Stalingrad

On 22 June 1941 Germany and its Axis allies invaded the Soviet Union, quickly advancing deep into Soviet territory. Having suffered defeat during the summer and autumn of 1941, Soviet forces counter-attacked in the Battle of Moscow in December 1941. The exhausted German forces, ill equipped for winter warfare and with overstretched supply lines, were stopped in their drive towards the capital.

The Germans stabilized their front by spring 1942. Plans to launch another offensive against Moscow were discarded, however, as Army Group Centre had been too heavily weakened. Part of the German military philosophy was to attack where least expected, so that rapid gains could be made. An attack on Moscow was seen as too predictable by some, most notably Hitler. Along with this, the German high command knew that time was running out for them as the United States had entered WWII following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hitler wanted to end the fighting on the Eastern Front or at least minimize it before the US had a chance to get deeply involved in the war in Europe.

For all of these reasons new offensives in the north and south were considered. A drive into the southern USSR would secure control of the oil-rich Caucasus, as well as the Volga River, a backbone of Soviet transportation from Central Asia. A German victory in the southern Soviet Union would severely damage Stalin's war machine and the Soviet economy. Another resource desired by Germany in this area was agricultural production.



Tips and Tactics
from Battlefield 1942 Tips and Tactics, added by author


 * You can stand underneath various ammo supply boxes (otherwise unreachable and almost invisible) and resupply. Learn the map!
 * Defense here is vital: defend two control points and you have won the game, no matter what casualties you take.
 * If someone is grenade spamming or otherwise nuking the entrance of your control point building, consider taking the ladder out the back. You might drop a grenade (using right mouse click) out this window first.
 * If your flag goes neutral in one of the buildings, lob a tank shot into the third story window to kill the intruder.
 * Obscure fact: you can throw grenades underneath the southern control point building (map D4). To the right of the ladder in the back there is a thin gap at the bottom of the wall. Get close and throw down and they go inside, hurting people within.