Fortress Stalingrad Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Game Components
• 3.0 Set Up and Hex Control
• 4.0 Turn Sequence
• 5.0 Zones of Control
• 6.0 Stacking
• 7.0 Supply
• 8.0 Air Power
• 9.0 Reinforcements and Replacements
• 10.0 Movement, Terrain and Mobile Assaults
• 11.0 Prepared Assaults and Combat Results
• 12.0 Other Special Units
• 13.0 First Turn Special Rules
• 14.0 Fuhrer-Mandated Counter Offensive (FMCO)
• 15.0 Victory Conditions
• 16.0 Designer's Notes
• 17.0 Players' Notes

1.0 Introduction

Fortress Stalingrad is a strategic/operational simulation of the single most important campaign of World War II in Europe. For though it took more campaigning to ensure Nazi Germany would finally be defeated, it was at Stalingrad her inability to win the war was first shown.

For four months, from late November, 1942, to late March, 1943, millions of men and thousands of vehicles and aircraft attacked and countered across the steppes of southeastern European Russia.

The Soviets orchestrated the battles like a classic symphony. They applied their practical understanding of Hitler's psyche to time after time unhinge every scheme the Fuhrer came up with to restabilize the front.

The Germans, commanded in the field by the brilliant Erich von Manstein, were doomed from the start by the strategic rigidity imposed from Berlin. Even so, Manstein's genius in preventing the situation from turning into a complete debacle was later acknowledged even by the Soviets.

Fortress Stalingrad allows two players, each representing the supreme commander of his side, to refight this decisive campaign and explore its many might-have-been possibilities.

The Soviet player will quickly find, because most German opponents won't fight the campaign in the same inflexible way as their historic counterpart, he is hardpressed to match the strategic gains of the real Soviets. Accordingly, victory conditions have been balanced so all the Soviet player need do to defeat his game opponent is inflict a strategic reversal of large, though not necessarily Stalinesque, proportions.

The German player is cautioned, however, not to think being freed from repeating historic blunders will be enough to automatically deliver him from the jaws of defeat. Far from it. The Soviet forces engaged here are huge and powerful and have an immense dispositional advantage at the start of play. Hitler's mistakes are not hard-wired into the game — care must be taken that your own don't take their place.

Each hexagon on the board equals approximately 25 kilometers (15 miles) from side to opposite side, and each game turn equals one-third of a month. Terrain and cities on the map have been altered slightly from their exact real-world configurations to fit within the hex grid. But the relationships between the terrain from hex to hex are accurate to the degree necessary for presenting players with those same space-time dilemmas faced by their historic counterparts in the actual campaign.

There is only one scenario in Fortress Stalingrad, the 12-turn Campaign Game. Playing time is about six hours for experienced players. This is a game of "intermediate" complexity. And that means if you're new to wargaming you should probably find a more experienced hobbyist to teach it to you, rather than trying to learn it yourself.

2.0 Game Components

2.1 The 200 die-cut counters included in the game should be carefully punched out and sorted by side and type before starting to play the first game. The unit density on some areas of the map may become quite high, so I suggest trimming the dog-ears off their corners with a fingernail clipper. That will ease handling and stacking, and also impress your opponents with your professionalism and samurai-like determination.

2.2 A sample unit is shown in the rules diagram. Its printed information is: Turn of Entry; Strength Steps; the group box and abbreviation; Unit's Size; Historic I.D.; Unit Type; Movement Factor; Attack Factor; and Defense Factor. In the sample, the unit's attack, defense and movement factors are printed as 16-10-9.

This unit is the "Mechanized Group Popov." The bracket above the abbreviation "GRP" indicates the unit was an ad hoc formation put together solely for this campaign. (It consisted of four tank and one rifle corps.) Group Popov enters play on turn eight, has four "steps" of combat strength (the measure of a unit's ability to absorb losses and still go on functioning), an attack factor of 16, a defense factor of 10, and a movement factor of 9.

2.3 Most of the units in the game are corps for the German and armies for the Soviets. Any unit with more than two strength steps available (or potentially available) to it is represented by two counters. Only one of those counters may ever be in play at any one time, however, and players should use the two "HOLDING BOX" sheets provided to keep their units properly sorted for quick retrieval. (There is one six-step unit in the game, the SS Panzer Corps. It is represented by three unit counters.)

A unit's relative organizational size is shown as follows:

• XXXX = Army
• XXX = Corps
• GRP = Group
• XX = Division
• II = Battalion

2.4 There are also units in the game — Soviet Frontal Supply, STAVKA-controlled artillery, air support markers, and German city garrisons — that bear no size symbols at all. These units are discussed later in their own special rules sections.

2.5 All units in Fortress Stalingrad fall into one of two broad categories: Mechanized or Straight-Leg (or Non-Mechanized).

Mechanized units are those kinds of formations whose primary means of locomotion is provided by wheeled or tracked motor-driven vehicles. Straight-leg outfits are those that depend on the legs of men or animals to move about the battlefield.

Mechanized Unit Symbols: German, Soviet, Romanian, Heavy Tank (Tiger Tanks), Motorized Infantry.

Straight-Leg Symbols: Infantry, Shock Infantry (Lots of heavy weapons), Mountain Infantry, FLAK, Cavalry, Garrison Troops, Miscellaneous Composite Units, Soviet Frontal Supply Unit.

2.6 Markers are also provided for STAVKA artillery, air support (showing an aircraft silhouette), Eric von Manstein (Iron Cross), and supply state (circled numbers). There is also a game turn marker for use on the Turn Record Chart, and three markers for keeping track of the Soviet Victory Point level.

2.7 The units are color-coded to show their nationality or type. The Axis units consist of:

• Black-on-Gray — German Army and Air Force
• White-on-Black — Elite Nazi SS
• Black-on-Yellow — Hungarians
• Black-on-Orange — Italians
• Black-on-Green — Romanians

The Soviet side consists of:

• White-on-Red — The Red Army
• Red-on-White — Elite Guards

2.8 Various abbreviations appear on the counters. On the Axis units these are:

• AL — Italian Alpini
• C — Romanian Cavalry
• FP — Fretter-Pico
• GRP — Group
• Ho — Hollidt
• L/K — Lanz/Kempf
• M — Romanian Mountain
• MI — Mieth
• Pz — Romanian Panzer
• Rs — Raus
• SF — Staff Foerster
• SS — Schutzstaffel

On the Soviet side these are:

• GRP — Group
• Kt. — "Katyusha" Rockets
• Po — Popov
• STAVKA — Supreme Headquarters

2.9 The German player commands all the German, SS, Italian, Hungarian, and Romanian units in the game. The Soviet commands the Red Army (and the Red Army Guards, of course).

2.10 In their upper-left corners most units carry either a black dot or a number. A dot there indicates those units start the game on the map. A number indicates the game turn during which the unit may make its earliest appearance as a reinforcement. A unit with a blank upper-left corner is a substitute unit.

2.11 A unit's attack factor is a measure of its ability to wage offensive battles.

2.12 A unit's defense factor is a measure of its ability to conduct defensive combat.

2.13 A unit's movement factor is a measure of the relative speed it can use to move across the hexagonal grid printed on the map.

2.14 In addition to the units described above, the other components to a complete Fortress Stalingrad game are the rules and play aids (which you are now reading), and the map. A standard six-sided die will also be needed to resolve combat.

3.0 Set Up and Hex Control

3.1 After deciding who'll command which side, players should sort their units onto the Holding Box sheets.

3.2 Set up the starting units according to the data provided on the Initial Set-Up Sheet. Units that start the game on-board have a black dot printed on their upper-left corners. Be sure to check both sides of the unit, as many units begin play at reduced strength.

3.3 Control: All land hexes on the map are always controlled by one of the two players. A given hex is considered controlled by one of the players under the following priorities: 1) a unit of that player occupies the hex; 2) a unit of that player exerts an uncontested zone of control into the hex; 3) a unit of that player was last to occupy or exert an uncontested zone of control into the hex; 4) the hex started the game as territory controlled by that player.

An uncontested zone of control is defined as a unit having a zone of control in a hex that is not occupied by another player's units or intact entrenchments, and that hex also has no zone of control of an enemy unit exerted into it.

The player who, at any given instant of play, has the highest priority (the lowest-numbered in the list above) of control over a hex may consider that hex under his control. If units of the two sides simultaneously exert uncontested zones of control into an unoccupied hex (and one that likewise has no intact entrenchments), then priorities three and four determine control.

Hex control is important for certain supply situations (section 7.8) and figuring victory point totals.

At the start of the game, both sides' entrenchment lines delineate their control on the northern portion of the map. That is, the Soviets control all the territory in and east of their entrenchment line, while the Germans control all hexes in and west of their line.

Starting at hex 3027, where the German entrenchment line ends, initial hex control is shown by the line of German crosses printed on the map. The Germans, again, control all hexes in or west of the cross line; the Soviets control all to the east of it.

4.0 Turn Sequence

4.1 All actions taken during a game turn of Fortress Stalingrad take place within the framework of two player-turns, each of which is sub-divided into smaller segments called "Phases." Actions taken out of sequence are illegal, and once a player completes a phase and has gone on to the next he may not go back to perform some forgotten action in that earlier phase without his opponent's permission.

4.2 Below is the complete turn sequence in outline form. The rest of the rules are organized so as to duplicate as much as possible this same structure.

I. Initial (and Mutual) Supply Phase: Check the supply status of all units on both sides. Conditions determined here last throughout this entire game turn.

II. Air Power Phase: First the German, then the Soviet, place one air unit atop any friendly unit. For a German unit to receive air support, there must be a German controlled town or city within ten hexes. For Soviet units, there must be a Frontal Supply unit within ten hexes.

III. Soviet Player Turn. A. Reinforcement and Replacement Phase. B. Movement — conduct any Mobile Assaults. C. Prepared Assault Phase. 1. Place STAVKA/Katyusha counters. 2. Calculate Combat Odds and resolve battles one at a time.

IV. German Player Turn. A. Reinforcement and Replacement Phase. B. Movement and Mobile Assault Phase. C. Prepared Assault Phase.

