Against the Odds 56 - Hitler's Stalingrad Breslau 1945

After being cut off and isolated in mid-February 1945, the German garrison in Breslau, some 50,000 men, defied all odds by holding on to the city for nearly a week after the fall of Berlin! Hitler had ordered that the city be held at all costs, believing that the Soviet forces attached to it would therefore not participate in any assault on Berlin. The defending garrison finally surrendered a few days before the official end of the war (the Gauleiter in charge fleeing the city by air to escape capture).

The capture of the city fell to the Soviet Sixth Army, consisting of some eight divisions totaling 80,000 men, plus four tank regiments and two artillery divisions. An entire air force, the Second, was also tasked with providing sufficient destructive power from the air. The task facing the Soviets was daunting; urban warfare and a very determined defender. The terrain was also difficult - the Oder River that ran through the city cut it into several parts. Taking a major sector of the city could mean nothing more than occupying an "island" in the end.

Although Breslau was inconsequential to the outcome of the war, the battle for the city was not without incident and drama. By the end of the war, the Germans lost 6,000 killed, with the Soviets losing at least 12,000. These figures exclude the number of casualties, which estimates range from 20,000 to 40,000. The Soviets also lost as many as 170 armored vehicles trying to take the city.

Against the Odds 56 - Hitler's Stalingrad Breslau 1945, simulates this fierce siege. With over 300 counters and a 22" x 34" map scaled to approximately 650 meters per hex, and a game turn representing one week. The game captures the flavor of large, planned assaults that quickly degenerate into fierce street-by-street combat, with players alternating the conduct of operations during the turn. Skillfully positioned reserves and sharp counterattacks can blunt the Soviet push, but at the risk of perhaps too high a casualty rate.

Special rules model rubble and barricades; multi-level city buildings; surprise and ambush during combat; Soviet command directives; the "Porsel" armored train; remote-controlled Goliaths; and the possible use of nerve gas (Breslau was the main repository of Germany's remaining stocks of small AFVs and also of the deadly nerve agent Tabun).