Streets of Stalingrad

"Streets of Stalingrad" is a World War 2 East Front wargame that models the fight for the city of Stalingrad, September-October, 1942, at the company level. It employs a scale of 300 meters per hex, with daily turns and 2160 counters. The two designers spent years researching the orders of battle and aerial maps to produce a game that is possibly the most researched and arguably the most accurate depiction of a battle, mechanics aside. The large, fairly thin but sturdy counters are the shades of the uniforms of the armies according to the designers. Instead of the usual American style designations on the counters to depict what type of unit it is, the designers used the actual designations used by the separate armies. This could be confusing except for the wonderful large player aids supplied with actual photos of the unit types. Labels and ziplock bag are even supplied for sorting purposes although sorting can be confusing. Moves mag put out an issue in the late '70's, early '80's with an article that fixed the problem. The 3 large maps are taken straight from aerial photos. You see the city block by block and outside the city individual buildings can even be seen. There is very little color on the maps but they are beautiful and very functional. The terrain effects chart once again has actual photos of the terrain so you can get an idea of exactly what the soldiers were facing. There are many scenarios available so you can tailor the game for time and room as some only use 1 map or a portion of a map. Each scenario has a separate set up sheet for both sides that are large enough to put all the counters on the sheets. Each scenario has a miniature version of the map to be used with set up information. For a monster game it is very easy to set up and get into a game. There are 3 rulebooks included, 2 basic game and 1 advanced game. When learning the game it is fantastic that they included a rulebook for each player. This is the kind of detail that is evident throughout the game. The rule books are detailed without being overbearing, as a lot of Avalon Hill's and SPI's were from the time period. They are chock full of examples to clear up ambiguities. The game is difficult because of the scale only. It is actually a fairly simple game, mechanics wise, and can be played by anyone with some wargame experience. This game shows that it has been designed to play, by wargamers, in every detail.