Stripped Down for Parts: Stalingrad Roads

 

 

I’ve written here before about building a wargame collection, but something I don’t think I mentioned is the value of being a little bit obsessive. There is a Sydney game store from which I’ve bought a few games over the years. It’s more of a general interest or Family game store, offering only a smattering of wargames, and those from the usual suspects, like GMT and Compass Games. The store has always provided very good service, but the thing that keeps me checking in every so often is they’ll do extravagantly low prices when they get down to the last couple of a title in stock. This was how I manages to score a copy of Stalingrad Roads: Battle on the Edge of the abyss (Nuts Publishing, 2024) for about half the regular retail price.

I’m a fan of Nuts! Publishing’s games; they tend to be well presented and well executed, and all-in-all, good value for money. Being a French company, you used to have to go looking a little harder for them, but Nuts! seems now to be a part of the Ares Games distribution channel, so we’re seeing the likes of Stalingrad Roads and Italia 1917-1918: A Farewell to Arms (Nuts! Publishing, 2024) appearing in Australian stores.

Stalingrad Roads is the third in a series of games, preceded by Liberty Roads (Hexasim, 2009), and Victory Roads: From Bagration to the Fall of Berlin 1944-1945 (Hexasim, 2015), which cover Normandy to the Rhine and the Russian offensive respectively.. The earlier games are generally well-regarded, but have been out of print for a while now, which is a shame, because after seeing Stalingrad Roads up close, I'd be keen to try the system on a grander scale. 

The Stalingrad Roads box cover is striking, using an iconic photograph taken during the battle (the same photograph used (though slightly altered) on the cover of the first edition Old School Tactical: Volume 1 – Fighting on the Eastern Front 1941/42 (Flying Pig Games, 2016)), but using a saturated red filter on the original black and white image. The title font is also reminiscent of soviet propaganda posters (and film advertisements form the thirties). The overall effect doesn’t leave you in any doubt about the subject of the game (if the title in itself wasn’t quite enough).

The back of the box.

The box back is split roughly into two halves, with the top half showing off the map and pieces mid-offensive (with the two hexes of Stalingrad tucked into a bottom corner), and the bottom half offering a written description of the game’s parameters. The details at the very bottom of the box-back let us know (in keeping with EU rules that I believe kicked in just last year) that the whole box is recyclable (perish the thought), that the game is intended to be played by two people, that the recommended age for play is fourteen, and that – depending on the scenario – the duration of the game is likely to run between one and five hours.

The text does let the reader into one of the things that makes Stalingrad Roads special. The two sides require different approaches to play. The Soviet player is restricted in how he can attack, being allowed only to allocate one major offensive a couple of minor offensives per turn. They won’t be able to attack everywhere they would like, and must marshal their resources where they are likely to be most effective in bringing pain to the Axis forces. This will inevitably be easier said than done.

The Axis player has a different set of problems. Their primary concerns will be to keep their forces in supply, and to keep in the Fuhrer’s good books. The Axis can’t mark their own offensives, they can only respond to the Soviet threat when it comes. Heady stuff.

Rulebook. 

The Stalingrad Roads rulebook is slim for what promises t be a pretty deep game, running to just 28 pages. Of that count, the full-page cover and reproduction of the Combat Resolution and Weather tables features on the general Player’s Aid Cards reduce the actual content to 26 pages, of which 21 cover the actual rules; four pages are devoted to the scenarios, and he last internal page, a Table of Contents (this seems a little fully-loaded cart before the horse, to me, but at least the booklet gets a ToC when it seems many that should, don’t).

Rules sample pages with examples of play

The rulebook is printed on a nice high-sheen paper, set in what looks like a clean Garamond laid out in two columns with a separating bar, clear titles and an indexed numbering system for rules and sub-clauses (with play examples in a sans-serif font, three columns, and a lighter colour ink to differentiate them from the rules proper). The rules-in-play examples are prudently and functionally illustrated. All in all, the production is very nice, and quite easy to read. I’m working through the rules at time of writing, and considering these have no doubt been translated from French to English, the stitching doesn’t show at all; the rules – thus far, at least – are clear, concise and readily understandable.

Stalingrad Roads comes with two sheets of die-cut counters, printed on a good weight of grey-core card-stock. These are all half-inch counters with centre-nubs. They punch out cleanly (the more obsessive ay want to take the worst of the nub off with an emery board or a couple of wipes of a very fine-grade sandpaper, but I don’t think most folks will have an issue with them). In spite of their diminutive size, the units counters are quite readable. The registration overall is very good, and this is helped by the counters not being overloaded by information.