V. Terminal (and Mutual) Supply Phase. A. Remove from play all Soviet units bearing ">3" Attenuated Supply (AS) counters that have no complete supply line of any length at this time. B. Remove all Axis-satellite units bearing "1" Out Of Supply (OOS) counters that have no complete supply line of 12 or fewer hexes, and are not in or adjacent to a German-controlled city hex. (The maximum Axis supply line length is 12 hexes.) C. Remove all Axis units which have a ">3" OOS marker or higher, have no supply line of 12 or fewer hexes, and are not in or adjacent to a German-controlled city hex. D. Remove all German units in or next to a friendly controlled city hex bearing a "6" OOS counter that have no complete supply line at this time.

5.0 Zones of Control

5.1 Most units have an ability to inhibit enemy action in the hexes surrounding their own location hex. This ability is reflected by the projection of Zones of Control (ZOC).

5.2 All ground combat units (those with printed attack factors greater than zero) larger than division size exert ZOCs into the six hexes surrounding them. This means in the game the following units do not exert ZOCs: German 0-3-0 garrisons, the 503rd/65th Pz. Bn., the 9th FLAK Div., the Manstein counter, air units, Katyusha rockets, 0-0-1 Frontal Supply units, and supply state markers.

5.3 ZOCs are projected into every kind of natural and manmade terrain on the map. Only all-sea hexsides block the projection of ZOCs — and that includes the Kerch Straits. (For example, a unit sitting in 1606 projects ZOCs into 1705, 1605, and 1505, but not into 1706, 1607, or 1506.)

5.4 When a moving unit enters a hex containing an Enemy Zone of Control (EZOC), that moving unit must immediately cease movement in the hex with the EZOC. It may move no farther during that Movement Phase unless it is a mechanized unit. In that case, and only provided it has the necessary movement factors remaining to do so, the moving player may declare a "Mobile Assault" against any enemy unit(s) in one of the adjacent hexes. (See section 10 for full details on Mobile Assaults.)

5.5 The presence of a friendly unit negates EZOCs projected into a hex for purposes of tracing supply lines and retreat-after-combat routes. Friendly units do not negate EZOCs for purposes of tracing regular movement. (Units advancing-after-combat after a victorious Prepared Assault may always ignore EZOCs — see section 11.)

5.6 Empty entrenchments do not block the projection of EZOCs into their hex.

5.7 Any combat unit, even one that cannot itself project a ZOC, can still negate EZOCs. For example, though the 503rd/65th Pz. Bn. is too small a unit to project its own ZOCs into the hexes surrounding it, that unit could still serve to negate EZOCs projected into its hex. 0-0-1 Frontal Supply units, air units, von Manstein, Katyushas, and supply state markers do not have the ability to negate EZOCs projected into their hexes. (Other units that do have negation powers could, of course, also be in the hex and thus do the negating.)

5.8 If a unit starts its side's Movement Phase in a hex containing an EZOC that unit has three options: 1) it may stay in place; 2) it may move into another hex, not containing an EZOC, and from there keep right on moving to the limits of its movement factor or until it enters another EZOC; or 3) it may move from its present EZOC-containing hex directly to another adjacent EZOC-containing hex.

5.9 In that third case, the "infiltrating" unit must stop in its new EZOC hex, and move no farther than that Movement Phase.

5.10 Mechanized units that start the Movement Phase in an EZOC and then infiltrate directly into another EZOC hex may not launch any Mobile Assaults that turn. (They may, of course, participate in the Prepared Assault Phase.)

5.11 Infiltration from one EZOC to another is only possible for units that start the Movement Phase in an EZOC. Otherwise, moving units must halt when they enter their first EZOC. And remember — friendly units do not negate EZOC for movement purposes.

5.12 Soviet units with attenuated supply still exert their normal ZOCs. Likewise, Axis units in supply states 1, 2, and 3 also continue to project ZOCs. Those in supply states 4, 5, and 6 do not.

5.13 Entering an EZOC carries no movement costs beyond those for the terrain in the hex.

5.14 The number of enemy units projecting a ZOC into a given hex has no qualitative effect on the ZOC in that hex. And it is possible for units of both sides to simultaneously project ZOCs into the same hex.

5.15 No unit may ever retreat into or through a hex containing an un-negated EZOC, nor may supply lines be traced into or through such hexes. Combat is always voluntary; it is never caused by the mere presence of enemy units in each others' ZOCs.

6.0 Stacking

6.1 The process of piling more than one unit in a hex is called "stacking."

6.2 The general rule for both sides is that up to two units may be stacked in the same hex.

6.3 The following units do not count for stacking and may be added to any friendly stack: Manstein, the 503rd/65th Pz. Bn., the 9th FLAK Div., Katyushas, air power markers, German 0-3-0 garrisons, Soviet 0-0-1 Frontal Supply units, and supply state markers.

6.4 Retreat stacked units from combat simultaneously (see section 11). Terrain has no effects on stacking limits. The penalty for overstacking is instant death for the violating unit(s).

6.5 The owning player may combine or break up stacks at any time during his Movement Phase. But once the movement of a unit or stack is completed, and the player's hand removed from the unit(s), the movement of those pieces is finished and may not be altered unless the opposing player consents. (But see section 10 for more details on this.)

6.6 Stacking limits are in effect only during placement of newly arriving units, at the end of the Movement Phase, at the end of the Prepared Assault Phase, at the end of each retreat and advance-after-combat, and at the instant a mobile assault is launched from any given hex (but only within that launch hex).

6.7 When launching a mobile assault, the launching player must take care the hex the assault originates from has no more than the legal stacking limit of his units at the instant the assault is launched. (See section 10 for more on Mobile Assaults.)

6.8 German units may be stacked with any of the Axis Satellite nationalities. None of the satellite units, however, may be stacked with units of the other satellite nationalities. They may pass through each others' hexes during movement, retreats, advances, etc., but Hungarians, Italians, and Romanians may never come to rest stacked in the same hex. (Same penalty as for overstacking.)

7.0 Supply

7.1 At the start of this campaign, the logistical situations of the two sides were, in effect, mirror images. The German drive had pretty well stalled, in the strategic sense, in early September. That had allowed the Wehrmacht's supply system to catch up to the front again. During the ensuing battles, the Germans would therefore be retreating onto their supply and reinforcement sources. The Soviets, on the other hand, would rapidly be advancing away from theirs.

To accurately reflect this mirroring, the supply rules for the two sides have to diverge in some important aspects.

7.2 To be "in supply," and thus operate with full power, Soviet combat units (all those with printed attack factors greater than zero) must trace their supply lines to the 0-0-1 Frontal Supply units. (The next level of organization above "Army" for the Soviets is a "Front.") The distance from the Frontal Supply unit to the combat units tracing supply to them determines the quantity of supplies that actually get through to the units (and thus determines their true combat powers).

7.3 The distance from the Front Supply units to the combat units is measured in 3-hex-lengths called "supply lengths." When counting the hexes, don't count the hex the supply unit itself is in, but do count the hex the combat unit receiving the supply is in. For example, say a supply unit is in hex 3814. Soviet combat units in hex 3813 or 3812 or 3811 would all be within three hexes (one "supply length") of the supply unit, and would therefore have full supply provided to them.

7.4 During the Initial Supply Phase of each turn, the Soviet and German players trace the supply lines of all their units on the board. Supply lines may not be traced into or through hexes containing an Enemy Zone of Control (EZOC) unless that EZOC is "negated" by the presence of a friendly combat unit also in that hex.

7.5 Supply lines may not be traced across all-sea hexsides, with the exception of those at the Kerch Straits (1505/1506, 1606/1607, 1506/1606). All other natural terrain has no effect on the tracing of supply lines.

7.6 Supply lines may not be traced into or through intact enemy entrenchments.

7.7 Supply lines may be traced through enemy owned hexes empty of EZOCs, intact enemy entrenchments, and enemy units. The German may not trace his lines through any hex containing a 0-0-1 Frontal Supply unit. There is one exception to this case, see 7.8 below.

Editor's note: 7.6 as printed says supply lines "may not be traced into or through intact enemy entrenchments," while 7.7 as printed lists "intact enemy entrenchments" among the hexes supply may be traced through. Both are transcribed as printed; the source does not resolve the conflict.

7.8 Though unseen, there are other Soviet 0-0-1 Frontal Supply units existing just off the board's north, south, and east edges. That northern unit is considered to advance westward with the limit of Soviet control along the map's northern edge. Soviet units are allowed to trace supply to those off-board units, but the board-edge-hex through which the supply line is traced must be Soviet controlled.

7.9 There is no limit to the number of combat units any one Soviet supply unit can provide supply. Any number of units within range may be supplied.

7.10 As the supply status of each Soviet unit or stack of units is checked during the Initial Supply Phase, that player should place an appropriate "Attenuated Supply" (AS) counter atop those units more than one supply length from the nearest 0-0-1 supply unit.

The AS counters are marked with the mathematical symbol meaning "greater than" (>), and the number 1, 2, or 3.

Hence, any Soviet unit found with a supply line longer than one supply length (3 hexes), but not over two supply lengths (6 hexes), would have a >1 AS counter placed upon it.

A Soviet unit with a supply line greater than two supply lengths (6 hexes), but not over three supply lengths (9 hexes) would have a >2 AS counter placed upon it.

A Soviet unit with a supply line greater than three supply lengths (9 hexes), or with no complete supply line at all, would have a >3 AS counter placed atop it.

7.11 Once those AS counters are placed, the supply state of the affected Soviet units is locked in until the next game-turn's Initial Supply Phase.

Soviet units with supply lines of one supply length or less (3 or fewer hexes) have no counters placed atop them. Thus, the Soviet can tell at a glance those of his units enjoying full supply.

7.12 The effects of Attenuated Supply upon the Soviet units are as follows:

AS counter	Movement	Combat
>1	-1	-10%
>2	-2	-20%
>3	-3	-30%

This means a Soviet combat unit with a >1 AS counter on it would have its printed movement factor reduced by one, and its combat strengths by ten percent. Round decimal remainders up, but with the proviso no unit may have its combat factors reduced below "1." For example, if the Soviet "Mechanized Group Popov" had a >1 AS counter on it, and it was at its full, 4-step, level, its movement factor that turn would be reduced to 8, its attack factor to 14 (minus 1.6), and its defense factor to 9. (The simplest and quickest way to make these calculations is to use a calculator with a percentage key.)

