Countries are judged by the quality of their prisons; wargame companies by the quality of their reprints. On the low end of the quality meter is Decision Games, which reprints “classic” SPI games without bothering to correct the original errata. At the other end of the spectrum are The Gamers and GMT, both putting great effort into making their reprinted games so appealing that people who own the old editions will still want to purchase the new one. Cf. In Their Quiet Fields II, Alexander Deluxe, etc. It therefore comes as no surprise, then that Dean Essig, with a wealth of new information from his research in Enemy at the Gates, and with the Standard Combat Series rules at version 1.6, would target the popular Stalingrad Pocket for a major rewrite.
What has been changed in SP2 is pretty much everything: different map, rules, order of battle, and, most importantly, the tempo of the game. The map now shows swamps which were originally mistaken for forests; Stalingrad grew two hexes in size; and a few low hills have been added. The new map sports the now-standard Gamers’ colors, but I prefer SP1’s cold, gray tones (it is, after all, a Soviet Winter offensive). Unfortunately, the new symbol for woods looks like lint picked from a camouflage sweater, and the Stalingrad holding boxes are absent.
The rules feature a lot of mechanics familiar to Ardennes players, such as reserves, artillery barrage combat, and air units. Reserve markers are placed on units out of enemy zones of control (yeah, at least Dean kept ZOCs) which allows them to move, overrun, and barrage in the exploitation phase. This must be used wisely by the Soviet player, because none of his mechanized units are exploit-capable like those of the Axis, and the Axis units in reserve are allowed to move, overrun, and barrage during the Axis reaction phase after the Soviet player moves.
The main kicker in SP2 is the inclusion of artillery counters with a movement side and a barrage side. Artillery is usually given great attention in Gamers games, as it is Dean’s area of expertise. Each formation has a few artillery groups attached, which allows them to mass their fire against one or two targeted hexes - spreading out the artillery too thin will give you no results, unless the dice are kind. One or two step-loss results may be obtained on the barrage table if a high roll is made, but the main desired result is to disorganize the defenders in the hex. Disorganized units’ combat strengths and movement allowances are halved for a turn, which pretty much invalidates their offensive capabilities and makes them eminently obliterable. The best artillery units in the game are the Soviet Katyusha barrage rockets which are removed after they fire but they come back as reinforcements five turns later (in SP1, they didn’t come back but their effect was far more deadly). The Nazi Nebelwerfer rocket units are not as powerful but they are not expended when they fire and the Axis divisional artillery’s barrage strength is doubled if they have a spotter. Artillery must be protected like HQs, because they are prime targets for enemy overruns. If a player loses most of his artillery, things start going downhill for him in a dramatic way.,
Air units are rolled for, modified by the turn’s current weather, wherein the Soviet Air Force shows itself to be better at fielding itself in poor weather compared to the Luftwaffe. Air units can be used to barrage (not very well), shift the odds in combat (attack or defense), or transport supply points to a Nazi air base.
The new rule in the series is the Determined Action Marker. Each side is allotted so many DAMs and Reserve Markers in a scenario. What DAMs do is double the combat values of the stack for attack or defense. All Axis stacks in an attack have their attack values doubled if one of the stacks has a DAM on it which is a major advantage.
Doubling and halving combat values is the name of SP2’s game. Supply, disorganization, and the placement of DAMs can do this, but the big bonuses come from being in good terrain. The terrain effects chart is a defender’s dream, with defensive strength doubled for being in hills or villages, something I find hard to believe, because those shanty Russian villages held a population of 500 in shacks and huts. How they can double the defensive value three divisions (about 60,000 troops) eludes me. Attacks against defenders in a city or swamp can be a long, drawn-out affair because their values are tripled, and defenders in Stalingrad are best eliminated by starving them out.
The changes to the combat results table are equally extensive. Where SP1’s CRT was horrendously bloody (to mainly the defender), the new CRT is far more timid in the area of step reductions and retreats. Dean thought that having this ineffective CRT was a better representation of reality than SP1’s carnage machine. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. What I do know is that this seriously slows down play, and fast, exciting play is supposed to be the trademark of the SCS line.
