One of ORIGINS 95's releases was a surprise addition to the line-up. Black Wednesday is a TCS game between the Red Army and the Spanish Blue 250th Division outside Leningrad. At first glance, the game does not seem to merit an article of this sort. The battle is a classic example of a Soviet powerhouse assault; two and one- half Red Army divisions, supported by a staggering amount of artillery and a tank brigade, slam into the two Spanish Fascist regiments of defenders.

Worse yet, there is only about another regiment of assorted German and Spanish reinforcements, leaving the Stalinist side with a massive advantage in raw numbers.

However, numbers alone do not guarantee victory. Any Soviet player who puts his head down with the intention of grunting his way through will regret that decision as he stands knee-deep in his own dead-counter pile. The Blues are dug in behind extensive wire and protected by an impressive trench system. Behind the trench is a lot of built-up terrain, including the many city hexes comprising Krasni Bor. The Blue Division has outstanding morale, good firepower, and (rarest of all on the Eastern Front in 1943) a full-strength three- regiment infantry division of manpower; they are not pushovers.

In addition, the Soviet disadvantages outnumber the Spanish advantages. First, average Soviet morale is a 4, 3 for the Guards, while the Spanish get along with 2s, and many Is. Second, most of your artillery prep is pre-plotted-using a simple pre-plotting chart, so there's no need to panic over paperwork-and the 12 battalions you do control are mostly only the 76mm variety. To aggravate your artillery woes, only one special Forward Observer unit per regiment can call for fire; when they do, they will likely miss unless you are three hexes or less from the enemy line.

Need more salt in those wounds? How about Soviet regimental mortars that only one FO-type unit can spot for, or average weapons ranges of 4 instead of the Spanish 6, and large expanses of open ground to cover before reaching the Blues' trenches.

Actually, both sides are in for a tough fight, with moments of terror and exhilaration as you grapple for this town (assuming you become emotionally involved with your games, as I do). Above all, this is a gem of difficult tactical choices, each with its own immediate consequences,

What follows is not a perfect plan for the Soviets. Instead, I examine some of those Soviet choices, both pro and con. Comrade, it is up to you to develop your own path to victory.

Prep Fire

You have a lot of artillery coming in for the first two hours of game play; all of it is pre-plotted. Each turn, you get nine battalion fires-6 x 122mm and 3 x 152mm. Better yet, each of these missions is doubled, representing two battalions firing on the target. Finally, you get a couple of shots with a Katyusha Regiment, albeit a fairly low-key one.

What is the problem? Dump the rounds on the front line, bulldoze a hole for the follow-up troops, and waltz right in. Of course, even all these guns are not enough to kill every Spaniard on the line, and if you concentrate on your selected breach zones, neglecting the rest of the trench line, he will have too many intact Fascists to pick apart your attack with arty missions of his own. Be forewarned, he is not lacking in this area-and will know where you are headed. Not many troops will remain combat effective after running through a wall of 105mm steel. What of the mission after that trench line? Just getting there will not win you the fight. You need to take most of the map, and his reserves will have something to say about that.

Therefore, the mission is three-fold. First, create gaps with concentrated fire. Second, damage enough other trench sectors to cause losses, create suppression and smoke, and prepare alternate breaches. Finally, do some judicious reserve hunting to hurt his follow- up troops, especially in Krasni Bor. If he is incautious with his reserve set-up, you can do much damage here.

Considering the above, you will wish for more prep fire. Pick your targets carefully and pay attention to timing. Initially, make those breaches so the infantry does not have to wait when it reaches the wire line; that can be deadly. Second, do some deep ranging across the map to hunt for reserves and keep him off balance. Direct some of that deep fire at places like El Bastion and The Mill; both are likely spots for support troops and positions you will have to take in the follow-on attacks.

Finally, return to the breaches as the troops get ready to break through, both to give last minute supporting fire and to screen the flanks of the breach from enemy crossfire. Even if the prep fires do not kill any Fascists, use them to create smoke barriers and spare the use of your limited on-call smoke rounds.

No matter what the plan, you will find there are never quite enough rounds to make the job simple. Certainly some of your missions will be wasted, hitting hexes where the Spanish never were or where they are already dead. The temptation will be great to keep blasting those intended breaches until they are all dead, but doing so will leave his backfield in good shape-a dangerous trade-off.

Into the Breach...

Essentially, there are three divisional sectors. The 43rd, with only one regiment on the map (the 708th) cannot do much more than seize the trenches east of the RR embankment on the Soviet left flank, but the other two zones are worthy of more thought.

The trench line west of the river defines the right flank; its main advantage is proximity. Soviets coming from that side can reach the line in 1-2 moves and begin clearing operations quickly. The center, usually province of the Guards, has one big problem: distance. It will take several turns before enough Reds are in position to begin clearing operations.

Generally, there are five main sectors to threaten, and two choices for a penetration strategy. The line east of the RR has only one useful approach-the trees; you will need little deep thought to handle this. The center has three possibilities: through the peat bog, through the woods skirting the peat bog, or across the open ground east of those woods. The right has little by way of cover; to limit the hang time of the troops trying to close with the Spaniards, I aim for a line between the river and the west map edge.

