"Here, across death's other river
The Tartar horsemen shake their spears."

The following optional rules are my way to add a little more historical insight to Stalingrad Pocket II and also a way to get the game moving a bit faster. Before the start of the game, the players may agree amongst themselves which of these optional rules, if any, that they will use. Enjoy!

SCS 8.0e The optional combat loss rule.

East Front combat was characterized by both sides bringing ruin on their opponents and themselves in meat-grinder battles, but the combat results table in the game is filled with those annoying "no result" results all the way up to the 9to1 attack column [Ed note: The chance of rolling an NR at 9:1 is around 5%]. To get the ball rolling in a meaningful way, the players may agree at the start of the game to treat any NR result on the CRT as an A1D1 result instead.

1.8g Rumanian Reliability (Optional)

"Although the Rumanian soldiers were poorly trained and equipped, their greatest handicap was the incompetence and cowardice of their officers, who all too often abandoned their units at the first sign of a heavy Soviet attack." --John Shaw, Red Army Resurgent.

This proved true when the bulk of the Rumanian 4th and 5th Corps (5 divisions) were pocketed at the village of Raspopinskaya (hex 13.22) on the 19th. Four days later, this twenty-seven thousand man force was surrendered by its Rumanian commanding officer, Brigadier General Stanescu. Hitler's fear that the armies of his Rumanian ally would not be eager to die for him proved well founded.

To simulate the instant mass surrenders and wholesale disintegration of the Rumanian armies at the start of the Soviet November counteroffensive, when any Rumanian unit has to roll for out-of-supply attrition (rule 1.8f), apply the following to each unit independently: If the unit has more than one step, reduce that unit one step. If the unit has only one step, roll one die. On a 1 through 5, remove the unit; it has surrendered. If the roll is a 6, then the Rumanian unit suffers no additional effect.

2.4 The 11th Hour Defenders of Stalingrad

(Another optional placement of the 62nd Army)

When Uranus was launched, Chuikov's 62nd Army had been beaten into an ever-tightening perimeter of the town, but it was still in possession of the middle-eastern strip of Stalingrad and the army was still getting reinforced and supplied by river ferry (use optional rule 2.5, below). To simulate this, the Axis player may not occupy hex 44.31 and the Soviet player may place as many of the units of the 62nd Army as stacking limits permit in hex 44.31, except for the artillery, and Katyusha brigades which are kept in hex 45.32 (Sloboda).

All six of the 62nd Army's "1-1-5" infantry brigades must be placed in 44.31. Only units of the 62nd Army may set up in hex 44.31. None of the front-line reinforcements (1Gds Mech Corps, UR brigades, etc.) may set up there at the beginning of the game (scenario 2), although they may set up east of the Volga. All of the 62nd Army's units in Stalingrad are in supply at the start of the game.

This variant adds a lot of tension to both sides. The Soviet player will want to save this army, and the Axis player cannot ignore it as it might liberate more hexes of Stalingrad or even lash out to destroy the air fields. Even though the fighting 62nd did not control a full hex at the beginning of the game, it surely does not deserve to sit east of the Volga in a meaningless and inoffensive position.

2.5 Volga Ferry

During the battle for Stalingrad, the Soviet troops in the city were supplied, evacuated, and reinforced by small boats dashing across the Volga. The main workhorses of this flotilla were steam-powered sidewheel paddle boats which whould have looked more at home on the Mississippi during the American Civil War. [Ed. note: another use for those Tyler and Lexington counters] No matter how quaint and outdated these vessels appeared, they still succeeded in their job of supplying the defenders despite constant harassment and interdiction by the Nazis.

2.5a Sloboda-Stalingrad ferry.

As long as Sloboda (hex 45.32) is Soviet-controlled, the Soviet player may transport supplies and combat units across to Stalingrad hex 44.31 or 44.32 (not to both in one turn), so long as the receiving hex has a friendly unit in it or is otherwise Soviet-controlled. If an Axis unit occupies Sloboda, then the Soviet player may not use the ferry anymore. The Axis player may never use this ferry transport.

2.5b Ferry supply transport.