7.13 Soviet units with a >3 AS counter on them may not receive replacements or have Katyushas assigned to them, and mechanized units may still make mobile assaults.

The Katyusha and replacement prohibition holds true even if the affected unit has a complete (but over-long) supply line.

7.14 In multi-unit battles, wherein the units are carrying AS counters of different values, figure each AS level separately, then add the resultant reduced strengths together to get the grand total attack strength.

For example, in a three-unit attack force with printed attack factors of 10, 13, and 16, with respective AS states of >1, >2, and >3, the resultant attack strength total would be 30 (10 - 10% = 9, 13 - 20% = 10, 16 - 30% = 11; 9 + 10 + 11 = 30).

In situations where more than one unit bears the same level of AS counter, add their printed attack factors together first, then do the percentage reduction.

7.15 During the Terminal (and Mutual) Supply Phase, which is the last activity step of every game turn, all Soviet units that have a >3 AS counter on them and have no complete supply line of any length to a 0-0-1 counter are destroyed and removed from play for lack of supply.

7.16 Soviet units with a >3 AS counter atop them, but with a complete supply line are not removed from play. As long as they do have a complete supply line to a 0-0-1 supply unit, no matter what its length, Soviet units can exist indefinitely in a >3 AS state.

7.17 Soviet units with no AS counter atop them or with a >1 or >2 AS counters atop them that are found to have no complete supply line during the Terminal Supply Phase are not removed from play. However, during the immediately following Initial Supply Phase of the next game turn, such units would have their AS state instantly increased to >3, and would then suffer accordingly during that new turn.

7.18 The Soviet 0-0-1 supply units do not count for stacking and cannot be killed. If an Axis unit enters a supply unit's hex, simply move the supply unit eastward one hex. (Such a move by the Axis player does not constitute a Mobile Assault unless the supply unit's hex was also defended by Soviet combat units. In which case those defending combat units would have to be defeated — pushed back or killed — before the supply unit would be forced back.)

7.19 The supply units may sit in hexes next to enemy units, but cannot attack or defend, and have no step loss value in combat. They do not negate EZOC projected into their hex for any purposes. Alone in a hex, they are sufficient to give control of that hex to the Soviet player — unless an Axis unit or ZOC is projected there.

7.20 The supply unit movement allowance of "1" is always one hex, no matter what kind of terrain is involved in the unit's movement. Further, each turn the Soviet may move any one of his supply units two land hexes. (Again, regardless of actual terrain costs.)

7.21 Should a supply unit be cut off inside a "pocket" of Soviet troops, immediately remove the supply unit from the pocket and place it in the first Soviet controlled hex eastward from the pocket's rim. Imagine the supply units to be like the tip of a pipeline, not like an independent formation. (See 7.38.)

7.22 The Soviets can supply one unit "by sea" each turn. The unit must start the Initial Supply Phase in a coastal hex. Units can be sea-supplied in a Sea of Azov coastal hex only if the Soviets control both sides of the Kerch Straits (all hexes). A sea-supplied unit may only move into and through coastal hexes on the turn it is sea-supplied (it may retreat-after-combat inland, but not advance-after-combat inland). No supply line tracing or AS state is involved with sea supply. The sea-supplied unit is fully supplied.

7.23 Any unit in the game, of either side, may be voluntarily moved into a position where it will become out-of-supply.

7.24 Though the German likewise checks his units' supply state at the same time as the Soviet player, his supply rules are somewhat different.

German/Axis supply does not attenuate like the Soviets'. A German or Axis satellite unit is either "cut off" or "in supply."

7.25 German and Axis Satellite units trace their supply from any town or city that has a railroad running into or through its hex. Further, that railroad must run from the town or city, through only German controlled hexes, off the board's west edge.

If Soviet units manage to get behind the main German line and "cut" a railroad line by controlling one or more of its hexes, German supply would then have to be traced from the next still-connected town or city westward from the cut.

For example, say the Soviet captures Rostov. All the towns east of Rostov no longer function as German supply sources. The nearest German supply source would then (presumably) be Stalino. Of course, if the German regains control of the railroad hex(es) seized by the Soviet, his supply tracing capacity then moves back eastward.

7.26 The maximum length of a German/Axis supply line is 12 hexes. Don't count the hex the railroad town or city is in; do count the hex the unit tracing supply is in.

7.27 In addition to railroad towns and cities, there are two other German/Axis supply source hexes on the board. These are hex 1501 down in the Crimea, and hex 4401 up near Kursk.

Units tracing from 1501 count that as hex "one" of their supply line. Units tracing from 4401 count that hex as number "seven" in their supply line. (There's a red "7" printed there as a reminder.) That's because the 4401 supply is actually emanating from around Kiev, far off the board's west edge.

Those two supplemental supply hexes have no victory point value like cities and towns do.

7.28 During the Initial Supply Check Phase, German/Axis units found to have no complete supply line, or a supply line over 12 hexes long, should have a level-1 Out Of Supply (OOS) counter placed atop them.

During the next game turn's Initial Supply Check Phase, if units with OOS-1 are still cut off, remove the OOS-1 counter and replace it with an OOS-2. On the next turn, OOS-2s would upgrade to OOS-3, etc.

7.29 During a Terminal Supply Phase in which an Axis satellite unit (that is, Hungarians, Romanians or Italians) is found to have an OOS-1 marker on it, and no supply line of 12 hexes or less in length has been opened up to it during the just-concluded game turn, that unit is permanently removed from play for lack of supply. That holds true no matter where on the board the satellite unit is located.

7.30 German/Axis units suffer penalties for being OOS just like Soviet units do for being in an AS. For example, a German unit with an OOS-2 counter on it loses 2 of its movement factors, and 20 percent of its attack and defense strengths.

7.31 German units in or next to a German controlled city hex can survive beyond the OOS-3 state. Such units may carry the OOS process out to the OOS-6 level. The combat and movement penalties continue to increase proportionately. For example, German units in an OOS-4 state lose 4 movement points and 40 percent of their combat factor strength.

7.32 German units in the OOS-4, OOS-5 or OOS-6 states lose their zones of control (though they still do negate enemy zones of control). Further, the 503rd/65th Pz. Bn. and the 9th FLAK Div. lose their combat-result-enhancement effect when in OOS-4, 5 or 6. (They still do contribute their combat factors.)

And last, German mechanized units in OOS-4, 5 or 6 may not conduct mobile assaults.

7.33 Should German units in OOS-4, 5 or 6 move away or be forced away from the supply-providing city, or should that city fall under Soviet control, the affected German units would then be immediately destroyed during the coming Terminal Supply Phase. (Provided no supply line had been opened to them in the meantime.) German units "out in the countryside" would, of course, be removed after having reached the OOS-3 state.

7.34 Supply states for both sides are judged during the Initial Supply Phase. Those supply states then remain in effect throughout the entire ensuing game turn. Then, during that same game turn's Terminal Supply Phase, another quick supply check is made. At that time, units that haven't had supply opened up to them during the just preceding game turn pay the penalties described in the cases above.

Of course, after the first turn, between experienced players, the activities of the two supply phases may be conveniently melded together. There's no harm or loss of realism in this, as long as the overall sequence given above is still followed.

7.35 German units destroyed while OOS may never be brought back into the game as replacements; they are permanently destroyed. (The Satellite Armies have no replacement capacities at all.) Soviet units destroyed in any kind of AS state may be recreated with replacements.

7.36 At the start of game turn 8 (FEB I) a German supply-by-air capacity becomes available to that player. Each turn, he may fully supply up to 8 steps by air. For purposes of this rule, mechanized steps actually count as two steps, so the German could really air supply up to 8 non-mechanized steps or 4 mechanized steps or some combination thereof.

To provide supply-by-air, the German simply points out the units at the end of the Initial Supply Phase. Not all the air-supplied steps need be in the same hex(es), nor is there any range limitation on where supply-by-air may occur.

In multi-step units it is not permitted to air supply some of the steps and let others go unsupplied. The whole unit receives air supply or the whole unit receives no air supply. This prohibition does not hold true for different units in the same stack. There, the German may supply one and let the other(s) go unsupplied.

It is permitted to air supply Axis Satellite units.

Supplied-by-air units operate in all ways like fully supplied units during the turn(s) on which such supply is provided.

No actual unit counters are provided for air supply.

7.37 Experienced players note: Unlike some other games with multi-step units, being out of supply or in attenuated supply in this game does not cause a withering away of a unit's step value. The strength penalties involved are assessed from the unit as it sits. For example, a German 16-20-6 unit, worth 4 steps, and with an OOS-5 counter atop it, is not reduced even one step. If attacked, however, the Soviet player would figure its defense strength as "10," but he'd still have to inflict 4 steps of combat damage to destroy the unit.

7.38 As further clarification to rule 7.21 — In order to function as supply sources for combat units, the Soviet 0-0-1 supply units must themselves be able to trace supply lines (of any length) to any Soviet controlled hex on the board's north, east, or south edges. These supply lines to the 0-0-1 units are traced under the same restrictions as the supply lines from the 0-0-1s to combat units — with the sole important exception that a 0-0-1's line may be of any length.

Thus, if a 0-0-1 is itself cut off from supply, during the Initial Supply Phase it is picked up and moved eastward into the first Soviet controlled hex wherein it again could trace a supply line to a friendly north, east, or south board edge hex. Also, as given in rule 7.8, Soviet combat units can themselves trace their supply lines directly off the north, south, and east board edges.

7.39 It should be understood that the act of providing supply to combat units does not in any way use up or consume the 0-0-1 Soviet supply units. Their logistic capabilities are infinite, and they never leave the map unless pushed off the board edge by advancing German/Axis units (a pretty rare case). And in such cases, the pushed-off 0-0-1s could then re-enter the map as soon as their exit hex was again brought under Soviet control. The Soviet player may not voluntarily move his supply units off the map.

7.40 As final clarification to rule 7.8: All Soviet controlled north, south, and east board edge hexes function as Soviet supply sources for Soviet combat units, just as if there were an immobile 0-0-1 parked off of each one all the time. The entry hex for all such off-board supply must be Soviet controlled.

8.0 Air Power

8.1 During the Air Power Phase of each game turn, both players must commit all of their available tactical air support counters to particular units or stacks. (On turn one there is no German air power available, therefore the Soviet should simply place his air units where desired before rolling for combat.)

