REVIEWS COURTESY OF ZXSR

Stalingrad
by Ken Wright
CCS
1988
Crash Issue 55, Aug 1988   page(s) 66,67,68

Producer: CCS
Author: Ken Wright
Price: £9.95

Stalingrad is the latest game by wargaming's only current prolific writer, Ken Wright. It takes up the often-documented campaign on the Eastern Front in the Spring of 1942, when Field Marshal Von Bock led the German Army Group south, into a drive to capture Stalingrad. The war on the Eastern Front had been draining the resources of both armies and, by this stages it was no longer possible to keep up operations along its extent. Both sides decided to concentrate on the southern sector.

The capture of Stalingrad was intended only to be a stage on the inwards sweep towards the centre of Russia around Moscow. In reality, it proved to be an intractable objective and the whole Russian campaign foundered on it.

The game gives the player command of seven German armies, most consisting of six units. It is set firmly in the mould of the author's previous games (Yankee, Blitzkrieg, Overlord), with an increasing trend to what might be called 'system minimalism'; there is no need to take a degree course in the operation of the game. Statistics are thin on the ground and all the player does to issue orders is move units in blocks of three and choose between a handful of generalised attack options. It's a deliberate attempt to emphasise the gameplay itself, rather than distract with superfluous details and hinder with difficult order systems.

The system is essentially the same as that seen in Ken Wright's previous two campaign games, Blitzkrieg and Overlord. Wargamers who own either will find no surprises in Stalingrad and may be tempted to start playing as soon as the game finishes loading. However, a careful reading of the rules and background is strongly advised as a preliminary. There are a few important additions to the system, and, as usual, it's necessary to bring both knowledge and imagination to get the most atmosphere out of the onscreen abstractions.

The screen map is as attractive as its possible for a computer 'board' map to be. Terrain is neatly and clearly differentiated, and the names of towns are indicated onscreen. There is certainly something to be said for concentrating on making the screen map self-sufficient and attractive.

There are seven different type of terrain, which carry their own movement cost and advantage or disadvantage for attacker or defender. Unfortunately you can't exploit these to the full as it's too difficult to predict where any unit is going to end up after a movement phase, and the decision about whether or not to engage in combat is usually taken out of your hands.

The player, adopting the persona of Field Marshall Von Bock, commands the 1st and 4th Panzer Armies, the 2nd, 6th, 11th and 17th Armies and the Rumanian Army. Apart from the 2nd, the armies are divided into a right and left flank of three units each. The right and left flanks are treated as separate entities for the purposes of orders. The only statistics available for each unit are a rough percentage estimate and an indication of morale.

Orders are issued through a series of simple branching menus. Movement and combat orders are given in a single tum, and executed immediately afterwards. In the orders phase, the player can inspect what limited information is available about his units as well as the percentage strength of whatever enemy units are sufficiently in range to appear on the screen.

Having selected a particular army, the player issues movement Instructions as in Blitzkrieg. Instead of plotting out a straightforward path for each unit, the player must indicate a general line of advance for the centre, right and left flanks of the army. When movement is processed, the three units dot along the landscapes in an unpredictable approximation of these flanks.

Even after three extensively played games using this system, I still haven't got to grips with it. It seems to carry the notion of reproducing the difficulties of command beyond the borders of frustration.

Combat orders can only be given to the block of three units, in advance of seeing where they will end up. ATTACK means that the units will throw themselves wholeheartedly at any enemy, whether it seems like a good idea or not. Units with a DEFEND order will not attack AND fight back with a bonus added to their effectiveness. But the most common order to give is DISCRETION, which leaves the decision whether or not to engage in combat entirely in the hands of the army commanders. The unsubtle nature of the 'attack' orders leave the player little choice.

Once all orders are entered, movement and combat take place with satisfying speed. Combat is won by flashing units and percentage losses for each side, and is sometimes accompanied by retreat or advance.

