Stalingrad (1963)

Stalingrad (1963) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Components

22" x 28" Mapboard
Rules of Play Folder
Battle Manual
1 set of Troop Counters
Time Record Card
Weather Card
Combat Results Table Card
1 Die

The Game Map

The mapboard shows the area where the campaign was fought. It covers approximately 1200 miles East and West and 1500 miles North and South. A hexagonal grid has been printed on the board and is used to determine movement. Hereafter, these hexagons will be called Squares. Terrain features are as follows:

CLEAR TERRAIN: Any square that is not completely blue or does not contain mountains. Sea coast squares partially blue are considered clear terrain.
SEA AND LAKES: Any completely blue square.
MOUNTAINS: Any square containing brown splash contours wholly or partially.
RIVERS: Any square containing a solid blue line wholly or partially.
SWAMPS: Any square containing blue grass symbols wholly or partially.
RAILROAD: Solid black lines with intermittent cross bars.
MAJOR CITIES: Any square completely filled with a crisscross pattern.
AXIS-SOVIET BORDER: Solid black line that runs from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea and from the Gulf of Finland to the north edge of the board.

Order of Battle Unit Counters

Now study the set of diecut Order of Battle Unit Counters. Blue Counters are German; Red Counters are Russian. These counters are your chessmen. Hereafter, they will be called Units.

Printed on each Unit is the information necessary for the play of STALINGRAD:

SIZES: Provided for historical reference only. All Units are Corps.
NATIONALITY: F - Finnish; H - Hungarian; I - Italian. All unmarked Blue are German; Red are Russian.
TYPES: Infantry; Cavalry; Armored; Panzer Grenadier.
IDENTIFICATION: Provided for historical reference only.
ATTACK FACTOR: Basic fighting strength when attacking.
DEFENSE FACTOR: Basic fighting strength when defending.
MOVEMENT FACTOR: Maximum number of squares a Unit may move over clear terrain in one Turn.

Prepare for Play

STEP 1: Lay the mapboard out on a table. The German player sits at the western end; the Russian player sits at the eastern end.

STEP 2: The Russian player places all of his Units on any squares east of the Axis-Soviet border. Russian Units may be placed adjacent to the border. Units may be placed in stacks not to exceed three Units deep.

STEP 3: The German player places all his Units, except Hungarian and Italian, west of the Axis-Soviet border. All Finnish Units must be placed in Finland only. Axis (blue) units cannot be placed adjacent to the border - they can be placed no closer than 1 square away. Units may be placed in stacks not to exceed 3 Units deep. Hungarian and Italian Units cannot be used until May, 1942. German and/or Rumanian units totaling no more than 8 combat factors may also be placed in Finland at the start. No sea movement of any additional units of any kind may ever be made to or from Finland, nor is there a Finnish replacement capacity. Of course, as the game progresses there is no limit to the number of German units that may proceed overland to Finland through Russia.

NOTE: Units are never allowed in Sweden or Turkey.

How to Play

STALINGRAD is played in Turns. You move all your Units, then resolve every battle - that is your Turn. Then your opponent moves all his Units and resolves every battle - that is his Turn. Together these two Turns are called a Complete Turn and measured as the passage of one month of time. The following is a condensed step-by-step explanation of the general routine of play:

STEP 1: The German player moves all Units on board he chooses to move. He also consults the Time Record Card. If he is due new Units he places them on board and may move them also. No Russian movement is allowed.

STEP 2: All combat caused by German movement is resolved one battle at a time. (Examples shown in Battle Manual.)

STEP 3: The Russian player moves all Units on board he chooses to move. He also consults the Time Record Card. If he is due new Units he places them on board and may move them also. No German movement is allowed.

STEP 4: All combat caused by Russian movement is resolved one battle at a time.

STEP 5: Check off one month of time on the Time Record Card and repeat Steps 1 through 5.

The Die is used only to resolve combat; it has nothing to do with movement.

How to Win

The GERMAN player wins by eliminating all Russian Units or entering and remaining in the three Russian cities of Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad simultaneously for two consecutive Turns by the May, 1943 Turn.

The RUSSIAN player wins by eliminating all German Units or avoiding the German conditions of victory.

