Stalingrad
 |
| “ |
For us, there is no land beyond the Volga. |
” |
| —Vasily Zaitsev | ||
The Savage Streets of Stalingrad is a Weird War II campaign about the battle of Stalingrad.
Campaign
Date: September, 1942–February, 1943
Location: Eastern Front—Stalingrad
Unit: 3rd Battalion, 42nd Regiment, 13th Guards Rifle Division
Rank: Novice
Composition: At least one of the characters must be an NCO or Officer. The leader is assigned to a squad of 12 men, including the player characters and as many other Extras as it takes to fill out the squad. All of the heroes are infantry, but they’ve been given no training, uniforms, or equipment. Because of this, the usual requirements for being an infantryman are waived for this campaign (though characters may have such skills from their previous lives).
Characters
The soldiers of First Squad:
| Name | Rank | Notes |
| Marmeladov, I.P. (★) | Sergeant (E-5) | Party member. Worked in department of sanitation in Omsk before the war. |
| Sokolov, P.I. (★) | Commissar (O-2) | Fanatic |
| Kozlov, I.B. (★) | Private (E-2) | Drunkard. Former tractor driver on collective farm. |
| Ivanova, S.A. (★) | Efreytor (E-3) | Sniper |
| Petrov, Y.A. | Private | Coward |
| Morozov, R.S. | Private | Young. AT gunner. Friendly with Yelena Antonova. |
| Novikov, V.S. | Private | Clueless. AT loader. |
| Kozlov, V.I. | Private | Old. Fought the Whites in the Civil War and the Huns in the Great War. |
| Onegin, P.S. | Private | Gung-Ho |
| Antonova, Y.M. | Private | Young. Medic (Healing d8). A teenage girl from Stalingrad who volunteered to serve as a medic. Hates Germans. Friendly with Private Morozov. |
Wild cards are indicated with a star (★).
Commissar Sokolov
Corporal Raskolnikov
Sergeant Marmeladov
Corporal Ivanova
Fallen comrades
- IVANOV, Sidor Michailovich. Private. Old. Killed 1942-09-15 when defending building from German counterattack.
- KUZNETSOV, Ivan Petrovich. Dumb. Killed 1942-09-15 when defending building from German counterattack.
- PETROVA, Svetlana Alexeyevna. Private. Platoon Medic (Healing d8). Killed 1942-09-17 by German grenade in Tank! mission.
- MEDVEDEV, Ivan Stepanovich. Private. Young. Killed 1942-09-17 by German grenade in Tank! mission.
- VOLKOV, Pavel Alexeyevich. Private. Observant. Killed 1942-09-27 during assault on 9th January Square
- KRASNOV, Igor Antonovich. Private. KIlled during assault on house house of the dead 1942-09-17.
- SMIRONOV, Vladimir Nikolayevich. Private. Lazy. Was previosuly arrested when suspected of faking injury in combat, but redeemed himself by heroic actions in assault on the house of the dead, Developed a nervous tic (fear effect) Cha -1 after seening the walking dead. Killed 1942-09-27 during assault on 9th January Square
- LEBEDEV, Alexei Gregoryevich. Sergeant. Experienced. Killed 1942-09-.27 during assault on house on 9th January Square
- POPOV, Anton Nikolaievich. Private. Cruel. Killed 1942-10-15 during Recon by Moonlight mission.
- MIROV, Konstantin Ivanovich. Private. Crude. Killed 1942-10-15 during Recon by Moonlight mission.
- SIDOROV, Viktor Stanislavovich. Happy. Killed 1942-10-15 during Recon by Moonlight mission.
Sessions
Session 1
Date: 2010-11-01
Players: Kroid, Boris
Characters created: Private Kozlov, a drunken soldier (liquid courage), commissar Sokolov.
Across the Volga
Stalingrad, September 15, 1942. Early morning.
Squad shipped across the the Volga, and joined up with batallion on west side in city.
3/42nd to hold ground a prepare to take buildings on bank of Volga while 2/42nd advance further into central area of the city.
On XXX Street
First squad was ordered to take a small ruined building occupied by a squad of fascists soldiers. Platoon advances through rubble. First and second squad are ordered to take two small buildings on XXX Street.
Commisar Sokolov insited that one of the soldier must carry a banner, and requisitioned one from the ferry.
Inspired by his words, the squad
One prisoner taken, send with two men to batallion HQ. German dead were looted. One soldier down (the banner bearer was shot first), but survived.
