Korsun Pocket: Little Stalingrad on the Dnepr

About this board game

Korsun Pocket: Little Stalingrad on the Dnepr is a grand tactical/operational simulation for 2–6 players with a listed play time of 6000 minutes.

The game recreates the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Operation, known to the Germans as the Tcherkassy Pocket, which raged from January 25 through February 17, 1944. It was the first large-scale encirclement of German forces after Stalingrad and marked the end of the German attempt to stalemate the Red Army on the banks of the Dnepr.

Play takes place on a 1:100,000 scale map, with one mile represented by each hex. Each day is divided into two five-hour day turns and a 14-hour night turn, including the optional Extra Night Turn. Most units are battalions, representing 600–900 men, 60–70 tanks, or 8–12 artillery pieces at full strength.

Korsun Pocket uses the system from SPI’s Wacht am Rhein: The Battle of the Bulge, 16 Dec 44 – 2 Jan 45, while adding new armor rules that change the game’s flavor to better simulate combat on the Russian Front.

The game includes a substantial collection of maps, counters, and reference material:

• One rules book and six counter sheets containing 2,400 counters
• Map sections A, B, C, and D
• Situation maps for January 25, February 1, and February 10
• Three air base cards, two turn record tracks, and a set of play aids

With its extensive map scale, battalion-level formations, segmented turns, and armor-focused rules, Korsun Pocket presents a detailed tabletop study of a pivotal 1944 encirclement.