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Der Alte Fritz

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Posts posted by Der Alte Fritz

    The Russian Offensive

    in Combat Mission - Scenario Talk

    Posted

    Hi Andreas

    Good article that I already had. Scenario is smaller than this but I have tried to keep to the same scale but keep the feel of the battle. Heavy attack overwhelming the defences but still taking casualties.

    So infantry odds 1:3 a company vs a reinforced battalion.

    Artillery 1:4 a 105 battery vs 4 122 batteries but have assumed a huge Army level strike BEFORE the game so Germans are at 60% strength and the ground is very cratered.

    Tanks 8 per km. A bit low maybe but this is a post Kursk battle so there would be less. About half this number of German PAKs.

    Have tried to give a battle that the Russians can win but if the plan goes wrong they should have some heavy casualties. The game represents the middle section of the attack, the Russians have over run the outpost line 1000m ahead and are now attacking the main line. Behind this 1000m should be a reserve line and then strongpoints after this. I think that it is at this point that they started to take heavy casualties because the artillery became less co-ordinated and the tanks were beginning to thin out. They usually got stuck well into the depth of German defences and it is then that a Tank Corps had to be sent in to help them make the final penetration. Of course German defences increased in depth by quite a lot as the war progressed

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    The Russian Offensive

    in Combat Mission - Scenario Talk

    Posted

    Hi jtcm

    version 1.1 of the scenario is on its way. Set up zone has been amended, more AT guns, MGs and TH for the Germans, labels on all positions for the Russians. Generally trying to make the defence a bit stiffer without huge increases in forces.

    Artillery is weak because the Germans have already been hit by a huge bombardment before the game starts and are already at 60% strength!

    Am updating the briefing to be a bit clearer as to objectives.

    How many KV1s and SU-122 did you lose?

    Does the German front platoon need wire?

    At what move did you capture the rear flag on the road to Uman? Do you do it in the time allowed?

    thanks for the notes.

    cheers

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    The Russian Offensive

    in Combat Mission - Scenario Talk

    Posted

    I think that many of us who study the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War, celebrate the successes like the creation of the T-34, the massive offensive power of the Red Army in 1944 with it's tank riders and T-34s and the fact that the Red Army fought and defeated the bulk of the German Army in 1943 while the other Allies were only engaging a small part of the remainder.

    Yes tank riders and T-34/85 were a great combination of firepower and mobility. But the life expectancy of a tank rider was very short. A better way to do it would have been to provide the tank riders with APCs but the Russians built tanks in preference to lorries.

    Likewise we are horrfied by the toll of death, the chronic disregard for human life shown by the Soviet leadership and the political system. There are lots of examples. Look at the purges of ethnic groups in Russia, where soldiers on the front line were unaware that back home their families had been loaded onto trains and shipped to Siberia with large numbers dying on the way.

    Interest and even admiration for some elements of a thing do not necessarily mean support or concurrence for it. I am interested in the Third Reich, would have loved to been a fly on the wall while it took place, but would still want it utterly destroyed.

    Anyway, have a go with the scenario, you should find that even with massive artillery support and tanks, you will need to sneak your infantry forward and in the process will take heavy casualties. A new version is due out soon, which will be more difficult.

    cheers

    [ February 02, 2007, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: Der Alte Fritz ]

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    The Russian Offensive

    in Combat Mission - Scenario Talk

    Posted

    The battle on the Chir River in Dec 1942 illustrates the effectiveness of tanks quite well for attacking forces. The original attack by two Rifle Divisions on the 9th failed. The subsequent attack by two brigades of the Vth Mech Corps at night managed to seize a bridge over the river. So when the 49th Bde attacked the following day with tanks, they broke through the German defences and made deep in-roads into their lines. The same day the rifle divisions attacked again on their sector and made little forward movement. The Vth Corps continued to advance even against counter attacks and continued to make ground until the 12th when they went into reserve. The Vth attacked on a three BRIGADE front and had 193 tanks committed to the battle in two Tank Regts with an additional company attached to each brigade. What is suprising is that the tanks were Valentines and Matildas (not KVs as I had thought).

    So yes, the Russian offensive using Rifle Corps and Artillery was a wasteful and inefficient tactic and resulted in huge and unecessary losses; in many offensives they had to commit armoured forces early to help the infantry breakthrough and especially through the later German defences which were deeper and denser. Even tanks as apparently worthless as Matildas could make all the difference if used in sufficient numbers.

    cheers

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    The Russian Offensive

    in Combat Mission - Scenario Talk

    Posted

    One of the purposes of my series of scenarios was to highlight the differences between the Russian and German system of war. Compare the German Kursk offensive with any Russian offensive from Stalingrad onwards. The German offensive is led by heavy tanks with plenty of tanks in reserve, mounted infantry, flexible artillery and lots of specialist equipment to deal with enemy strongpoints. Compare this with the Russian offensive - rifle armed infantry on foot supported by a fixed artillery fire plan and the flexible response that they have is on call mortars. This is very similar to WW1 tactics. The lack of flexible support menat that the Rifle Corps had to rely on the small number of heavy tanks and SAUs to provide direct fire support, which itself was vulnerable to counterfire. I have been reading about the assault on the Chir river at Stalingrad and the Rifle Divisions and Vth Mech Corps were well aware that their standard infantry attack would fail, so attacked at night with limited success. Later supported by a company of KV1s for each infantry battalion, they broke through the German lines with relative ease.

