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 We have reached what is hoped will be the closest the Germans ever again come to beating the Soviet Union.  The Germans may have found our brief success at Kharkov suprising, but this has not stopped them from pushing us all the way back to the Volga. Here we must once again halt their offensive, and when winter is over we will finally begin to drive the invaders back. Russian Campaign: Stalingrad November 19, 1942 12 Turns  It is turning cold once again. The weather is likely to be more of a headache for us, though. Except for trying to push at Stalingrad, the Germans don't need to do much but huddle for warmth in their blankets and hold their line. Minor: Stalingrad [partially held], (The Tractor Works), (Kletskaya), Kalach Major: Kotelnikova  This displays the initial air unit set-up. Here's the initial land unit strategic map, which should help to understand the overall situation.  Soviet Core pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp [OS] Land Units 1.12th ST Regular ST Regular [Truck] 120 2.51st ST Regular ST Regular [Truck] 53 3.1st ST Bridge Eng ST Bridge Eng [Truck] 219 4.31st ST BT-7 ST BT-7 110 5.13th ST T-34/40 ST T-34/40 327 6.52nd ST T-70 ST T-70 50 7.7th ST KV-1/41 ST KV-1/41 464 8.The Cultists ST KV-1/39 426 9.19th ST KV-2 ST KV-2 229 [11] 10.8th ST 76mm ATG ST 76mm ATG [Truck] 255 11.2nd ST 15.2cm Gun ST 15.2cm Gun [Truck] 107 12.3rd ST 15.2cm Gun ST 15.2cm Gun [Truck] 55 13.5th ST 7.62cm AD ST 7.62cm AD [Truck] 112 Aux (quantity): 2 ST Guards Inf [Truck] 300 1 ST Guards Inf [Truck] 100 1 ST Guards Inf [Truck] 4 ST Guards Inf 200 2 ST Guards Inf 100 15 ST conscript 2 ST Guards Cav 200 2 ST T-34/41 200 1 ST T-34/43 200 1 ST T-34/43 100 1 ST T-70 300 2 ST T-70 200 1 ST T-70 100 1 ST KV-1/42 200 1 ST KV-1/42 100 1 ST BA-10 200 1 ST BA-10 100 1 ST BA-64 200 1 ST BA-64 100 1 ST 12.2cm Gun [Truck] 200 2 ST 12.2cm Gun [Truck] 100 1 ST 12.2cm Gun [Truck] 1 ST 15.2cm Gun 300 1 ST 15.2cm Gun 200 2 ST 15.2cm Gun 100 1 ST 7.62cm AD 300 2 ST 7.62cm AD [Truck] 200 2 ST 7.62cm AD [Truck] 100 Air Units 1.6th ST Yak-1 ST Yak-1 211 [12] 2.36th ST Yak-1M ST Yak-1M 49 3.50th ST Il-2M3 ST Il-2M3 91 1 ST Yak-1 200 1 ST Yak-1M 200 1 ST Mig-3 1 ST La-3 200 1 ST Il-2 200 1 ST Il-2M3 200 Aux slots : 0 Starting Prestige: 5295 We're seeing a number of upgraded units. The biggest change is that most infantry and all cavalry are now Guards. This gives them improved attack values, especially in Hard Attack, where they are even better than Engineers. A few tanks have new models, including the T-34 which is already into next year's model. A detailed account of the new available units will be in the end-of-the-year review. We're coming at the Germans from two sides, and we'll be putting pressure all along on both sides to crush them. There isn't enough time (especially with bad weather) to make this push and and then head back into the city, so some effort will required from the city defenders to take back the streets while the Germans are forced to deal with our advance.  The  Our core is tasked with creating a line that can pressure the Germans from the south at Stalingrad and also take Kalach. This is a tall order, but they'll be assisted by a few units moving up from the south. Given that we can expect poor weather, it may be crucial to secure the road, which is roughly where the lines should end up. We'll need to advance broadly, though, to ensure that no enemy units slip around our flank.  The southern group consists mainly of Conscripts facing off against Romanians. There are some Guards units, light tanks, and artillery here too. Some of them will be charged with moving down the road to Kotelnikova, but we cannot spare much as our primary objective is to free Stalingrad.  This set-up should let us move out at the best pace. Allied Turn: November 19 1942 Snowing(Dry) The poor weather is of little surprise to us. The counter-offensive begins anyway.  The snow allows us to do a fly-over of the city without fear of reprisal. This lets our artillery know where to hit the enemy guns, and we manage to push back at the Germans in some places.  The Don Group takes the airfield near Kletskaya, although one T-34 takes heavy losses in the process and pulls into the town to regroup.  The rest of the Don Group moves south, toward Kalach.  The air units can't be touched, so we use them to help scout the Romanian lines.  Romanian troops match up evenly with our Conscripts.  We can push all along the line. The trucks are headed for the highway.  But further south, we don't have the advantage of any scouting, and one of the Conscripts is caught in an ambush.  As the core moves out we meet a small force blocking us, but we can push it aside without too much effort.  The KV-2 still dominates when dealing with infantry.  The Engineers get in on dislodging the blocking force. The tanks moving west ran into some enemy armor. Without knowing what else is in the area, they decline to engage them. Axis Turn: November 19, 1942  Our prudence turned out to be wise, as the Germans have a sIG down here. One of the tanks teams up with another from the north to target the BT-7. It takes heavy losses, but retreats safely.  Fire from German guns weaken our artillery, but it withstands two separate attacks from the German soldiers.  There turns out to be two Stugs in the area. One goes after the T-34 while the other strikes at our T-70. Neither of them manage to hit terribly hard. Allied Turn: November 20, 1942 Snowing(Frozen) The snow continues and the ground is quickly covered.  