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.
After 27 September, much of the fighting in the city shifted north to the industrial district. Having slowly advanced over 10 days against strong Soviet resistance, the 51st Army Corps was finally in front of the three giant factories of Stalingrad: the Red October Steel Factory, the Barrikady Arms Factory and Stalingrad Tractor Factory. It took a few more days for them to prepare for the most savage offensive of all, which was unleashed on 14 October with a concentration of gunfire never seen before.
Exceptionally intense shelling and bombing paved the way for the first German assault groups. The main attack (led by the 14th Panzer and 305th Infantry Divisions) attacked towards the tractor factory, while another assault led by the 24th Panzer Division hit to the south of the giant plant.
The German onslaught crushed the 37th Guards Rifle Division and in the afternoon the forward assault group reached the tractor factory before arriving at the Volga River, splitting the 62nd Army into two.
Fighting raged inside the Barrikady Factory until the end of October. The Soviet-controlled area shrank down to a few strips of land along the western bank of the Volga, and in November the fighting concentrated around what Soviet newspapers referred to as “Lyudnikov’s Island”, a small patch of ground behind the Barrikady Factory where the remnants of Colonel Ivan Lyudnikov’s 138th Division resisted all ferocious assaults thrown by the Germans and became a symbol of the stout Soviet defense of Stalingrad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad
The Game
Unfortunately, I arrived quite late for the game, so was unable to get the details. The scenario was around clearing all the area around Pavlov’s House. The Germans had a few Infantry companies and were supported by a few Stug IIIs and StuiK IIIs with limited ammo. The Soviets had a number of veteran infantry companies with some field guns and mortars in support. The table was primarily rubble and buildings, with areas of open terrain.
The Germans slowly, but surely, cleared the Soviets from almost the entire field. However, the fortified house was just too much to break into, as there just were not enough numbers to get into the building (which had a single entry point into a room that could only hold two bases). The Germans tried a few assaults and then declared the attack was being put on hold. The game was declared a tie.
- Manteuffel