5: The Germans lost another Tiger and are in full pullback mode to try and salvage what they can. The Soviets are firmly rooted with 4 tanks on the objective and stand to win at the end of the following turn.

Turn 6, and you can see how it ended. The Germans were just unable to do enough damage to win the round.