Grisha
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Posts posted by Grisha
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Nice work, Bil. So far so good for the Soviets. Keep it up!
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Hi John,
I used to have a site called Red Army Studies back in 2003. It listed a large number of VIZh issues from the 1980s in pdf format. Our staff was comprised of Scott Boston, Andreas Biermann, Douglas Frank and myself. The site (and url) is long gone but I still have the files on CD.
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Bozhe moi?
I think that question is best left to your own assessment. Russian(Soviet), German(Nazi), both, none. It all depends on your own feelings about this, that and the other thing, eh?
'Good.' It's such a subjective thing.
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One russian source is issue #8, 1986 of the Soviet Military History Journal. It goes into some detail of how Soviet airpower was used in relation to front mobile groups in WWII. In 1944 one tank army had 800 combat aircraft assigned to it. An air corps commander typically was stationed with the tank army command post. Out in the field air division commanders were stationed with tank corps under a tank army. Air guidance officer were assigned to battle formations down to first echelon tank brigades and to forward detachments.
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The Soviets committed to a front-wide offensive in 1943 and ended up paying more heavily in casualties than in 1941. It was a victory for sure, but one of pyrrhic proportions. STAVKA came to the conclusion in winter 43/44 that they could not hope to insure victory if they resorted to hammering the entire front in the following summer. So, they had to refine their operations even further.
Up to this point the Soviets were employing deception and masking(covered movement and deployment) at the tactical and operational level with confidence and skill. STAVKA decided it was time to conduct these tools at the strategic level now. Rather than employ the front-wide strategy, the new model was to manipulate German strategic response through front-wide coordination of deception and masking.
The result in summer of 1944 was a series of operations that were prepared and executed so as to draw German armor away from the Lvov area, which was the Soviets' primary direction of attack strategically. It began up north then shifted progressively southward. German forces were compelled to respond with their armor reserves as serious breakthroughs occurred up north. The Belorussian strategic offensive was the final draw in shifting German focus from the Lvov area and its massive success did much to reduce the number of panzers in position to oppose Soviet forces in the Lvov-Sandomierz operation.
The Yassy-Kishinev operation in August was planned for last, and ended up with relatively light casualties overall.
The interesting thing about Soviet tactics is that it was highly dependent on the operational planning prior. A lot of planning went into an operation, insuring that the battles to come were conducted under the most favorable terms possible.
The tank army was their means of fighting in a dynamic environment. It was to advance through 'holes' created by Soviet assault forces (introduction usually occurred once the third line of tactical defense had been breached). From there a tank army was responsible for meeting their objectives, advancing along identified routes and only fighting when necessary. These were the Soviet troops most like the Germans in terms of tactics, their forward detachments being the recognized army elite within. The TOE of a tank army in 1944 was about as balanced as anything the Germans ever put together operationally. Add the Assault Air Regiments dedicated to tank armies during exploitation and you have the recipe for some rip-roaring battles.
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Hi John, I think there are a few I-16s still flying around actually. And more than a few Yak-3s though they're powered by Allisons. Unfortunately, no La-5FNs. Those were nearly all wooden and none survived the war.
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Thanks, YankeeDog. Not quite the frothing-at-the-mouth-soviet like back then anymore, but I'll always be ready to play when it comes to the Russian front.
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Totally agree there, Michael. That would be a blast (no pun intended).
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I feel like the demonstration scenario being played out by Bil and Elvis kind of represents something like that on a small scale
No argument there, Michael. My comments were of a general nature, not a response to the demo being played out. Which I'm eagerly keeping my eye on just to see what happens!
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YankeeDog, it's been awhile since I played the newer versions and I only played them a couple times to be honest. My heart has always been set on the Russian theater for WWII. I thought Fortress Italy would grab me due to the terrain, but so that didn't work out. I didn't even check out how scenarios are made. Of course, this all changes with Red Thunder. I'm a sucker for Russians. Izvinite!
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The RPG-43 was fairly effective. Hell, there's a modern Russian version that was used on our own vehicles in Iraq and its results were pretty nasty. The main problem was distance. They only go as far as you can throw them. In the forests around Moscow and Minsk this is okay, but out in the steppes of the Ukraine not so much.
Soviets did make use of panzerfaust for whatever that's worth.
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Okay cool. I have Afghanistan, Battle for Normandy and Fortress Italy of the new ones. Didn't realize this. Most of my experience has been with CMBB and CMBO(edited).
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Incidentally I remember reading that several Far Eastern Soviet fighter units converted straight from Polikarpov I-16s to P-63s, which must have taken some getting used to!
