The story of the German Wehrmacht against the Russian Army
Hello, welcome to Clash at Stalingrad.
This is a role-playing-story set in the backdrop of World War II. In this story you will take on a fictitious personage in the German Armed Forces. You may be a tank commander, an infantry soldier, a platoon leader, a squadron commander, a pilot, a major in a field command tent, a doctor, an artillery specialist, an engineer, just about anything you can think of. You may NOT be any of the historical figures, such as Hitler, Hoth, von Manstein, Rommel, von Paulus, etc. These are non-player characters.
The purpose of this story is to get a down and dirty feel of this titanic struggle. We'll get to see the day and life of the soldier, non-comm, or low grade officer (you may be as high rank as Lt. Colonel) as they live day to day on the battlefield. Perhaps you may wish to use the format of excerpts from letters home or diaries or simply narration of what's going on, as if we're reading a novel.
I'll be posting, as the "gamemaster", updates on the situation at Stalingrad. Overall atmosphere will be provided in order for you to develop your character. I may, on occasion, send you PMs informing you of orders or circumstances that have come up that affect your character. It will not be known to others except in what comes out in your narratives. The battle at Stalingrad does not have to unfold as it did historically. It very well may come about that the Germans defeat the Russians and take the city. But, we'll just let events unfold as they will and see what happens.
Please try to be historically legitimate (no FW-190D's or King Tiger tanks, this is 1942 after all) but not necessarily historically accurate. For example, you will make up names and units and the formations you may face. We're going for historical flavor here, not total historical accuracy. I want you to feel free to take artistic license with this, but keep in mind the backdrop of where and when your character is.
I hope this will be exciting and fun. World War II history is a favorite of mine, so I hope to make this a great experience. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know by PM. You may also discuss issues with this game in the OCC forum here.
I would encourage you to read the Historical Background and The Situation sections below to get a feel for what's going on. Thanks and have fun.
NOTE: I'd prefer if you PM me first to let me know the role you intend to take, but its not necessary. That way I can, perhaps, give you a background of your "situation" in order to fit more nicely into the story.
__________________ Air Force Veteran 1996-2000. 391ST Bold Tigers. Audentes Fortuna Juvat. Fortune Favors the Bold.
Operation Southern Watch Jan-Feb '98.
We are not sinners because we sin; We sin because we are sinners.--R.C. Sproul
I support Israel.
the Colonel is aka Colonel Kraken (CK)
Last edited by the Colonel; 21st June 2004 at 12:20 PM.
It would behoove you to read this historical background to get a feel of the situation and the mindset, especially if you don't know a lot about WWII or the battle for Stalingrad.
Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa opened on June 22, 1941 seeking to crush Stalin’s Communist Regime and gain hegemony on the European continent. His aspirations were stopped short at the outskirts of Moscow that winter, and the grand German army was pushed back relentlessly during the worst winter in 140 years.
As the Russian counterattack petered out and the winter gave way to spring, then summer, the German high command made plans to go on the offensive once again. Code named Operation Blue, Hitler issued a directive for the capture of the rich oil fields and strong industrial base of the Caucasus.
On 28th June, under a sky heavy with foreboding, Field Marshal von Bock’s offensive broke like a clap of thunder. Three German Armies ripped through the Russian formations as if they were so much scraps of paper. The Russians reeled back in a state of accelerating disorder, their command structure degenerating into independent combat at divisional, then at brigade, finally at regimental level. It was the high tide of the German offensive.
Stunned by the incredible success, Hitler expanded the scope of operations to include the capture of Stalingrad. General von Paulus’ 6th Army was sent on alone to secure the German left flank and push for Stalingrad. The feeble resistance he had met up to that time encouraged Paulus to commit his divisions as they arrived on the battlefield instead of pausing for breath, and the result was that German and Soviet reinforcements were fed into battle at roughly the same rate.
As more and more resistance was met, nearly the whole of Richthofen’s air corps on the front were shifted to the Stalingrad area to deliver the coup de grace. The effect was spectacular. Nearly every wooden building was burned down, and the flames made it possible to read a paper forty miles away. It was a pure terror raid, its purpose to kill as many civilians as possible, overload all the services, sow panic and demoralization, and to place a blazing pyre in the path of the retreating army.
With satisfaction Wilhelm Hoffmann, of the 267th Regiment, 94th Division, noted:
The whole city is on fire; on the Fuhrer’s orders our Luftwaffe has sent it up in flames. That’s what the Russians need, to stop them resisting . . .
