Stalingrad (wargame)

[1] Stalingrad is a two-player game that, despite its title, covers the entire East Front campaign between Germany and the Soviet Union from June 1941 to May 1943.

[5] The Germans win by either eliminating all Soviet units on the map, or by occupying Stalingrad, Moscow and Leningrad and holding them simultaneously for two complete turns.

[3] Stalingrad was designed by Charles S. Roberts, and developed by Tom Shaw and Lindsley Schutz, and was published by Avalon Hill in 1963.

"[6] In his 1977 book The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming, Nicholas Palmer commented "it is generally felt that Stalingrad is much too unrealistic in its details (large numbers of units have almost identical strengths on the German side, and the sudden-death CRT makes luck a major factor.)"

"[7] In The Best of Board Wargaming (1980) Palmer wrote that the campaign is “crudely but excitingly simulated” despite having “by today’s standards an over-bland map and identikit units”.

He noted that play balance had always been considered an issue, saying, "since the original made it almost impossible for the Germans to win, innumerable variants sprang up over the years to even things up."

Nethercot concluded by giving the game a rating of 4 out of 6, saying, "On balance, I would probably advise more experienced players to go for Barbarossa, for newcomers — Stalingrad.

"[10] R. B. McArthur, writing for Washingtonian in 1980 said that "Avalon Hill's Afrika Korps, Stalingrad, D-Day, and Battle of the Bulge cover World War II in Europe pretty thoroughly.

Game designer Lewis Pulsipher commented, "While the company name lives on as an imprint at Hasbro, Avalon Hill's legacy is more substantial.

It provided the foundation for the entire hobby gaming industry, and of Avalon Hill's many groundbreaking early titles, Stalingrad is the best.