Playing Nazi Germany against Soviet Russia is a tough sell in 2022

My own board game collection is split into two main parts. On one side are dozens of titles that have vivid memories of playing with family and friends. On the other side are all my wargames and very occasionally dust them off.that’s why Undaunted: Stalingrad I was perplexed. It’s a wargame that the people closest to me actually enjoy playing because the mechanics are light, fun, and incredibly fast. , is a rare tactical gem that requires planning to succeed. Maybe in the middle?

Undaunted: Stalingrad The fourth game in the Undaunted series created by Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson. It uses a deck-building mechanic where players start the game with a short stack of mediocre cards and refine that deck over several rounds. The game board itself consists of a number of tiles, on top of which are a number of circular tokens representing military units such as riflemen, machine gun teams, and snipers. Players use cards from their deck to activate those units and move around the map to complete objectives and earn points to win scenarios.

Photo: Osprey Games

Photo: Osprey Games

The mechanical system itself is nice and has been slowly refined since its release. Undaunted: Normandy After drawing four cards, players must use one of those cards to compete to see who goes first. His remaining 3 cards can be used to activate units.If he draws two cards of the same unit, both of those units can move. When Fire on your turn. On the other hand, pulling the fog of war card will have your army sit in a foxhole while the enemy passes by, resulting in a tense tactical engagement that lasts from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.

Undaunted: Stalingrad Do many novel things. In-game tiles can be damaged. That means the concrete buildings you used to cover your advance in Game 1 could be flattened out like pancakes by Game 4. Every soldier has a name, giving every card in the deck a personal connection. And like XCOM’s great games, if a soldier dies in combat, they’re permanently out of the game. Additionally, the game benefits from a single branching campaign that slowly builds tension and deftly adds units to the reserve pool over time. What began as a 1980s quickly escalated into a combined arms campaign with tanks and cannons filling the dining room table.

Photo: Osprey Games

But while the mechanics themselves are top-notch, the theme of this game sells very poorly. Undaunted: Stalingrad is a faithful recreation of the historical battle between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. This battle lasted over his five months and resulted in some two million combat casualties and hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. The combatants literally crawled through damaged sewers and punched each other with frozen empty rifles. After that, many people starved to death.

For wargamers, Stalingrad is a sacred place. This is where we’ve been competing for dozens of different titles, battlefield 1942, IL-2 StarmovikWhen red orchestra 2. However, Axis powers and allies Giving players a sobering sense of detachment, giving them the perspective of the gods of a large world at war, and everyone getting their hands dirty unflinchingThat means fans of traditional board games will have a hard time choosing between the game’s two utterly deplorable factions. But if a player can snort long enough, he’ll have a surprisingly compelling historical narrative, solid strategy gameplay, and a fast-moving campaign he could easily finish in one weekend. can find.

Undaunted: Stalingrad The game was reviewed using a retail copy provided by Osprey Games. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.

Undaunted: Stalingrad

Price at the time of publication.

• 2 players aged 14+

• Play time: 45-60 minutes

• Similar games: Undaunted: Normandy