But as 24th August came and went, and the 25th, and the days following, it became painfully clear that the Russians were determined to fight in front of, and if necessary in, Stalingrad. Hitler repeated his orders “. . . the vital thing now was to concentrate every available man and capture as quickly as possible the whole of Stalingrad itself and the backs of the Volga.”
It became apparent to the Russians that the center of gravity had shifted irrevocably southward, and that the war would be decided at Stalingrad. The team that had evolved the battle-winning plan for the Moscow counteroffensive was moved to Stalingrad; Voronov, the artillery specialist; Novikov, chief of the Red Air Force; and Zhukov, the one commander in the Soviet Army who had never been defeated . . .
So begins our saga at Stalingrad.
*Excerpts, paraphrase, and information obtained from Barbarossa The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-45 by Alan Clark.
__________________ Air Force Veteran 1996-2000. 391ST Bold Tigers. Audentes Fortuna Juvat. Fortune Favors the Bold.
Operation Southern Watch Jan-Feb '98.
We are not sinners because we sin; We sin because we are sinners.--R.C. Sproul
I support Israel.
the Colonel is aka Colonel Kraken (CK)
Last edited by the Colonel; 18th June 2004 at 01:27 PM.
Von Paulus' 6th Army has attacked from the East and North of the city and has begun to enter the outskirts.
Hoth's Panzer Army is attacking from south of the city.
*At first, while the Germans were in the outskirts, it was still possible for them to draw advantage from their superiority in armor and aircraft. The buildings here had been of wood, and all had been burned down in the great air raid of 23rd August. Fighting took place in a giant petrified forest of blackened chimney stacks, where the defenders had little cover except the charred remains of the matchboard bungalows and workers' settlements that ringed the town. But as the German edged deeper into the region of sewers and brick and concrete, their old plan of operations lost its value. General Doerr has described how
The time for conducting large-scale operations was gone for ever; from the side expanses of steppe-land, the war moved into the jagged gullies of the Volga hills with their copses and ravines, into the factory area of Stalingrad, spread out over uneven, pitted, rugged country, covered with iron, concrete and stone buildings. The mile, as a measure of distance, was replaced by the yard. G.H.Q.'s map was the map of the city.
For every house, workshop, water-tower, railway embankment, wall, cellar and every pile of ruins, a bitter battle was waged, without equal even in the first world war with its vast expenditure of munitions. The distance between the enemy's army and ours was as small as it could possibly be. Despite the concentrated activity of aircraft and artillery, it was impossible to break out of the area of close fighting. The Russians surpassed the Germans in their use of the terrain and in camouflage and were more experienced in barricade warfare for individual buildings . . .
*Quoted from Barbarossa The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-45 by Alan Clark.
__________________ Air Force Veteran 1996-2000. 391ST Bold Tigers. Audentes Fortuna Juvat. Fortune Favors the Bold.
Operation Southern Watch Jan-Feb '98.
We are not sinners because we sin; We sin because we are sinners.--R.C. Sproul
I support Israel.
the Colonel is aka Colonel Kraken (CK)
Last edited by the Colonel; 18th June 2004 at 01:27 PM.
Heinrich Schmidt stood in the commander’s cupola of his Tiger tank. He raised his binoculars to his eyes and studied the terrain before him. The panzers were about to enter the burned out ruins on the outskirts of the city, and such terrain made the veteran panzer commander uncomfortable.
Schmidt reached into a metal box that he had welded onto the turret next to the commander’s cupola and extracted a Fallschirmjägergewehr 42. The bipod mounted assault rifle, though unwieldy inside the confines of the turret, hence the box on top of the turret for the small arms, was against the Russian infantry. Heinrich hoped that they did not encounter any because of the limited field of fire of the machine on the front of the Tiger.
At the sight of a dust cloud on about a kilometer away, Heinrich estimated, he grabbed the binoculars that he had left to dangle from around his neck.
He focused the binoculars on the leading edge of the vehicle that was raising the dust from the ashes of the city, and noted the twenty millimeter gun on it as well as the fact that it was a half track. He sighed with some measure of relief, at least until a shell ponged into the front of the tank.
Heinrich almost slammed the hatch shut, until he noticed the Russian T-34 that was attempting to dash to cover behind a chimney.
“Erik, 11:00 T-34 engage!” Heinrich ordered.
Erik Brandt, the gunner began to traverse the turret. He sighted the 88 onto the Russian T-34 and fired the powerful gun. Heinrich stood back up from where he had ducked into the turret and raised his binoculars again.
The Russian T-34 had lost its turret and was a burning wreck.
Corporal Karl Schuster: Northern City Outskirts . . .
