From: Tony & Susan Hickie Subject: Re: Battle for Stalingrad (SPI), review, opinions? Dave Pajnic wrote: >I was curious if someone could provide a review of SPI's Battle for >Stalingrad. >I'm interested in opinions on playability, realism, complexity, etc. Also, >what is the scale of the game and does it mostly cover the battle for the city >itself, or for the surrounding area as well. >Lastly, any recommendations of other Stalingrad games which are similar in >scale, scope, etc? SPI's 1972 game of the Battle of Stalingrad was one of the first I ever bought (along with its sister, Kursk), and in its day provided me with many hours of happy gaming. 1. Scale: 16km/10ml per hex. The map stretches from Izyum in the north to Elista in the south, and from Stalino in the west to four hexes beyond Stalingrad in the east. Five hexes of the Black Sea intrude from the west. This is definitely not a simulation of urban combat. Units are divisions (Axis) and corps (Soviet); a typical German ID is a 3-5, Axis Allied ID 1-4, PzD 4-8 or 5-8; Soviet RC is a 3-4, GdsRC 5-5, TkC 7-6, GdsMC 9-6, CavC 3-3. 2. Stalingrad occupies two hexes. Most of the map is clear terrain broken up by rivers running along hex-sides, with little effect on movement anywhere except where fortified hexes occur (along most, but not all of the respective front lines; the southern 25% of the front line has no fortifications; +2 MPs to enter enemy forts). Combat effects are few (-2 off die for cross-river attacks and attacks into enemy fortifications; cities as cities have no effect on combat). Axis reinforcements (only) may use rail movement. 3. Sequence of play is move/combat/mech move, with the Soviets moving first. 4. ZOCs are semi-active (+3 MPs to enter, +2 MPs to leave). 5. Units are either supplied, unsupplied (full def, half att and move) or (Soviet only) isolated (full def, zero att, half move). Supply is through railheads (Germans), railheads, map-edge and supply units (Soviets). Supply states are judged at the start of movement phases and at the instant of combat. 6. Combat is resolved with a single die-roll with odds ranging from 1:3 (-1=AE, +8=AR) to 9:1 (-1=BR, +8=DE) with AE, AR, BR, DR, EX, Half-EX and DE results). Air support can add +2 to the die-roll. Twiddly bits for combat include replacement of eliminated German mech units by Kampfgruppe, advance-after-combat for attackers, and attacker option to ignore DR results and roll again. 7. Air units can fly close support (attacker only), interdiction (acts as ZOC), CAP (prevents enemy close support and interdiction), air superiority (versus enemy air bases) and interception (to negate enemy air missions). 8. Special 1st game turn rules boost Soviet attacks against Axis Allies by 2 levels (3:1 becomes 5:1), against hexes with at least 1 German unit by 1 level. 9. Scenarios cover the initial Soviet attack (7 turns, 1 historical, 5 variable scenarios), the crushing of the pocket (7 turns, 1 historical, 3 variable scenarios), and the campaign game (21 turns, 1 historical, 5 variable scenarios). 10. Optional rules deal with the requirement to maintain Red Army integrity (certain units of individual armies have to stay close to one another to be in supply) and German 'insanity' (Russians? What Russians?). I remember the game as having high entertainment value, being easy to grasp and, even with the campaign game, quick to play. It's just about inevitable that the Stalingrad pocket will be formed and the campaign game falls comfortably into three phases: forming the pocket, German attempts at relief/break-out, and crushing the pocket, which ensures that both players have a sustained interest in what's going on. From what I recall, tension is maintained until the last game-turn. Victory is driven by the need to accumulate VPs by destroying enemy units (more for mech and KG, lots for air and supply units), capturing Rostov (Soviet only and a guaranteed game-winner), and for the distance between Rostov and the nearest Soviet unit with a LOC (Axis only); the Axis also gives VPs to the Soviet if they fail to maintain a line of units/ZOCs from the line of Rostov to the north edge of the map. Playability is high, complexity low and realism marginal (there ain't no weather, for a start), though the game does flow pretty much as the battle did. I have a recollection of playing SPI's (?) 'Drive on Stalingrad' (?) many years ago. It wasn't my game and we only played it a couple of times so everything's a bit hazy, but I think it covered pretty much the same area as BoS, though on two maps, starting several months earlier and in far more complexity (there *was* terrain, for instance). My memory is pretty vague, but I think I remember enjoying it whilst dying in droves on the Volga; perhaps other consimmers can cast more light on this one. Hope this is helpful. Tony Hickie