Over the course of the months of October and November 1942 the German 6th army made repeated attempts to take out the defending Russian forces in the city of Stalingrad.
Originally the objective had been to cut them off from reinforcements and supplies by reaching the shores of the Volga. In the end the struggle over the city that bore the Soviet dictator's name turned into a personal matter of prestige between Hitler and Stalin.
The battle in the Northern city districts where the huge tractor, Barricade and Red October factory complexes were located, became a giant slugfest amidst the rubble, stench and filth of the enormous fortified buildings and saw some of the most bitter hand-to hand fighting of the entire war. An advance of as little as a hundred meters would often be at the cost of countless human lives only to lose this ground again or find enemy pockets of resistance behind the lines, as troops often moved underground (sewers). The Germans came to call this type of urban warfare by the name of "Rattenkrieg" or "War of the rats".
The result is very well known: The Germans kept on feeding more and more troops and armor into the city while the Russians held on by their fingernails managing to get just enough replacements and supplies into the battle.
Meanwhile the Soviets had massed an enormous army on the enemy's flanks, which were defended by relatively weak Romanian, Hungarian and Italian forces. The Russians were awaiting the order to strike and encircle the sixth army in Stalingrad and trap them inside.
When this eventually happened it led to a catastrophic defeat of the Wehrmacht, which would change the course of the war.
Will you be able to accomplish what the Germans failed to do historically and change the course of history?
| Soviet | German | |
| Division 1 |
4 Squad Bases 1 AT Gun – ZIS. |
7 Squad Bases 1 StuG D (Spd. 6, Arm. 3 vs.I 5/6, vs.A 6/6) 1 Panzergrenadier spec |
| Division 2 |
5 Squad Bases 1 AT Gun – ZIS. |
6 Squad Bases 1 StuG D (Spd. 6, Arm. 3 vs.I 5/6, vs.A 6/6) 1 Panzergrenadier spec |
| Strategy Decks | Soviet Artillery 1 * Ground Support 1 Soviet Reinforcements * Each card with an attack value costs 2 additional CP, each attack die hits on 4-6 |
Command 1 SD German Artillery 1 * SD German Air Support 2 * (Remove the Tactical Bombing Card) * Each card with an attack value costs 2 additional CP, each attack die hits on 4-6 |
| Starting Strategy Cards | 1 | 2 |
| Operations Cards | - Lay Razor Wire - Desperate Defenders - Katyusha Support (after it’s been paid for once, it may be used on subsequent rounds for only 2 CP per round). - Camouflage (shared – don’t’ forget it’s errata!) - Merciless Assault (shared) |
- Panzer IVE - Clear Tank Trap - Clear Mines (instant mines in this case, they are not triggered when an Engineer squad enters) - Camouflage (shared – see errata) - Merciless Assault (shared) |
| Deployment Zone | Div. 1: anywhere on boards 9A, 10B, 8A and 31B. Div. 2: anywhere on boards 8A, 31B and the two boards adjacent South. |
Div. 1: on the Mid and North board hexes of the German deployment zone hexes (as does it’s reinforcements). Div. 2: on the Mid and South deployment hexes (as does it’s reinforcements). |
| Starting Initiative | Setup First |  |
| Objective |
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| Rounds | 12 | |
| Actions per turn | 2 | 3 |
| Reinforcements |
During each status phase, at the scenario reinforcements and events step, the Soviet player rolls a die.