NOTE: Regarding the occupation of Russian cities for victory: The German player does not have to take all three cities simultaneously. He simply must be in all three cities at one time for two consecutive months. For example, if he has occupied all three cities in his March Turn, the Russian player must free at least one of the three cities by his April Turn or the German player is declared the winner.

More Than One Unit Per Square

Both players are allowed to combine Units of any kind in a stack totaling no more than 3 Units.
Any square on board may be used for stacking.
The movement factor of stacked Units is that of the slowest Unit in the stack.
Units may combine and/or split up in the middle of a Turn with no movement penalty.
Combined Units may stay together indefinitely or they may combine on one Turn and split up on the very next.
Units may pass through squares containing other friendly Units even if stacked to the maximum.
Units may not end their turn on a square already containing 3 friendly units.

Be sure you have a general understanding of the above routine before reading further. The remaining sections deal with the details of play. See Examples of Play Section.

How to Move Units

In any given Turn you may move all of your Units on board.
Each Unit can be moved any number of squares not exceeding its movement factor.
You do not have to move every Unit nor do you have to move any Unit in your Turn.
You can move Units in any direction or combination of directions in each Turn.
Unlike chess and checkers you move all Units you choose to move in your Turn before resolving any one battle.
Units of opposing players can never be on the same square at the same time.
Movement factors are not transferable from one Unit to another nor can they be accumulated from one Turn to the next.
Units may move onto certain Sea and Lake squares when frozen over. (See the Weather Card.)
Movement is not allowed on the partial squares surrounding the mapboard.

How to Have Combat

The Zone-of-Control of every Unit is its Six Adjacent Squares. A Unit that lands on any Adjacent Square is automatically attacking.

A player automatically causes combat when he moves a Unit into any one square of an enemy unit's zone of control. The player moving his Units is always the attacker; his opponent is the defender. To determine battle odds the attacker's attack factor is stated first and the defender's defense factor is stated second. For example, if the German 10th Unit (3-3-6) attacks the Russian 7th Armored (2-3-6) battle odds are 3 to 3 (1 to 1). To resolve combat the attacker rolls the die once for each separate battle. The result of each battle is obtained from the Combat Results Table by matching up the Die roll with the battle odds.

Attacking

An attacking Unit must stop as soon as it enters the first enemy controlled square.
An attacking Unit is not allowed to move through enemy controlled squares.
The attacker may move as many Units into enemy zones of control as he is able before resolving combat.
The attacker resolves all combat one battle at a time after moving all the Units he chooses to move in his Turn.
The attacker has the choice of resolving battles in any order he chooses.
The attacker must fight every enemy Unit he has moved Units next to, and he must use every Unit in the enemy's zone of control in an attack.
A Unit's Attack factor is always the same as that printed on its counter regardless of terrain.
A Unit may move from a square of an enemy Unit's zone of control directly into a square belonging to a second enemy Unit's zone of control providing it does not remain in the zone of control of any Unit which it was adjacent to at the start of the move.

Defending

The defense factor of a Unit may vary according to the terrain it is defending on as follows:

	Defending Units Are On	Attacking Units Are On	Defense Factors Are
1	Clear terrain, minor cities, river squares, railroad squares	Any non-river square	Basic
2	Clear terrain, minor cities, river squares (a), railroad squares	River squares	Doubled
3	Clear terrain, minor cities, river squares, railroad squares	River and non-river squares in combination	Basic
4	River squares	River squares of same river	Basic
5	Mountains (b)	Any square including adjacent mountain squares	Doubled
6	Major cities (b)

(a) If a Unit is defending on a square that the end of the river points to, its defense factor remains basic when attacked from the river.

(b) The defense factor of Units defending in these areas does not triple (remains doubled) when attacked from a river square.

Note: the table above was reconstructed from garbled OCR of the folder's table, cross-checked against a second scan; row alignment follows the order of the printed defense-factor column (Basic, Doubled, Basic, Basic, Doubled, Doubled, Doubled).