8.2 This is done by each player placing one counter at a time, German always first, until all air counters are committed. The counters are placed atop the unit or stack of units the owning player wants to "support."

As the game progresses, and the many German air unit reinforcements begin to arrive, the Soviet, naturally, will run out of air units to place before his opponent does. At that point the German simply finishes placing his remaining units.

8.3 The Germans may never have more than four air units in any one hex; the Soviets may never have more than two.

8.4 Once an air unit is committed to support a given unit or stack, it must remain with it until the next Air Power Phase, when all air units are picked up and the commitment process is begun again. Should the ground unit or stack supported be completely destroyed before then, just set the air unit(s) aside until the next turn. Air units are never destroyed, nor can they in any way be given up to satisfy combat result step losses.

8.5 If a stack of air-supported units splits up during movement, retreats or advances-after-combat, the owning player may then split up his air support units, too. If the air unit(s) was originally committed to a single ground unit, however, it must remain with that same unit until the next Air Power Phase. (If other unsupported units move into a hex with supported units, those new units do then receive the support benefits.)

8.6 Axis Satellite units may not have air support assigned to them. If stacked with a supported German unit, though, the satellite unit would then, of course, get the support benefit.

8.7 When an attacking force has air support, the general rule is each air unit increases the defender's numeric combat result by one. When a defending force has air support, the general rule is each air unit decreases the defender's numeric combat result by one.

8.8 Opposing air units cancel each other out. Thus attacking force with one air unit versus a defending force with one air unit would have no change due to air power to the defender's combat result.

8.9 No matter how many air units either side has present in any one battle, after all combat-modifier cancel-outs have been made, the defender's combat result may never be raised or lowered more than two by air power.

For example, say in one battle the German attackers had four air units present in support. Say the Soviet defenders had only one air unit present. One of the German air units cancels out the effect of the one Soviet air unit. That leaves the German with three air units remaining. From them, however, he can only get a "2" increase in the defender's combat result. The third air unit present is simply wasted in that battle and has no effect at all.

8.10 The supply states (OOS and AS) of ground units have no bearing on their ability to receive air support.

8.11 For a German unit to receive air support, there must be a German/Axis controlled town or city within 10 hexes of it. (When counting the range, don't count the town or city hex; do count the hex the unit is in.) The supply status of the town or city hex is also irrelevant.

For a Soviet unit to receive air support, there must be a 0-0-1 supply unit within 10 hexes.

8.12 If, during the course of a game turn, something happens to put supported units previously within that 10 hex range suddenly out of range, the air support counters are instantly removed from the unit or stack and set aside until the next Air Power Phase.

8.13 Unlike ground unit reinforcements, German air unit reinforcements arrive at the very start of the turn's Air Power Phase. Newly arriving air units are thus available for immediate commitment that turn.

8.14 Air Support may be used on both sides for both Mobile and Prepared Assaults. And unlike some games wherein air units perform just one mission per turn, here air units remain with the stack or unit they are supporting throughout the whole game turn, and take part in every offensive and defensive action the ground units become involved in.

8.15 Both sides may assign air support to newly arriving ground reinforcements by placing the desired air unit(s) atop the railroad city or town or 0-0-1 supply unit or board edge hex through which the new ground reinforcements will be arriving in the next phase. The placing player should state his intentions when doing the placing.

If for any reason, the planned-on ground reinforcement unit does not then get entered into play via the hex where the air unit is waiting for it, that air unit is wasted for the turn. Pick it up and set it aside until the next Air Power Phase.

8.16 Soviet 0-0-1 supply units sitting alone in a hex may not have air units assigned to them except within the parameters of the above case.

9.0 Reinforcements and Replacements

9.1 Both sides receive new units as reinforcements when specified on the Turn Record Chart. Replenishment of weakened units already on the board or in the deadpile is accomplished with the use of replacement steps. Reinforcements are received before replacements are taken.

9.2 Soviet reinforcement units may enter play via any Soviet controlled north, east, or south board edge hex. Such units count their entry hex as hex "one" of their movement, and any number of available reinforcements may enter through the same or different edge hexes.

9.3 Alternately, Soviet reinforcements may enter play by being placed atop any 0-0-1 supply unit. They must observe stacking limits when being placed, but the placement hex itself does not count against their movement allowance for the turn.

9.4 The only exceptions to 9.3 above occur on turns 8 (FEB I) and 11 (MAR I). On turn 8, the Soviet receives the 69th Army; it may only enter play via a Soviet-controlled north edge hex. On turn 11, the Soviet receives the 48th Army. It, too, may only use Soviet controlled north edge map hexes for entry.

Those prohibitions remain in effect even if the Soviet player delays the units' turns of entry.

9.5 On turn seven, the Soviet receives a 0-0-1 supply unit as a reinforcement. This unit may appear in any intact Soviet entrenchment hex or Soviet controlled town or city hex. The placement hex must already have a 0-0-1 style supply line open to a north, east or south board edge at the instant of placement. The 0-0-1 can move on the turn of placement.

This 0-0-1 unit should be placed by the Soviet at the very start of turn seven's Initial Supply Phase. It is allowed to take part in the supply check process that very same turn.

9.6 German air unit reinforcements appear off board at the start of that turn's Air Power Phase. They are available for support commitment that same turn.

9.7 During this campaign, the Germans first displayed an ability that would serve them well (though ultimately fruitlessly) throughout the rest of the strategic crises of the war. They pinned together a new front by scraping up remnant units from the recent combat debacles (including satellite troops), threw in whatever rear-area troops were handy, and placed them under the temporary command of likewise disparate headquarters.

These new formations led checkered careers. Intended as high level headquarters (operating between corps and full-army status), these "Army Detachments" or "Staffs" or "Groups" were often forced by the extreme circumstances surrounding their creation to serve directly in operational roles along the front. Thus, for example, 30th Corps headquarters was the organizational nucleus for Army Detachment Fretter-Pico. Later, the corps was again properly filled out and played an important role in the final German counter offensive of this campaign. Meanwhile, the Fretter-Pico headquarters itself had been better staffed and went on to carry out the higher level functions originally intended for it.

9.8 The ad hoc German composite units represented in Fortress Stalingrad are: Army Detachments Fretter-Pico, Hollidt, and Lanz/Kempf, Group Mieth, and Staff Foerster.

9.9 When these units are called on to appear as reinforcements, they may only appear in a German controlled and in-supply town or city hex. No more than one may appear from the same hex on any given turn.

Other than this placement restriction, these units function in all ways as normal German straight-leg outfits. They may receive replacements and even be recreated from the deadpile (but, again, under the same placement restrictions as originally), if not destroyed in an OOS state.

9.10 When Manstein appears as a reinforcement during the Reinforcement and Replacement Phase of German turn two, the counter should be kept off the map until committed as described in rule 11.16.

9.11 Other German reinforcements may enter the board from any west edge hex, under the same restrictions as given for Soviet edge-entering units in 9.2.

9.12 Alternately, German reinforcements (other than units specifically restricted in the above cases) may appear in any functioning German supply source hex (that is, in a "Railroad Town" or "Railroad City"), under the same provisions as outlined for Soviet placement atop 0-0-1s in rule 9.3.

(Though Panzer Korps "Raus" was indeed an ad hoc unit, it is not entered like the units described in 9.9 above. It enters like a normal German combat ground unit described in these two rules — 9.11 and 9.12.)

9.13 Reinforcement units of both sides are always considered to be automatically fully supplied throughout the game turn of their entry into play.

9.14 Both players may voluntarily delay the entry of any reinforcements from turn to turn. Though, when they are finally entered, they still must be brought in during the proper phase of a given turn.

9.15 Both sides receive replenishment for weakened units already in play or in the deadpile. This replenishment arrives in the form of "replacement steps," and are not actually represented by counters in the game.

9.16 Replacements begin arriving during each sides' own Reinforcement and Replacement Phase on turn two. Replacement steps may not be accumulated; if they are not immediately integrated into existing units, they are lost. The one-step German units (0-3-0 garrisons, 503rd/65th Pz. Bn., 9th FLAK Div.) may never be replaced if once destroyed. Likewise, Axis Satellite units may never be replaced. All other ground combat units, from both sides, are eligible to receive replacements, both as on-board replenishment and to be totally recreated from the deadpile.

9.17 From turns two through five, inclusive, the Soviets receive one mechanized and two straight-leg replacement steps each turn. The straight-leg steps may only be used to replenish or recreate straight-leg units. The mechanized step may be used for either class of unit; however, if it is used as a supplemental straight-leg step, it is absorbed into its host unit as just that — a non-mechanized replacement.

9.18 Each replacement step raises the combat step value of the receiving unit by one step. For instance, say the Soviet 28th Army was on the board at its one-step (4-5-5) strength. By absorbing one replacement step, the unit could be flipped over to its two-step (7-9-5) side.

There is no limit, beyond simple replacement availability, to the number of replacement steps any given unit may absorb on one turn or throughout the course of the game.

9.19 Units of both sides that are recreated from the deadpile re-enter the game under the same strictures as those that applied for their class of unit when they entered play originally. (With the sole exception that recreated Soviet 48th and 69th Army units would not be required to use only north edge hexes again.) Recreated units that started the game already in play, would re-enter in any fashion described as legal for that kind of unit in the earlier rules of this section.

9.20 Soviet units on board in supply state AS>3 may not receive replacements while in that state. Otherwise, the supply state of Soviet units has no bearing on their ability to absorb replacements on the board, other than that they must have a legal overland supply line open to them at the instant the replacements are received. (The just-integrated replacement steps immediately assume the supply state of the new host unit.)

Likewise, the supply state of Soviet units totally destroyed has no bearing on the Soviet ability to use replacements to recreate such units from the deadpile.

9.21 On turn six, the Soviet replacement rate is permanently decreased to one mechanized and one straight-leg step per turn. The mechanized/straight-leg substitution scheme given in 9.17 is still available after turn six.

9.22 Starting with turn two, the Germans receive one mechanized and one straight-leg step each game turn. The German player may also make the mechanized-for-straight-leg step substitution described in 9.17. The only interruption to this schedule occurs when the Soviet first captures or puts out of overland supply the Millerovo hex (3316).

