I too was a playtester for M44 including playtesting the campaign game HTH. Marquo is right that the campaign is really large and has tremendous opportunites and challenges for both sides.
The Germans will not simply roll over in this battle. They do have some 25 divisions. The Russian still by far have a significant quantity advantage but if the Russians putz along and do not take some risks the Germans can escape to form second and third defensive lines. By taking risks the Russians
will be bloodied. Reading some history on the battle shows the Russians took enormous casualties in this battle too. The Russians were able to encircle the slower moving German infantry in several large pockets. If the Russian player does not do this again they may not win the campaign game. Bridges are key too the German retreat strategy. Plan wisely.
As you point out Landser the Russians can grind the Germans down. For those players that have played K43 or K42 or S41 as the Germans with clear German superiority that will not be the case in this game. Prepare to see division after division fatigue, crumble, then evaporate under the Russian steamroller. The German player will have to chose which divisions are sacrificed. The situation will get increasing desperate as the campaign game moves on. I was on turn 20 and the Germans were in full retreat with pressure building by the turn. A breakthough was coming in multiple places.
Also, the game has some great additions like partisans which are all over the back country disrupting reinforcements. The new command feature will force players to keep units under the command radius of the HQ unit. Also, the Quality Fatigue Modifier helps the Germans out from fatiguing extremely rapidly.
I really hope you enjoy the game and fully recommend it.
Cheers again to Glenn and HPS. M44 again sets the standard on research, historical accuracy and playability.
Marty
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