The Peeps of Stalingrad. A Look at the Heroes of Stalingrad's Armies

Okay, I'm a little late. So sue me. I've been eaten alive by Heroes of Stalingrad (HoS) the past few days. Final testing is time consuming, very time consuming, but I have it easy compared to Tom. Final bug squashing makes final testing look like a walk in the park.

Nevertheless, it's nice to take a break and spend some time talking about the game. On Monday I promised an article on the game's armies and here it is. This isn't a unit-by-unit analysis, that will need to wait, but I will give you an overall view of the armies involved.

Romanians

Yeah, we've got your Romanians. They are by far the weakest of the four armies, and comprise the fewest number of units in Heroes of Stalingrad. Their base squad is a 1-5-4-5 (Firepower-Range-Movement-Morale). Not too bad, and the shaken side retains the five morale. Their machine gun is the ZB 30; it clocks in at 1-8 (Firepower-Range), better than the Ruskies' DP28, but not up to German standards. Converted Renault R35s are their tank. Unless you choose the Romanian branch in the Soviet campaign, the Romanians appear in but a handful of scenarios.

Partisans

There are a lot of HoS scenarios featuring Partisans. Partisans capturing bridges, partisans fighting with Russian Guards, partisans ambushing convoys, partisans defending built up cities, and partisans rescuing scientists. Why? Because partisans are a hell of a lot of fun to play with. Their line squad is an unimpressive 0-3-4-5, and their morale sinks when shaken, but they have lots of tricks up the sleeves of their blue shirts. They can spring ambushes, tripling their melee firepower, they move through woods quickly, and boast a scout which can see, but rarely be seen.  Nope, they can't go toe to toe with the SS, but when used properly, they can be a lethal adversary.

Russian Line

These are the guys in gold. Literally, their counters are gold. They have plenty of people, a good amount of equipment, and scarcity of quality leadership. Their standard squad is a 1-4-4-5 that holds its morale on the shaken side. The Russians have light machineguns (DP28), and the heavier, wheeled 12.7mm. They also have a wide variety of anti-tank guns, satchel charges, flamethrowers, mortar teams, barges (you gotta include a bunch of Russians crossing the Volga, right?), and a hot nurse. And tanks? Well of course. T-34, KV-1S, T-70, and on and on. Most of the tanks that were in Stalingrad, and some that weren't. Oh yeah, they also get air support. And did I mention the nurse?

Russian Guards

You know, Russians, but better. Guards use the vivid red counters. Their squads are powerful, especially in close quarter fighting. Clocking in at 2-2-4-6, they devastate in melee and just-across-the-street firefights.

Wehrmacht

The Germans have the best line troops in the game, robust assault engineers, and top notch leadership. Their work-a-day squad weighs in at 1-6-5-5, a good, solid unit. Their machineguns, both the 2-9 MG34 and the 2-10 MG42 are awesome, and flipping the MG42 to its tripod side provides another point of firepower. German weapons teams include mortars, infantry guns, and the dreaded 88mm anti-tank gun. The German player has lots of tracks at his disposal: MarkIVs, StuGCs, armored cars, and my favorite, the SiG33. We also included some not-so-Stalingrad tanks, the Panther and the Tiger I.

German SS

The SS are powerful troops with strong leaders. The SS squads include 2-3-4-5 and 2-6-4-5 squads, both capable of moving and firing (Russian Guards can also do this). Their discipline is legend. This discipline allows them to "break" Lock 'n Load rules and attempt to rally their shaken brethren when an enemy enters their hex with malice in his eyes.

Civilians

Yep, from little girls you must rescue, through refugees you must escort, to scientists you must free or kill, Heroes of Stalingrad has civilians as a key element in many of the scenarios. No doubt this is a twist for the genre, but I hope it is one that provides fresh missions and objectives.

Okay, that's it for today. Back to more testing.

Mark H. Walker is a retired U.S. Navy Commander and author of over 40 books, including the acclaimed World at War: Revelation, a novel of a twisted third world war. You can read more about Mark/me at my personal website thing.