They then roll a die for each base separately. On a 1-3 the base receives a Second-rate Troops spec. token. On a 4+ it does not. Soviet reinforcements must enter either on the “1″ Russian command point marker or directly adjacent to it on the Soviet baseline (so in the building or balka hex). Should such a hex be occupied by (a) German unit(s), then Soviet reinforcements may not enter there. Should it be German-controlled but unoccupied, then Soviet reinforcements MAY enter there. |
Round 5 – Round 9 – |
| Special Rules |
Instant mines: Once per game, the Russian player may place four contiguous instant mine tokens anywhere on the board except in the German set up area or on the Russian baseline. They must be placed in empty hexes. They may be placed in building (think of them as booby-trapped buildings) and ruin hexes. For squads to avoid taking damage, a 5+ is needed is both cases (4+ if they end their movement in the hex). When placed in a balka or balka entrance hex a 4+ is needed; 3+ if the movement was ended. Panzergrenadiers: For each squad with a panzergrenadier specialization token, each friendly vehicle in the same hex gains +1 cover against close range attacks from squads. Second-rate troops: When a squad with a second-rate troops specialization token receives a disruption token, roll a die. On a 4+ the squad is routed immediately. For each officer in the same hex, subtract one from the die roll. A squad with a second rate troops specialization may never contain any elites. In addition, it never benefits from the “Elite Formations” operations card when it is in play. Luftwaffe over the Volga (op card): When the Russian player receives reinforcements (either granted by the scenario or purchased from the reinforcement deck), the German player may, using available command, pay for a number of dice for the cost of 1 command point each. He then rolls these dice scoring hits on a 4+. For each hit, a Russian figure is removed from the reinforcing squad(s) (owning player’s choice). The German player may never buy more dice than the number of figures that the Russian player is entitled to receive. Any remaining figures are then placed on the board. Rubble: Clear hexes play as follows: Squad movement normal, vehicle movement 2, squads have 1 cover. Do not block LOS. However, despite the cover granted, it does not count as cover providing terrain with regard to concealed squads, i.e. while they do roll at least one cover die when attacked in such terrain, for concealment/revelation purposes the terrain counts as clear terrain. Ruins: Rough terrain hexes represent ruins. They play as follows: Squad movement 3, vehicle movement 4 (trucks may not enter). In addition, vehicles roll a die upon trying to enter a ruins hex. On a roll of 1 or 2, they are immediately fatigued in the hex they were in prior to trying to enter the ruins hex. They remain fatigued for the duration of the next round. To denote this place two fatigued counters by the unit and remove only 1 during the remove tokens step of the command phase. If a card allows for the removal of a fatigued counter or to flip one over to the op-fire side, only 1 fatigued counter is removed. As long as there is one fatigued counter left, flipping the other one to op-fire would be pointless. Cover 4. block LOS. Tanks cannot use their concussive firepower ability against ruins. Into thin air: A squad, fresh or in op-fire, in a building or ruins hex may, as an action, assign itself a concealed squad token if not adjacent to an enemy unit. Doing so costs 2 command points. However, a side can never have more than 2 concealed units (See hidden AT guns) on the board at any time. Pinned or disrupted squads may not perform this (special) action. Fortified buildings: Entrenchments may be placed in building and ruins hexes. Each adds 2 cover to the existing building or ruins terrain. Hence a building containing 3 entrenchments would yield a total cover of 9. Note that a unit does not need to be inside an entrenchment to receive this extra cover. Also note that this is only true in the case of buildings and ruins. A squad would have to be inside the entrenchment to benefit from its cover when placed in any other legal terrain type. Control of factories: The side that controls the majority of hexes of each of the three major factory complexes (the main contiguous building and/or ruins hexes; a VP token has been placed inside each to remind players) receives 1 additional command point each round per factory complex controlled. The Russian player starts in control of all three major factory complexes. Hidden AT guns: Equipment units may be placed in building and ruins hexes. In addition they may be assigned concealed markers. Low visibility: Maximum LOS is 5 hexes. Adjustable defense: The 3 barbed wire markers, 1 tank obstacle marker and 2 trenches may be placed in any “clear” or road hex, except for the German set-up area, by the Russian player at game start. The two entrenchments the Russians start the game with may be placed in any terrain in the Russian deployment zone. Ones built by engineer squads at a later time may also be built anywhere. Note that German engineer squads may also build entrenchments. Balka and balka entrance hexes: Balka and balka entrance hexes are to be played as follows: To be able to establish LOS from or to a balka or balka entrance hex, units need to be adjacent to one another, unless LOS can be established through contiguous balka and/or balka entrance hexes. A unit entering or leaving a balka (but NOT a balka entrance hex) from or to a non-balka hex is immediately fatigued. In addition, vehicles roll for damage as described in the FotB rules booklet (not when moving from a balka to another balka hex!) . The movement cost to enter or leave a balka entrance hex is always one. Vehicles do not run the risk of being damaged and are not immediately fatigued when entering or leaving a balka entrance hex. Balka and balka entrance hexes do not provide any cover and do not block LOS. |
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| Terrain Features | The Soviet Player may place the following (with restrictions and options, see special rules)… • 2 Entrenchments • 1 Tank Obstacle • 3 Barbed Wire • 2 Trenches |
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Medic
Concealed
Engineer
Flamethrower