Notes: First session was a bit of a let down since only two players showed up. Panzerman missed first sessions due to work. Another player (who shall remain nameless) was a no show. Combat went rather well for First Squad since they made good use of cover and the GM rolled very poorly..
XP: 2 (2)
Session 2
Date: 2010-11-17
Players: Kroid, Boris, Texas, Panzerman
Reinforcements!
The privates returned from HQ with reinforcements. Ivanova (sniper) and Marmeladov (grunt). Also brought ammo.
Two germans squads prepared attack in order to retake the building. One provides covering fire while the other advanace from cover to cover (prone). German fire is accurate and several soldiers are hit. Ivaonva shots one defender and otehrs.
The shock troop carried greades, rifles and submachine guns. Despite covering fire and use of terrain, was not able to storm the building. With their squad leader wouded and half squad down, germans retreated. Six dead germans lie in no-mans land between the occupied buildings.
After battle: Marmeladov injured (just a fleshwound), two dead. (check list)
IVANOV, Sergei Mikhailovitch - Old (dead) KUZNETSOV, Ivan Petrovich - Dumb (dead)
Visited by second squad. Rumours about assault by submachine gun company near the river. Exchanged one shovel for bottle of vodka. Other shovel stolen by Second Squad.
During night, privates VOLKOV and KOZLOV were sent out to no mans land to reconnoiter and recover usable weapons and ammunition.
A visit by the Captain
Visit from Sr. Lt. Nemov who ordered the squad to hold the building. Commissar Morozov, a pudgy, cheerful fellow, stayed behind and talked with them men while he offered them cigarettes and vodka.
Marmeladov asked if he could advance on their own initiative. Commisar Morozov said this would be acceptable as long as the position was defended. That the squad (leader) would be held responsible if the position was.
Marmeladov attempted to locate entrace to sewers and eventually found a manhole on X street that was partly covered by rubble. Squad continued to improve fortification while keep watch for germans. Ivanova took a few shots at them form time to time, but had no luck.
Big Guns
September 16, 1942
Food arrives, sent in a container. The soldiers get soup and bread. Sadly, no daily vodka ration.
HQ received intelligence that a German tank with infantry support has been seen nearby. Two men with an anti-tank rifle are sent to reinforce first squad. This is just in time, for soon the squad can hear the squeal of tires on brick and concrete. Is this a new attempt to take or destroy the building? Reinforcements:
- MOROSOV, Alexei Ivanovitch,
- NOVIKOV,
Not: I ruled that new troops hava uniform and a rifle, but only half chance for other items (roll for each) such as shovel, bayonet, helmet, greatcoat.
XP: 3 (5)
Session 3
Date: 2010-12-01
Players: Kroid, Texas, Boris
Tank!
September 16, 1942
Squad took up positions in rubble and ruined building and camouflaged themselves ( rolled rather well on Sneak). The Germans were alert, but failed to notice the hidden Russians, who thus had the Drop on their enemies.
PzIII escorted by squad of infantry (equipped with MP-40 instead of MG-34). Molotovs had little effect, but a bundle of grenades landed on the deck and disabled tank and killed two of the crew.
Squad opened fire on Germans, who moved to cover. Several went down in first volley. One enterprising German found him self near the house with the squad and threw in a grenade which killed Petrova and Medvedev, and wounded others. After the battle, Private SMIRNOV, who had been knocked unconscious , woke up without so much as a scratch. Since he is know to be lazy, Commissar SOKOLOV was suspicious and reported the private to his superious.
After the battle, eleven Germans lie dead near the wrecked tank.
After taking out tank, resupply near HQ. A chance to visit the Cellar and buy food and drinks, as well as sell some valuables taken from dead Germans. Funny business behind blanket. Mrs. Petrova hinted that her niece was entertaining the brave defenders of the Motherland.
Commisar was reluctant to enter cellar (claustrophobia) and busied himself with supplies.
XP: 3 (8)
Session 4
Date: 2010-12-15
Eviction Notice
Stalingrad, September 17, 1942
After an quiet night (albeit with flares and gunfire), the squad awoke.
MARMELADOV was eager to take a group of soldiers into the sewers and hopefully take the building on the corner.
Commisar MOROZOV returned with Private SMIRNOV who was bruised but very enthusiastic to prove his loyalty to the Motherland. He was volunteered to take point in the assault mission through the sewer, and the sergeant was given strict orders to shoot him should he show any hint of cowardice.
