One of the key dynamics that the German player in Battle for Stalingrad needs to master is the relationship between the game’s turn structure and his offensive operations. Because the Germans have complete initiative throughout the game, it’s tempting — especially in the early going when the Russians are weakly spread around the map — to send attacking battlegroups into the city in serial, using each one in turn to drill deeper into the defenses.
Looks good, at first blush. “Battlegroups” in this definition typically comprise one unit each of infantry, armor and engineers. The infantry packs a good punch, and allows the armor to use its higher (“6″) fire strength. The engineers let the attackers ignore any die roll modifiers for terrain when they fire. The armor carries the bonus of halving the strength of any Soviet artillery fire directed into the hex. Continue reading