So you're a nice guy, and you let your friend take the Soviets because they'd be easy. Or maybe, you just wanted the challenge of commanding the Germans in a hopeless situation, You friend will probably be cursing your name after the first time you stick him with the Soviets. Well, don't get cocky! Once the Soviet player learns to controt his "Schnell Heinz" tendencies, you are in for a world of hurt.

Unless you give up victory points, maybe not the wisest thing to do, you will have 22 Pz, 1 Rum Pz, and D'Aosta left facing the Soviet hordes. If you pull some mobile troops out of Stalingrad, they will probably have to fight their way out. They might take casualties and will definitely cost supply that will come from the pocket. Also, do not count on your immediate reinforcements to solve this dilemma. Of your three new mobile divisions, II Pz is one of your best divisions, 6 Pz is an average unit, and 27 Pz is worthless. You may get a variable division right away, but it will be 23 Pz. Itis a good unit, but has no AR 5 elements. How about some of that wonderful German infantry'? Dream on. What you see is what you got until Turn 4. At that point, a trickle of these units will begin to arrive. By the way, you will never have enough supply to use your Panzertruppen in an unlimited fashion.

Average ARs, Force Ratios and Your Allies

On TABLE 1, things probably do not look too bad. Your German forces, and some of your allies, have definite advantages against the Soviets based on average action ratings. Sure, your German troops have lost some of their invincibility over the last year, but so what? Remember that the best ARs involved, not the averages, are the basis for combat in the OCS. Now, take a closer look at Table 1. Did you notice that the Soviets have five AR 5 and sixty AR 4 units, even in move mode. (By the way, he starts the game with four of his five best units.) Give your allied armies a little more scrutiny, and take a guess at who holds most of the front line at start. Only the Italians can offer any real resistance to the Soviets, and there are not that many of them. It gets worse. At least half of your Rumanian troops will be gone after Turn 3. Keep in mind that most of your initial Germans will get pocketed at the same time. The pain is just beginning, but it will have to wait for a brief look at the fin-ce ratio.

Perhaps you have already gone back to TABLE 2 and said "but what about all my mobile divisions?" The easiest way to disillusion yourself about the force ratio is to take a closer look at your mobile troops (Refer to TABLE 3).

TABLE 3
Division	Rating	Status
14 Panzer	shattered	in "reserve", and in the path of the Soviet 21st Army
16 Panzer	shattered	in Stalingrad
22 Panzer	poor unit	in "reserve" behind 3rd Rum Army, relatively safe
24 Panzer	shattered	in Stalingrad
3 Motorized	full strength	in Stalingrad
16 Motorized	full strength	stuck, indefinitely, defending Elista
29 Motorized	full strength	in "reserve", and facing the entire Soviet southern pincer
60 Motorized	full strength	in Stalingrad
It "D'Aosta" Celere	full strength	in "reserve" with 8th Italian Army
Rum I Panzer	poor unit	in "reserve" behind 3rd Rum Army, might escape
Hun I Panzer	worthless	with 2nd Hun Army--leave it there

Stopping the Horde

Compared to your situation, the Soviets in GB had it easy All they had to do was wait until the Rasputitsa hit, and the world began to turn. Well, no one said it Would be easy playing the evil fascist! Stop feeling sorry for yourself; look at what is possible and get to work. Be proud that you have the intestinal fortitude required for a real challenge.

Several things will save your tuckus from frying all game long. First, the Soviets have limited ability to carry out intense operations continuously. Their supply net will have difficulty keeping pace with their advances until Stalingrad falls. (Therefore, you do not want the pocket to fail.) Also, even when they can get all supply forward without hindrance, they do not have enough to accomplish "Uranus" every turn. If the Soviet player tries to put constant pressure on you, he will never again be in the position to achieve a decisive breakthrough. You will almost force him into lulls on the front that will give you opportunity to regain equilibrium.

There is also much you can do to help yourself-aside from avoiding panic and the mistakes that generally follow. Organize your Chir River defenses with the goal of making it a barrier that he must attack if he wants to pass. You will not be able to turn this position into a line, so make a couple of alert rolls just to have bodies in place Unfortunately, this costs VPs, and if you pulled too much out of Stalingrad you will not be able to make these rolls. In that case, you will have to use the mobile troops you saved to fill the line-not their intended function! If you get the time, you can strengthen this position as the turns fly by. About pulling troops out of Stalingrad, I advise you to pull all the non-divisionals you can (especially arty that cannot be used for lunch and your AG units) if you can get any troops out. These units do not cost any VPs to save, and are nearly the equivalent of a full strength panzer division.

Finally, if you are not able to keep Stalingrad in supply on Turn 1, do not hesitate to declare the pocket the moment you finish moving out any troops you can. Do not waste supply in the hope that you will be able to counter-attack out and re-open the supply route. Every turn you waste supply without declaring the pocket means the pocket will go out of supply three turns earlier.

It is also important, beginning with your air unit set up, to get your air lift organized quickly. Realize the potential here. On every turn of flight, until you lose Morozovsk and Tatsinskaia, it is possible to get enough into Stalingrad to Supply the pocket for one more turn. In the pocket itself, start getting the troops accustomed to horse flesh immediately. All the wagons, except about 3 points for moving supply from the airfields into the city, and most of those cheesy little arty units, are expendable. Remember, you can use only real supply points for combat (or to replace used internal stocks). Do everything possible to keep Germans in Stalingrad until February, and you are well on your way to winning the game.

