The Lab is closed!

So no evil experiments today!

Instead, we have freezing rain and two dogs who can't crack the code on how to pee on ice. No--don't blame me. I have instructed these canines time and time again. I've promised cookies. I've cajoled, coddled, and cussed. Nothing works. I even did a demonstration.

Now who's going to clean up the rug? I blame this on all you "winter-lovers" out there. You know who you are.

So Peter comes over last night and woops me twice. We played the first scenario in the Stalingrad pack, and I thought I was doing great. Very fun battle. I kept infiltrating squads past his Russian defense for big points. Then, he sneaks a platoon down a wooded trail and threatens to take Objective 4. Along the way, one of his guys throws a cigarette into the woods and starts a fire that, by the end of the fight, is blazing out of control. So just as his guys are closing on Objective 4, my captain shows up with a platoon of elite riflemen, complete with a heavy machine gun. I grabbed control of the buildings and started maneuvering for a firing position. Well, my heavy machinegun team gets all caught up in barbed wire. I ordered them to get their butts moving...and they wander smack into more wire. Again I order them to fight through it, and they advance...into MORE wire! By this time I've managed to bring some scunion on his platoon, and several of the squads are cowering in fear. A Russian commissar walks up, pulls his pistol, and orders the Russian sergeant to rally his troops. The sergeant hesitates...and the commissar shoots him dead! By the end of the battle, his infiltrating platoon was all but destroyed and had accomplished nothing.

Somehow, despite all this, he managed to eek out a 2-point victory. Grrrrr!

Then, after I made a delicious flank steak, we set up the second Stalingrad battle--an epic fight for the grain elevator. After doing a quick METT-T analysis (Mission, Enemy, Terrain, Troops, Time) I decide to defend inside the factory, while leaving one platoon to guard outside. In short order, everything goes wrong. An unseen sniper picks off some of my guys inside the factory. The Germans storm my outside platoon and beat it up before they can scoot inside. The Germans then surround the factory and start bursting through the doors and windows. My guys are shooting, but he keeps recovering and firing back. Pretty soon the defense collapses.

I was mad. I'm sure my tactical analysis was right, but I just couldn't get my guys to fight. Stoopid Russians.