The main German armored vehicle repair facility for the entire theater was located there, and the local German commander idiotically sent his technician specialists off to fight when the front first approached. Therefore, on the first two German Reinforcement and Replacement Phases occurring after Millerovo's capture or isolation, the German receives no mechanized replacements. (A new repair shop was reorganized and relocated farther west three weeks later.) There is a wrench-repair symbol printed in the Millerovo hex as a reminder of this rule.

9.23 Unlike the Soviet, the German does not have the ability to recreate units destroyed while out of supply. Further, for German dead to qualify for replacement-recreation, their supply line must have been an overland one only, and open at the very instant of their destruction.

9.24 Units of either side that receive replacements on a given turn may continue to function normally in all ways during that and subsequent turns. Likewise, all newly arriving units also come on board with the full powers of their unit type instantly available for use.

9.25 In actuality, by trimming replacements sent to other sectors of the front, the Soviets could have increased their commitment to the units around Stalingrad. There were Soviet offensives also being pushed in those other sectors, however, so the STAVKA was loathe to simply shut them off from support for no reason. Hence, the Soviet player may only receive enhanced replacements if the German provokes a strategic reassessment by making trans-Don or trans-Volga penetrations.

That is, if any German/Axis unit crosses to the east bank of the Don River anywhere on or north of the 36xx hex row, or crosses to the east bank of the Volga, the Soviet replacement rate(s) is doubled for the remainder of the game.

Though the Don doesn't flow past 3626 and 3627, if a German/Axis unit enters either of those two hexes, the Don is still considered to have been crossed.

Up at Voronezh, hexes 4812, 4813, 4712, and 4612 are not considered trans-Don hexes. That is, German/Axis units may operate in those four hexes without triggering the penalty described above.

The Soviet replacement rate still goes through its turn six reduction if the German triggers the penalty discussed in this rules case. (But, of course, that reduced rate would still be taken at its double rate.) And this replacement enhancement does not end once the triggering German/Axis unit(s) are back across the river; it remains in effect throughout the rest of play if once triggered.

10.0 Movement, Terrain and Mobile Assaults

10.1 Every ground unit in the game has a "movement factor" printed as the rightmost numeral along its bottom edge. This represents the maximum number of hexes the unit may move into in a single movement phase.

During his own Movement Phase, a player may move some, all, or none of his units within the restrictions given in this section. A player is never forced to move any of his units.

10.2 Both players move only their own units during the Movement Phase of their own player-turns.

10.3 Friendly units may enter and pass through each others' hexes freely, as long as stacking limitations are observed at the times specified in rules 6.6 and 6.7. There is no limit to the number of units that may enter and pass through any given hex during any turn.

10.4 Moving units may never enter hexes occupied by enemy units unless it is to conduct a Mobile Assault (MA) — See 10.34 below. (Editor's note: the printed cross-reference reads 10.34; the Mobile Assault rules are at 10.38.) Likewise, moving German/Axis units may never enter a hex containing intact Soviet entrenchments unless it is to conduct a mobile assault there.

10.5 The various kinds of terrain on the board are grouped into two broad categories: "Natural" and "Manmade."

Natural terrain consists of clear, broken, woods, marsh, desert-steppe, mountains, and minor and major rivers. Rivers are drawn on the map so as to flow along the hexsides between hexes; all other terrain exists within the hexes themselves. There is never more than one kind of natural terrain in any one hex.

Manmade terrain consists of towns, cities, entrenchments, and railroads. Manmade terrain exists in hexes in addition to the natural terrain located there.

10.6 Each kind of natural terrain carries a movement factor cost for units entering that hex (or, in the case of rivers, crossing that hexside). These movement costs are all cumulative, and — with just one important exception, see 10.7 below — no unit may move into a hex unless it has enough unused movement points remaining in its movement allowance for that turn to allow it to pay all costs involved.

10.7 The Soviet 0-0-1 supply units are always guaranteed the ability to move one land hex. Further, each game turn the Soviet may choose to move any one of his supply units two land hexes — again, with no regard to actual terrain costs.

10.8 No game actions take place in the all-sea hexes of the Black Seas and Sea of Azov. It is, however, permitted to trace the 10-hex air support range across all-sea hexsides.

10.9 No ground unit in the game may ever move across all-sea hexsides, with the sole important exception of those at the Kerch Straits. There, units may move across any of the hexsides at the cost of 50 percent of their printed movement factor. If a moving unit no longer has that amount left in its movement factor when it reaches the Straits, it may not cross that turn.

No MAs or retreats-after-combat may ever be conducted across the Straits. Prepared Assaults (PAs) may be conducted across the Straits, and victorious attackers may advance-after-combat across them, provided the actual crossing is the first hex of the advance.

Units making PAs across the Straits lose 50 percent of their printed attack strength for doing so. (Always round decimal or fractional remainders up.)

10.10 In addition to the various costs for moving into them (or across them, in the case of rivers), terrain also affects combat. Only terrain in the hex occupied by the defending unit(s) has a bearing on combat; the terrain in the attacker's hex(es) has no effect. (With one exception, see 10.15 below.)

10.11 Clear terrain hexes cost one movement point to enter and have no special effects on battles fought there.

10.12 Broken terrain costs straight-leg units only one movement point per hex, just as clear terrain. Mechanized units must pay two movement points per broken hex entered. Units defending in broken terrain have their numeric combat result reduced by one.

10.13 Woods hexes cost one point for straight-leg and two points for mechanized. Units defending in woods hexes have their combat result decreased by one. Further, mechanized units making MAs or PAs into wood hexes lose 10 percent of their attack strength.

10.14 Marsh hexes cost one point for straight-leg and two points for mechanized. Mechanized units making MAs or PAs into marsh hexes lose 10 percent of their attack strength. (There is no combat result decrease as for woods.)

10.15 Desert-Steppe hexes cost all units only one point to move into. All units attacking into or out of such hexes lose 50 percent of their attack strength.

10.16 Mountain hexes cost Mountain-Infantry units two points per hex; other straight-leg units pay three points, and mechanized units pay four per hex. Mountain-Infantry can attack into mountains with no penalty; other straight-leg units lose 25 percent of their attack strength when attacking into mountains. Mechanized units lose 50 percent of their attack strength and may not conduct mobile assaults into such hexes.

10.17 Rivers run between hexes along hexsides, and the one point cost for crossing a major river is in addition to the movement point cost paid for entering the hex crossed into. Crossing a minor river carries no movement penalty.

10.18 Units making MAs or PAs across minor rivers lose 10 percent of their attack strength; those attacking across major rivers lose 20 percent.

10.19 At the start of the campaign, the Volga River was not yet frozen solid and was filled with huge, grinding, blocks of pack and drift ice. For strategic military purposes, this temporarily rendered the river almost totally uncrossable. Accordingly, throughout game turns one and two no unit may move or attack across any Volga river hexside in any way. (Supply lines may be traced across.)

There is only one potentially important exception to this. During turns one and two, should hex 3427 become empty, the Soviet 62nd Army may slide across from hex 3428 and occupy 3427. In that case, the 62nd may not move any farther that turn, though it could PA and retreat-after-combat back across the river if necessary.

After game turn two, treat the Volga like any other major river.

10.20 Manmade terrain (towns, cities, railroads, entrenchments) exists in hexes in addition to the natural terrain found there. Manmade terrain never carries any movement costs beyond those paid for the natural terrain in the hex. Manmade terrain's combat effects accrue in addition to those of the natural terrain in the same hex. (For instance, a unit defending in a broken terrain hex with a town in it would have its combat result decreased by two — one for the broken terrain and one for the town.)

10.21 Railroads are significant only for German supply and reinforcement; they carry no extraordinary movement costs or combat effects at all. See rule 7.25.

10.22 Units defending in hexes with towns in them have their combat result reduced by one.

10.23 Cities: all units — except 0-3-0 garrisons — have their defense factor doubled when defending in city hexes. Mechanized units attacking into (MA or PA) cities lose 25 percent of their attack strength. Units attacking into city hexes have their attacker combat result increased by one.

10.24 Stalingrad is the only two-hex city on the map. Both hexes of it are capable of functioning independently as German supply sources when the connecting railroad is all German controlled. For victory point purposes, the Soviets must control both hexes of the city before they may claim the points.

10.25 On the northern portion of the map, the frontlines had been stabilized for almost three months by the time this campaign started. Naturally, both armies had done considerable digging in order to improve their positions as much as possible. The Soviets, of course, were, by this time and in this place, much better supplied with engineering tools, materials, and auxiliary troops. Hence, they got better results.

10.26 At the start of play, all entrenchments on the map, for both sides, are fully functional and are therefore said to be "intact." Once an enemy ground unit actually enters a friendly entrenchment hex, those entrenchments are said to be "wrecked," and for the rest of the game the hex is treated as if there were no entrenchments there at all. And that holds true even if the wrecked hex is retaken by the original owner.

No new entrenchments may be built during the course of a game.

10.27 Neither sides' units are allowed to make the EZOC-to-EZOC infiltration movement described in rule 5.8 if the hex they are attempting to infiltrate into is an intact enemy entrenchment hex.

10.28 Units defending in hexes containing intact friendly entrenchments have their combat result reduced by one.

10.29 Soviet entrenchments (only) also have an intrinsic defense factor of one in them, but only when the hex is empty of all other Soviet combat units.

This intrinsic defense factor exerts no ZOCs, nor does it nullify EZOCs projected into its hex. It cannot attack, retreat, or advance, and is destroyed when any positive combat result is scored against it. (Though if the German/Axis attackers then failed to follow up by advancing into the hex, and thus wrecking the entrenchments, the factor would return at the start of the next game turn.)

The intrinsic defense factor is completely absent anytime a Soviet unit with a positive defense factor is in the hex. The intrinsic factors need supply just like regular Soviet units.

10.30 German/Axis units retreating-after-combat may not enter intact Soviet entrenchments. German/Axis units advancing after combat may not enter intact Soviet entrenchments unless that hex is the very first hex of the advance.

Soviet units may freely retreat and advance through intact German entrenchments.

10.31 German/Axis units may conduct MAs and PAs against unoccupied and intact Soviet entrenchments just as if the intrinsic defense factor were a Soviet unit. All terrain effects still are taken into account.

