BARBAROSSA No. of Turns: 23 Battle Posture: Axis = Attack Allies = Defense Per Turn Prestige Boosters: Axis = 0 Allies = 0 No.of Units Available for purchase: Axis = 1 Allies = 1 - It can take awhile for the Germans to cross the river and get going out in the flatlands and then it is hell bent for Smolensk. The two routes, one through the middle and one over the top have roads and wide fields that lend itself to rapid advancement. Therefore the turn count is a little high and favors the Axis. No. of Objectives: 10 Axis: take all objectives. - Two are held by the Germans. Vilna, Baranovichi, Volkvysk and Minsk are very much exposed by open terrain and roads and probably will fall pretty easily. There are also few units surrounding the objective sites which means the Soviet player would need to buy units and try to get them entrenched before the Germans arrive. The obectives are also pretty much in line toward Smolensk. It does require two German battle groups to across the top and through the middle. Prestige: Axis = 777 Allies = 908 - The prestige count is about even. Soviet tanks are about 25% more expensive than their German counterparts and their staying power is depleted due to ariel bombardment therefore much of the Soviet prestige goes to replacing expensive mainline tanks. The Axis has more of the luxury of deciding where initial prestge goes due to the large number of initially minimally guarded non-objective cities they can take for quick prestige boosts. As stated earlier, some objectives will be difficult to defend for the Soviet player. New Unit Exp: Axis = 2 Stars Allies = 0 Stars Air Superiority - The Soviet airfleet outnumbers the German fighters and bombers but their quality is not as good nor are they experienced. Their effectiveness can be enhanced by the judicious use of the high-quality but cheap cost of the Soviet AA gun. The Germans can risk and purchase another fighter to aid in their airpower but that may leave the ground units short. This is Axis advantage. Ground Superiority - The Soviets at this time have higher quality tank units in the KV-1s, KV-2s, and the T-34 but each cost more than the PZIIIh. Beware of the KV-2s as they only have three ammo shots and these could be used up on attacking PzJagers. The disperse nature of the objectives allows the Germans to encircle objectives and Soviet units and wipe them out. Not until the last objective is there are good defensive position but then Germans may have too much time left to take their time and wax the Soviet units with patience. AXIS: This is a race to Smolensk and little time can be wasted. Focus on speed and rely on quality. Once across the Bug and Narew Rivers, move full speed east. The northern battlegroup can quickly take Grodno and the airfield, but should push on east rather than turning south to help against Volkovysk. It should drive forward to Vilna and then Postavy before joining with the southern battlegroup to thrust to Smolensk. The southern battlegroup is large and it has more work to do. The front- line Soviet units need to be gotten rid of, but keep in mind the need to push forward rather than chasing after crippled enemy units. The first big battle should be at Volkovysk and include Soviet armor reinforcements--some of their tanks are powerful, and should be weakened by air strikes before you venture to attack them with your armor. After taking Volkovysk, the southern battlegroup wil push on to Minsk, letting rear-echelon units clean up around Baranovichi. The attack on Minsk should not delay the continuing march on Smolensk, which will develop into a joint attack by both battlegroups between the Dvina and Dniepr Rivers. ALLIES: Don't try to hold at the initial lines for long -- fall back to the bad terrain west of Vilna in the north and west of Volkovysk in the south. Save your mobile units by pulling them back to the Vilna-Lide-Baranovichi line while fortifying Minsk and Smolensk. Letting your KV-2 dig in between the Dvina and the Dniepr is a good idea, particularly if it is supported with more of a defense line. Because of the nature of the terrain, you will often have the chance to infiltrate units behind German lines, or to launch limited counterattacks from peripheral cities such as Pinsk. Cavalry is useful in this role. Your air force is outclassed but may be able to overcome the Germans by massing against single air units. Your well-armored heavy tanks can by themselves block or slow the enemy advance for a turn or two, so use them for that purpose but pull them out before they are destroyed. General Information - Never trust Russian weather. It can turn ugly in a heartbeat and ground vital airsupport. Without airpower the Germans could not punch through Soviet armor. The terrain is good for mechanized units. Final Evaluation - Prestige Experience Axis +1 0 Allies 0 0 This a pretty good scenario because of the superior Soviet tanks and the cheap AA guns. Unlike the British and the Americans, the Soviets are more than willing to arm their citizenry and put out partisans as their cheapest unit along with an ATG gun. This is a pretty even scenario. Prestige Experience Axis +1 (0) 0 Allies 0 (-3) 0 *i didn't win as the axis until i used the settings in parens.