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From Case Blue to January 1943

The campaign runs from 28 June 1942 through 31 January 1943: 43 five-day turns and a final three-day turn. Reinforcements and reorganizations use the first turn start on or after the stated date. Historical operations guide the roster and AI, but never force an encirclement, surrender or territorial result.

The map covers the Don, Stalingrad and northern Caucasus. Baku and the Orel front remain beyond its operational scope. The final date precedes the northern Stalingrad pocket’s historical surrender on 2 February.

Strength accounting

HP and maximum HP are comparative game ratings. They are not thousands of soldiers, tank counts, measured readiness percentages or exact daily returns. New headquarters do not create troops. Surviving summer groupings retain their location and damage; new arrivals count only additional capacity described below. Transfer and arrival dates described as calibrated windows are explicitly approximate.

Additional formations in the extended edition

TurnHistorical date / windowSideFormationHP/maxEvidence and limits
91942-08-05axisHungarian VII Corps5/7Omitted summer arrival corrected in the extended campaign: 19th and 23rd Hungarian light divisions are documented under VII in the 5 August census. This is distinct from German VII, whose June Hungarian attachment was the 6th Light Division. August 5 is a documented census date, not an exact unloading date. Five/seven points are approximate design ratings. Do not add the 12th or 20th again when later corps attachments change. Source
91942-08-03soviet38th Army (new formation)7/10Optional but recommended correction for January Voronezh operations: newly formed army from Fourth Reserve Army and Chibisov group. This infantry rating counts newly committed rifle formations; it excludes the I, II, VII and XI Tank Corps already represented by the Bryansk mobile and old Fifth Tank pools. The old su-38 retains its July First Tank/62nd mobile-survivor lineage. Formation date is supported by the university veterans-history compilation; rating and entry city are abstractions. Source
201942-09-30soviet28th Army (Astrakhan formation)6/9A separate autumn army defending Astrakhan is directly attested by its 30 September order. September 30 is deliberately a late operational release window, not its creation date. Fresh Astrakhan rifle capacity is counted here; the summer su-28 is already Fourth Tank Army and later becomes 65th. No old 28th strength is copied. The full eastern approach remains player controlled. Source
211942-10-06axisRomanian I Corps5/7October deployment window, calibrated rather than an exact corps arrival date. Represents the incoming 7th/11th Infantry Divisions documented in Third Army in November, not the I Corps summer Caucasus attachments. Excludes 298th German and 2nd Romanian Mountain already associated with other theater pools. Approximate strength. Source
221942-10-11axisRomanian II Corps5/7Calibrated October entry for the 9th/14th Infantry grouping. The November census establishes identity, not this exact release day. Corps attachment changes do not duplicate cavalry or divisions. Approximate strength. Source
231942-10-16axisRomanian IV Corps5/7Calibrated October entry for 13th Infantry, 1st Cavalry and pooled reserve support. No 5th/6th Cavalry capacity is included: those already belong to the opening Romanian cavalry group. Approximate strength. Source
241942-10-21axisRomanian V Corps5/7Calibrated late-October completion of the incoming Romanian infantry buildup. Represents 5th/6th Infantry, which are different formations from the opening 5th/6th Cavalry. November census is the identity source; this release date is a design window. No historical destruction is scripted. Source
251942-10-26axisRomanian 1st Armoured group4/6New Romanian armored capacity for the Don reserve; later subordination to XLVIII creates no extra corps strength. The division was present before Uranus; October 26 is a calibrated staging date. This smaller-than-corps counter remains four/six design points, not a tank count. Do not simultaneously add its strength to ax-xlviii. Source
281942-11-09soviet5th Tank Army (rebuilt)8/11The reformed army completed its southward move on the night of 9 November in the official US Army account. Net new capacity includes the XXVI Tank Corps and reserve rifle/cavalry buildup; the I Tank Corps and any transferred rifle divisions already represented by living summer counters are explicitly excluded from this new rating. The old su-5tank remains its separate July survivors pool. Eight/eleven points are a conservative design allocation, not the full November army headcount. Source
331942-12-01axisLVII Panzer relief group5/9December 1 is a calibrated arrival window for fresh 6th Panzer capacity under the existing LVII headquarters. The headquarters and 23rd Panzer already served in the southern theater; their movement creates no fresh strength here. Incoming 17th Panzer is a separate capped December 17 adjustment. These are game ratings for new arrivals only, not full corps strength. Source
331942-12-05axisDon Luftwaffe field group4/6Pools newly arriving 7th and 8th Luftwaffe Field Divisions. It is a gameplay group, not a historical unified corps headquarters. December 5 is a calibrated early-December commitment window. The official narrative describes their defensive employment; no elite or nationality bonus is justified. Source
341942-12-08soviet1st Guards Army (December formation)8/11The December army uses Fourth Reserve headquarters and the recently arriving Fourth/Sixth Guards Rifle Corps capacity. December 5 is the Stavka order date; December 8 is the effective formation date in service summaries. The old 63rd/November First Guards counter becomes Third Guards and preserves its own men. Do not award the new reserve corps both as November replacements to su-63 and as this arrival. Transferred pre-existing formations are excluded from this new strength. Source
341942-12-09soviet5th Shock Army6/9Ninth December commitment from Tenth Reserve Army. This is only its newly committed rifle reserve capacity. Excludes Fourth Mechanized, Seventh/23rd Tank and Third Guards Cavalry capacity already embodied in existing army/mobile pools. A new headquarters must not duplicate all attached mobile corps. Six/nine points are intentionally below the full army grouping. Source
351942-12-15soviet2nd Guards Army10/12Fresh reserve army commitment to the Stalingrad theater from December 15; subsequent approach to the Myshkova was gradual. Includes its new Guards rifle/Second Guards Mechanized capacity once. No separate clone of those subordinate corps is added. Ten/twelve is a comparative game rating. First Reserve Army is a recycled reserve designation, not the summer pool already renamed 64th Army. Source
371942-12-22axisFretter-Pico reinforcement group5/8Late-December calibrated release of incoming 304th Infantry and Third Mountain elements under Fretter-Pico. Excludes 298th Infantry and surviving German/Italian-theater formations already counted in existing counters. A new corps headquarters itself adds no troops. Five/eight points are approximate. Source
391943-01-01axis7th Panzer reserve group4/6Fresh division returning from the West, held around Rostov during the late-December crisis. January 1 is a conservative deployment window. This deliberately small mobile counter does not include SS Wiking, which was already part of the summer southern force. Source
401943-01-05soviet3rd Tank Army9/12Third Tank Army moved from the central reserve sector to Voronezh between December 22 and January 5. Represents its XII/XV Tank Corps and new supporting formations, not additional copies of the pre-existing Bryansk mobile corps. January 5 is completion of the move in the cited archival-based specialist account, released conservatively at the next turn start. Do not call it Third Guards Tank Army in January. Source
91942-08-07sovietStalingrad Guards rifle reserve5/7Fresh 35th/36th Guards Rifle Division capacity, ordered to Stalingrad Front on 2 August. Distinct from First Guards Army’s 37th–41st Guards divisions and the September 13th Guards allocation. This is a pooled reserve, not another army headquarters. August 7 arrival and 5/7 strength are calibrated game values; the archival catalogue confirms the order, not exact unloading points or readiness. Source
221942-10-10soviet4th Cavalry Corps4/6A genuinely incoming cavalry corps, transferred to Stalingrad Front by Stavka directive 170647 of 10 October. Distinct from Fourth Guards Cavalry in the Caucasus and Third Guards Cavalry already excluded from Fifth Shock’s new capacity. October 11 release and 4/6 strength are design values; exact rail unloading points were not established from the catalogue record. Source