    German defences were very good, as any Allied opeartion shows. The Russian ones proved so expensive in lost men because they did not field enough of the equipment to deal with those parts of the defence left intact by the artillery barrage.

    But given the loss rates suffered by the average Tank Corps, it is hardly suprising that the bulk of the tanks were given to them.

    cheers

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    The Russian Offensive

    in Combat Mission - Scenario Talk

    Posted

    The Russian Offensive is a series of four scenarios depicting the main events in a typical late war Soviet attack. The idea is to show how the different forces contributed to the overall effect and to highlight the differences with the German method of war. Intended to be played Russian vs AI or H2H.

    Scenario 1 represents the breakthrough of German lines by a Rifle Division supported by heavy tanks.

    Scenario 2 covers a Mech Corps moving into the breach to widen it and engage possible counter attack forces.

    Scenario 3 is a Tank Corps which has been launched into the operational hinterland to seize a bridgehead.

    Scenario 4 is the Motor Rifle part of a Tank Corps defending the bridgehead against a counter attack by German strategic reserves.

    Russian Offensive scenario 1: Infantry Break Through is now posted at TPG at http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details_link.html?sku=1252 . All play testing and comments welcome.

    Just published Scenario 2 at TPG today.

    Difficult scenario to make as it tries to show the various parts of a Mech Corps, the Tank Regt and the Motor Rifle Bde and what their roles were.

    Find it here at http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details_link.html?sku=1254

    Thank to everyone who downloaded the first in the series, I hope you enjoyed it.

    cheers

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    The Russian Offensive

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    The Russian Offensive is a series of four scenarios depicting the main events in a typical late war Soviet attack. The idea is to show how the different forces contributed to the overall effect and to highlight the differences with the German method of war. Intended to be played Russian vs AI or H2H.

    Scenario 1 represents the breakthrough of German lines by a Rifle Division supported by heavy tanks.

    Scenario 2 covers a Mech Corps moving into the breach to widen it and engage possible counter attack forces.

    Scenario 3 is a Tank Corps which has been launched into the operational hinterland to seize a bridgehead.

    Scenario 4 is the Motor Rifle part of a Tank Corps defending the bridgehead against a counter attack by German strategic reserves.

    Russian Offensive scenario 1: Infantry Break Through is now posted at TPG at http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details_link.html?sku=1252 . All play testing and comments welcome.

    [ January 24, 2007, 12:05 AM: Message edited by: Der Alte Fritz ]

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    Are there some kind of "newbie scenarios"??

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    If you want a good infantry scenario try Hill 312 as the Russians or Lake Ladoga as the Finns. Using armour start off with Iron Roadblock as the Russians or A Warm Place to Sleep. Often defence is easier than attack especially against the AI and allows you time to find out the game mechanics.

    Choice of scenario is very important as they vary hugely in their difficulty. I would recommend that if you want to play the Russian side or get an insight into them that you try JasonC training series at www.blowtorchscenarios.com. If you have questions arising from these you can post on this forum and JasonC will give you excellent answers. I have a list of many of these that I can email.

    Good luck

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    Horse Casualties in WWII?

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    I have heard an estimate of 5 million horses killed during WW2 on all sides.

    What is suprising is the very small number of memorials to their loss. I know of only one statue in Britain at the Animal Defence Centre (?) and a stained glass window in a church in Norfolk. Again I know of only one in Germany in Hannover - the main horse bredding area.

    Anyone know of any others?

    cheers

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    Firing SU assault guns

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Hi

    I have set up a scenario with a German infantry company in a defensive position with trenches wire and mines. I have been firing various SUs against it . When hot seating I noticed that the SU-76M really had little effect and did not pin the trenches. So I upgraded to SU-122s. I fired two at an MG position at 600m for two moves (ie 8 shells) and had not come close to hitting it.

    What ranges should I be using my SUs at to pin these trenches or to injure the occupants?

    cheers

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    Russian Recce Sections

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Tried out padlocked units behind the German lines last night with a lot of success. They get initial sound contacts but you can unhide them for one move and then pick up actual contacts. This works well on my fairly open map with a green Russian battalion as it allows support weapons to engage HMGs long before the battalion would normally spot them. I feel this replicates good Russian scouting quite well.

    Shame the Recon A uses the standard Russian uniform and not the camouflage airborne uniform mod. Can you mod the Recon A unit or does it use the standard infantry uniform.

    cheers

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