I don't know, Tux. Going from pumping a level to get your wheels up or down to a push of a button must have been a joy. Not to mention the excellent radios in every KingCobra. Talk about amenities. The heater! All that space in the cockpit! I bet those poor pilots got used to them PDQ
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You can also have "pre battle intel" cranked up for the Soviets. That means no matter where the German player sets up his units, there's a chance of them being spotted right off the bat.
Excellent, Battlefront! Can a scenario have that assigned a discrete percentage value, like say 60%?
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Given what Soviet operational art was capable of from 1944 on, it would probably be a wise choice to research the Soviet operational situation for any given tactical engagement or battle of interest.
For example, the initial assaults of the Soviet strategic offensive operations in summer of 1944 could easily make for a terrible scenario. One of quickly dwindling assets for the German player as he is hit by ferocious rocket and artillery barrages, thick coverage from direct fire artillery, all the while with 60% or more of German tactical positions known and 10 to 16 times the number of Soviet forces attacking. Something less powerful would have occurred, of course, though likely in less important areas of operation that were expected to maintain pressure rather than force a breakthrough.
Probably the scenario most agreeable to what CM personifies is the exploitation battles fought by the tank armies as they advanced toward their operational objectives. There were many locations along their advance where ad hoc defenses were put together by German forces. Not to mention the vital battles to hold objectives by these very same tank armies until main forces caught up as German strategic reserves counterattacked.
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Also, no rockets on the P-39 likely because there were two 50s in nacelles on the wings.
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The VVS loved the P-39. They had a number of aces who flew it. Their second highest ace, Pokryshkin, swore by it. They did rig it so that one button triggered all weapons though. It was used for ground support at times, but only to the extent that fighter aircraft are ever used in a ground support. The Soviets considered the P-39, first and foremost, a fighter aircraft.
The P-63 was not officially used in the European theater. It's employment was in the Manchurian theater against the Japanese. My understanding was that it was mainly a case of not receiving them in time for use in Europe. And, I don't believe the P-63 saw much use at all in WWII with the VVS.
The P-39's popularity with the Soviets partially arises from the fact that almost no Soviet aircraft flew much above 20k feet, and usually it was lower at around 16k feet. The sweet spot for combat air actions in the Russian front was anywhere from 10k feet on down. At these altitudes the Allison engine in the Bell fighter was more than adequate for the task.
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Yeah, typical SOP for small unit Soviet infantry tactics defined platoon as smallest independent unit. Platoon leader operated command within visual range primarily. So, wide open terrain, not too bad. Woods, however, you need to keep it tight, which can be good and bad.
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An IS-2 was more often used in the opening breakthrough assault that would punch a hole that would introduce tank armies into German operational depths. The T-34 or M-4 were more often the tank to see combat under hasty combat conditions as a tank army ran into a hasty defense at a town along the way to their objective. They were often in independent heavy tank regiments and brigades, rather than in a tank corps/army.
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Let's go, play! I want to see how it plays. Btw, a hasty attack with katyushas is completely possible and realistic. All tank armies in '44 had rocket artillery assets, usually 82mm. Check it out. Actually they had a lot of diverse assets precisely so that they could effectively conduct exploitation into German operational depths. They didn't have any of those serious STAVKA level arty assets like artillery division, but they did have very dedicated air assets, down to regiment level.
Seriously though - play!
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I had so much fun with CMBB back a decade ago. Lots of gaming and lots of commentary and people of similar interests. It was a great game for its time and the one I wanted more than all the others. And here we are over ten years later and the Russian front is back on the table with the latest engine that Battlefront has to offer. I am seriously looking forward to CM2RT, so many thanks to the crew at Battlefront and the two dudes who started it all (I still wish I could play that air war game over Europe you guys made in another incarnation. The music was perfect too).
My opinion alone but if you do what you did for CMBB I'll be more than pleased with it. I've already ordered the damn thing. Keep up the good work and thank you.
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Very much looking forward to the Eastern Front, but the upgrade it important too. Having Marketgarden to play with will be fun. And, for now, CMFI should be a real nice change.
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Glantz really shines with his earlier works, which were more focused on why and how the Soviets won, not so much where and when and who. These were all works from the 1990s and earlier, while he was still in the Army. His real forte is doctrine and method, rather than history.
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Think I'm gonna get the Fortress Italy game too. Having fun with CMBN.
CMRT - BETA AAR - Soviet Side
in Combat Mission Red Thunder
Posted
Bil, great site, Battle Drill. Bookmarked it! Thanks.