MEK OP Game Night: Barbarossa Wrap

We played through a second turn of the 5-turn Barbarossa campaign, but I decided to call it before the effort of production. The front was stalemating, which is to say that the Germans no longer had a serious chance of capturing any major objective

In the continuing first turn, the Russians immediately launched an aggressive counterattack. Two stacks of Rumanians were pocketed and eliminated, resulting in a near collapse of Axis defenders. Poor weather forced a tactical retreat back across the border, sparing Rumania from a complete collapse.

In the second turn, virtually all German attacks failed on low die rolls, aside from a couple that were at sufficiently poor odds that even victories didn't produce a spectacular outcome. By the third impulse, the Soviet forces were again counterattacking, and a single breach in the northern line was swiftly filled and repaired. Losses were very one-sided, with the Russians losing only a few divisions and weak infantry, and the Germans losing substantial quantities of armor and mechanized corps.

Here's the board at the conclusion of the turn:

The southern front is largely depopulated on both sides, and the north has a thickly stacked perimeter of tough corps bunkered behind river lines. Only the center still has some potential to open up for Germany, and even then, they've taken some meaningful losses.

Final death tally: 14 to 4. The dice are set to the most common rolls for each side over the course of the night!

Next week: Looking to find a third player, and switch to the Pacific map.