10.32 The checkered line that runs across a portion of the map between hexes 2212 and 1228 is called the "Weather Line." South of that line the winter weather during the campaign was broken by numerous intermittent thaws. These thaws were disruptive enough to hamper both sides' tactical deployments. Accordingly, anytime any units attack into a hex south of the Weather Line, the defending units have their combat result reduced by one. This is in addition to terrain effects.

10.33 When deducting combat strength from units because of terrain penalties, all the penalties should first be added together, and then one grand subtraction made. For example, a mechanized unit attacking across a major river into a woods hex would lose 10 percent of its attack strength for the woods and 20 percent for the major river. Add those two percentage penalties together, to get a total of 30 percent of the attacking mechanized unit's strength, then make just one subtraction.

10.34 All movement is done stack-by-stack. The movement of one stack (or individual unit starting alone in a hex) must be completed before that of another may be begun. A player may only go back and readjust the movement of his already-moved stacks if his opponent agrees to allow it.

10.35 In order to move together during a turn, units must start the Movement Phase piled together in the same hex. Such piles are called "stacks."

10.36 Sometimes, however, when moving a stack, the owning player may wish to split some of the units off and have them move away on their own course. The units left behind in the original "parent" stack may then resume their own movement, even splitting off more substacks if so desired.

10.37 Once a player has begun moving an entirely different parent stack, however, he may then no longer go back and move earlier stacks without first obtaining his opponent's permission to do so.

10.38 Mechanized units may carry out a kind of attack-while-moving. These are called "Mobile Assaults" (MAs). They are conducted by actually entering a hex containing enemy units, at three times the normal entry cost for the kind of terrain in the assaulted hex. (River crossing costs are not tripled.)

10.39 The mobile assaulting player must observe stacking limits in the hex from which he is launching his mobile assault. For example, say the Soviet had two units sitting in a hex next to some German units that he wanted to MA with other, moving, Soviet units. It would be impossible for the Soviet to launch his moving force into the MA from the hex containing the other two Soviet units. (Of course, the problem could be solved by moving the surplus stack of units away before beginning the movement of the stack that will conduct the MA.)

10.40 Unlike many other wargames, there is no inherent combat penalty involved in conducting MAs — units pay only the tripled movement cost.

10.41 In order to MA together, mechanized units must start the Movement Phase stacked together. Air units may be used to assist with and defend against MAs.

10.42 Mobile Assaulting units are free to continue launching as many MAs as they wish, into as many different hexes as they wish, as long as they have sufficient movement points remaining and absorb all combat results as step losses.

10.43 Should any mobile assaulting units absorb one factor of their combat result as a retreat, their move for that turn ends in the last hex of that retreat.

10.44 No MAs are allowed into mountain hexes or across the Kerch Straits.

10.45 The MA is considered to be taking place in the hex in which the defending units are sitting. The stacking limits of the two sides within that hex are mutually exclusive and do not affect each other in any way.

10.46 The defensive value of the terrain in the defender's hex, plus that of any rivers along the moved-through hexside, must be taken into account when launching MAs.

10.47 If the mobile assaulting units retreat-after-combat to absorb some or all of their combat result, place them back in their launch hex, and then figure their retreat from that hex.

10.48 There is no automatically available advance-after-combat in MAs, as there is for PAs. If the mobile assaulting units succeed in destroying or driving the defenders from their hex, the victors are then free to keep moving and mobile assaulting, out to the limits of their movement factor. (And even if the defenders had not been destroyed or retreated, provided only that the attackers had not retreated, they could still go on launching MAs and/or moving.)

10.49 Since MAs are conducted against only one hex at a time, the "Concentric Attack" combat bonus is never available for them. (See next section.)

10.50 At the time/space scale used in this game, fog-of-war rules would not serve to enhance strategic realism. The part of this campaign involving subterfuge ended as the game begins. Accordingly, both players are always free to examine each others' stacks during play.

11.0 Prepared Assaults and Combat Results

11.1 Regular combat (that is, Prepared Assaults), takes place after movement during the Prepared Assault Phase. Prepared Assaults are only ever possible between adjacent opposing units. Units are never forced to attack, however, simply because they are adjacent to enemy units; combat is always voluntary.

11.2 In any Prepared Assault Phase, the player whose turn it is is considered the attacker, and the other player the defender, no matter what the overall strategic situation.

11.3 To resolve a battle, start by adding up the (possibly reduced) attack factors of all units making the assault; then add up the defense factors of all enemy units receiving the assault. Divide the defenders' total strength into the attackers' total strength to obtain an odds ratio. Always round off remainders in favor of the defender. (Example: 26 attack factors versus 8 defense factors yields an odds ratio of 3-1.)

11.4 Next look at the Combat Results Table and look across its top line to find the odds column corresponding to the odds ratio for the battle you just figured out. Roll the die and find that result under your odds column heading. Apply the result immediately before going on to resolve any other battles. (Example: using the 3-1 odds obtained in the above example, a roll on the die of "3" would in this case yield the combat result of 1 and 2.)

11.5 There is no limit to the number of prepared assaults a player may make in any given Prepared Assault Phase. A defending unit(s) may be attacked by units in any or all of the six surrounding hexes. But no unit may attack more than once in a single Prepared Assault Phase, and no enemy unit may be attacked more than once per Prepared Assault Phase.

The attacker may resolve his battles in any order he wishes, and he is not required to declare all of them before he begins resolving them.

11.6 Units in two or more hexes may combine their attack factors and all launch a prepared assault into a single hex. Defending units stacked in a single hex may not be attacked separately; they may only be assaulted as if they were one large unit. (That last is true for both PAs and MAs.)

11.7 Prepared assaults may involve any number of attacking and defending units in different adjacent hexes. For prepared assaults to be resolved as a single battle, all the assaulting units must be adjacent to all the defending units.

11.8 In cases where the phasing player has a stack of units, not all those units must assault into the same hex. Some might assault into different hexes or simply not assault at all.

11.9 Attack and defense factors are always indivisible. A unit's strength may never be divided among different battles, either on attack or defense.

11.10 When calculating battle odds, if a ratio is obtained that is higher or lower than the most extreme ratios shown on the odds chart (1-3 and 8-1), use that extreme high or low column to resolve the battle.

11.11 The odds chart results are read as step losses or hexes retreated or any combination thereof. One hex retreated by all involved units in a battle nullifies one increment of a combat result. One step loss suffered by just one of the units involved also does so. For example, in absorbing a combat result of "3," a defending player might choose to absorb three step losses from one or a combination of his involved units, thus having the survivors retain control of the battle hex for him. Or he might have one unit absorb one step loss, then retreat all his units in the battle (including the one that just absorbed the step loss) two hexes. Or he might have one of his units absorb two steps, then retreat all one hex. Or he could simply retreat all his units three hexes.

11.12 Terrain effects on combat are partially registered by raising or lowering the numeric results obtained by rolling the die and consulting the odds chart. (They are also registered by lowering attack factors.) For example, at 3-1 odds, a die roll of "1" against a unit defending in "broken" terrain would yield a modified combat result of 0/2.

The number in the left of the box on the Combat Results Table applies to the attacker, on the right to the defender. In this case, the defender receives only a "2" because the effect of the broken terrain on the battle was to decrease the odds chart's printed result (here, a "3") by one.

A result of "Dx" means the defending units, no matter how many steps they contain, are totally destroyed in-place and removed from the board.

11.13 In addition to manmade and natural terrain and supply, other things, called collectively "combat modifiers," may effect combat results. The effects of all combat modifiers are cumulative. The following 12 rules cases (11.14 through 11.26) list and explain these modifiers.

11.14 TOAST: This is an acronym meaning "Tactically Overwhelmed Axis Satellite Troops." Any Axis Satellite unit(s) not stacked with a German unit is automatically destroyed when attacked if it receives a combat result greater than the total step value in that defender's hex. This is true in PAs as well as MAs.

For example, say two Romanian units are stacked together (total step value of two). The Soviet attacks them and they receive a final modified combat result of "3." The two Romanians are automatically destroyed (Dx-ed).

11.15 Further, anytime Soviet units attack a stack containing only Axis Satellite troops (or one lone satellite unit), the Soviet attacker's combat result is reduced by one.

11.16 Manstein: Once each game turn, starting with the turn of his arrival, Field Marshal Manstein may give his personal attention to one battle. This results in a one-column odds shift in favor of the German attackers or defenders. Manstein may be used in any one PA or MA situation per game turn, but there must be at least one overland-supplied German unit in the battle for him to participate.

Manstein is committed just an instant before the combat resolution die is rolled — thus he can convert an 8-1+ to a 7-1 no matter how high the odds were to earn the Dx column originally.

Once Manstein is committed on any given turn, set the counter aside until the start of the next game turn, when it may be used again.

11.17 Concentric Prepared Assault: If a hex of defenders is attacked from two opposite hexes, or from three hexes with empty hexes between each, or from more than three hexes, the prepared assault is said to be "concentric." This raises the defender's combat result by one. (In the case of a three-hex assault, the "empty" hexes need not actually be empty, it's simply an expression to show that the attackers are in a triangular formation around the defender's hex. Nor does the presence of another unit friendly to the defender in a hex adjacent to the one being assaulted in any way serve to negate the concentricity of the assault.)

11.18 Soviet Amphibious Assault: Once or possibly twice during the game, when launching a PA against any German/Axis units defending on a Black Sea coastal hex, the Soviet may call for the assistance of his amphibious landing forces.

There is a counter provided for this. The result is, for that one attack on the coast, the weather modifier is canceled, and the enemy unit receiving the attack may not retreat to satisfy any portion of that battle's combat result.

If the Soviet captures Novorossisk, the turn after he is awarded another amphibious assault. This has the same no-retreat effect as the first invasion, but the combat modifier here is a "+2."

If the Soviet still has not launched his +1 amphibious assault when Novorossisk falls, he still does have it available for use along with the +2 attack. Both, however, may not be launched on the same turn, and the +1 must be used before the +2 is used.

11.19 The Soviet High Command (STAVKA) made over 200 independent artillery battalions available to bolster their armies in this campaign. STAVKA was still loathe to completely trust its local commanders with such important reserves, however, and so maintained tight control over the guns' and rockets' tactical deployments. This resulted in some loss of efficiency, but did ensure the valuable units were not lost to a surprise German counterattacks.

