MAMAEV KURGAN,
STALINGRAD, RUSSIA, 27 September 1942: Acknowledging the damage done to his
army in assaulting the southern and central sections of the city,
General von Paulus had systematically reconfigured his forces
for a fresh assault. Two shock groups were formed, with one consisting
primarily of the 100th Jäger Division, whose task was to
clear and control Mamaev Kurgan, followed by an advance into the
Tennis Racket and the Bannyi Ravine and finally to occupy the
Krasnyi Oktiabr workers' settlements. Paulus' counterpart, General
Chuikov was well aware of these preparations and had planned appropriate
spoiling attacks, though he was unaware of the fresh German reinforcements.
His attack was disrupted before it could even begin, with waves
of Stukas strafing his advancing forces. His strongpoint on the
crest of the burial mound was destroyed. Bombs and artillery cut
down the attackers, decimating their ranks and allowing the following
German advance to gain ground. The jägers advanced two regiments
abreast and captured the western slopes, but initially failed
to take the southern slopes. The 227th Jäger Regiment's vigorous
assaults, supported by intense artillery, destroyed the Russian
ability to hold on. The Germans would secure the summit that evening
(though some bypassed remnants would harass the Germans on the
southern and western slopes for the next few days). By day's end,
the 95th Division retained a foothold on the northern and eastern
slopes of the burial mound, but was down to only 400 effective
fighting men.
The Battle of
Stalingrad has received no shortage of treatment in the wargame
realm since Red BarricadesTM first focused the
attention of ASLers on the factory complexes of the doomed city.
No tactical-level game has ever treated the titanic and unique
battle for Stalingrad's Mamayev Hill, aka Mamayev Kurgan
... until NOW. From the first
thrusts of Hitler's Wehrmacht on 13 September to the last days
of 1942 the hill changed hands time and again. By 27 September
the Germans had again captured half of Mamayev Kurgan. The Soviets
held their own positions on the slopes of the hill, as the 284th
Rifle Division desperately defended key strongholds. The defenders
held out until 26 January 1943, when the Soviet winter offensive
known as Operation Uranus, relieved them, in the process trapping
and destroying the German VI Armee in the tomb of Stalingrad.
When the battle
ended, the blood-soaked hill known as Mamayev Kurgan was plowed
up and under ... and mixed with blood and fragments of shrapnel
(between 500 and 1,250 steel splinters were later counted per
square meter). The earth on the hill had remained black in the
winter, as the snow kept melting in the many fires and explosions.
During the spring of 1943 the soil of Mamayev Kurgan remained
black. No grass would sprout in its scorched and blood-soaked
soil.
It's time to come
out of the factories ... at least until CH's Krasny Oktyabr hits
the streets ... and have a unique Stalingrad-themed experience
as you fight to hold, capture, or re-capture Mamayev Kurgan. Interested
in accurate, color Molotov Projector counters? Check. Panzers
in Eastern Front summer 1942 colors? Check. And a battlefield
like none you and your cardboard soldiers have ever contested?
Check and mate. It's time to get your Schmeisser strapped
on, hitch a ride on the pack of a Panzerkampfwagen IIIj ... and
get to where your Feldwebel tells you to get. Raus!
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
WITH EACH COPY:
- > A set of
8 scenarios set on thehistorical map
- > BONUS counter
sheets
- Special Rules
in 3-hole format
- > Color cover
- > Historical map in folding
paper format
