Finished a game of VV85 Désespérés, from French magazine VaeVictis, on VASL.
July 43, East front. A strong group of Russian infantry (15 squads, 9 of them Elite) supported by abundant armor (T34, KV1, a lone SU122, and two tankettes) must capture most of a "crossroad village", defended by a small German force but with two fearsome 88LL AT guns and a number of halftracks, and with some German reinforcements to come - two PzII A open-toppeds, and later, two "real" PzIV with some elite riders. I was playing the Russians.
The Germans had set up part of their infantry ahead of the village to slow down the Russian approach, and this cost them - it didn't slow me down too much, and with so much armor, retreating became difficult for them. I also had some lucky shots at some of the halftracks - with ATRs, with AFPh shots, you name it; after a few turns only the one mortar-equipped halftrack remained. Both AT guns revealed themselves by ambushing (and burning) Russian tanks (one of them a tankette, thankfully), so my attack became mostly a matter of dealing with the German infantry.
The first wave of German reinforcements (two SPA) tried to move to the right flank (left was held by both AT guns), and made the mistake of stopping in clear LOS (and longish range) of a Russian mortar, which killed one and immobilised the other with a nice sequence of ROF shots. This made the German defense very difficult, and by the time the second wave entered (turn 5 of 7 - there is a dr to have them enter on turn 4), the German infantry were almost all broken or eliminated and the village was firmly in Russian hands.
The first PzIV overran a lone ATR-toting squad (but lost its 548 riders to a PTC/bail out/break); the second, heavily loaded with a 548 and 9-2 riders that made it look a little like a very scary halftrack with a big gun and thick armor, moved forward and tried to counterattack. It was a last ditch effort, and could not realistically succeed - the VCs are about building control, and you need infantry for that.
The scenario is an interesting situation with a good variety of armor and guns, but it seems tough on the Germans (ROAR has it a 4:1, not enough playings to be very significant but still shows a pattern).
Obligatory anecdote: one of the AT crews did a hell of a job. They killed the first T34 that showed up, then single-handedly held the Russian approach on the left flank at bay - for two full turns they were at the center of a 70mm OBA FFE and didn't blink once. Late in the game they malfunctioned their gun, which the remaining T-60 took as an incentive to go and overrun them (even through the FFE). The tankette took the first OBA attack nicely, but was immobilised by the second round as it entered its overrun hex and the overrun had no effect. Quite unfazed, the German crew went for a FPF CC RF, found an ATMM, and burned the T-60 - freeing them to fire outside of their hex, but enveloping them in smoke (remember, they were still at the center of an FFE). Next turn, they repaired the gun, pointed it at a nearby T-34 that had thought them neutralized, kept ROF, fired again, burned the T-34.