CAUCUSAS

No. of Turns:  30
     - Advantage here goes to the Axis.  While the map is large
the objectives are centered in a small area and therefore should
give the German player plenty of time to reach the objectives.

No. of Objectives:  7
     - One objectives is already held by the Germans and it is
not threatened.  All other objectives must be reached through
Soviet forces and each one can be a battle.

Prestige:   Axis = 800      Allies = 2492
     - Everytime I see such a disparity in prestige I wonder
what's the deal.  Here it is obvious that the famous Russian
defense is designed to be implemented in this scenario.  Russians
will favor quantity over quality looking to flood the field with
units.  The Germans begin with plenty of high quality and
experienced units to offset this advantage therefore this area is
even match.

New Unit Exp:   Axis = 2 Stars      Allied = 1 Star

Air Superiority - The best Soviet fighter at this time is not
equal to the weakest German aircraft the Bf109.  The Germans
begin with three FW190s and therefore rule the skies.  They are
more likely to run out of ammo shooting down Soviet fighters and
bombers than take damage.   The Soviets begin with about an
equal number of aircraft but their quality is so outmatched as to
make them a virtual non-factor.  Best way to offset German
airpower is from ground AA guns.

Ground Superiority - At the beginning of the scenario, German and
Soviet forces are about equal in quality and number.  But with
the immediate availability of PzIVf2s and, by turn eight, Tiger
tanks, the ground war shifts in favor of the Germans.  But the
Soviets have massive amount of prestige to afford massive losses
and still maintain a respectable fighting force.  The weakest
link in the German attack posture is the southern attack force
coming through the Caucusus Mts.  Two star experienced and
overstrengthed German units of average quality are going against
well entrenched-Arty covered positioned units with good AA
covering fire.  The cities of Poti and Tiblisi are difficult
captures and are going to take time and probably a few units with
them if the German player is not careful.  The terrain is ideal
for defensive stands by cheap partisans, ATGs, or even tanks. 
The Germans must push beyond the Terek River to get into some
good open running country.  German prestige will climb as the
scenario pushes on due to the large number of cheaply captured
cities and the high body count of Soviet units.   
  General - The weather is reliable but you may encounter times
when the airfleets will be grounded.  The terrain is easy with
few rivers, a number of roads and numerous non-objective cities
ripe for the picking by German forces.   New available units in
the Tiger tanks are vital to the German player.

Final Evaluations -  
          Prestige            Experience
Axis         0                    -1
Allies       0                     0

Time is too much on the side of the Axis.  Thirty turns to travel
a relatively short distance to Stalingrad is easily traversed. 
The Soviet number advantage is severely hampered by the large
turn count not to mention the lack of fun seeing ten to fifteen
units wiped out per turn.  Recommendation:  A +1 advantage to the
Soviets may be enough to balance this scenario.  But not to add
anything to the Soviet forces but to subtract from the Germans.