About game:

First of all, let us do a brief introduction of Stalingrad Advance to the Volga, 1942. This game puts the player in charge of the attacking and far more mobile German side while the game system handles the defending and largely static Soviet side. Because Soviet defenders are set-up in a hidden & random way (according to terrain – Open, Elevated, Light Urban, Heavy Urban) no two games will ever be the same.


Each turn will represent new and unique challenges for the player – you will roll on event table and see in what way your army and forces will be hampered (reflecting actual, historical difficulties). Then, you will get your supplies – random amount, depending how much the OKW was willing to send. You will decide how to spend them, be it on supporting units, rebuilding destroyed formations or investing in so-much-important morale.

Only then you will be able to activate your units, enter enemy occupied territories and learn what is the true strength of opponent and which defensive tactic (Ambush, Fanatics, Guards, Heroes, Barrage) it shall use. Be careful – if you do not overcome enemy and get entangled into the fight in the Urban area, you might suffer the “Bloody Streets” effect (war of attrition in dense Stalingrad building).

So, would you stand-up to the task, use your assets wisely and achieve a result better than historical in the battle of Stalingrad?

Number of players:

This is pure solo game. One might experiment with second player setting the Soviet defenses on map and doing some of AI actions, but I doubt it will be much fun.

Playing time:

We have here two scenarios here – Full Campaign (9 turns, initial attacks in September) plus a dedicated Factory District Scenario (5 turn, late October). The first can take even up to 4-5 hours, especially when played first time. The second, with some experience, you will easily finish in up to two hours.

Complexity:

That could be treated as one of the better introductory solitaire wargames. Not overly complex, with straightforward AI mechanics, where most decisions are on your Axis forces. Prefect to play on your own.

What I like:
  • I want challenging AI in my solitaire games. Only then I have the inner urge to try and try to beat the opponent. And this is exactly what we are getting in Stalingrad – despite Soviets being mostly static, they really form-up a formidable opponent.
  • Another fundamental part of solo design which I consider necessary is Replayability. You want – even once you won – be able to come back to the game repeatedly and have a new, refreshing experience each time. The random set-up of Soviet forces, the Event and Supply Rolls – all of this greatly adds to varied experience each time. I am also really glad to see two scenarios included, which allows for a play of full siege of Stalingrad. Which of course adds to mentioned above replayability
  • We have multiple Optional Rules, which predominantly increase the difficulty / make game more realistic. Also, those allows for some types of units / weapons (like Engineers) to play much more key part in the game.
  • When you look at this title, what immediately strikes you is the Components Quality. The mounted board stylized on the map from WWII, the beautiful, thick, detailed tokens, the glossy rulebook or even neat dice set. Really great impression from aesthetical perspective.
What I do not like or would like to see in the game:
  • In some elements of this game, there is definitely a randomness – you roll a lot of dice, and pretty often. While for battle this is pretty well balanced – you can use additional assets, it is up to you how confident you want to be in particular struggle – for resources that can be very crippling (a poor roll might really paralyze your units). So, watch out!

  • Grinding forward through Soviet forces might be sometimes tedious, not having much maneuver, flexibility and finesse. But wait! That is what that battle was about!
For whom?

That one will give a lot of fun both to seasoned wargamer, who wants to play something lighter solo. On the other hand, that can be a great entry game for new adepts of our hobby, looking for a good solitaire game to start with.

More about the game:

And now let us have a look at the materials created by me plus some pictures of components:

Teach & Play Video
Overview of the game-play area – in process of counters clipping!
Epic attack on Pavlov’s House – there is a lot of chrome in this game and history buffs will find them easily!
Great Storage Solutions from Cube4Me

VERDICT:

In summary, I admit that I simply had fun playing that game. A very nice mechanics, straightforward rules, good playbook, beautiful components plus smaller and larger scenarios – definitely, designer though about all angels here. As mentioned, both grognards as well as new players will spend enjoyable time with this title. And if you ponder, what might be the next logical step in the series, check this out: Manila: The Savage Streets, 1945.

Highly Recommended!