Bloody Odessa - The Matrix Games version of East Front II

Tatarka, 8km SW of Odessa: [Best played against Human opponent] As a major military and naval fortress, the port city of Odessa was a primary objective for the Axis forces advancing into southern Russia. Its capture was assigned to the poorly-equipped Romanian 4th Army whose repeated assaults were brutally repulsed. The resulting siege resembled the trench warfare of World War I, but time and attrition were against the Soviets. Cut off from resupply, the city's defenders began to withdraw to Sevastopol. As preparations for the final evacuation proceeded, remnants of the Russian 54th Rifle Regiment took over positions near Tatarka to act as a rearguard for the southwestern approaches. Recognizing the thinning in the Russian lines, elements of the battered Romanian 9th Guard Regiment, supported by R-35 tanks, launched an attack against the pass at Tatarka. The Romanian soldiers charged into the face of deadly machinegun fire to take their objectives. As with other assaults at Odessa, the casualties would be horrendous.