Multiple Unit Battles

When two or more Units attack one defending Unit the factors of the attacking Units must be totaled into one combined attack factor.
When one Unit attacks two or more defending Units the factors of the defending Units must be totaled into one combined defense factor.
When several Units attack several defending Units the attacker has the choice of dividing combat into more than one battle as long as the following conditions are met: a. He must fight every defending Unit in whose controlled zone he has attacking Units. b. Units must be in the controlled zone of every defending Unit they attack.
The attacker may divide combat against stacked Units on the same square into more than one battle as long as he has more than one attacking Unit.
The attacker with stacked Units on one square may divide combat into more than one battle against defending Units on separate squares.
The attacker may deliberately sacrifice one or more attacking Units at unfavorable odds in order to gain more favorable odds over other defending Units. This tactic is called "soaking off". Odds may not be worse than 1 to 6. Any time an attacker finds one of his Units surrounded at odds greater than 1 to 6, he must either bring up enough Units in support to bring odds back to 1 to 6, or eliminate it immediately from the board before any battles are resolved.
The combat factor of a Unit cannot be split and applied to more than one battle.
No attacking Unit may fight more than one battle per Turn even if it finds itself adjacent to the enemy after combat has been resolved. The defending Unit must either attack or withdraw in its Turn. If such a Unit wishes to attack in its turn it may do so by staying where it is or by withdrawing from the enemy zone of control and then re-entering by a different square. In this instance, however, Units may not withdraw and re-enter by a route that would force them into or through zones of control of any other enemy Units.

Movement After Battle

Any time attacking Units eliminate or push back defending Units that have had their defense factor doubled, the attacking Units may move onto the square vacated by the losing defending Units. Movement after combat can occur only in attacks across rivers, into mountains, and into major cities. This rule applies only if the result of combat forces all the defending Units off of such squares. This also applies to surviving attacking Units in an exchange.

Special Terrain Movement

Railroads

All Units are allowed to move up to 10 additional squares per turn on a railroad. A Unit receives this 10 square bonus immediately upon reaching the railroad. For example, a Unit that has a movement factor of 4 squares reaches a railroad square on its 4th move. It can then move up to 10 more squares along the railroad in that same Turn. Or suppose the same Unit has reached the railroad in two squares, then it can move along the railroad up to 10 squares and then move off 2 more squares.
The railroad bonus may be used only on one railroad per Turn. A Unit may not move part of its 10 square bonus on one railroad, then move cross-country to another railroad and use up the rest of its railroad bonus. Units may change railroads only at junctions if they wish to continue using their railroad bonus in that turn.
During snow months the railroad bonus is reduced to 5 squares per turn.
Units may move along a railroad through rough terrain (mountains, swamps) at the prevailing clear terrain movement rate as part of their regular movement.
A Unit which moves onto a railroad/rough terrain square may then move along the railroad. However, a Unit which moves from a non-railroad/rough terrain square directly to a railroad/rough terrain square may not, in the same turn, move directly from a railroad/rough terrain square to a non-railroad/rough terrain square. Such a move would violate the one square per turn principle applying to movement in rough terrain (swamps and mountains).

Mountains and Swamps

All Units are allowed in mountains and swamps.
Units must stop when they land on a mountain or swamp square. They may not proceed until the next turn.
Units move through mountains and swamps at the rate of 1 square per turn.
Units may leave mountains or swamps at their normal movement rate.
Units move through mountains and swamps on railroads at their normal movement rate. Units may move one square onto a railroad and move along the railroad in the same turn. Units beginning their turn on clear terrain or railroads may move off one square into swamps and mountains in the same turn. (Examples shown in Battle Manual.)
Movement up and down rivers through mountains and swamps is at the rate of 1 square per turn.

Rivers

There is no movement delay in crossing rivers. Units may move across or up and down rivers at the normal movement rate.

Cities

There is no movement delay through cities.

Seas and Lakes

Units are not allowed on Seas and Lakes except where frozen over during snow months.

Sea of Azov

Units may cross at the narrows. To cross they must stop for one turn on each side.

Movement across the Azov Straits is accomplished as follows: Turn 1, move to a square on one side of the crossing and stop; Turn 2, move to the other side and stop; Turn 3, movement inland as possible.
Zones of control do not extend across the Azov Straits. Attack is not possible across them. Note: This is the only position in the game where two opposing Units may remain side-by-side without attacking.
Retreat is not possible across the Azov Straits. Units forced to do so are eliminated instead.
Supply is possible across the Azov Straits.

