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I am going to post some observations from my first scenario as the Soviets. I am getting roughly handled as the Germans by Toidi. I wanted some insight into Soviet capabilities in v27beta.

Has it always been possible for the Soviets to do things like this?

Yes. But you hardly ever see it anymore in campaign games because SW Front gets devoured on turn 1. In this scenario, you actually get to play with SW Front. If you play it straight up as per the scenarios, it can actually give AGS a bloody nose along the way. There's some strong units down there.

Southwest Front has plenty of punch. That's why I can understand GHC players doing the Lvov opening, spares you a lot of trouble, though I dislike it. Even when you play against the AI, an intact Southwest Front can give AGS headaches. If you are not careful PzGrp 1 can get burned out in a matter of a few turns.

That attack has some fortunate command checks for the Soviets. Make sure you are keeping your HQ chain intact, and the distances as low as you can.

I've been playing my way (PBEM) through the 'road to' scenarios and we've just finished this scenario. I've been the Soviets in each.

After the bashings in the north and centre this one was almost a shock. You do have the power, esp in SW Front, and esp if you spend APs on some decent generals to really hit back. The Axis-Allies are always a tempting target too after so much defending.

In truth, the mental trap in this scenario is over-confidence, you still need to fall back in a disciplined manner and watch out for building encirclements, but equally you can drive in an over-exposed axis spearhead.

In the end, I got a marginal victory by doing an 'end of the world so who cares' defense at Kharkov. One/two more turns and my opponent would have had a pocket to rival Kiev, but in the context of the scenario I held the city. Prob worth stating the 'Road to ...' (& we're currently doing Typhoon) are great for learning the ropes and trying out ideas but I suspect some of the lessons are flawed in the context of the wider campaign (factory evac, who cares; cavalry, chuck them into the axis advance as MP costs etc) and you do tend to see a solid Soviet defense in the later turns (when the risk of being overrun, in the timeframe, has passed).