The other changes to the game are now it costs two movement points to enter into an enemy zone of control instead of leaving one, thus invalidating the “Russian Bear Hug” tactic of seizing and mauling non-mechanized forces. (Yeah, I know that this cuts both ways, but who ever heard of a German Bear Hug?). Keeping one’s forces in supply is an even bigger concern now, because of the supply attrition rule which causes isolated groups to flip and then lose their last combat strength on a roll of 1 or 2. The Nazi Alert Battalions (REMFs and other harmless logistical personnel) have had their combat values doubled to appease those who wined that they had no real combat function which is false; they guard river bridges for a turn of combat. That’s all that should realistically have been expected of them. Now they have a better strength of some Soviet rifle brigades. Strange that the Soviets, who absolutely destroyed the lauded Nazi supermen, get no respect in the wargame design circles.
One other rule change that just took up two lines, but whose effect is tremendous, is that the most powerful unit in a battle must take the first combat step loss. With this rule, both sides will be fielding mediocre units late in the game.
Of the four scenarios, the big campaign is still the favorite but, be warned, it’s set-up takes some time and those expecting to play SP2 like its predecessor are going to be disappointed. Play may have greater detail in air combat, bombardment, reserve action, and the like, but it is missing the speed and frenzy that was the trademark of SP1. The game has bursts of frenzy here and there, when large holes are kept open in enemy lines, but play is mostly characterized by a gradual “wearing down”, with the Soviet player usually coming out ahead. The Axis player must ferociously counterattack the spearheads of Uncle Joe’s forces, but driving too deep into them to get to those juicy HQs and artillery brigades might cause these precious mobile formations to be cut-off, isolated, and destroyed. The game punishes both players who are too conservative and those who simply dare too much. The best way to conduct an offensive, here, is to take the time to move large amounts of units around an enemy stack, overrun it’s supporting units with divisions of tanks to isolate the stack, disorganize the stack with artillery, and then hit it from all sides with DAMs. A large stack will have to be hit for a few turns like this to eliminate it. If it’s in good terrain, be prepared to lay siege to it for a while because those “No Effects” and “D1s” are going to show up a lot. If the Axis can delay the pincers from meeting at Kalach na-Don before their heavy Nazi reinforcements arrive, then the game is probably theirs; if not, then both sides will be making desperate jabs at each other to kill tanks, HQs, artillery, airfields, encircling groups, or breaking them out before all their heavy hitters are ruined by taking those first step losses.
Victory is now determined by how many supplied Axis units are in possession of the 17 city hexes, of which Stalingrad provides six. Losses no longer factor into the victory conditions, which is strange, because the whole campaign for the Nazis was to save their armies from annihilation and still maintain control over Stalingrad, as per the directives of that Bohemian Corporal. Of course, the Soviet war aim was to kill as many of Hitler’s misguided invaders as they could get their hands on, which is best done by isolating them in their precious cities until Fritz realizes that mining Bauxite in the arctic is still preferable to dying for their Furher.
Even though Stalingrad Pocket 2 does not have the tornado-like fury of its progenitor, it is a smart and competitive game. However, while trying to be more of a simulation, it still has a problem in mirroring the historical Soviet pace; the Rumanians are shattered on turn two and the pocket is formed on turn three. The ineffectual CRT also works against the Nazi relief operation (which failed, historically, anyway), so both sides come out grumbling. As I did; I liked the original better.
CAPSULE COMMENTS:
Graphic Presentation: The map is beautiful, the counters are clear and readable.
Playability: It’s what the Standard Combat Series is all about. Playing time, however, has doubled.
Replayability: Still high. Players may try out various plans and strategies to fight out the four scenarios.
Historicity: Dean is really big on his research, although I, for one, am a bit tired of all those von Manstein Fan Club publications. To Hell with that Nazi jerk. Did he win the war?.
Creativity: Usual nice system touches.
Wristage: Not light.
Comparisons: There are plenty of games on Stalingrad/Operation Uranus to satisfy any Eastfronter. Rhino’s Campaign to Stalingrad holds a good middle ground; those looking for more detail should play Enemy at the Gates. At the far, but good, end of the ease ofplay scale is SPI’s 1972 Turning Point.
Overall: SP1 was more fun, and that’s why I play these damned games to begin with. Still, SP2 has its charms; it’s just too ponderous for my liking.
from THE GAMERS
One 22x34” map, 560 counters, two rule books, two dice; boxed. $34, published from The Gamers, 500 W. Fourth Street, Homer, IL. 61849.
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© Copyright 1994 by Richard Berg
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