[updated 6 August 2023]
Theater of War Mission Pack: Victory at Stalingrad
Mission: Kalach Pincer
This mission now seems a little broken. There is a bug affecting the dial-like symbols showing point captures, and a bug that can cause one of those stop/go motion issues (which continues after you reload a saved game). There is also a bug that makes unit symbols disappear, making it difficult to control or even see the affected units; and a bug at the end that keeps the Germans from recapping the bridge point even if it is undefended. The most noticeable problem is that the German units have been over-buffed. Their Panzer IVs and StuGs are now obviously superior even to vetted T-34s (which frequently miss even at point-blank range), and their panzergrens have overpowered AT rifles. As a result, AI Germany’s favorite combo now is tanks plus panzergrens plus scout cars (by mid-game there will be at least several of those combos across the map at any one time). Maybe it’s the genius devs’ response to the complaints about the nerfing of Germany in ToW.
“Kalach Pincer” is still playable, but I have long found it tedious and nonsensical. It borrows its theme from the Russian closure of the ring around the German Sixth Army at Kalach on the Don, west of Stalingrad in November 1942, yet there is no front line or pincer-point for you or your CPU ally. In fact, the Germans are so numerous—obviously outnumbering and outgunning you—and so spread out that you could never hold any territory on this map for long, let alone trap them.
You and your CPU ally are supposed to capture and hold two VPs, but those VPs change every few minutes. Sometimes your whole force is meant to go all the way over to the other side of the map to help your ally; sometimes it has to run all the way back. German units frequently and opportunistically spawn from the map-edge or out of the fog-of-war. The mission design is essentially a clumsy, cheat-heavy attempt to make this more challenging for the Russians, which previously had the advantage in this mission (and definitely did at the real Kalach in 1942). It’s also maybe the longest mission in COH2. You can easily spend 40+ minutes playing this whack-a-mole game, chasing after the VPs as they are randomly assigned. Your CPU ally will be AWOL most of the time—often you’ll look over at his side of the map and find he has just one or two units sitting in his base, playing their balalaikas or whatever Russian CPU soldiers do when they think no one is looking.
Disliking this mission the first time I played it, I preferred to shorten it with a base-rush, but soon realized the devs didn’t want me—or you—to do that. There is a German base with a Pak-43 (unhistorical—did not see service till 1943) on your (default lower) side of the map and you can take that pretty easily with a couple of KV-1s, some indirect fire support, and one or two .50-cal-M5s and maybe a T-70 (or commander abilities such as 203mm artillery). But after you take it, pioneer squads will keep coming from off-map to try to rebuild the base buildings, and every so often, or the moment your armor leaves the scene, the CPU pushes out what looks like a full-pop-cap armored force with Panzer IVs, mortar halftracks, scout cars, and panzergrenadiers. Plus, there’s another German base like it on the other side of the map. I’ve managed to take one and hold it while destroying the other but, again . . . tedious.
Whether you fight from the lower or upper base, you are given at the start a two-man sniper team, a T-70, an engineer squad, and a couple of shock troop squads. The Germans will be much more numerous on the map with all kinds of infantry, including panzergrens with OP AT rifles, and many scout cars.
What usually works is:
Early game: Tech for penals and M5s and bring in at least 6 of the former, and one of the latter, while roving around in no more than two groups capping points near your base. Keep your T-70 alive, keep your squads alive and vetting up, don’t send units out on their own, and ignore the demands to cap VPs unless the VPs are on your side of the river. Your main goal in this phase is to hold as many territory points on your side of the river as you can, to build up fuel and munitions.
Mid-game: Now that you have plenty of fuel, tech for T-34s and bring in a couple to top off your force. Keep them together, and accompanied by at least a couple of PTRS-equipped penals, since a single T-34 without infantry support will be overmatched and destroyed near-instantly in most encounters with German forces.
Late-game: When the Germans are down to 150 points, the mission will enter its final phase and you’ll have to take just one VP, an island-like point halfway across a bridge, which is guarded by infantry wielding Paks, MG42s, and many panzerschrecks (again unhistorical—did not appear till 1943). At the same time, you may have to defend your base and the route from it, because as the Germans get low on points, they’ll start pumping out armor and other units like crazy. For this bridge-assault phase, it is important to greatly reduce the defenders, before your armor goes in, using Katyushas, mortars, CAS, and/or artillery. Your armor will not stand up to the AT power the Germans will muster, and your infantry will be stopped cold by even one MG42—never mind that CPU-Russians will run easily through MG42 fire when you are playing Germany.
Once the German defense has been mostly wiped out, go in with a couple of T-34s, an M5, engineers with flamethrowers, and your penals, to cap the point. Use the engineers to repair your armor and man one or two MG42s and Paks. You may want to leave one T-34 or ZiS-3 at or near your base to deal with German armor attacks, or you can trust the German armor not to kill all your base buildings before the German points tick to zero. The latter usually works.
The counterattack on the bridge VP will feature waves of Panzer IVs, StuGs, and a Panther (also not present IRL before 1943), plus swarms of schreck-wielding infantry, mostly coming from the river below the point. Any AT-CAS you have, and any surviving mortar teams or Katyushas, can make your defense easier.
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