Replacements

GERMAN REPLACEMENTS: The German player's replacement city is Warsaw. Beginning in his July, 1941 turn he receives a replacement rate of 4 combat factors per month. Replacement Units are placed at Warsaw only.

RUSSIAN REPLACEMENTS: The Russian player's replacement cities are Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. Beginning in his September, 1941 Turn he receives a replacement rate of 4 defense factors per replacement city per month. The monthly replacement rate increases to 5 defense factors per city in December, 1941 and to 6 defense factors per city in May, 1942. Replacement Units are placed at Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad only. The Russian player may take all of his replacements on just one of those cities or he may distribute them among the three cities in any manner he chooses.

NOTE: We have found that between equal players, STALINGRAD will usually end in a Russian victory just as it did in real life. To compensate for this and give the German player a better chance for victory, we have tampered with the historical replacement rates for the Russians. In reality, the Russian player should receive 6 defense factors per city in December, 1941 and 8 defense factors per city in May, 1942. Therefore, if you wish to throw play-balance to the winds in order to recreate the actual situation as it really was, use Russian replacement rate steps of 4, 6, and 8. Both players should agree on which replacement rates to be used prior to the game. Those players possessing old Time Record cards in which the replacement rates are stated in terms of 4 6 8 should ignore these rates in favor of the new 4 5 6 replacement rates. REMEMBER: Players may still elect to play with the 4 6 8 replacement rates if both players agree prior to the game.

Details regarding the use of replacements are as follows:

Replacements are taken only from the eliminated pile. There are no special replacement Units included for this purpose.
Replacements may be moved out of a replacement city and used in combat in the same Turn.
Players are allowed to accumulate replacement factors.
At any time an enemy unit enters a square adjacent to a replacement city or enters the city itself, that player loses his replacement rate for that city for that Turn and every Turn in which enemy Units remain so placed. The enemy unit must remain next to or in the city after combat resolution to destroy the replacement rate.
Replacement cities may be used for the introduction of replacements unless there are enemy Units in it or adjacent to it at the beginning of the replacing player's turn.
Once an enemy replacement city has been captured it must be kept under control (garrisoned) by at least one Unit in order to keep the opposing player from getting replacement factors for that city.
Players do not have to garrison their own replacement cities in order to receive replacements.
If a player has been accumulating replacement factors and then has all of his replacement cities fall under enemy zones of control, these accumulated factors are lost completely.
A replacement city loses its replacement capacity the turn it becomes surrounded by enemy zones of control. For example, if Moscow is surrounded in the German October, 1941 turn, the Russian replacement rate is reduced to 8 defense factors in his October turn.
A replacement city does not regain its replacement capacity until the turn after the encirclement has been broken. For example, if the encirclement around Moscow is broken by combat in the Russian October turn, the Russian replacement rate goes back to 12 defense factors in November, 1941 provided the German player is not able to encircle Moscow in his November turn.
To break an encirclement at least one enemy unit must be eliminated or pushed back so that there is no longer an unbroken link of enemy zones of control around the encircled city.
Although isolation of a replacement city does destroy its replacement capacity, it does not affect the ability to introduce new units in that city.

Italian and Hungarian Units

Beginning in the May, 1942 Turn, the German player receives all Hungarian and Italian Units. They may be placed on board anywhere west of the Axis-Soviet border, with the exception of Finland. Neither can they be brought in on the same square where Russian units exist nor in their zone of control. Any units of either player may move into Hungary on the second turn and all turns thereafter.

Weather

Weather changes are indicated on both the Time Record and Weather Cards. The months of December, January and February are always snow months. The months of October, November, March and April are unknown weather months. At the beginning of the German player's Turn in each of these months the German player rolls the Die. The Die roll is matched up on the Weather Card to determine the effect of weather. During MUD months movement is reduced as indicated on the Weather Card. During SNOW months movement is reduced AND certain Lakes and Rivers become frozen over. The body of water adjacent to Archangel is treated as a lake.