There is a carefully worked out supply network which the player must study; cities link across the map in a chain of supply which is easily broken. Once an army is out of supply, it cannot participate in the replacement phase which takes place every tum. This highly stylised phase allows the player to dish out reinforcement points from a general pool to all armies in supply. It's very easy to be inattentive to the invisible supply chain, and to find whole armies suddenly wasting away.

There are three difficulty levels, which step upwards sharply. The manual informs the player how to increase the difficulty indefinitely by means of a POKE. Yes - this game can be broken into by pressing the BREAK key, and it cheerfully advertises the fact. This is a refreshing lack of paranoia on the part of CCS!

The game's main strength is the quality of the computer opponent. On the third level, the only way to win is to outplay the opponent, consistently and constantly making better decisions.

I have the same misgivings about this game that I had about Overlord; I find it so difficult to control the units in a sensible manner that I'm unable to concentrate on the necessary decision-making and strategy. There is something frustrating about having so little control in a game which is beautifully designed and undoubtedly clever. You tell the units to fight if they want to, but only if it's not too much bother... and then you sit back and watch.

Nevertheless, it is possible to get used to the system and there's no doubt that it makes for very streamlined, absorbing gameplay. There are no ungainly pauses or ragged edges. The variety of strategy available is enough to hold interest through many successive games. This is another serious wargamer's wargame which is also accessible to the newcomer, and everyone but the most hardened arcade addict should enjoy playing it.


REVIEW BY: Philippa Irvine

Presentation93%
Graphics80%
Rules81%
Authenticity79%
Playability92%
Overall90%
Award: Crash Smash

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 34, Oct 1988   page(s) 89

CCS
£9.95
Reviewer: Archie

Stalingrad is a magnum opus by Ken Wright, a number of whose previous works have been reviewed in these pages.

Play takes place on a scrolling map representing south eastern Russia, including the Sea of Azov the tip of the Crimea, and much of the Caucasus.

The player controls the German forces - the 6th Army, plus an extra Panzer corps, and some well dodgy Rumanians which are represented on screen by square 'counters' in black, with an icon representing their unit type marked on them. The Russians are depicted with yellow counters.

The Germans have infantry, mechanised troops and tanks. While tanks may move fast - up to 12 of the squares which the map is divided into - they are vulnerable, so don't get conned into driving deep into enemy territory without adequate infantry back-up somewhere on the horizon! As the poor old foot soldiers only move at a third of the speed of the tanks, that can be difficult.

Each of your seven divisions is divided into groups of three units. You do not give orders to individual units, but to each trio. By accessing the move order menu, you get a cursor on screen: you move this cursor to where you want the left and right flanks to be, and instruct the commander to act aggressively, defensively or use his own initiative.

When one of your units is next to an enemy unit, you have combat. Each unit flashes in turn, and a number appears indicating what percentage losses they have suffered

Our glorious leaderette - the editor - wanted me to include some hints on tactics. Unfortunately, until I've worked out whether I have a bugged version or not, or whether something is happening which hasn't been properly explained in the rules, I can't really do that. I will, however, essay a couple of suggestions.

First of all, don't let your armour disappear into the distance. If your tanks get surrounded by Russkis, that's the end of your punching power. Armour is only any good when it's mobile. Second, keep something in reserve, even if it's only the Rumanians. You may need them to contain a Russian breakthrough. Third, keep an eye on the Russians, and hit them where they are weakest. With luck and judgement, you may be able to break through their lines and surround pockets of their troops. If you can cut them off from their supply depots, then you have a good chance of wiping men out.

On the whole, I like the look of Stalingrad; but my wholehearted approval for the game has to be withheld at the moment. For a game as complicated as this one is, the publishers have to make a special effort to ensure that the rules are as simple as possible. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened here. To be honest, the rules as they stand at the moment are about as clear as most computer manuals. They've been written by someone who already knows everything there is to know about the game, and so uses a sort of personal shorthand.


