Like many of our readers, Scenario #4 from Beyond Valor, "The Commissar's House", received a lot of

action. In its re-issue, placing the action on the Red Barricades map, one of the first things I noticed was the
absence of SSR 5's phrase, "The German may inadvertently set up adjacent to Hidden Russians…" while
denying what we referred to as the "kraut" back then … the ability to set up next to enemy "?" stacks. I
gather that by the time the re-issue came, provided in the Annual '92, players were assumed to have
matured past doing anything by accident.

The publisher spent hundreds of hours that are not coming back, peering down at the RB map. Many of
them at the original Bunker, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. On a metal stool, no cushion. Under a bare bulb,
incandescent, swinging on a wire suspended from the plaster-and-lathe ceiling. It is an old building, in the
family, IIRC or the denizen and ASLer extraordinaire, since his father (a WW2 veteran), acquired it in
1940. (Ed. Robert, call me if I have any of that wrong; when you get off the courts at Coney Island.)

The "Commissar's House" takes place on 9 November 1942. Referring to the Mark book, "Island of Fire",
that was a day that von Paulus made the rounds of the Stalingrad battlefield in his Fieseler Storch. From
Gumrak the general and his entourage headed to the Dzerhezinsky Tractor Works, where von Paulus
decided there were too few flamethrowers on hand for his planned big push. The day before, the German
warlord celebrated the 18th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, referencing the impending capture of
Stalingrad in his speech at the Bürgerbräukeller.

The day before, also, orders had been passed down the line for an attack aimed at reaching the Volga.
Moving from west-to-east, the Chemist's Shop (aka "Apotheke" or Apothecary), as well as the
Kommissarhaus, would be captured on the fly, in a surprise attack. The push would go down the gully to
the river, and also grab Haus 79, near the cliffs overlooking the Volga. These plans related to von Paulus'
big push, planned for the eleventh.

The plan of action for the 11 November assault is depicted on a patch of our upcoming Volga Series map.
The Commissar's House is shown in a red circle. The Chemist's Shop, a red box. And Building 79, a yellow
box. The path planned for Grenadier Regiment 576 is depicted using a yellow arrow. GR578's planned
attack is depicted in the red arrows, noting they planned to move north along the bank of the Volga, in the
direction of the water pump.

The notations "138" and "95" relate to the two Rifle Divisions, and speak to the plan of attack between their
boundaries, held by the 650th and 241st Rifle Regiments, respective sub-units of their parent divisions.

Orders issued on 8 November stated that German artillery would "suddenly open fire at the beginning of
the attack … screening the … targets with smoke." The German OOB would consist of two separate units,
with a Kampgruppe formed from Grenadier Regiment 578 by engineers from Pz.Pi.Btl.50 and Pi. Btl.305.
Their planned thrust is depicted by the red arrows. The attack by elements of GR576, the yellow arrow,
would kick off at the same time as that of GR578.

Referring to the Aftermath of the Annual '92 scenario, the Kommissarhaus fell, following heavy casualties
by the Germans. The Chemist's Shop is depicted (presumably) by three hexes of rubble, directly south of
the Commissar's House on the RB map. That would imply its capture took place on the date of the scenario,
9 November.

Referring back to the Mark book, the attack on the Commissar's House is part of the 11 November assault
towards the Volga bank. The German attack was preceded by a rolling barrage, and was mentioned in the
report issued by the 95th Rifle Division, "…intensive artillery … preparation…" and mentioned another
factor, not part of the official scenario: tanks. Despite an aversion towards moving his panzers into this
portion of the battlefield, not deemed armor-friendly for obvious reasons, the Russian report goes on to
state the attack was, "… supported by 3 tanks…" These were, in fact, Sturmgeschütz, turretless assault guns
are our readers well know. These AFVs had little impact on the attack, emanating along the axis of the
yellow arrow in our example. Two of the StuGs were promptly brewed-up. The crew of the third thought
better of the entire affair and limped away.
The attack was halted in the yellow arrow portion of the battlfield.

The men of GR578, however, were able to press forward. From House 53, they made their way to the
Chemist's Shop, still standing but doorways blocked. The Kindergarden, a two-story building that was
intact, was off to their right. Using demolition charges, the Russian defenders in the Chemist's Shop were
winkled out, the engineers expertly fighting room-to-room. A haul of 45 prisoners was reported, indicative
of just how many soldiers from the 241st Rifle Regiment were crammed into the building.

Exiting Houses 54 and 56, as shown by the red arrows, the German engineers, going it alone (after being
pursuaded by their leader, Hauptmann Gast) without infantry (or armor, apparently) in support, also ran
into a buzz-saw. ASL Scenario 4 references "Major Rettenmaier" and he also receives copious mentions in
the Mark book. In the latter mention, "…Rettenmaier watched their attack to in from his observation post in
Haus 53…" It turns out, the assaulting pioniers in this sector could not find anywhere to place charges as
the entrances to the Kommissarhaus were all bricked up by then. That forced the engineers to forsake the
cover of darkness, and await dawn to figure out a new plan of attack.

With the first light came enemy attention and the Germans, hunkering in shellholes outside the building,
were scalded with lead. Inside, the defenders consisted of several platoons from the 650th Rifle Regiment,
as well as workers militia from the Barrikady. That latter would imply the need for some 4-2-6 MMCs in
the Russian OOB. In any case, the defenders of the building, also known as the "P-shaped house" halted the
German attack in its tracks. Full stop.

At that point, Major Rettenmaier's role in the battle was as a spectator, and he watched his men fall in
battle, and fall back.

One German engineer quoted after the battle mentioned the Russian sniper fire, "The worst thing was the
Soviet snipers!" The SAN of 6 for the scenario would speak to that reference.

German casualties were high: 4 NCOs/13 soldiers KIA; 1 officer/8 NCOs/52 men WIA. The attack of 11
November "completely failed" according to Mark (pg. 108; Island of Fire). In fact, the author reports that
German assault guns were called forward, not to attack, but to screen the retreat of the surviving engineers.
And these were not the common long and short-barreled StuG III models—but in fact the new sIG 33B,
sporting a 150mm howitzer. Their crews, inexperienced in handling the new vehicles, left two on the
battlefield. Their flawed tactic: drive right up, in full view, to the target to engage. Unknown to the
Germans, the Russians had secreted AT guns, and in addition to knocking out two of the new AFVs,
another valuable long-barreled StuG IIIF went up in smoke. Worse, of the 4 surviving sIG 33Bs, two were
removed from active service records issued the following day, 12 November, presumably damaged.

We will leave the account here. For now. Needless to day, you'll want to pick up the action on the map for
VOLGA SERIES module 1b, which happens to connect via 1a with Volga module 1 (Dzerhezinsky Tractor
Works). Before that, a mention. As a veteran ASLer, the hours of pleasure, and amazing friendship that has
taken place over the RB map is incalculable. It was, indeed, the first historical module for that system and
inspired all that followed. To that end. our desire to further explore the battlefield, using resources available
after that work, speaks for our ongoing curiosity and in no way is meant to diminish anything that came
before. Our creative spirit is the exact opposite: whether it be Hock or Hill or McNamara or Kibler, a tip of
the cap is in order.