NOTE: Units defending behind frozen Rivers do not double their defense factors. All Units resting on Lakes when they become unfrozen are eliminated.

Isolation

A Unit becomes isolated from supplies when it is surrounded by enemy zones of control, or by a combination of enemy zones, sea and unfrozen lakes. Encirclement does not have to be a perfect circle and it makes no difference how far away the encirclement is made. Any Unit that is isolated for two consecutive months is automatically eliminated. To avoid elimination, a supply line must be created to the isolated Unit by the second month of isolation. A supply line is any line of squares one square wide (not under enemy zones of control) leading to the source of supplies. It makes no difference how crooked or devious the supply line is.

NOTE: Occupying a square with a friendly unit does not neutralize the zone of control of an adjacent enemy unit in any way.

GERMAN SUPPLY LINE: The German supply line must lead to either Warsaw, Helsinki, or Bucharest. All German Units that become isolated in the Russian player's January Turn must have a supply line restored to them by the end of his March Turn, for example. Otherwise, all such Units are eliminated at the beginning of the Russian player's March Turn.

RUSSIAN SUPPLY LINE: The Russian supply line must lead to any full square on the entire East edge of the board. All Russian Units that become isolated in the German player's January Turn must have a supply line restored to them by the end of his February Turn, for example. Otherwise, all such Units are eliminated at the beginning of the German player's March turn.

NOTE: Replacement cities that are surrounded for 2 consecutive complete turns are lost to the enemy and all units held within the encirclement are automatically eliminated at the end of the second complete turn of encirclement. For example, if Moscow is surrounded in October the encirclement must be broken by the end of the Russian November turn; otherwise, the Russian player loses possession of Moscow, and all units situated within the surrounding zones of control are eliminated at the start of the German player's December turn.

How to Resolve Combat

The only time the Die is used is to resolve combat. The following steps should be taken:

STEP 1: Reduce battle odds to basic odds comparison appearing on the Combat Results Table.

STEP 2: The Die is rolled once by the attacker.

STEP 3: The number rolled is matched up with the basic odds comparison to get the result of combat.

Repeat Steps 1 through 3 for each separate battle.

Combat Results

ELIM: All losing units are to be considered completely destroyed and removed from the board. "A" applies to all attacking Units and "D" applies to all defending Units.

BACK 2: All losing Units must retreat 2 squares through friendly Units and over all terrain including swamps and mountains, but retreating Units are eliminated if they must retreat into or through enemy zones of control or off the board, or placed on friendly Units that would result in stacks exceeding three Units. The route of retreat is always determined by the winner. However, the winner cannot force losing Units into blocking zones of control if alternate, unblocked routes of retreat are available.

EXCHANGE: An even elimination of combat factors. When an exchange is rolled the player with fewer Attack factors removes all his Units. The other player removes the number of Units whose combined Attack factors total at least that of the Units removed by his opponent. Since this exchange of combat factors does not always work out even up, a player sometimes must remove a number of Units whose total combat factors are more than that of the Units removed by his opponent. In an exchange the Attack factors are computed at original or double their value depending upon defensive position.

Do not be dismayed if the rules are not altogether clear to you. This is to be expected, especially if you are learning to play an historical simulation game for the first time. Simply reread those sections that seem hazy; you will be surprised at how this can help clarify the points in question. Additional clarification can be found in the Battle Manual which shows many diagrams and examples of play.

How to Play by Mail

To facilitate playing the game by mail, as well as referring to certain vital squares by name, we offer the following grid co-ordinate system which gives each square on the mapboard an identification number. This system also enables you to record the positions of Units on paper for those times when you aren't able to finish a game in one setting and must put the game away. Print letters A through WW along the east and west edges of the mapboard; print numbers 1 through 57 along the north and south edges. Start row A in the northeast and northwest corners and start row 1 in the southwest corner. For instance, row J bisects Helsinki and Lake Beloe; row 27 bisects Lake Peipus, Smolensk, Kharkov and Stalino. Examples: Helsinki is J-26, Leningrad is K-31, Moscow is S-34, Stalingrad is HH-36, Warsaw is Z-31 and Sofia is TT-3.