During World War II, Germany and the Soviet Union had been at war since the launching of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. Caught in a brutal war of attrition in the summer of 1942, a weakened German Army prepared to launch another major offensive, Operation Blue. The German Army would attempt to push into the Caucasus region to capture the oil fields of Baku, Grozny, and Maikop, while also advancing along the Don River to the city of Stalingrad on the Volga, with the additional hope of finally destroying the Soviet Red Army. As the offensive stalled in late summer, the German Arny found itself over-extended and locked in a fierce battle for Stalingrad. In November the Red Army launched its counter-offensive, Operation Uranus, shattering the German and Axis-Allied front and surrounding the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad. The Soviet Union now held the strategic initiative, though the war would continue for another two and a half years.
Drive on Stalingrad Deluxe Edition is a two-player, medium complexity, strategic-level simulation of two offensives: Operation Blue, the German attempt to seize Stalingrad and the Caucasus area of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1942; and Operation Uranus, the Soviet counter-offensive in late 1942.
The Operation Blue scenario begins with the start of the German offensive on 28 June 1942 toward Stalingrad and the Caucasus. The scenario ends on 15 September, after eleven game turns. The Operation Uranus scenario starts on 19 November 1942, with the beginning of the Soviet Operation Uranus counter-offensive, and continues for six turns to the end of December, when historically the German attempt to free their encircled 6th Army at Stalingrad ground to a halt.
Drive on Stalingrad Deluxe upgrades components with a new enlarged map on two mounted map boards, larger counters, along with new player aid cards and markers for enhanced play. Now is your chance to refight a critical campaign of World War Two.
Game Contents:
• Two 22×34 inch mounted game boards
• 440 5/8-inch die-cut counters
• Player aid card (2 copies)
• 1 Display card
• Rules / campaign analysis booklet
• 1 six-sided die
• Storage bags