"Dearest Sophie,
I finally have a moment to write you a letter. It's been a non-stop advance since June, and we're all in high spirits. Even though we've encountered some fierce resistance entering the city, everyone's talking about it being the last gasp of a defeated foe. I certainly hope so. I can't imagine there could hardly be anyone left after the Luftwaffe ravaged the city a few days ago.
I've saved up some leave, so I look forward to seeing you at Christmas. I can't wait to see little Karl. He's going to grow up before I even get to see him! I hope everything's going well at your mother's, as I'm sure it is.
Well, I really do not have much time, so I'll go for now. I love you a lot.
Love,
Karl
__________________ Air Force Veteran 1996-2000. 391ST Bold Tigers. Audentes Fortuna Juvat. Fortune Favors the Bold.
Operation Southern Watch Jan-Feb '98.
We are not sinners because we sin; We sin because we are sinners.--R.C. Sproul
After destroying the T-34, Heinrich ordered his Tiger forward, slowly. The massive machine crept forward through the ashes on the ruined outskirts of Stalingrad. Heinrich glanced behind his Tiger, and looked at the trail of dust that it was raising. He shrugged. Such things could not be helped and it was best not to dwell on them.
Heinrich’s reflections were interrupted when the radio operator, Johann Stuadegger announced that they had orders relayed from division HQ. They were to stop and wait for a platoon of Wehrmacht infantry to catch up with their tank.
Heinrich noticed some type of large structure that had survived the bombing with three walls intact, somehow.
“Michael, back us into that building at 3 o’clock,” he ordered the driver.
Michael Wendorff, the driver of Heinrich’s Tiger, calmly listened to the order, examined the building, and replied, “I’ll back us in there.”
The massive machine began to turn, and within a minute, the skilled driver had parked in the massive garage.
“Ok, crew. Hop out. The infantry will not arrive for an hour, at least so, lets get some food,” Heinrich said.
The driver and radioman, climbed out first. As they were dismounting from the tank, Heinrich folded the bipod on his Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, and set it back into the box of small arms that was mounted to the top of the turret. He reached in, and grabbed an MP-40, and a bandoleer of clips for it. He tossed them to Johann, then grabbed a second one and handed it to the gunner, Erik Brandt, who had climbed out on the turret. Erik jumped to the ground, and walked back to cargo containers that were mounted on the back of the Tiger.
“Well, it looks like we have tinned beef, biscuit, and vodka to eat,” Erik announced.
As Erik was looking through the food, Heinrich and Franz Wittman, the loader, had dismounted from the tank.
The other four members of the crew walked back to the rear of the tank, where Erik had been unloading the food. Erik opened a tin of meat with his knife, and tossed some bread to each of the crewmen. They each scooped some of the meat onto the bread, and began to eat. Heinrich allowed them each a sip from a bottle of vodka as well.
1 Hour later
The crew had finished off the tin of meat that Erik had opened, and had passed around the bottle of vodka for another swig each.
Outside the building where Heinrich’s Tiger is parked
A Russian squad of infantry slowly crept up, toward the massive tank. The squad leader did not recognize that no one was in it, and so he sprayed the front of it with bullets, from his PPD-40 submachine gun.
Inside the building, with the Tiger
Heinrich’s crew looked up at the sound of the bullets impacting the front of the Tiger. Heinrich cursed as he realized that he should have had someone on lookout duty, instead of hoping that no Russians would see the tank.
The crew, hunkered down behind the Tiger, and drew an assortment of pistols. Heinrich noticed a couple of the crew, even sported Russian made guns, as he drew his Mauser C-96 “Bolo”.
More Russian bullets pinged off of the front of the Tiger, and the two MP-40’s, which Heinrich had issued to his crew, spoke in reply along with an assortment of pistol shots. Russian rifle and submachinegun fire replied to those shots, and someone screamed in pain. It was not German, so it was not his crew. Heinrich cursed his luck, and heaved himself onto the back of the tank, behind the turret. He noticed a Russian standing in front of the Tiger, and he fired four shots from his Mauser. One of them must have hit the Russian because he grabbed his leg and fell down.
Heinrich knew that he needed something more powerful than the pistols that his men carried. He crouched behind the turret, and reached for the Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, that he had put in the storage bin on top of the tank. He jerked his hand back as Russian bullets impacted the top of the turret. More German fire echoed out from the building. He managed to snatch the FG-42 from the bin, along with a bandoleer of ammo. He thumbed the selector to full auto. Now, he had a decent weapon to stand up to the Russian with. After all, the could not be allowed to obtain the Tiger.
Last edited by Key Peninsula Redneck; 23rd June 2004 at 04:44 AM.
Reason: c/p glitgh
Historical Background 
Linear Mode
