12.2014 Ost Front 2: The Liberation of Minsk, 28 June – 3 July 1944

Publisher/Date:
Lone Canuck Publishing (2014)

Product Type:
Scenario Pack

Country of Origin:
Canada

Contents:
6 scenarios

Commentary:

In 2006, Lone Canuck Publishing released a 6-scenario mini-pack featuring East-Front-themed scenarios.  Eight years later, in 2014, a sequel of sorts has appeared:  Ost Front 2:  The Liberation of Minsk (OF2).  OF2 is also a mini-pack, featuring a mere 6 scenarios, all of which feature the Soviet recapture of the Belorussian city of Minsk as part of Operation Bagration, the huge and successful 1944 Soviet summer offensive that virtually destroyed the German Army Group Center.

From the historical descriptions of the various scenarios it seems likely that the genesis of this book rests on a book about Schwere Panzer Abteilung 505, a Tiger tank battalion.  The pack is therefore rather Germanocentric, despite a title that suggests a Soviet emphasis.

The scenarios are:

• Ost7 (Race for the Berezina).  Shooting gallery scenario.  All-armor scenario featuring 10 Soviet Shermans versus 3 Tigers.  Soviets must exit 30 VP.  Uses boards 4 and 5, plus ASLSK booards q and x.
• Ost8 (The Fifth’s Rearguard).  Soviet attack.  Soviets must clear a road from one end of the board to another.  Uses ASLSK board q.  Features 13 Soviet squads and 2 AFVs against a German fortified position with 6 squads, and one gun.
• Ost9 (Forcing the Berezina).  Soviet attack.  Soviets must control two hexes and a bridge.  Soviets have 10 squads and 10 AFVs.  Germans have 6.5 squads, an AT gun, 2 Marders and 2 halftracks.
• Ost10 (Bridge over the Berezina).  Soviet attack.  Soviets must control a bridge and adjacent hexes.  Soviets have 10 squads and 10 tanks; Germans have 8 squads.
• Ost11 (Stiffest Resistance).  Soviet attack; the Soviets must get more VP than the Germans, VP being amassed in various ways.  Soviets have 13 squads and 18 AFVs; Germans have 8 squads and 7 AFVs (3 Mk IV, 2 Panther, 2 Tiger), as well as 2 guns.
• Ost12 (Liberation of Minsk).  Soviet attack.  Soviets must exit stuff off the opposite edge of the playing area.  Features 7 Soviets squads and 7 AFVs against 7 German squads and an AA gun.

As can be seen, most of them are smallish, though some feature a large number of AFVs.

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