The Hell of Stalingrad

Cards-and-counters game. Clash of Arms Games. $65.00

Passed Inspection: A genuinely innovative, fun-to-play game that evokes the "feel" of the desperate and bloody close-range combat in the ruins of Stalingrad; terrain features and most major historical units correctly identified.

Failed Inspection: Basic tactical units are generic and somewhat abstract; although the 7-page illustrated Battle Phase example is excellent, rules presentation overall could be better; game needs a complete list of card and unit effects.

You want to maximize the number of dice you get in the Break Test.

I have a long history with the battle of Stalingrad. I spent years on research, designing and playtesting my own game on the subject, Streets of Stalingrad, a traditional cardboard-counter board war game first published in 1979. So when I saw this new game at Historicon 2009 I was intrigued and a little dubious, but its quick play and short learning curve, combined with designer Steve Cunliffe’s insightful understanding of the battle for Stalingrad, convinced me that Clash of Arms’ The Hell of Stalingrad (THoS) is a winner.

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The game components are high quality. Some people find the colors too garish or "loud," but I felt they were well suited to a truly different new game system. Art, like food, is a matter of taste.

Overview of the historical Battle of Stalingrad:

When German general Friedrich Paulus was ordered in 1942 to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad with his 6th Army he showed little imagination. Though his frontal assaults eventually captured about 90% of the city, they decimated nine of his divisions, including two panzer divisions.

The Soviet 62nd Army under its new commander, Lt. Gen. Vassily Chuikov, was responsible for defending Stalin’s city. Soviet strategy was to let the Germans bleed their divisions in futile street fighting, sending just enough reinforcements to keep the fighting going while building up forces on either flank for a winter attack. The Soviet victory at Stalingrad was one of the major turning points of World War II on the East Front, but in the process the equivalent of 20 Soviet divisions were destroyed.

The Hell of Stalingrad game overview:

The Hell of Stalingrad is a card game for 2 or 4 players that deals with the fighting in the city and suburbs from mid-September until the Soviet offensive in mid-November. The subsequent encirclement and attempted German breakout are not covered in the game.

The city is divided into four districts, A through D. Within each district there are five Building cards plus one card denoted "River Bank" which, whenever it is drawn, represents the final Building card for its district. There are also six Volga River cards that, if drawn, mean the Germans have successfully captured that entire district.

The German goal is to capture all four districts of the city. The full game to attempt this could take several hours, depending upon the draw of the Building cards, but you can also play a shorter game that may take as little as 30 minutes by fighting over just one Building card or for one district.

Game Components:

The game is built around 200 playing cards, divided as follows:

• 2 Supreme Commanders per side (with replacement commander shown on the opposite side)
• 18 Formation cards per side representing major historical units such as the 13th Guards Division and 24th Panzer Division
• 10 Campaign cards per side representing actions and events imposed on the players such as interference by Stalin or Hitler
• 33 basic Combat cards per side that you draw into your hand to play while fighting over a Building, such as Heroic Defiance, Dig or Die!, Molotov Surprise, Panzer Blitz, Daring Assault, etc.
• 12 advanced Combat cards per side that add personalities such as Soviet sniper Zaitsev or German sniper Koenig (historical figures depicted in the book and movie Enemy at the Gates) and allow for multiple actions and effects
•  50 Carnage cards that are randomly drawn to determine such things as the effects of a Sniper Shot or Precision Kill, or the Battle Intensity for the Building card drawn. A Hold Action card advances the Hold counter along a track leading to the crucial Break Test dice roll that will determine which side won control of the Building

Fighting takes place on one of 20 Building cards that are drawn, with a maximum of four Building cards shown at any one time (one per district).

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