Stalingrad Roads is a wargame for 2 players covering the 1942-43 winter campaign on the Soviet South Front. The game begins with the outbreak of the Uranus offensive in late November 1942 and ends with Manstein’s counter-attack in March 1943. The game is aligned with the ‘Roads’ series, which features the titles Liberty Roads and Victory Roads (published by Hexasim). The system will be familiar to players who have enjoyed the first two games, but it has been adapted to take into account all the specifics of the campaign.
Stalingrad Roads has a campaign and four scenarios : Edge of the Abyss, Wintergewitter, Operation Uranus, Manstein’s Backhand Blow, Star and Gallop.
On the Soviet side, the game will focus primarily on planning offensives. The player will have a major offensive marker and two minor offensive markers. These can be used without any particular constraints, but will generate few supports. The launch of a major offensive will require delicate planning by the Soviet player, but its effects can be devastating. Several other rules concern the Soviet player: management of the Stavka, the Mars operation, and the simulation of offensives that wear out.
On the German side, three features of the campaign will be highlighted:
– The supply of the Stalingrad pocket – which is a bit like landings in Liberty Roads – will be a game within the game. Each turn, the German player will try to supply the pocket, and the number of Ju-52s succeeding in their mission will provide the supply level of the encircled units as well as various bonuses or penalties.
– There will be a ‘Manstein effect’ during the course of the campaign. The German leader will have a great influence on the Führer’s satisfaction track, but this influence will depend on the success achieved by the player.
– The tactical superiority and German ascendancy at this period of the war will be taken into account, but will be challenged by Soviet successes.
‘Roads’ series
The game is aligned with the ‘Roads’ series, which features the titles Liberty Roads and Victory Roads (published by Hexasim). The system will be familiar to players who have enjoyed the first two games, but it has been adapted to take into account all the specifics of the campaign.
Strong points of Stalingrad Roads
– A precise order of battle at a divisional scale, avoiding the multiplicity of annexed units.
– A classic game system that is easily learned and is extremely fluid due to the lack of control zones.
– A combat table combining attrition results and tactical results, making each battle unique.
– The supports, the heart of the game, that allow historicity and replayability to be reconciled.
– The command constraints of both sides, symbolized on the German side by the famous ‘Führer Satisfaction Track’
More information
– If you want to learn more about the game, you can read the rulebook: here
– If you want to play the game, you can also play it on Vassal: here ( coming soon )
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