Lineage and duplication controls

Weather, replacements and victory

The broad mud and winter windows are playability abstractions. Both sides use the same movement effects; seasons inflict no automatic damage or fatigue. Axis receives 3 replacement points per turn. Soviet allowance rises from 3 to 4 on turn 8 (2 August), then 5 on turn 20 (1 October). Repair still requires a surviving connected formation outside enemy contact and uses its action. These are design allowances, not historical personnel returns.

Only currently held scoring cities count. Stalingrad is worth 10 and Rostov 8, for 72 total points. The result is decided from final holdings at the end of turn 44; taking and losing a city does not accumulate points. The seven bands below are a provisional game scale, not a historical doctrine or a claim of human balance.

A newly reached decisive band after the enemy response can offer End Campaign or Keep Playing. Soviet opening control is not eligible: Axis must first hold 12 or more points, then lose enough for Soviet decisive control to return. Declining keeps the campaign running and its result can change. An army reaching 30% or lower raw strength ends play automatically after the completed action. The other side gains a decisive victory regardless of city points; simultaneous collapse is a draw. Raw strength is surviving HP divided by surviving maximum HP plus recorded maximum HP of destroyed formations. Future/waiting arrivals, fatigue and supply multipliers are excluded; historical withdrawals are not destroyed losses. Exactly 30% qualifies, and there is no continuation after collapse. Loading an older Original-map game preserves its position and known accounting without ending it on load; the next completed action uses the new rule. Already ended games retain their result.

Earlier games

The original 38 × 40 map preserves existing winter games and their five save slots. The compact 36 × 38 map covers the same geographic area with separate slots; saved positions are never resized.

The original 20-turn summer game keeps its own existing five save slots and rules. The winter campaign uses separate browser-local slots. No saved campaign is silently extended.

Sources