ASL Comp: Hill of Blood

MAMAEV KURGAN, STALINGRAD, RUSSIA, 27 September 1942: Acknowledging the damage done to his army in assaulting the southern and central sections of the city, General von Paulus had systematically reconfigured his forces for a fresh assault. Two shock groups were formed, with one consisting primarily of the 100th Jäger Division, whose task was to clear and control Mamaev Kurgan, followed by an advance into the Tennis Racket and the Bannyi Ravine and finally to occupy the Krasnyi Oktiabr workers' settlements. Paulus' counterpart, General Chuikov was well aware of these preparations and had planned appropriate spoiling attacks, though he was unaware of the fresh German reinforcements. His attack was disrupted before it could even begin, with waves of Stukas strafing his advancing forces. His strongpoint on the crest of the burial mound was destroyed. Bombs and artillery cut down the attackers, decimating their ranks and allowing the following German advance to gain ground. The jägers advanced two regiments abreast and captured the western slopes, but initially failed to take the southern slopes. The 227th Jäger Regiment's vigorous assaults, supported by intense artillery, destroyed the Russian ability to hold on. The Germans would secure the summit that evening (though some bypassed remnants would harass the Germans on the southern and western slopes for the next few days). By day's end, the 95th Division retained a foothold on the northern and eastern slopes of the burial mound, but was down to only 400 effective fighting men. The Battle of Stalingrad has received no shortage of treatment in the wargame realm since Red BarricadesTM first focused the attention of ASLers on the factory complexes of the doomed city. No tactical-level game has ever treated the titanic and unique battle for Stalingrad's Mamayev Hill, aka Mamayev Kurgan ... until NOW. From the first thrusts of Hitler's Wehrmacht on 13 September to the last days of 1942 the hill changed hands time and again. By 27 September the Germans had again captured half of Mamayev Kurgan. The Soviets held their own positions on the slopes of the hill, as the 284th Rifle Division desperately defended key strongholds. The defenders held out until 26 January 1943, when the Soviet winter offensive known as Operation Uranus, relieved them, in the process trapping and destroying the German VI Armee in the tomb of Stalingrad.