The assault team made their way through the sewers. MARMELADOV’s previous experience in the sanitation department in Omsk stood him in good stead, and they were able to find their way to a manhole near the target building after clearing out
The manhole was a ten meters or so from the target building. The team advanced swiftly, and while they were spotted, the German lookouts were unable to get off more than a few shots. They team breached a window and cleared the house, room by room.
Private KRASNOV was killed during the fighting.
As the last Germns defenders were killed, the squad saw the deas outside come to life. The corner house and the house on XXX Street was attacked by a zombie horde, but the soldiers managed to dispose of them before they did more than bang on the doors.
Note: I forgot to animated the dead Germans inside the house as well. Meh.
Some intelligence was captured (maps) which were passed on to headquarters. Commisar SOKOLOV reported the incident to his superiors. While they were reluctant to belive him, the fact that soldiers believed they had seen such things were cause for concern. If word got out, it would affect troop morale. The Commisar was ordered to keep the men from talking and spreading crazy rumors. The solution in this case was vodka, and plenty of it!
The Commissar returned with crates of vodka bottles. Soon, the soldiers were quite drunk and would hopefully forget what they had seen.
Dumped dead Germans as well as the zombies outside the building and dropped a few grenades on them to make sure they would not get up.
Experience: 3 (11)
Session 5
Date: 2011-01-12
The Science Guys
Three days after the dead walked. Two scientist “from the university of Moscow” arrived and asked questions. When the squad refused to talk, the scientists presented NKVD badges.
Professor ZORIN and Doctor. VOLKOVA requisitioned some of formerly animated Germans corpses. They were clearly prepared since they donned rubber aprons and gloves. Once they were done, the ordered the bodies destroyed. They also ask some very personal about Ivanova’s religious beliefs...
All Work and No P(l)ay
Time passes and the squad reinforced the building. They are eventually reassigned to take part in the fighting near the mill.
Bloody January
September 27/9 1942.
First Squad assaulted the apartment block at Solechnaya Street. While the rest of the platoon provided covering fire, first squad rushed across the square from warehouse near the mill. the over the square with fire support from rest of platoon and IVANOVA. ANTONOVA
KIA: Sergeant LEBEDEV, Privates SMIRNOV, VOLKOV.
INCAP: MARMELADOV, MOROZOV
After the death of Sergeant LEBEDEVB, Private MARMELADOV promoted to Sergeant (E-5) and is now the current squad leader.
Experience: 3 (14)
Session 6
Date: 2011-01-16
The squad cleared the rest of the house. They used a demolition charge to breach the wall into the next section of the house and swiftly killed the defenders. The Germans tried an unsuccessful counterattack, but was at a severe disadvantage since the Russians had the higher grund (or floors in this case). Second squad moved in at ground level in support of the attack. In the end, all German defenders (a platoon) had been killed. While the First Squad suffered heavy losses during the assault over open ground, their experience in close quarter combat won the day, and the took the house without further losses.
And Handful of Rubles
Pay (a chance to go through pay scale). Building reinforced. Squad supplied with ammo and some support weapons. During the lull in the fighting and while recovering from her wound IVANOVA wrote a letter home.
Crash Landing
Plane goes down in Voentorg windows, fire states. Against the flames, they see a slim figure crawling from the wreckage.
Commuism or not, a pilot is a valuable asset. Lt. KAZAKOV orders Sgt. MARMELADOV to take a swaud and resuce the pilot. Sally by MARMELADOV and KOZLOV.
A squad of SS (in Stalingrad, not know earlier) moved towards the crashed plane under suppressive fire from the stronghold. The Germans were evnetually forced to withdraw, leaving several dead. They tried to extract their wounded squad leader, but he was shot by IVANOVA.
Rescue of Anna Orlova. She seems rather taken with the heroic soldier who carried her to safety.
Experience: 3 (17)
Session 7
Experience: 3 (20)
The New Guys
During the next two weeks, the platoon reinforced the building on 9th January Square and held it against several German attacks. Reinforcements:
- POPOV, Anton Nikolaievich - Cruel
- ONEGIN, Pavel Sergeyevitch. - Gung Ho
- KOZLOV, Vasily Ilich - Old
- PETROV, Yuri Antovoich - Cowardly
- MIROV, Konstantin Ivanovich - Crude
Lt KAZAKOV requisitioned more support weapon such as a Maxim MG and an additional anti-tank rifle. A trench was dug to the mill, and mines and barb wire was placed on the perimeter during night time missions.
Recon by Moonlight
Stalingrad, 15th October, 1942
Note: A longer description of this session is available as a Google Doc.
Killed: Privates Mirov, Sidorov, and Popov.
Prisoners: German Valkyrie. Vasily, a Hiwi.
