November, 1942: Germany had some 317 divisions mobilized (about 20% of these were German "allied" divisions). Some 74% of these, including most of the motorized divisions, were in Russia. Some one-third of the divisions in Russia were concentrated in Army Group B. To the north of Army Group B the front had stalemated into fortified lines in front of Moscow and Leningrad. To the south of Army Group B was the Caucasus, where the situation was less stable. In this area lay Russia's oil supplies. The 29 divisions of Army Group A were almost Out of supply, but were slowly closing in on the oil centers. Facing Army Group B, whose main function was to guard Army Group A's flank, were some 80 Soviet division-size units, including six full-strength motorized units. The Soviets were building up an even larger concentration for their winter offensive, planned to begin in mid-December. But the Germans had tied up most of their best units in a futile battle for the nearly destroyed city of Stalingrad. On both flanks of the concentration of German units in and around Stalingrad were lower grade "allied" (Italian, and Rumanian) units. The Russians seized the opportunity. Three weeks before they were ready to launch their winter offensive, they attacked. The Soviet advantage in numbers was marginal. But they had an invaluable advantage with regard to position. They had an opportunity to smash through the weak "allied" units and trap an entire German army in Stalingrad. The trap was sprung on 19 November, 1942. The Rumanian units on both flanks of the German forces in Stalingrad were smashed. Within four days, the Germans (some 20 divisions) were surrounded. The German situation, as a glance at the game will show you, was far from hopeless. Because of the relative equality in strength between the Germans and Russians, there was considerable room for a Soviet defeat of major proportions. Russian mobile units, the only Soviet units that could meet the Germans on anything like equal terms, were pushed far out front in order to isolate the trapped Germans. There were enough German mobile units in reserve to, in turn, cut off the Russians. Assuming, of course, that the trapped German units cooperated in a break-out attempt. In the original campaign, this was not the case; the Germans were ordered to hold onto Stalingrad while leaving the relief force to break in by itself. The Germans quickly realized that the available reserves were too weak to break in by themselves. So they waited until reinforcements arrived. The Germans had little in the way of reinforcements available in Russia. It took over a week to concentrate what was available where it was needed. By then the Russians had replaced their exposed mobile units with infantry. In other words, the longer the Germans waited to relieve their trapped forces the harder it became to get them out.
While the Germans pondered this problem, the Russians prepared for their second offensive. Russian reinforcements had been pouring in from the east ever since late October. This concentration was nearly completed by mid-December. This horde of armor and infantry was unleashed on the still reeling Germans, and it was mainly because of overextended Russian supply lines that Rostov wasn't taken and Army Group A isolated. The point, of course, is that the Russians were taking a considerable gamble. The German dispositions in November were insane. They were a result of Hitler's obsession with taking Stalingrad. In the process, it was forgotten that Army Group B's primary function was to protect the flank of Army Group A in the Caucasus. But even with these mad dispositions the Germans could have still crippled the Russians had they reacted quickly enough to the Soviet attack. The Germans didn't, the Russians did, and the rest is history. The Battle of Stalingrad. The turning point of the War in the East.
To make the game more interesting we have added a considerable number of "What If?" scenarios. Some of the more obvious "What If's?" cover the Germans using a more reasonable deployment before the 19 November attack. This, of course, makes it almost impossible for the Russians to win. Under such conditions the Russians wouldn't have attacked. They would have waited until Mid-December for their full-scale winter offensive. This, of course, is another scenario. All the other scenarios are derived from these two variations.
Battle of Stalingrad is, mechanically, quite similar to two of our other games, Kursk and France: 1940. It is, nevertheless, a different Situation and some changes had to be made to reflect the special characteristics of the situation. But other changes were made simply because they seemed superior to the methods used in the two earlier games. This refinement process will continue as this particular game-system is used again.
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