Background
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was the largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia.
Marked by fierce close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, it was the largest (nearly 2.2 million personnel) and bloodiest (1.8–2 million killed, wounded or captured) battle in the history of warfare. After their defeat at Stalingrad, the German High Command had to withdraw vast military forces from the Western Front to replace their losses.
The German offensive to capture Stalingrad began in August 1942, using the 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffebombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The fighting degenerated into house-to-house fighting; both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November 1942, the Germans had pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones along the west bank of the Volga River.
On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, a two-pronged attack targeting the weaker Romanian and Hungarian armies protecting the German 6th Army’s flanks. The Axis forces on the flanks were overrun and the 6th Army was cut off and surrounded in the Stalingrad area. Adolf Hitler ordered that the army stay in Stalingrad and make no attempt to break out; instead, attempts were made to supply the army by air and to break the encirclement from the outside. Heavy fighting continued for another two months. By the beginning of February 1943, the Axis forces in Stalingrad had exhausted their ammunition and food. The remaining units of the 6th Army surrendered. The battle lasted five months, one week and three days.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad
The Game
The game was set up based on readings from chapter 4 of “Island of Fire: The Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad.”
Units on the board represented the command of German Major Braun to include a company from the 576th Grenadier Regiment, pioneers of the II/305th Division, and the 294th Pioneer Battalion. Russian defenders were primarily the 241st Rifle Regiment and the 161st Rifle Regiment supporting its left flank (represented by my Naval Infantry) with a later naval infantry landing to attempt to reclaim the lost territory up to the Volga. The trigger for the Soviet landing of naval infantry was the Germans reaching and attempting to mine the Volga cliffs.
German victory conditions:
1) Secure the oil tank farm to the Volga,
2) Secure the flanking balkas,
3) Build a minefield at the Volga cliffside edge between the balkas.
Russian victory conditions:
1) Deny the Germans their victory conditions
2) Chew up German armor at a higher than historical rate (Three Stugs were destroyed by a single PTRD gunner during the actual fight).
Special rules included the free ranging Soviet sniper who fired in the German movement phase and managed to pin several units during the course of the game (I was better than average in rolling 5/6 to hit with this guy).
An MRL battalion firing over the Volga which could be interdicted by German counter-battery fire on a roll of 6, which was interdicted about 1/3 of the time and only managed to pin units and disrupt attacks the rest of time (very minimal kills).
Soviet ambushes allowed in the German rear; which involved two PTRD groups, again to disrupt the German advance and have a chance at destroying German armor.
Fire into and out of the Balkas was restricted to six inches.
The 24th Panzer Division–the Leaping Horsemen–had been heavily chewed up by this point and there was no desire to lose more tanks; therefore, tanks of the 24th Panzer Division were allowed to take up firing positions in support of the infantry attacks on the German right but could not advance beyond a line formed by a row of buildings which included the kindergarten–the dark red brick building with green interior in the game photos.
Soviet forces were considered as independent groups within their defensive positions and not subject to normal battalion moral checks. During the historic fighting the regiment was all but wiped out fighting in place or in local counter-attacks.
The 294th Pioneer Battalion was heavily supplemented with captured PPShs, medium machine-guns, light mortars and anti-tank rifles captured from the Russians in an earlier city fight at Voronezh.
Similarly, the reduction to the Russian forces allowed for a gathering of light machine guns and PPShs from the dead giving the Russians higher firepower than normally allotted with mixed MG and SMG units in the companies.
Germans had organic 81mm and 120mm mortars on-table for support. Historically, these fired from the Barikaddy Gun Factory halls 6d and 6e which the attacks were launched from. Notable buildings in the scenario included the Kindergarten and the “L” shaped house.
Russians won the die toss to start the game which resulted in a preemptive MRL strike that inflicted no casualties but pinned a German platoon for a turn or two. There were several see-saw house fights which was a good representation of the actual fight. Soviets dying to the last but only after surprisingly good counter-assaults that began to attrite several German platoons to the point of exhaustion. German numbers, superior fire support and specialized units helped carry them to a marginal victory at the end of the game.
- Jay