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Battle for Stalingrad Virtual Staff Ride

 

The Stalingrad VSR examines the pivotal World War II battle from multiple levels of command to highlight the challenges and complexities of large scale combat operations, operations in dense urban terrain, and their relevance to the modern operating environment. The staff ride is tailorable for use from the company through the ASCC level. As such, the staff ride takes a minimum of three hours, for a single tactical battle study, to up to 16 hours for the full battle/campaign.

 
 

The Stalingrad VSR is fully exportable to any unit or organization which has access to the Army-licensed gaming software, Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3). The exportable package includes full instructor support materials, student readings, and instructions on how to use everything. Please see below.

VSR Stalingrad
VSR Stalingrad
VSR Stalingrad

Visit our FAQs for more information on how we conduct our staff rides.

Stalingrad Virtual Staff Ride Material

Stalingrad VSR Introduction

Stalingrad VSR Introduction

This file provides an overview of the virtual staff ride, what products comprise the virtual staff ride, how to download the products, and how they are used to conduct a virtual staff ride (VSR). The Exportable VSR contains all the elements of a ‘ground’ staff ride, but with the terrain being presented with a computer in a classroom environment.

Download the VSR Introduction
(.pdf file ‹1MB)

Virtual Battlespace 3 Instructions

Virtual Terrain for Stalingrad

The Stalingrad VSR runs off the Army’s games-for-training platform, Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3). Only a government employee on a CAC enabled computer can download the program. New VBS3 users must request authorization to download the program through Milgaming. New download authorizations may not be available due to contract restrictions with the software manufacturer. Use this link to access the Army’s Milgaming site for the Stalingrad terrain files. After downloading VBS3, the user must download the Stalingrad terrain and model files and then upload them into VBS3. Detailed instructions on how to complete this process are at the Milgaming link. For technical questions or issues relating to VBS3, contact customer support at Bohemia Interactive Simulations at (866) 755-5127.

Army Milgaming Site

Preliminary Study Materials

Preliminary Study Materials

These materials help prepare staff ride participants for their virtual visit to the campaign area. At a minimum, participants should read the book excerpts. A bibliography of sources will assist those who want to research the battle further. Character packets are included for those organizations who wish to role play prominent commanders on the German and Soviet sides.

Download the Read Aheads
(.zip file 6MB)

Download the Character Packets
(.zip file 6MB)

Field Phase and Integration Phase Materials

Field Phase and Integration Phase Materials

These resources are for the staff ride facilitator or instructor. The notes are the materials the instructor uses to tie the terrain, the historical narrative, and the visual aids together. The visual aids help keep the participants oriented to the virtual terrain and to the historical context of the operation.

Download the Instructor Notes
(.zip file 2MB)

Download the Visual Aids
(.zip file 51MB)