Command Ops Stalingrad: Race To The Volga - Available for Download

German Panzergrendiers climbing bluffs along the Volga outside of Stalingrad.

A special thanks to Doug at Cry Havoc blog and Tim Williams at RangerX3X blog for their help in playtesting this scenario.  There were a number of challenges bringing this particular scenario to life and their suggestions were essential to fixing the gameplay issues.

Scenario Background:

14 September 1942 06:30
Historical Scenario

Two German armies, the 6th and the 4th Panzer Army, are racing across the steppe towards the doomed city of Stalingrad.  The Soviet forces holding them back have retreated into the outskirts of the City as the Luftwaffe launches an unprecedented bombing campaign against them destroying much of the city and inflicting up to 40,000 civilian casualties.

As the German commander, General Paulus your mission is to strike swiftly into the City and seize a number of objectives across a 35km wide front and then hold them against the Soviet counterattacks.

As the Soviet commander, General Chuikov you must hold the Germans back until reinforcements can cross the Volga into the City.

Scenario Statistics:

Axis: 131 units
Allies: 126 units

Axis Combat power: 414.82
Allies Combat power: 260.00

German Units in this scenario:  

6th Army: 389th Infantry Division, 100th Jager Division, 71st Infantry Division and 24th Panzer Division.

4th Panzer Army:   14th Panzer Division

Soviet Units in this scenario:

62nd Army:  13th Guards Rifle division, 35th Guards Rifle division, 10th NKVD division, 244th Rifle division, 42nd Special brigade, 149th Special brigade, 137th Tank brigade and the 184th tank brigade

Author's Note:

The original version of this scenario stretched the limits of the engine.  Seven German divisions were represented and 12 Soviet formations.  The majority of the Soviet force was scheduled to arrive as a reinforcement and then ferry across the Volga all within the same day.  That proved too difficult with just three ferry crossings and the constraints of the engine.  To circumvent this, I've added a total of  11 crossings and the 13th Guards division will start on the map queued up for the crossings.  The number of formations was also problematic, causing the game engine to slow, and so I've cut the OOBs down to more manageable sizes.

Historically the "Volga flotilla" completely transported the 13th across the river by 19:00 hours on Day 1 while coming under fire from the Luftwaffe.  This feat I think should be as famous as say the 82nd Airborne's crossing at Nijmegen but remains largely unknown here in the West because it was on the eastern front.  If the 13th hadn't successfully crossed the river that day it is unlikely the 62nd Army would have been able to hold on inside the City.


Files for Download:

The estab file has been updated since Operation Hubertus was released.  You should download the estab file and the xml file again to play this scenario.

The Soviet estab now includes: armor units with T-34 and KV-1 tanks as well as NKVD units and Soviet Special Brigades (Worker militia drawn from the Factories).

The map of Stalingrad has also been expanded beyond my Operation Hubertus map and must be downloaded to play this scenario.


Scenario file. (Place in My Scenarios folder)
Map file. (Add to maps folder)
Map cache file. (Add to maps folder)
Estab file. (Add to Estab folder)
Estab XML. (Add to Estab folder)
Estab Image File (Add to Estab Folder)
Andrey Yeremenko Signature File (Graphics/Scenario/Default)
Maximillian Von Weichs Signature File (Graphics/Scenario/Default)
Signature Read Me File

I hope you enjoy this scenario!  Please feel free to leave me a comment below with any feedback/suggestions.

Also, if you have not downloaded Operation Hubertus (the first Stalingrad scenario) you can grab the scenario file here and the map file and map cache here and here.  The estab and signature files are the same.