The Spanish line sector, east of the river up to lam Izhora, is effectively a re-entrant line for the Spanish. It suffers from multiple disadvantages: lack of cover, too much distance from the critical objectives behind the line, and too long an approach. These factors encourage leaving that line alone for the time being. It would be better to approach it laterally, after seizing a more convenient stretch of trench line.

For a strategy, the Soviet player can aim for multiple penetrations to overload Spanish defensive circuits, or aim to knock one big hole in the line, and roll up each flank from the shattered center. Little holes versus big hole, if you will.

The main good point of the little holes theory is preserving your options. Each of 63rd Guards' three regiments can threaten a different sector: peat bog, woods or open zone. This threat, coupled with similar flank actions each threatening their early breakthrough, will trigger a dilemma. The Fascist will have five zones dividing his artillery, juggling his resources against too many crises. In multiple player games, you may find yourself praying that he picks on your partner this turn, leaving your men alone. Further, if any one breach does not go well, you will still have other holes to use.

The big down side is that each regiment must make its own hole (except for the 72nd, whose sector is so limited they can afford to save one regiment as the follow-up force) and will likely bleed heavily for it. It is point less to achieve multiple breakthroughs to find the attack force is so weak that taking the follow-on objectives is moot.

On the other hand, the big hole theory preserves some regiments for the follow-on, and once in, your men can use the enemy's trenches as cover for safety. Also, going with one breach means you can concentrate your cannon-fire to ensure the rupture. However, it fails to attrit his troops in other sectors, leaving him more to hit you with in the village and city fights to come. It also allows him to concentrate his arty in one or two critical sectors, making his ammo last longer, since it will take fewer battery fires to rake over one breakthrough zone.

In short, it almost guarantees one Soviet breakthrough at the expense limiting your options to one and enhancing his late-game strength. I prefer the multiple approach, but I am not convinced that one way is always superior.

Tactical Considerations

At first glance, the Soviet force is a big dumb brute. Still, even an 800 pound gorilla requires a minimum of coordination, or that monster blow will never land. There are some important tactical considerations that must go into any Soviet strategy.

Bring the FOs in first, no matter what order your troops come on! These guys are damn slow, and too critical to leave behind. They need to be throwing smoke and shells (what on-call stuff you do have) from the beginning of the breaching operation. A quick look at the spotting table tells you that doing any call-for-fire other than at the forward edge of your attack will result in many wasted missions. The Soviet line of the Adjustment Table stinks. Get close, because that is the only way to deliver effective fire.

Next, mass lots of firepower. Usually, your opponent benefits from 5-6 backshifts, so any moderate SFA will only annoy him. Where possible, pump the numbers into the 40-50 range, so you still have a decent shot after the shifts. Any chance you get to move adjacent to a suppressed Spaniard is worth taking, even if it means running through an artillery barrage for a hex. Chances are you will be suppressed in the barrage hex with some losses, but afterwards you will have a lot of firepower at close range.

Third, remember timing. If the 72nd comes off the map edge and hits the wire on turn one, they may be shot into oblivion by the time the Guards reach their own attack zones. It is best to have all your projected breakthrough sectors threatening at the same time, so he must divide his artillery resources as much as possible. Poor timing can completely derail this "divide and conquer" concept, allowing him to dump 12 fire missions on one sector one turn, and do the same to another hole next turn. By using all his guns on only one sector in a turn, he can afford to blanket your units, preserve redundancy in case of bad shoots, and cripple a particular effort for 2-3 turns in the future.

Hence, the guys in the clear might hang back a little, since those closing through the peat bog and woods will take a longer to reach the wire. Of course, the Soviets can do this only as long as the weather cooperates: dragging your feet across the open approaches in the face of clear visibility and a steady rain of German HE rounds will do nothing to get you that Order of Lenin. At that point, run in as fast as possible and the devil take the hindmost. To counteract this differential in march rates, remember that not every counter needs to enter the map on turn one. Maybe it is best not to bring on the 72nd until turn two or three.

Hand in glove with timing comes deception. If you have chosen the big hole theory for the attack, try to make credible threats out of the other sectors. Remember, keep that enemy artillery guessing and shifting. After all, no matter what strategy you choose, you are going to have many more units than space on the firing line; marching extra forces around menacingly-without closing-might rattle him.

[Ed. note: As Lee would advise, use MW concepts any time you can-even in a slugging match.]

Finally, I want to say a word about tanks. The Soviets have a number of them-several battalions' worth of T-26s, T-34s, and KVs. This armor is critical to supporting the final advance, providing a measure of fire support and cover for the grunts. Do not save them for some imaginary post-breach exploitation-use them as close infantry support for the advance and breakthrough. I like to place two tanks per infantry stack, and apportion the armor between the 72nd and Guards, but I am sure you will develop your own favorite uses for these guys. "Urra" for armor!

The Send off...

So far, we have put much thought into this action, and not even discussed Soviet post-breach options, or how the valiant Spaniards might stave off this onslaught. That is one of the best things about Black Wednesday: it rewards careful planning and a coherent strategy, while preserving the hallmarks of a classic Eastern front rat fight. Perhaps other strategists will come forth with their thoughts on these subjects.