REVIEW BY: Archie

Graphics8/10
Playability5/10
Value For Money6/10
Addictiveness6/10
Overall6/10
Summary: A sophisticated exciting game but rules don't help you get to grips with the tricky bits - you're on your own.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Sinclair User Issue 78, Sep 1988   page(s) 77

Label: CCS
Author: Ken Wright
Price: £9.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: None
Reviewer: Jon Riglar

One of the first things to get to grips within Stalingrad is the plot. The game is set in Russia during the Second World War. The playing area is, for the most part, concerned with the stretch of country between Kharkov in the West and Stalingrad in the East. Your aim, as the commander of the German forces, is to advance through Russia from Kharkov, and keep going until you manage to capture Stalingrad - this is as far as the game takes you but you may be interested to know that the idea was to take Stalingrad, thus cutting off oil supplies to the Russian forces, and then rushing northwards to ultimately capture Moscow.

The playing area itself is shown as an aerial map view, with cities and towns represented as dots alongside a name and the division of your forces displayed as square counters. Your forces start on the left hand side and include several panzer and infantry units, along with the whole of the Rumanian army. The Russian units are spread liberally across the map - some of them are very close to yours at the start so you will enter combat virtually straight away.

Everything happens in game turns, as per usual. You order units to move by using a system of left and right flank cursors. The distance they move depends largely upon their current strength and on what sort of terrain they are positioned. Once you have moved the units you can order them to either automatically attack any enemy within range, or defend themselves. If, after moving, one or more of your units finds itself adjacent to an enemy unit, combat will automatically commence. This is taken care of by the computer - it checks out what order has been given to the attacking unit and also the strength of that particular unit. If a unit is being beaten and its strength is rapidly falling, then it will automatically retreat, likewise if an enemy unit is weakened and retreats, then your forces will move forward.

As you progress across the map (presuming you will), you will gradually capture Russian towns and cities - these can then be used as supply bases. This is a new idea which means that if, after movement, one or more of your units is within four squares of a supply base they can order reinforcements and have added strength. Russian reinforcements arrive at the far righthand edge of the map and are simply displayed under a Russian flag until they get within a certain range - this means that you cannot identify the exact number of enemy divisions approaching but you know some are there.

The game will end when either your forces are forced to retreat and the Russians re-capture Kharkov, or when you manage to overrun Stalingrad and several other major cities. However, if either army is wiped out and they have no reinforcements, then, quite obviously, the game will also end. Gameplay is not exactly that wonderful - you can soon get bored as the average game time is around 6 hours. The game also appears to be slightly easier than previous productions - I managed to push the Russian forces right back to Stalingrad in my first game. Also, strategy gaming peeps might feel a bit swizzed because the graphics here are virtually identical to Overlord - the author has apparently just altered the map about a bit and changed the plot - not really cricket is it?


REVIEW BY: Jon Riglar

Graphics70%
Sound N/A
Playability60%
Lastability65%
Overall70%
Summary: A reasonably competent strategy game - don't buy it if you already have Overlord.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 12, Sep 1988   page(s) 83

Spectrum, £9.95cs, £12.95dk

The latest Ken Wright game from CCS follows firmly in the footsteps of his earlier works (including Overlord, reviewed in ACE issue 8) with some subtle improvements.

This solo wargame only allows you to command the German forces of the Army Group South, who historically took part in the campaign which culminated in the battle for Stalingrad.

The game structure follows the usual procedure, i.e you issue direct orders to any units you wish, and then the orders are all carried out at once and any combat resolved. Then the computer gets to take its turn and the whole thing starts again. The game continues until either army's effectiveness is reduced to less than 40% or German units occupy Stalingrad, Stavropol and Saratov all on the same turn, or the Russians manage to take KharKov or Dnepropetrovsk.

Moving during the game is effected by positioning a set of three cursors for each unit, these represent the unit's centre and right and left flanks. The game includes three difficulty levels, plus hidden movement over a large game area with varied terrain Like the earlier games. Stalingrad plays well and the ordering system is easy to use. The scenario is not the most exciting, but the computer opponent's very strong on the highest level and you'll really have to work to defeat it.


Opposition7/10
Display7/10
Ease of Use7/10
Game Depth6/10
Ace Rating765/1000
Transcript by Chris Bourne

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