Guderian's Gambit Replay ======================= On Sunday, had an interesting game of 'GUDERIAN'S GAMBIT' from Command #37. I played the Soviets, Steve Hoagie played the Germans. Hank Meyer watched-on, injected interesting comments, and made some very critical beer runs that may have saved the day for the hapless Russian. On turn 1, Steve strictly attacked in the center, and inflicted heavy Soviet losses (as should be expected). The infantry divisions began to form a 'horse-shoe' to protect Smolensk. Pulling back the Soviet flanks, the Soviets made an attempt to hold what resembled a line (??) in front of Vyazma. Several units had already been isolated on the banks of the Dniepr. The flanks, which had been left pretty much unscathed, pulled back to shorten the lines. On turn two, the Germans began to shift their emphasis slightly toward the South, and suffered light losses while continuing to pound Russian butt. The Soviets, probably in error, tried to hold the line at the woods around Vyazma. For the second turn in a row, replacements were almost non-existant with another roll of '1'. During turns 3-5, the German mechanized line stretched from Vyazma, then along the center woods past the Ugra River. Interestingly, the German infantry formed a line along the road from Smolensk to the Dniepr and then beyond to protect supplies. A nice move, I must say. On turn 5, the German 17th Panzer outstretched itself, and was severely mauled by a combined Soviet corps. However, with the lack of a complete encirclement, the 17th was able to retreat to the rear without further damage. The Soviets tried desperately to form a defense in front of Moscow, but by turns 9-10 it was all over and the Russian Bear was de-clawed and 'fixed' at the local veterinarian. My replacement rolls were abysmal, but the deciding factor was that Steve ran a very mobile offense, and kept his units constantly moving and just on the edge of adequate supply. He played a Southern offence then executed a shift North that unbalanced my Soviet defense just enough to break some key holes. An excellent, fun little game and I'd like to hear comments from others who've played. You can jump in any time, Hank! Danny Holte