Fistful of T-34s

Roll 4+ to call (availability +1 for Excellent). Roll 1d6 per stand under the template: unarmoured in the open die on 6 and are suppressed with a QC on 4-5; armoured or covered stands are suppressed with a QC on 6 and suppressed on 4-5. The template remains, and any stand touching it while moving is attacked. On-table mortars are always available but hit one stand. Smoke may be placed instead to block LOS.

Artillery templates remain until the Attacker's next artillery phase. Any stand that touches the template during movement resolves an immediate attack as above.

Vehicles have front (120 degree arc) and rear armour; rear shots need the firer wholly in the rear arc. Roll dice equal to Pen minus Armor, or 1 die if equal, or 1 die with the shortfall as a negative modifier if Pen is lower. Each 6 destroys, 4-5 forces a Quality Check (max one), and 1-3 has no effect.

Roll a number of d6 equal to the Penetration less the Armor. If the two are equal, roll 1 die.

Each hit on a target in difficult terrain gets a 5+ save. Difficult terrain blocks LOS unless the stand is on its edge. Optional spotting keeps stationary stands in cover hidden until enemies come within 4".

If the target is hit but in Difficult terrain, roll 1d6 for each hit. On a result of 5+ the hit is avoided.

All fire against a target is declared before rolling; LOS is required and fire through friendly stands is not allowed. Modifiers: +1 Good/Excellent quality, +1 short range, -1 long range, -1 if suppressed or firing on overwatch. Excellent stands gain +1 ROF. Against infantry, the weapon's Anti-Infantry modifier also applies.

Roll to hit by rolling a number of d6s equal to the stand's rate of fire (ROF). Each die with a result of 4+ is a hit (including cumulative modifiers).

Data sheets give three ranges, for example 5/10/15". Short range gives +1 to hit and +2 Penetration (vehicle targets only), and long range gives -1 to hit and -2 Penetration.

Attacks at Short range (does not apply to infantry) add +2 Penetration and attacks at Long range suffer -2 Penetration.

Movement may go in any direction. A stand may move up to half and still fire, or move full and not fire. Mechanised stands double speed on roads, and no stand may come within 1" of an enemy. Close combat is omitted. Embarking or disembarking infantry, and limbering guns, costs 2" for both stands.

Stands may move up to half their movement and still fire during their Fire phase. Stands may move their full movement but cannot fire.

Cohesion distance is 2" for Fair, 4" for Good and 6" for Excellent. A stand out of cohesion suffers -1 on Quality Checks and must try to rejoin its unit whenever it next moves.

A stand is in proper Cohesion if it begins and ends its movement within Cohesion Distance of at least one other stand in its unit.

Only open and difficult terrain exist. Difficult terrain (forests, towns, rough ground) halves movement for non-infantry. In the Nach Stalingrad scenarios, vehicles crossing a balka off-road roll a d6 and stop in it on 1-3.

Difficult terrain (forests, towns, rough ground) halves all movement rates for non-infantry stands.

Each truck, halftrack or tank can carry 1 infantry stand. To embark, vehicle and infantry must be adjacent (or move adjacent) and both spend 2 inches of movement; disembarking costs both 2 inches as well. The same mechanic limbers and unlimbers towed guns. If a truck is destroyed its passengers and towed weapons are eliminated; if a halftrack or tank is destroyed, the infantry stand survives on an immediate Quality Check.

Each truck, halftrack, or tank can carry 1 infantry stand. To embark, the vehicle and infantry must be next to each other (or move next to each other) and both stands expend 2” of movement.

Each stand tests at most once per turn from fire. Roll 1d6 against Quality (Fair 5+, Good 4+, Excellent 3+); a failure removes the stand as withdrawn, a pass clears all markers. Unarmoured stands take -1 per excess hit, while armoured stands take no penalty however many markers they have. Hits on infantry never kill outright.

Roll 1d6. If the roll is less than the stand's Quality rating (see QRS), that stand is removed. They are not necessarily KIA, but rather, they are considered withdrawn

In the Quality Check phase, any formation past two-thirds losses makes one unmodified roll against Quality, and on a failure all its surviving stands are removed. The test is repeated every later turn in which the formation loses another stand.

During the Quality Check Phase, both sides check to see if any formations have lost more than 2/3 of their stands.

A suppressed stand is marked and has -2" movement and -1 to fire until the start of the enemy's next artillery phase.

Suppressed stands move with a -2" penalty and fire with a -1 modifier.

Each scenario's Consequences page awards kilometres by result (for example Major victory 10km +2d6km) and may set the next scenario or a pre-game decision. The Germans need 80km in total to win. Results carry forward, for example losing a T-34 battalion after a Major German victory in #0.

Which scenarios are played, and in what order, depends on the decisions you make and the outcome of your battles!

In Scenario #0, for example, the German panzer companies enter on Turn 5 from the Kotelnikovo edge. In Scenario #1 the Russian reserve regiments enter on Turns 3 and 4.

The panzer companies enter Turn 5 from the Kotelnikovo table edge.

There are seven scenarios plus a learning Scenario #0, each with background, OOBs giving unit quality and formation breakpoints, a 6'x4' map, objectives, a turn limit and special rules.

Each scenario in the campaign includes historical background, orders of battle, a tabletop map, objectives, and any notes for deployment and special rules.

One side is Attacker and the other Defender. The attacker runs artillery, movement (with defender overwatch), fire and Quality Checks, then initiative switches and the defender does the same four phases.

5. Switch Initiative: Defender now conducts phases 1-4

Artillery templates are placed and resolved before movement, direct fire follows movement, and all Quality Checks from fire and formation integrity are resolved together at the end of the half-turn.

1. Attacker Artillery: Place artillery templates & resolve barrages 2. Attacker Movement: Attacker moves & Defender Overwatch 3. Attacker Fire ... 4. Quality Checks

A stand that neither moves nor fires in its own turn is marked with Overwatch. During the enemy Movement phase it may spend the token for an immediate round of normal fire at -1, resolved before the mover's own Fire phase.

During the enemy Movement phase, any of your stands may expend their Overwatch tokens to conduct an immediate round of fire using the standard Fire procedure.

Fair: 5+, 2", no bonuses. Good: 4+, 4", +1 to hit. Excellent: 3+, 6", +1 to hit and +1 ROF, plus +1 to artillery availability.

Our version here splits the difference, using the free online game QRS to establish three quality ratings: FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT

The data sheets cover German Army Group Don and Red Army equipment for the campaign. For example, the T-34/76 has 9" move, armour 5-4, Pen 6, ROF 2, range 5/10/15" and AI -1.

Movement Armor Penetration ROF Range Anti-Inf.

Fair-quality stands that want to exit cover must take a Quality Check, and if they fail they refuse to move out.

"Fair" quality stands must take a Quality Check to exit cover. If failed, they refuse to move out!

Stands are removed only by a 6 on vehicle effect dice, artillery against unarmoured stands in the open, or a failed Quality Check. Destroyed trucks eliminate their cargo, and infantry in a destroyed halftrack or tank survive on a passed Quality Check.

If a truck is destroyed, any infantry or towed weapons it carries are also eliminated.

Firing, effect dice, artillery and Quality Checks all use d6. A natural 1 always fails and a natural 6 always succeeds, regardless of modifiers.

Regardless of modifiers, a natural roll of 1 always fails and a natural 6 always succeeds. This applies to both firing and Quality Checks!