The snow will slow our advance. It's vital to push to the road, and happily there is nothing stopping us.  Our planes continue to recon. No Luftwaffe planes have been spotted yet. We can see tanks to the north and south of Stalingrad.  On the north of the city, we flank the enemy guns and destroy them. Further south, barrages from our guns fail to destroy the enemy artillery. Then we pull back into a better position. It means leaving some streets open, but there is the threat of more units arriving. Two new units of Regulars come to the city's defense.  The Don is frozen, which means we'll need to be wary of any tanks crossing to get back into our lines. Several Wehrmacht infantry units are engaged on the northern line.  To the west, we find the airfield undefended and rush a T-34 to hold it.  On the core front, we get rid of one Stug and weaken a Panzer IIIj, but it seems the rest of the armored units may have pulled back. Axis Turn: November 20, 1942  German tanks come at our Conscripts on the northern line.  Defensive artillery proves useful, but intense street fighting managed to take out the southernmost Guards Infantry.  The soldiers that pushed out from the Tractor Works are repulsed.  The other Stug comes back to go after our AT gun, which is able to hold its ground. Allied Turn: November 21, 1942 Overcast(Frozen) It appears that once again the Luftwaffe may be out of commission, so we'll be able to put our aircraft to good use finally.  We reach the road to Kotelnikova, but driving in this weather is burning up our fuel like crazy.  The Cultists are not favored with any luck fighting the Stug.  The core is taking heavy losses, though the initial forces that met us are almost gone now. The scouting T-70 does not detect enemy units to the west yet.  Our planes are brought in to finish off the infantry and try to hit the Stug again.  Tanks try to get at the artillery in Karpovskaya, but it is rather well dug in. A recon flight discovered where the sIG went.  More Romanians have shown up in the northwest, but we're taking care of them well enough. What's more worrisome is the tank down in the corner that crossed the Don.  The Panzer IIIn is the last and best of the Panzer III models. It's improved on attack and now has AA ability. it does have much reduced initiative, which is the one tradeoff in our favor. (It's also quite cost-effective, as it is cheaper than a T-70.)  We give it a shot anyway, but the experience of this unit causes our attack to completely fail.  More tanks are brought to deal with it. This reveals a much larger force across the river.  The soldiers on the north side of the city try to clear one objective, but meet with heavy resistance.  More soldiers come up in Stalingrad. Axis Turn: November 21, 1942  The tanks cross the Don and pound on our armor. A T-70 is lost.  More heavy fighting in Stalingrad, but our troops hold strong.  Another conscript on the northern line is lost. In the city a Guards Infantry falls, but not without damaging the tanks that hit it. Allied Turn: November 22, 1942 Snowing(Frozen) The weather worsens again. This does not bode well for our ability to advance.  We are trudging slowly toward Kotelnikova. The trucks will need to stop and refuel.  The Don Group needs to take care of all these tanks somehow. There's another new German model here.  The Panzer IVf2 boasts a substantial hard attack and retains a high initiative. It's interesting to see that with previous models, the Pz IV was more suited for fighting soft targets and the Pz III for fighting armor. Now the reverse is the case.  We get some hits in, but the KV-1 has a poor day fighting the new Pz IV.  The Germans have had a lot of luck fighting in this spot.  We finally take the north half of Stalingrad. We are still only just maintaining our position on the other side of the city.  The ground in front of our core appears open, but we need to spend the day refueling and getting replacements. Hopefully this storm will pass soon. Axis Turn: November 22, 1942  The German tanks across the Don do not push further west, but attack our armor on the east. Two tanks arrive on the north side of the city and hit the weak spot in our infantry.  Another Guards unit in Stalingrad is shelled almost to extinction and then attacked.  But thanks to Soviet artillery it survives not just one but two attacks.  The battle rages on throughout the city. Allied Turn: November 23, 1942 Snowing(Frozen) The snow only seems to be getting worse.  We play it safe and make our way around the outskirts of Kotelnikova. We won't be detected in the snow. One benefit of cavalry is that they don't require fuel, and so can keep moving fine in the cold weather.  We simply have to push on despite the storm. We've made it to the river now, and the T-70 blasts the sIG.  The Karpovskaya airfield is being used now. We go up against the Romanians in the town but it is a tough battle for the Soviets.  The Don Group still has to deal with the Panzers on this side of the river. A T-34 severely damages one that was in the act of crossing, but two still remain.  Our reconnaissance misses the fact that the two artillery pieces at Stalingrad have doubled up, and our infantry pays the price.  The city is able to get an AT unit together as the tank attacks in the north are getting more serious. Axis Turn: November 23, 1942  The line of tanks behind the Don is hit in the middle, but the T-34 survives.  More soldiers are lost to the continuous shelling from the Germans.  The new AT gun arrived just in time, as the Tractor Works stands strong.
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