During the Soviet Supply Phase, the ferry transports supply as if the Volga was bridged. This still does not allow units to exert ZOCs across or retreat across this Volga crossing site. Follow all regular supply rules. [see the sidebar] If a Soviet Army HQ is west of the Volga and it receives this ferried supply, the HQ may then supply its formations within its supply range (rule 1.8b). An HQ in Sloboda (hex 45.32) may not use its supply range to move this supply across the Volga. This ferried supply transport is subject to interdiction (rule 2.5d).

2.5c Ferried combat unit transport.

During the Soviet Exploit Movement & Overrun Segment, one Soviet combat unit (any size) under a Reserve Marker in Sloboda (hex 45.32) may be transported by ferry to either hex 44.31 or 44.32 if it is occupied by a friendly unit or is otherwise Soviet-controlled. This ferry transport takes 3 movement points. If it survives interdiction (rule 2.5d), the unit may continue its movement and may overrun if it has enough movement points left.

One Soviet unit in hex 44.31 or 44.32 may also be transported to Soviet-controlled Sloboda during the Soviet Exploit Movement & Overrun Segment if it is under a Reserve Marker and not adjacent to any Axis unit that can exert a ZOC. This transport takes 3 movement points and the unit can continue movement and/or overruns if it has enough movement points left. This ferried transport is subject to interdiction (rule 2.5d).

2.5d Ferry interdiction.

If any Axis unit that can exert a ZOC is adjacent to a ferry transport destination hex, then roll one die for the ferried supply and once for the ferried unit. If the die result is a 5 or 6, then the supply is destroyed or the combat unit is reduced one step and is disorganized, although it still lands in its destination hex. If a four was rolled for the combat unit ferry interdiction, then the transported unit is disorganized but it is not reduced. Place a DG Marker on it. Disorganized units are placed in their destination hex but they lose their reserve status and must stop their movement and may not conduct any overruns. Units which were under Reserve in hexes 44.31, 44.32, or 45.32 and suffered a DG result from Axis barrage combat (rule 1.9a) lose their reserve status and may not be ferried.

3.4 Axis Army Destruction

Regardless of Der Fuhrer's manic directives that Stalingrad must be held at all costs, Germany simply could not pay this butcher's bill without collapsing the front. To represent this when playing scenario 2 (the campaign game), German victory is decreased one level if the total Axis losses (German, Rumanian, and Croatian) are 120 combat units or more. If the Axis losses are less than 90 units, then German victory is increased one level.

3.5 Soviet Rodent Partisan Corps

On November 10, when Hitler ordered the 22nd Panzer Division to drive 150 miles north to support the Rumanians, 39 of its 104 tanks would not start because when the tanks were kept in reserve they were covered in straw to prevent freezing which attracted the countryside's mice to nest in the straw as well. The mice nibbled away the rubber insulation of the tanks' wiring, causing short circuits. Only 42 tanks were in place behind the Rumanians on November 19th.

To represent this, the 22nd Panzer Division's 1-204th Panzer battalion will constantly be DG'd. Place a DG marker on it which cannot be removed.

[Ed. note: Scott decided to pull this rule since the 1/204/22 Pz is already understrength with a 4-2-10. I don't necessarily recommend this rule, but I wanted to included because it's a good lesson to those who depend too much on standard TO&E information, and because it's so damned funny.]

For Further Reading

Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. William Craig. Reader's Digest Press. 1973. From the great strategic moves to the small personal accounts, thhis book covers it well. An interesting and informative read.

Red Army Resurgent. John Shaw. The Sevastopol and Stalingrad volume of the Time-Life World War 2 collection of illustrated books. Academic types may sneer at such sophomoric picture books, but the historical treatment is not superficial and the wealth of photos and illustrations adds life to the subject matter.

Stalingrad: The Turning Point. Geoffrey Jukes. Ballantine Books. 1968. Time-Life Books. 1979. Another volume of a World War 2 illustrated set of small history books. Well written, inexpensive, and lavished with good photos, maps, and illustrations.

Stalingradskaya Bitva. Samsonov. Printed in the USSR, 1968. A heavy reference work loaded with information on the battle for Stalingrad; unfortunately it is all printed in Russian.