Just wanted to chime in on some of the posts here. Funny that the year A/A is putting out a game corresponds to one I have been working on for longer than I would care to mention. Below is a ChatGPT assisted write up of all I am putting into this game! Looking forward to hearing anyone’s thoughts.
STALINGRAD and the Battle of the Caucasus
A Historical Strategy Game of Oil, Urban Warfare, and the Turning Point of the Eastern Front of WW2.
June 28th, 1942 The Axis Powers launch their Summer Offensive: Fall Blau (Case Blue). Hitler’s dream of seizing the oil fields of the Soviet Union hangs in the balance. The road to Baku runs through Stalingrad and the rugged passes of the Caucasus. Will you take Stalin’s namesake city for glory and propaganda? Or bypass it entirely—striking south to capture Baku and the black gold of the USSR? Can the USSR trade space for time—building toward a thunderous counteroffensive to encircle and destroy the invaders?
STALINGRAD and the Battle of the Caucasus is the result of over three years of design and development by game designer Stephen Prescott (stevepres25). This immersive, historically grounded wargame delivers a level of depth and strategic nuance rarely seen in the genre. With dual maps—one covering the vast oil-rich Caucasus region and the other focused on the brutal urban fighting in Stalingrad—players engage in a two-front struggle where oil management, encirclement, supply, and tactical planning are paramount.
Play as the USSR, Germany, or the Axis Minors—Romania, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and even the insurgent Chechnya. Gain historical Commanders such as Friedrich Paulus, Vasily Chuikov, Erich Von Manstein, and Georgy Zhukov who have unique and historical abilities that impact combat. The Axis Powers get assigned unique historical Missions and Battles that come with advantages upon accomplishment. The USSR play Calendar Cards each representing 2 weeks of battle that inject strategic and historic twists. The richly detailed units—some never-before-seen in this genre: Snipers, Mortar, Bicycle Infantry, Rocket Artillery, and more—each carry fresh characteristics that bring about more nuance in combat. Combat is more strategically varied as units may be routed—or captured and used by your opponent. Players face meaningful historical , to stop USSR oil flowing up the Volga, to disrupt Axis Supply Lines with the USSR Partisans, to conduct Urban Rubble hidden movement in Stalingrad, and to encircle and render enemy forces combat ineffective.
Designed for replayability and future expansions which are already in the works, STALINGRAD and the Battle of the Caucasus features multiple ways to play:
The Captain Edition: less units, simplified gameplay, great for learning the mechanics of the game.
The General Edition: the standard edition, 24 unit types, the full set of rules and opportunities.
The Battle of Stalingrad Scenario: a 2 player, shorter scenario that focuses on the street to street urban rubble combat of Stalingrad in the Autumn of 1942.