11.20 From the start of the game, the Soviet has two "Katyusha" artillery pieces available. At the start of each of his Prepared Assault Phases, he may place these units, no more than one per hex, atop any Soviet ground combat unit that did not move in the preceding Soviet Movement Phase and is still in full supply or >1 AS or >2 AS at that instant. There must be an open/overland supply line at the instant of placement.

The Katyushas' effect is to double the attack factor of the unit it is placed atop. If there is more than one unit in the placement hex, only the one directly under the Katyushas is doubled.

As soon as the PA is resolved, remove the rockets until the next Soviet Prepared Assault Phase: Katyushas are not available to aid the Soviet defensively, nor can they assist with his MAs.

11.21 503rd/65th Pz. Bn.: When this unit is stacked with a German Panzer Corps (of any step strength), and that stack makes an MA or PA, the Soviet defenders have their combat result increased by one.

It doesn't matter if there are other German/Axis units in the hex with the 503rd/65th and its adopted Panzer Corps, the combat enhancement is still achieved.

The enhancement effect is lost, however, if the 503rd/65th or its adopted Panzer Corps is in supply state 4, 5, or 6.

The 503rd/65th does count as one full combat step for loss purposes. When not stacked with a Panzer Corps, the 503rd/65th only uses its regular attack and defense factors and no enhancement effect is possible.

11.22 9th FLAK Div.: When this unit is stacked with any other German unit, and that stack is attacked in any way by the Soviets, the Soviet attackers' combat result is increased by one. This combat enhancement is not possible, however, if the 9th is in supply state 4, 5, or 6. (The presence of satellite troops in the hex with the 9th and its adopted German unit does not serve to take away the enhancement.)

The 9th does count as one full combat step for loss purposes. When not stacked with a German unit, the 9th only uses its regular attack and defense factors and no enhancement effect is possible.

11.23 Air power is a combat modifier just like those described above. It is more fully explained in rules section 8. Air power should always be the last combat modifier applied (except for Manstein, if he's making his appearance).

11.24 The effect of these combat modifiers is cumulative. That is, say a fully supplied German Panzer Corps, along with one air power unit and the 503rd/65th Pz. Bn., were making a MA against a Soviet stack with two air units in support.

One defending Soviet air unit cancels out the German air unit. The other Soviet air unit then nullifies the effect of the 503rd/65th Pz. Bn. upon the Soviet defenders' combat result.

Historic Note: Tiger tanks, the first of the new German "Heavies," made their debut in this campaign. Though none of the series of these new tanks would ever live up to Hitler's initial estimation of "one battalion having the striking power of an entire panzer division," they were still formidable weapons and had definite tactical and psychological effects in these battles.

Pinning down the exact organizational structure the Germans used to enter these behemoths into the war is not easy.

John Erikson, in his excellent study The Road to Berlin, who writes mostly from Soviet sources and viewpoints, claims they fought (as the 503rd/65th Panzer Battalion) as early as 17 December along the Myshkova River. Bryan Perrett, however, in his Knights of the Black Cross, says they didn't enter the fighting until 25 January, and then did so under the organization of the 503rd. Likewise, Manstein claims in his memoirs he was still awaiting the Tigers' arrival on 23 December.

It's possible, then, the unit the Soviets identified on the Myshkova was actually not an independent battalion, but rather a 15-tank Tiger company attached directly to a panzer division.

Trying to peer through the fog-of-war is not easy here, but what I think really surrounds this unit is the European Theater's first recorded case of "Tiger Scare." That's a phenomenon the western Allies would come to know well in later campaigns, when virtually any unit encountering German armor for the first time would terrifiedly report "Tigers!"

Likewise, on the German side there appears to have been a concomitant phenomenon tied to the entry of these tanks which we might call "Tiger Energization." It seems often just a few of these vehicles, entered into a bad situation, could bring about a local rally of German troops, thus lending them a combat power far beyond their objective characteristics. (Hence the rules for them in this game.)

At any rate, those wishing the ultimate psychological reality concerning Tigers (and you should want that, really) should use the following procedure for entering the 503rd/65th. On turn 3 the German rolls a die; if the result is a "1", he gets the Tigers that turn. On turn 4 a "1" or "2" enters them, on turn 5 a "1", "2" or "3" will do it, and on turn 6 it comes on automatically if it hasn't done so already.

(Further, the German should refer to the unit as the "503rd," and the Soviet player should speak of it as the "65th.") (And you thought game design was easy!)

The 9th FLAK Division was really nothing special as German FLAK units went, but its trained artillerists and prime movers came to be of invaluable use in the pocket as von Paulus's sole approximation of an artillery reserve.

11.25 When setting up battles, first figure supply effects, then terrain effects, then determine combat odds. Then figure the appropriate combat result modifiers (air last), allow for Manstein to participate, then roll the die.

11.26 Both sides retreat their own units. Retreats are made in as straight a hex path as possible in any direction away from the battle hex (the defender's hex). Where more than one path is available, the owning player may choose his route. No hex of the retreat path may be passed through more than once.

11.27 Units may not retreat through hexes containing EZOCs unless those EZOCs are "negated" by the presence of a friendly unit already in that same EZOC hex. Intact entrenchments do not negate EZOCs.

11.28 Units stacked together must retreat together if at all possible, splitting up only if stacking restrictions come into play in the last hex of their retreat. And, again, keep the split-up distance to the minimum necessary to allow for legal stacking.

11.29 No defending units may ever retreat more than four hexes. Should a combat result be raised by modifiers to greater than four, the affected units must absorb that surplus as step losses.

11.30 Attacking units may never retreat more than one hex. Any result surplus must be absorbed as step losses. This is true in both MAs and PAs.

11.31 In a prepared assault, if the attacker clears the defender's hex of all enemy units, he may advance his victorious units in a process called "advance-after-combat."

As a general rule, the victors may advance as many hexes as the defenders just retreated. The first hex of the advance must be the defender's just-vacated hex, but after that the attackers may split up and veer off in any directions. Advancing units may ignore all EZOCs during their advance.

Mechanized Soviet and German advance-after-combat up to four hexes. Straight-leg Soviet and German units may advance-after-combat up to two hexes. Axis Satellite units of both categories may never advance-after-combat more than one hex.

11.32 If the defending units in a prepared assault were totally destroyed (either by a regular Dx result or for any other reason), the victors may advance-after-combat out to the maximum number of hexes allowed for their unit type.

Victorious defending units (those that achieve a combat result that pushes their attackers back out of their original launch hex) may never do more than occupy the defeated attackers' hex. (This is true when defending against both MAs and PAs.)

11.33 In battles where units are to absorb their combat result by a combination step loss and retreat, the step loss is always absorbed first, then the retreat is made.

The defender always absorbs his combat result in a given battle before the attacker absorbs his.

Prepared assaults may be fought in any order the attacking player desires; he does not have to declare his attacks or the order of their resolution beforehand.

11.34 Should some defenders retreat from an enemy prepared assault, and end up stacked with other friendly units, and that new stack then comes under attack, the just-retreated units contribute nothing to the defense of their new hex. Further, if the new stack suffers any combat result above zero, the new arrivals are all automatically destroyed, and their destruction does not satisfy any of the new hex's combat result.

11.35 Units are not allowed to retreat off the map in any way.

12.0 Other Special Units

12.1 The Soviet 28th Army starts the game off-board. (It was guarding the approaches to the mouth of the Volga River.) During the Reinforcement and Replacement Phase of any Soviet player turn after the first, that player may enter the 28th in any east edge hex within two hexes of Elista (2227). The 28th may receive replacements there the turn it arrives, but it may not move that first turn on board except to retreat-after-combat if attacked. Once on board, the 28th may not be re-exited.

12.2 0-3-0 Garrisons: In any army, and even the Wehrmacht was no exception here, miscellaneous units and individuals tend to congregate in rear area cities. Where the Wehrmacht did differ from most other armies, was in its ability to quickly pull those troops into functional defense forces.

The 0-3-0 garrison units do not exert ZOCs of their own, but do serve to negate EZOCs (see 5.5). They may never leave their hex of placement for any reason. They do count as one full step for combat loss purposes, and the Soviet does garner two victory points for each one destroyed. They do not count for stacking.

Unlike other units, the 0-3-0s' defense factors do not double because they are in a city; they simply remain at three. 0-3-0s do require supply and may never take part in any attacks.

12.3 The Soviet 62nd Army: Though the game's scale is too strategic to show it in detail, at the start of play the tactical situation of the 62nd Army (3428) is taught [sic] and precarious. Its forward combat elements are tenaciously clinging to the last Soviet enclaves in Stalingrad itself, while its support units are actually on the east bank of the Volga.

Accordingly, the 62nd Army may only leave its placement hex the first time if it is to enter hex 3427. Once it has entered 3427, the 62nd is then free to move, advance, and retreat-after-combat like any other Soviet unit.

13.0 First Turn Special Rules

13.1 The first game turn begins with the Soviet Prepared Assault Phase. The Soviet player should simply assign his air power and Katyushas first, and then begin his battles.

13.2 During the first game turn, no German air power is available at all. (They'd already used up their available sorties supporting the on-going street fights in Stalingrad.)

13.3 All units of both sides are automatically in full supply throughout game turn one.

13.4 The Germans were caught both tactically and strategically flat-footed by the Soviet counter blow. Therefore all German/Axis movement factors are halved on turn one (round remainders up).

14.0 Fuhrer-Mandated Counter Offensive (FMCO)

14.1 Within his capacity as Fuhrer of the German Volk and Reich, the German player may, at the start of game turns 10, 11, or 12, declare a counter offensive.

14.2 From the instant of the declaration, throughout the rest of the game, all German MAs and PAs gain a one-column-odds-shift in the German attacker's favor. (And Manstein still is available, so on attack may potentially gain two columns.)

14.3 During the FMCO, attacking German/Axis units must absorb all combat results as step losses — no retreating from attacks. (German/Axis defenders are still free to retreat.)

14.4 Once the FMCO is declared, German/Axis step losses no longer generate any victory points (see next section) for the Soviets. Further, from that point on, each Soviet step loss (no matter what type) decreases the Soviet victory point total by one.

