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.

Stalingrad was never supposed to be the main event… I’ve been working on a game for a few years titled: STALINGRAD and the Battle of the Caucasus, looking to release this game through Historical Board Gaming in the next # months. After watching hours of TIK Youtube Stalingrad documentary, and other research, I am convinced that oil was a key driver to Axis decision-making, and ultimate Axis loss. It was with this in mind that I knew that Baku, had to be a key victory condition for a game involving this theater. Historians have always surmised: “What if the Axis had passed the city of Stalingrad and just headed south?” In this game friends, you get the chance to explore options such as this. Looking forward to sharing more about what I have been working on with you all!

 Stalingrad and the Battle of the Caucasus: The Oil That Decided a War

The Battle of Stalingrad has become a symbol of defiance, endurance, and ultimate reversal—a clash so vast and brutal that it consumed over two million lives. Yet, history often hides the truth behind the myth. Stalingrad was never intended to be the centerpiece of Germany’s 1942 campaign. It was, in fact, a secondary objective—a stepping stone in a much grander design: to capture the oil of the Caucasus. Without oil, Germany’s war machine—the Panzers, the Luftwaffe, the entire Blitzkrieg doctrine—would grind to a halt. And by 1942, Hitler knew time was running out.

Operation Blue (Fall Blau) was the answer. Launched in the summer of 1942, it aimed to sweep southward, secure the Don and Volga rivers, and envelop the Caucasus oil fields of Maykop, Grozny, and ultimately Baku. Stalingrad? It was meant to be a flank guard, a barrier preventing the Red Army from cutting into the Axis rear while the Wehrmacht lunged toward the Black Sea and Caspian. The city bore Stalin’s name, yes—but its strategic value lay in controlling the Volga, the Soviet Union’s lifeline of transport and supply.

So why did Germany lose? Historians have wrestled with this question for decades, and the answer is as complex as the Eastern Front itself. It was not one mistake—it was many. The German 6th Army and its allies were stretched to the breaking point, fighting across a front hundreds of miles long. Supply lines strangled themselves on roads choked with mud and snow. While Panzers burned precious fuel, the very oil Hitler craved lay hundreds of miles beyond his reach.

The Red Army learned fast. What began as a disorganized retreat in 1941 became a disciplined defense in 1942. Soviet commanders studied Blitzkrieg, adapted it, and turned it against the invader. Partisans bled the Wehrmacht in its rear, derailing trains and ambushing convoys. Meanwhile, Soviet industry—relocated east of the Urals—roared at full capacity, outproducing Germany in tanks, guns, and aircraft. Then came the cruel Russian winter, which froze engines and Soldiers alike. Yet even winter was not decisive on its own. Nor was the opening of a second front in North Africa, nor the weakness of Axis allies holding Germany’s flanks at Stalingrad. It was all of these things combined, a cascade of failures and unforeseen events.

But above all, it was oil. The failure to seize the Caucasus oil sealed Germany’s fate. The Panzers could not run on promises, and without fuel, Hitler’s dream of crushing the Soviet Union died on the banks of the Volga.

In Stalingrad and the Battle of the Caucasus, you command armies locked in this titanic struggle. Will you, as the Axis, break through to the oil fields before winter clamps its icy fist? Or will you, as the Soviets, hold the Volga, rally the Motherland, and turn the tide of the war? The fate of an empire—and the oil that powered it—rests in your hands.

@iwillnevergrowup
Just started playing this game Conflict & Chaos: Vietnam 1965 from https://iwillnevergrowup.com/product/conflict-and-chaos-vietnam-1965/

There are a number of rules I don’t understand.

1. where does the ANZUS Units originate? Dixie Station, Yankee Station or either one?

2. Where does the South Vietnamese Army ARVN originate? I’m assuming at Saigon.

3. The values printed on the Battle board for incomes don’t match the math i have when counting the nations. What are the starting money values of each nation?

The way I figure it, it is supposed to be
USA 25

ARVN 21

PARU 13

NVA 32

VC 15

5 How Do the Neutrals work? Are unmarked spaces in Thailand neutral? And subject to the 3 infantry rule? Are there two spots one in NVA land and one in ARVN land that are unmarked. Are these neutral and subject to the 3 unit rule?

6 In the rulebook, it talks about shared original territories. It uses the term in the plural, but I only see one territory like this. Saigon. Which other territories are shared original territories?

Are there any players interested in forming the beginnings of a Portland, Maine Axis & Allies Players club.  Could host different games at different times.  It would be cool for the group to be inclusive of new people who would like to learn the game and may only have played a few times before.  Competition in this case takes the back seat to enjoying one another’s company as well as a good game.  I have researched and have found none in this area of Maine with any kind of internet footprint.  So I think it is high time to start a club.  Any takers?