Well, I solitaired this baby through Game Turn 8 before I called it. Technically, the Soviets had actually "won" by Game Turn 6 according to the game rule criteria.
Overall, it wasn't the slaughterfest I was expecting for the Soviets but it wasn't a party for NATO either. The Belgians performed better than expected in the difficult terrain south of British front, extending to Koln.
The Soviets were ultimately able to use their superior numbers to force crossings at several points along the Weser and to burn the Belgian defending units down through multiple attacks. To destroy or otherwise neutralize a defending batallion, it often took up a full division to do so. The Soviets were also slowing down due to the friction point accummulations building up on their divisions (I liken it to the crud that builds up in plumbing).
The Germans were caught in a salient in the middle but were able to extricate themselves (lots of lucky die rolls) and even mount a couple of counterattacks that pretty much brought the Soviet center to a screeching halt. In the north, the Brits were holding pretty tough, even with depleted numbers due to having to send the 7th Field Force south to bolster the sagging Belgian line. Basically, it was the Western Front, NATO style with nobody going anywhere.
Overall, the Soviets weren't getting to the Rhine quickly and many of their first echelon troops were burned out in the battle. The second echleon was hanging tough but had to be used with caution. Overall, the tempo for the Soviets was severely slowed down and while NATO "lost", they avoided a major disaster helped by the excellent defensive terrain.
Another interesting thing about the game series is that it seems to work better when the situation is fluid but if there's anything resembling a parity of forces (i.e. solidified lines with sufficient reserves), the game slows down immensely.
Soviet airbone was also pretty nasty in that while it didn't accomplish anything major on its own, it did screw up NATO deployment and prevented a more forward deployment of the NATO main forces.
Pretty interesting- it's been awhile since I've visited the Cold War. :smile:
Overall, it wasn't the slaughterfest I was expecting for the Soviets but it wasn't a party for NATO either. The Belgians performed better than expected in the difficult terrain south of British front, extending to Koln.
The Soviets were ultimately able to use their superior numbers to force crossings at several points along the Weser and to burn the Belgian defending units down through multiple attacks. To destroy or otherwise neutralize a defending batallion, it often took up a full division to do so. The Soviets were also slowing down due to the friction point accummulations building up on their divisions (I liken it to the crud that builds up in plumbing).
The Germans were caught in a salient in the middle but were able to extricate themselves (lots of lucky die rolls) and even mount a couple of counterattacks that pretty much brought the Soviet center to a screeching halt. In the north, the Brits were holding pretty tough, even with depleted numbers due to having to send the 7th Field Force south to bolster the sagging Belgian line. Basically, it was the Western Front, NATO style with nobody going anywhere.
Overall, the Soviets weren't getting to the Rhine quickly and many of their first echelon troops were burned out in the battle. The second echleon was hanging tough but had to be used with caution. Overall, the tempo for the Soviets was severely slowed down and while NATO "lost", they avoided a major disaster helped by the excellent defensive terrain.
Another interesting thing about the game series is that it seems to work better when the situation is fluid but if there's anything resembling a parity of forces (i.e. solidified lines with sufficient reserves), the game slows down immensely.
Soviet airbone was also pretty nasty in that while it didn't accomplish anything major on its own, it did screw up NATO deployment and prevented a more forward deployment of the NATO main forces.
Pretty interesting- it's been awhile since I've visited the Cold War. :smile:
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