SS Panzer Replay: I've played SS Panzer several times and have enjoyed the game and system very much. The following is a replay of a solitaire game I played. My first step was to set up the German's in their designated areas. I tried to place them in a balanced way to fulfill any options that would be presented. I next split the Soviet area into 6 zones and randomly assigned each Soviet corps to a zone. Then I wrote up several basic battle plans for the Germans ( aggressive attack on decisive victory hexes, methodic attack on decisive victory hexes, aggresive attack on geographic victory hexes and methodic attack on geographic victory hexes). For this game I was assigned to aggressively take the decisive victory hexes. I felt the Soviet assignments were clear, retake hill 252, defend the decisive victory hexes and if you spot a weakness try to get some geographic objective hexes. Otherwise defend along the front. I decided to have Totenkopf attack and try to take all geographic objectives south of the Psel river. They would also have the bridge at Imeni Voroshilova as an objective so they could reinforce Liebstandart (Lieb) if needed. Lieb would be carrying the weight of the drive to the decisive win hexes. The strategy was simple, go for the hexes using the Psel river to protect it's left flank and hill 252 to set up kill zones. Doing it would be another thing. Das Reich had the easiest assignment, defend what it had, protect Lieb's right flank and send available reinforcements to Lieb. The Soviets set up this way: 18th Tank corps was south of the Psel river, 2nd and 29th Tank corps were close to hill 252, 2nd Guard Tank corps was in the center, 9th Guard Airborne and 31st Tank corps were opposite Das Reich. The chit draw system helps solitaire play because you never know what order your moves will be in. The initial Soviet bombardment concentrated on hill 252 but also hit other exposed Germans. Only a few units were suppressed. I won't get into the Soviet support artillery fire assignments. The first chit draw was for the Soviet 2nd Tank Corps (TC) which went after hill 252 and the armored infantry on it. Next draw was for the 29th TC which was also near hill 252 and moved to assist 2nd TC in clearing off the Germans. Next was 2nd Guard TC which is not very strong . They drove into the right flank of Lieb. The air counter was drawn next and rolled to G6 (6 German aircraft). They all concentrated around hill 252. After the smoke cleared 2 Soviet tank units were reduced. The Soviet 9th guard airborne was next and moved up towards Das R. and shifted a little south to cover where 2nd GTC had moved out of. Finally the Germans got a draw, Totenkopf and drove into 18th TC and towards the bridge at Imeni Voroshilova. The Germans rolled well and several Soviet tanks and infantry fell as well as a couple of static infantry. At the end of the phase about half of the Germans were in CC and most of the 18th. Next draw was the 18th which moved up some reserve tanks and continued CC. Lieb hit the 29th TC and 2nd TC while moving toward hill 252. Das R moved it's heavy tanks to support Lieb and shifted some infantry south along the berm. The Soviet 31st TC advanced to engage Das R. End of turn 1 found Totenkopf and 18th TC in CC south of the Psel. Lieb was trying to get though the 29th TC and the 2nd TC to get to it's first objective, hill 252. Das R was shifting south and sending it's heavies to Lieb. The Soviets were also shifting units south and trying to retake hill252. Turn 2's first draw went to 2nd TC which hit Lieb's right flank south of Stalinsky. Lieb had a lot of CC with 2nd TC which was hit hard trying to keep them away from hill 252. 9th GAir moved up to Vyselok and shifted south. 31st TC moved up to attack Das R around Ivanoskiy and Yasnaya Polyana. The 18th TC took advantage of some kill zones it had set up and also CC with Totenkopf. Das R was on the defensive against 31st and set up some kill zones. 29th continued the CC with Lieb's right flank. The air draw was for the Soviets who got 2 air which had no results. Totenkopf was in CC with the 18th TC and tried to take the bridge at Imeni Voroshilova. The 2nd TC kept attacking hill 252 and shifted some units toward the Psel river to block any possible break through. The end of turn 2 showed no dramatic differences. There were a lot more CC's and the losses were mounting for both sides especially around hill 252 which Lieb needed to get past to get to the decisive victory hexes. Turn 3 started with an air draw and the German's received 4 air support units which hit 2nd TC knocking out 1 unit. The 2ndGTC next kept hitting units from Lieb and Das R around Oktyabriskiy. Totenkopf ravaged 18th TC and almost gained total control of all hexes south of the Psel. 9th GAir engaged Das R driving towards Komsomolets. 18th was engaged with Totenkopf but down to 5 units. 31st TC attacked Das R around Yasnaya Polyana. The 2nd TC retook hill 252 clearing it off with ranged fire but had no units to occupy it. The 29th kept chewing on Lieb's right flank. Lieb moved units back to hill 252, took the bridge at Imeni Voroshilova and moved to Beregevaye. The German's started gaining ground in turn 3 due to 18th, 2nd and 29th TC being low on units. But they still had a long way to go with only one turn left. The northern area was quiet and it was clear the decision would be made in the south. Turn 4 also started with an air draw which gave the Soviets 2 air support units, which had no effect. 2nd GTC kept as many Das R and Lieb units CC'ed as it could. Totenkopf captured all objectives south of the Psel except the decisive win hex in 1244. the 29th TC tried to retake hill 252 and blocked Lieb. The last 4 units from the 18th TC were in CC with Totenkopf. 31st TC was engaging Das R and Das R returned the favor. Lieb made a final lunge and managed a few more objectives but did not seriously threaten the decisive victory hexes. Turn 4 ended with the Germans only controlling 11 victory hexes. Losses (in % of units) Soviet 9thGAir - 10% 18thTC - 73% 2ndTC - 76% 31stTC - 16% 29thTC - 53% 2ndGTC - 35% Static - 14 units German Das Reich - 13% Totenkopt - 19% Liebstandarte - 45% Game comments: I need to work with the system more to get a better feel but I don't think I used my strong armor well. It got mixed up in CC and was not used to it's best there. I also went out to kill units and I think that was a mistake. go for the victory hexes!) I do think you should avoid the static infantry whenever possible, they just waste time. My next game will be an assault on the trench line and check out it's effectiveness. Steve Leonard (sundaybest@aol.com)