Begin planning the mid-game immediately, especially Your reinforcements. I cannot give specific advice because every game will be different at this point. However, your choices will generally include the following options. It is possible to successfully conduct a relief operation, at least a limited one (i.e. pulling a few more divisions Out of the pocket). However, this will bum up your supply reserves and leave you exposed to the next Soviet front-ripper.

Alternatively, you can significantly strengthen the Chir River line. If you send units in the Kotelnikovo direction and get some reserve behind the next likely allied target, this option has many benefits (including holding Moro and Tats a little longer) and Will Cost You little. Your final option, mentioned above, is to try to get major support and reserves to the next likely Soviet avenue of advance. The difficulty is determining where that will be. Certainly, placing three panzer divisions behind the Hungarians will not be of any great help to the Italians if they are the next players in the hit parade.

The Mid-Game

This is probably the hardest part of the game for the German to master. Every time you regain equilibrium and reestablish a new front, the Soviet will be about ready to launch another assault. Again, the Soviet options make it virtually impossible to give specific advice, Also, your supply constraints will make it difficult to make him dance to your tune. Finally, you do not have enough good troops to expend them in relatively pointless counterattacks, but do not abandon ship. You have the better army. If you do not panic, you will slow his advance, and maybe hurt him, enough to win the game.

The hardest decision you have to make is when to abandon one of those hard-earned lines of defense. This will depend on the temperaments of you and your opponent. During playtests (sometimes before the current rules were finished), most German commanders formed a defensive position with plenty of reserves, held that position until the Katys moved into position, and then fell back three hexes (i.e. out of Katy range). While it may be gamey, there is nothing wrong with falling back three hexes if you can form a new line and the previous position has become untenable. The problem is using within Katy range as the definition for untenable. You should not consider any line that German troops hold, or that consists mostly of AR 3+ units, lost until engaged by the enemy. Make the Soviet player pay, in casualties and supply, for almost every hex. Yes, you will take additional losses, but so will he and his losses will nearly always be from his best units (and he does not have many of them). Fight as long as possible without risking major elements of your line getting surrounded. When you feel your troops are in a seriously exposed position, that is the time to bug out and reform to the rear. You will probably have to fall back more than the original three hexes, but you will not have given them up without a fight. What is more important, once the Soviet player realizes that you are there to fight, he will have to take time to prepare a new offensive.

With the Rumanians mostly gone, you only have two allied armies to worry about. The Italians are pretty good troops with an average AR of 3.42 when you discount the Territorial Bns from the equation. They will have to assist in defending the upper Chir. Nevertheless, with some German help, they can probably hold their own against a Soviet offensive until the panzers show up. The Hungarians are a different story. It is almost pointless to provide back-up to the worst troops on the map. The best solution would be to replace them with German units and use these slugs--can you tell I'm not a big fan of the Hungarians--to defend rear area facilities. It is too bad you will not have troops to carry this out until after the Soviets are ready to deal with the Hungarian threat. If you only have a few German divisions to strengthen the Hungarians, committing them to this will lead to their encirclement and destruction. Unfortunately, the most viable solution is to leave the Hungarians to their fate, and deal with the damage. Once the Soviets hit them, use your Hungarians offensively, and try to cause the Soviet some losses. They may be the worst troops in the game, but with the help of a few hip-shoots, even the Hungarians can put up a fight--and die bravely.

Another tactic you can use on the Hungarian front, or anywhere, is the panzer trap. In simple terms, move a panzer "Korps" with plenty of supply (because your Panzertruppen burn as much supply as an infantry army), into a threatened area and wait for the Soviet player to attack. When the poor fool sticks his neck out, slice him and dice him! There are two problems with this tactic. First, unless you are careful about sneaking these units into position, the Soviet player will catch on and attack elsewhere. You will have spent time and resources setting up the perfect ambush, and only put a powerful force out of the main action. The second problem is that even if he falls into your trap, your units and supply will have been out of action while you were setting up and waiting for the ambush. This will only be worthwhile if the ambush is a total success. You simply do no have enough mobile troops to waste them in either manner.

Perhaps the best use of your forces is to let the Soviet player think you are dancing to his tune. Try to keep at least one full strength panzer division (or equivalent) opposed to each Soviet front. When you get strong enough, bump it up to two or three in sectors you consider important. Send available reinforcements into crisis sectors. Remember there is little terrain worth the loss of major forces, so avoid any kind of repeat performance a la Stalingrad if possible. Avoid pointless expenditure of supply; only fort up where it is vital. Unless it is unavoidable, do not scurry back and forth with your mobile units between crisis points; this alone will save 30 to 50 SPs over the course of the game. You want to reach the end-game, beginning around Turn 20, having accomplished two things: salvaging the majority of your German force and having a comfortable stockpile of supply.

There is little I can write about the end game. If you have accomplished your goals, you will have regained key pieces of terrain, and have units available for counter-attack, with the necessary supply to conduct your assaults. You cannot count on the Soviet player over-extending himself as his historical counterparts did. Yet, it is likely that he will do so once or twice during the game. Whenever he does, whack him as hard as you can. He will become increasingly cautious. By the time "Gross Deutschland" and the -SS Panzer Korps" arrive, you should be able to dictate the score for the final dance.

More Operational Notes for Enemy at the Gates

Introduction
Soviet Notes
Axis Notes
OCS 2.0 and Play