Played J200 "One Story Town" as the defending Russians against Marc Hanna. This is an excellent scenario with lots of options for both sides. Robin Reeve did a very good solo playthrough of this one on his YouTube Channel and it will also be featured in a forthcoming episode of Illuminating Rounds.
Basically, the starting Russian forces are defending five wooden buildings from a powerful Finnish attacking force that sets up in two groups on opposite corners of the town where battle is to take place. One building is worth 2 VPs while the remaining four are worth 1 VP each. To win, the Finns need to accumulate 4 VPs. The Finns have all of the usual Finnish attributes and SW in the form of DCs, ATRs and some unreliable LMGs. At close range, they are great but they lack cutting edge due to the inadequate MG support. The most dangerous threat to the defenders is posed by a FT tank which starts in a platoon with a "land battleship" as its escort. This, in my view is the key to success for the Finns. What gives the scenario real interest is that Russian reinforcements arrive in two separate groups on turns and 3 and 5 at secretly pre-designated entry points and this means that the Finns can find themselves on the defensive depending on where the reinforcements arrive. I would say that luck was with me in this scenario and I managed to restrict the Finns to 3 VP. The key moment came on turn 3 when Marc ran his FT tank up to a Russian MMG position and torched it. The problem however was that it was now stationary with its escort behind a building from which it could not cover a nearby road if the Russian reinforcements came on that way. The reinforcing tanks duly arrived on that road and one CH later in bounding fire, the FT tank was no more. From this point onwards, the Finns were under the cosh. Marc managed to get the "land battleship" into a position from which it could place smoke into the final victory building but it then proceeded to malfunction its MA before succumbing to yet another CH from a Russian tank in the second reinforcement group. A final desperate charge at the last building came up short and the Russians held on for the win. The funniest moment (for me at least) was when I announced a 4FP CMG attack in bounding fire against a first line Finnish squad in a wooden building and Marc, who was feeling a bit victimised by my dice rolling at this point, said "Go on Doug. Roll your double one!". I duly obliged and the Finnish squad failed the resulting MC. I don't know if there is a moral to this story but I had a hard job keeping a straight face afterwards!
There is analysis of the scenario and VASL replay with commentary by Marc and myself in four instalments on his YouTube channel for those who are interested.