Units have a unit (formation) designation, a representative symbol (NATO-symbol for infantry, cavalry, mountain infantry, security (Sicherungs) units and HQs, and vehicle illustrations for armoured units), three numbers in a row, representing (left to right) Attack strength, Defence strength and Movement allowance (HQs have a Command Radius value instead of an Attack strength, which makes perfect sense). Some units are adorned with a star, indication their elite status. Soviet units are either Regular or Guards units; Axis units are, in the majority, German Wehrmacht with, some Waffen SS formations, and representation the other Axis powers (Romanian, Hungarian and Italian).

A feature of the game is the Support markers that each side can allocate to their operations as suited. Not all will be available all of the time, and the use of one Support resource may prohibit it's subsequent use at a later stage. AAS I've alluded elsewhere, Stalingrad Roads functions very much in the Operational space of wargames. You will be wrestling scarcity at least as much you'll be battling with your opponent.

The game comes with several Player Aids. the first two are identical, double-sided PACs, each presenting the things you’ll need most often during a game; on the obverse, a reprinting of the last page of the rulebook, offering the Combat Resolution and Weather tables, and the reverse presenting a through Terrain Effects Chart.

Axis Player Aids. Each side has a double-sided support marker directory and an area
to keep track of out of play units, but the priorities of the two sides are so different,
this is where the similarities end. 

The other Axis Player Aids include charts related to the Hitler Approval track, Axis Supply and the Air Bridge supply effects. The Soviet Player Aids feature Areas for marshalling Major and Minor Offensive support markers and a table for the Acquisition of Air Support. Both sides also get spaces for housing Units eliminated or removed from play, and each gets a descriptive chart with a precis of each Support marker available to the given side.

Wintergerwitter scenario card.

Operation: Uranus scenario card.

Each of Stalingrad Roads’ scenarios has set up notes in the rulebook and an accompanying sheet or sheets that let you keep track of your side’s reinforcements and offer handy reminders of any finicky rules at play for the given situation. The shorter scenarios – Wintergerwitter and Uranus – each have just one sheet shared by the players.

The two Backhand Blow scenario cards.

Each side gets their own card for the Backhand Blow scenario.

Star and Gallop scenario cards. Note the shared reinforcement portion.

Star and Gallop has the set-up information and Support allocations for each side on separate cards but space is shared on the Axis card for both sides’ reinforcements.

The Campaign scenario sheets in all their overwhelming glory. The Campaign game is
actually listed as the third of the five scenarios included in the package.

The Campaign game, at seventeen turns the longest of the scenarios, accommodates each side with two cards of their own. Overall there’s a good spread of complexity and

The play area. Try as I might, I couldn't get an adequate photo of the map, so here is a
rendering of the designer, Nicolas Rident, posted on Boardgamegeek.

The map for Stalingrad Roads is slightly different in size to the 22” by 34” poster-sized maps we’re used to seeing from American publishers. Being a European publisher, Nuts! usually does their sheet maps on A1-sized sheets (roughly 23.4” by 33.1”). It’s not that big a difference, and if you’re using a plexi sheet over it, a poster-size (24”by 36”) sheet will still accommodate the whole map, if a little snuggly.

The map incorporates a Turn Track, Fuhrer’s Approval Track, and a general track for other bookkeeping needs. Overall, it's quite a handsome map, visually attractive without being too fussy. The limited colour-palette is easy on the eyes, but still manages to highlight both the natural geographic features and the artificial structures – cities and towns, road and rail – without making any feature feel tacked on or out of place.

The Wintergerwitter scenario mini-map. Small but perfect in every detail,

The recommended starting point for the game is the Wintergerwitter scenario. This is played on a mini (11” by 8 ½”) map provided for the purpose, with the unit placement handily preregistered on the map. The map is printed on the verso of one of the Soviet Player Aid sheets, but given he scenario runs through just two turns, it’s absence shouldn’t be conspicuous.

Overall, the scenario and player aid cards are very well resented and easily navigable. My only criticism is the weight of card they’re printed on. It barely warrants the epithet of card. I’ll be looking at sleeving these in something a little stiffer, which is an unusual step for me. But given the sheer number of the sheets provided – thirteen in total – I can appreciate the decision to go with a lighter stock. It’s not a dealbreaker, but I think the use a slightly heavier stock would have made for a better game experience. But now I'm just nit-picking.

Finally, Stalingrad Roads comes with a stash of baggies for sorting your counters, and two six-sided dice, appropriately in Soviet red and German field grey. The box itself looks on the thin side, but is really quite sturdy.

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I have a soft spot for French-produced games. I think this is because I have yet to be disappointed by one. On the face of it, Stalingrad Roads seems to be unexceptional to that tradition. I can’t say when I’ll manage to get this game to the table, but I don’t want to leave it too long.