Axis & Allies Stalingrad Rules Q+A

@elque said in Possible Rule Modification for Balance:

Yeah, I could see sending in the Axis air force as a can opener in Spartanovka . Follow up with Tank/Mech attack on the tank factory next turn?

Pretty much. Because of how much value the factories generate (4 IPC for the ART, 6 IPC for the TANK, so ~5 IPC every turn when you average it) + the fact that it’s the only way for Soviets to get actually strong combat units into the city in the critical early phase of the game, Germany’s top priority should be disabling or at least challenging them. In my experience the games where Germany wins (or at least makes it close) are the ones where they get on top of the factories quickly.

@elque said in Possible Rule Modification for Balance:

I think you are right to assign additional value to a ferry attack if German units are engaged with a cluster of Russians in a high value zone such as a factory or a key fortress. Putting russians out of supply via ferry bombing may be a superior option to simply adding those air units to the attack. Reducing the value of the russian counterattack can save german land units. More land units could mean holding onto valuable city territories for longer.

Not sure what the indifference point is but … my guess is that if three engaged russian units can be put out of supply in a city zone, it’s probably worth it. Maybe two units could be the minimum to warrant a ferry bombing if the engaged zone was strategic as you indicate. Note - a russian counter could be to drop a supply token in one of the factory zones. That would limit the utility of that first ferry bombing in the north.

IMO it mostly comes down to your own gut + checking how much air you actually need to commit to the fight to (in your estimation, anyway) clear the territory in 1 “turn” (so the German attack + the USSR’s forced counterattack during their half of the round). Unlike 1914 (the WW1 A&A game), you’re not allowed to refuse combat in Stalingrad, so if you commit your forces the right way you can make sure to (in most cases) have a territory cleared out before the start of Germany’s next turn, meaning you’re always moving forward. I would say that the ability to keep your guys moving is almost as important as conserving HP (muddying the waters on the debate over how many air to send to the ferries Vs. how many to send to your big fights). Getting bogged down even for 1 extra turn is usually a bad sign given how tight the timeline is before Uranus appears (after which Germany only really has about 2 turns before getting their supply cut).

As a side-tangent: The strict requirements on things going well for Germany (as in, Germany never rolls severely under (which prolongs fights) and USSR never gets a lucky break (and kills too many Germans)) basically everywhere is probably part of why games feel so lopsided to the average joe who isn’t playing optimally (since any positioning errors is going to throw off your timetable even more). IDK if I’m technically “allowed” to say this (and if I get an earful over it I’ll just delete it I guess), but a good chunk of the later part of testing was actually spent trying to stop Germany from basically winning every time, so that’s probably why it feels difficult for them to win in the hands of players who don’t have like 20+ games logged against similarly skilled opponents.

@Hansolo88 Anyway to give one last anecdotal addendum if you’re still out there, I busted out my own copy of the game yesterday and gave it a run. I haven’t touched the game in about a year so I’m pretty rusty, but I still remembered the basic strategies + all the rules enough to play at least a mid-level game.

I do agree that USSR is the much easier side to play, as they won. However, the game was a decent enough toss up that I felt it could have gone in Germany’s favor if I hadn’t botched some key decisions (mostly, I failed to heed my own advice and had Germany trying to break into all 3 city entrances instead of just focusing on 1-2 in-force. This left Pitomnik underdefended, which let the Soviets surround the city early (I had captured all but two territories in the city, those being the two factories). Once Germany was cut-off, they quickly burned through their supply crates and stalled out afterwards, letting the Uranus forces walk into the city and clean things up.

I’ll play more and hope I can get a better grasp on Germany in case others come asking for advice later.

UPDATE: In a second playthrough, I was able to win a total (although it took until about turn 12 to close the game out because some Soviets kept running around in the RP territories making me play whack-a-mole). I would generally recommend the following:

All Optional Rules - OFF (basically all of them benefit the Soviets IMO). Have Germany focus on the northern flank of the city to rush towards the Tank/Artillery factories. If those can be shut-off quickly (turn 4/5/6) it shuts down USSR’s ability to effectively fight in the city. To that end, in the initial stages of the game, use Germany’s air to target the northern ferry and/or any stragglers you can find in that portion of the board. If USSR isn’t building Artillery on the river, you may also want to make a point of killing the one they start with to reduce their AA odds long-term.

@Gibsonrick81 I’m hoping to get around to it soon. Worse case, I may not have it till thanksgiving. Just because then I will have a lot more time on my hands for a few days.

@DoManMacgee I was just going to use Italy pieces from G40.

@jim010 This game rocks. I hope you have enjoyed.

I am interested in pre-ordering AA Stalingrad but I’ve never pre-ordered any game before. I know it’s coming out in August this year, when is typically the best time to pre-order to get the lowest price? Obviously there is a little guesswork here but based on what was done for North Africa and other AA games, when would be the likely best time to pre-order to get the best price and from what sites? The best I could see was $64 but I saw someone say they pre-ordered for $44.