Session 8
Experience: 3 (23)
Day of the Dead
Assault on the house on 9th January Square (Pavlov's House, known as the Cossack's House in the campaign after Lt. Kazakov).
The Hitlerites attacked thrugh a smoke screen with some 40 undead troops and 2 squads of veteran assault pioneers with satchel charges and flamethrowers, supported by a Pzkfw IV and 2 Sdkfz 251 which carried the pioneers. The defenders managed to hold of the attacker, in no small part due to a lucky mortar barrage which took landed on top of a halftrack and killed a squad of Germans. Most of the undead were killed by machine gune fire or mines. Two were stuck on the barbed wire, and were put in sealed oil drums for delivery to the OPB science team. The only Soviet casualty was the cowardly Petrov.
Note: The assault gave us the opportunity to try some of the more advanced rules from SWEX and WWII. This included fire support, wire, mines, and flamethrowers. Good times.
[...]
Todo: Add notes from Google doc.
Session 17
This is a work in progress.
Date: 2011-11-23
Summary: The squad defeats the remaining Wehrwolves.
Aftermath: With no supernatural forces left, the Germans trapped inside the Cauldron are unable to mount serious resistance against the Soviet forces. Morale is poor, and the starving Germans eventually surrender.
Post Script
It is with great sadness that we report the death of our friend and hero, Susanna Andreevna Ivanova. She was 48 years old. She fought in the second world war as a sniper and was off to a hard start in Stalingrad but served all the way to Berlin. After the war, with the increasing hard times for jews, she moved to the newly formed state of Israel. She continued her service by searching for escaped war criminals for her new country. Her death, in Argentina, is surrounded by mysterious circumstances. She is missed by her husband and two children.
Rules
Official
- Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition
- Weird War II
House rules
Bonus Bennies
Contributions to the wiki will be rewarded with bonus bennies. These work exactly like ordinary bennies, but can be saved from session to session.
Suitable contributions include finding pictures of characters in the campaign or writing character descriptions or other text (100+ words).
Note: In our games, white chips are ordinary bennies, red chips bonus bennies, and blue chips Officer bennies.
Heroic sacrifice
The normal penalty for dying is not used. This means that players are not punished if their characters die for the Motherland. Heroic deaths (such a throwing yourself on a grenade) may even provide a morale morale boost in the form of bennies to all characters!
Equipment
Stats for some weapons and vehicles have been changed to make them more realistic or at least consistent with the core rules in Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition. See the talk page.
Languages
Characters have an inherent Knowledge skill for their mother tongue egual to their Smarts. For the purposes of this campaign, this is assumed to be Russian even if the character belongs to a minority. Other languages must be purchased as a separate Knowledge skill.
Machine guns
Machine guns only count as Heavy Weapons if they are loaded with armor piercing ammunition. This will be quite rare since there are no rules for ammo types in Savage Worlds. Anti-tank rifles that use HMG ammo (such as the Soviet PTRD-41 14.5 mm sniper rifle) are assumed to use special ammunition, so they retain the Heavy Weapon property.
Special training
Suitable party members may be recruited by the BPO, or Byuro Paranormalnih Otnoshenii Sovetskogo Soyuza (the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs of the Soviet Union) for special training. Due to recent advances in the study and development of mental powers by Soviet scientists, operatives use the normal rules for Psionics in Savage Worlds. The selection of psychic powers will still be limited.
Equipment
Weapon data
Ammo capacity and weight varies by weapon type. For ease of play, damage values can be simplified:
| Weapon | Damage | Notes |
| Pistol | 2d6 | AP1 |
| Submachine gun | 2d6 | AP1 |
| Rifle, bolt action | 2d8 | AP2, snap fire |
| Rifle, semi-auto | 2d8 | AP2, semi-auto |
| Machine gun | 2d8 | AP2, snap fire |
| Hand grenade | 3d6 |
Reference material and inspiration
Books
- Stalingrad, Antony Beevor
- Ivan's War: Life in the Soviet Army 1939-45, Katherine Merridale
Movies
Movies about the war on the Eastern Front:
- Ballad of a Soldier
- Come and See
- Enemy at the Gates
- First Squad
- Stalingrad
- The Bunker
- They Fought for their Motherland
- The Star
TV
- Shtrafbat, 2004 miniseries.
Games
- Operation Tannhäuser
- Secret Weapons of World War II and Incursion
- Weird War II
See also
External links
- Reinforcements for the campaign.
- Weird War II Bibliography on the Pinnacle forum.