14.5 During each German player turn from the start of the FMCO on, that player must run at least four attacks (any combination of MAs and PAs will do) or immediately forfeit the game to the Soviet player.

15.0 Victory Conditions

15.1 The game is won on points. Only the Soviet player accumulates victory points, and who wins depends on how many of those points he's accumulated by the end of turn 12. (Barring a botched German FMCO.)

15.2 Every town on the map that has no number next to it is worth one victory point to the Soviet. Other towns, and cities, have a victory point number printed next to them. (For example, Rostov is worth 16 victory points.) The Soviet garners these city and town victory points as soon as the hex comes under his control (supply state is irrelevant). Of course, if the German recaptures a city or town, the appropriate number of victory points is again immediately deducted from the Soviet total.

15.3 If at the end of game turn 12, there is a Soviet combat unit anywhere on the Crimean Peninsula (the neck of land running west from the town of Kerch in 1606), no matter what its supply state, the Soviet is awarded 20 victory points.

15.4 The Soviets score points for controlling towns and cities as follows:

• 1 point for every town on the map that has no higher victory point number printed beside it.
• Dnepropetrovsk (3101) — 20 points.
• Kharkov (3703) — 10 points.
• Kursk (4704) — 10 points.
• Maikop (1316) — 2 points.
• Novorosisk (1309) — 6 points.
• Rostov (2514) — 16 points.
• Stalingrad (3427) — 20 points.
• Stalino (2910) — 8 points.
• Voronezh (4612) — 8 points.
• Zaparozhe (2801) — 12 points.

The Soviets also receive points for killing German/Axis steps and totally destroying whole German corps:

• 1 point for each Axis Satellite unit destroyed.
• 2 points for each German straight-leg strength step destroyed.
• 3 points for each German mechanized strength step destroyed.
• 1 point extra for each German straight-leg corps totally destroyed.
• 2 points extra for each German mechanized corps totally destroyed.

15.5 To "totally destroy" a German corps means to kill its final combat step and thus cause the unit to be removed completely from play. If such a unit is destroyed in-supply and is later brought back into play with replacements, the Soviet does not forfeit the destruction points. In fact, he may gain those points again for again totally destroying the recreated corps.

15.6 Once the FMCO is declared, German/Axis step losses no longer generate any victory points for the Soviet. Instead, from that point on, every Soviet step lost lowers the Soviet victory point total by one point.

15.7 Use the counters provided to keep a running total of Soviet victory points on the Soviet Victory Points Chart. This does away with the tedious counting and recounting and gives both players an idea of their relative positions as the game goes along.

15.8 At the end of turn 12, make a final German/Axis (only) supply check. At that time any German/Axis units on the board without an overland supply line open to them are destroyed and removed from play, and, of course, yield appropriate amounts of victory points (any FMCO is now considered ended). Further, any hexes left vacant by such removals are then automatically considered Soviet controlled, again, yielding appropriate victory points.

15.9 At the end of the game, if the Soviet has 111 or more victory points, he wins. If the total is from 100 to 110, the game is a draw. If the total is less than 100, the German wins. (I figure historically the Soviets ended up with about 150 points.)

16.0 Designer's Notes

I began this project with only one firm idea in mind. That is, I would not saddle either player with "idiocy" rules to make the game work. No Hitlerian standfast-or-die orders, and no Stalinesque you-must-attack-at-all-costs STAVKA directives.

When I told my playtesters, they greeted the idea with skepticism. "Well, what's to keep the German player from just turning around with Sixth Army and busting out of any encirclement early on?" was the question. Their fear for the game was such an early breakout would lead to a quick restabilization of the front and a boring push-and-shove match from then on.

As it turned out, the time scale of the game, at about 10 days per turn, provided the workable answer. That is, though the rules allow the German player to attempt breakout (or any other realistic stratagem) right from turn one on, by that point a free get-away is already too late.

The frazzled and jittery von Paulus radioed OKH his first request to withdraw from the city on 21 November. That was two days before the still-thin mechanized tips of the Soviet pincer even touched at Kalach. With hindsight we can know it would've been to Germany's great advantage for Hitler to have approved that first request instantly.

But within the actual context of those times, however, that wouldn't have been a very expectable decision, even had the Germans been lead by a Fuhrer with a more flexible will. After all, Stalingrad was the chief strategic prize for a half-year's hard campaigning. To quickly and easily give it up, without first carefully assessing true Soviet intentions and capabilities, was just not in the cards.

And such an assessment takes time, even in the smoothest run organizations. As a general rule, the higher up the command chain a problem must be pushed for decision, the longer that decision takes to work its way back down to street level. One just doesn't pivot two hitherto victorious army groups 180 degrees and go off again without some loss of time and efficiency.

Thus, though there's no rule in the game stating the German must initially standfast, game scale effectively creates the same result. Those wishing to see "what if" should experiment with their own free deployment and quick-withdrawal scenarios. (You'll find they get pretty boring pretty quickly.)

Another big decision was how to handle the units. I first experimented with a flank-extension-counters system similar to the one used in Omega Game's Victory in Europe, but that proved so cumbersome here play enjoyment was greatly reduced. With so few units on the board, I therefore needed to employ zones of control. At the same time, though, they couldn't be fully locking or the German would never be able to maneuver inside the pocket.

The resultant semi-fluid ZOCs allow for just the right amount of looseness. Trapped units can still maneuver, but you can't just go zipping by an enemy unit.

Likewise, the "infiltration" ability allows you to lever enemy units out of a less-than-solid line out on the steppe by moving up and then sliding in between their positions on the next turn. (Of course, that technique also exposes you to the possibility of counterattack.)

The odd combat factors on the units resulted from researching to find what divisions each army/corps contained during the key parts of the campaign, adding up those set values, and adjusting a factor here and there to account for the unexpected superior or inferior performances shown by some. Rather than having "types" of units, as in most strategic level games, here every one seems to almost have its own personality. That was one of the favorite features of the game among the playtesters.

The reason there are not the usual operational penalties against units that take on replacements is also a result of the lofty scale we're operating with here. For the most part, both sides' replacements are actually whole new divisions (or Soviet corps) entering the battle, and not levels of raw troops needing integration into existing formations.

As I always do, I attempted to make the supply rules as simple as the strategic realities of the campaign under study would allow. For instance, an early version of the game had the main Luftwaffe airbases printed on the map. These were, of course, crucial in funneling in German supply-by-air.

During the second playtest game, one of the gamers noted that the big, logistically significant, airfields were all in or next to the cities. Voila! That allowed the whole separate concept of air supply to be scrapped during the early part of the game. Axis units on or in the immediate vicinity of the fields (cities) get their benefits and can survive longer (supply states 4, 5, and 6).

And, of course, when German air supply really kicks in on turn 8 (usually much too late to save anything at Stalingrad), it's because by then most of the Reich's air transport capacity had been shuttled to the area and put under unified air command.

The weather was another factor easily "factored out." Certainly from day-to-day it varied, but in the strategic sense and level of importance here, it was, quite simply, always lousy. Therefore combat and movement factors were calculated accordingly. And then, of course, it was the big thaw in March that provided a convenient end point for the game — as it did for the real campaign.

After this campaign ended, German pilots who had flown in it agreed it was the last time they operated with the old 1940-41 era superiority. And with good reason. By 1 February, General Richtofen's Fourth Air Force controlled over 53 percent of all the German aircraft in the east. By then, Fourth Air Force was maintaining 1,000 sorties a day (compared with only 350 a day in January).

Last — once again, the victory conditions proved to be the hardest aspect of the game to formulate. How does the German "win" a game wherein even a half-competent opponent will force his armies back out of Stalingrad and the Caucasus — Germany's main strategic gains that year — and probably destroy or maul numerous corps in the process? Further, few German players are likely to operate in the same stubborn and inflexible way Hitler did, and so how can a Soviet "win" be judged if play hardly ever matches historic gains?

The solution seemed to be to expect more from the Soviet than merely regaining the city and the Caucasus, but not so much as to demand he threaten Dnepro-Petrovsk. In practice that works out so that if the Soviet destroys about 80 percent of Sixth Army, chews up the satellites, retakes Rostov, and can hold together during the German counter attack, he'll win.

I and my playtesters believe we've provided both sides with a historic, tense, and fun contest.

17.0 Players' Notes

17.1 Soviet: The opening dispositions and the game's victory conditions present the Soviet player with a classic strategic dilemma, that of concentrating on destroying enemy units or seizing enemy territory. I advise you to go with the classic strategic answer: destroy the enemy's army and his territory will fall to you freely.

The Wehrmacht must be smashed up to the point where the FMCO can pose no serious threat to your previous advances. If you fail in that, you'll lose the game.

By turns four or five, the German will have mustered enough replacements and reinforcements to solidify a new line in the Don River bend area. Do not go head on into that new line. You must break things open again to win, but do it by smashing the Italians to the north, and then in their turn, the Hungarians. Do that by assigning air power to tank armies, and running northward, mobile assaulting like a banshee and TOASTing as you go.

That will force the German to continually stretch his new line northward, weakening it, and thus enabling you to maintain the drive on Rostov. Never get the tank armies embroiled south of Stalingrad. They're just pushing into thin air down there, whereas in the north they can continually unhinge the best laid German plans before they even get a chance to start.

Don't expect too much out of the Caucasus front. Though if you face a German opponent who gets too cocky and leaves only the barest skeleton force to mask the Taman Peninsula, you'll find the sudden insertion of air-supported reinforcements can really rip things open there.

17.2 German: Against good Soviet play, the trapped Sixth Army at Stalingrad will not be able to rescue itself; you'll need to meet it with a force from the outside. The earliest that force can be ready is turn three; if it's not in place by turn five, it never will be.

The most important thing to keep in mind during the break-in/breakout battles is that the rescue force itself must never become pocketed. If it does, you've had it.

If you succeed in rescuing the Panzer Corps from the pocket, consider the operation a success.

Leave at least three German corps and the Romanian Mountain unit down in the Taman. Less than that allows a reinforced Soviet the chance to break through.

Try at all costs to hold Rostov, even if it means accepting temporary flanking moves by the Soviet farther north. And, by all means, do declare the FMCO. If the game is close, it can spell the difference, and if you're losing, at least it's a last chance for some mindless, bloody, fun before the game's put away.