Does anybody know the configureations of soviet infantry squads in ww2 .

[Hannibal]

Does anybody know the squad configurations of soviet infantry in ww2 .How big were the squads what weapons did they carry .Was there any real differnce between guards and normal Red army units .How many different types of squads do you think the game should have to cover the full range of soviet squads .

[offtaskagain]

Guards units were somewhat like SS in that they got higher priority on new weapons and in general had higher morale. They were also usually composed of veterans

[Commissar]

That's a pretty open-ended question. Squad configurations differed as the war progressed. Which years are you talking about? The Red Army Handbook by Stephen Zaloga should list many of the squads and answer the questions you are asking. Just off the top of my head, there were Rifle, SMG, Engineer, MG, Soviet Naval Infantry (converted to reg ground troops), paratroopers (also eventually converted to regular ground troops due to a lack of confidence in airbourne operations by Stalin), Anti-tank Rifle squads, and a probably a great deal more I can't think of at the moment.

Guards units usually did indicate veteran status as well as recognition of extraordinary performance. They tended to have preference in men and equipment. For example, as the war went on the Russians were forced to lower the authorized strengths of many leg units because of the difficulty of finding replacements. The "endless" supply of Russian manpower wasn't so endless contrary to what is poplularly believed. Guards units usually had a much better chance of being at full strength than your average regular unit although not always.

[ 04-29-2001: Message edited by: Commissar ]

[von Lucke]

Like Commissar said: "Which, and what year?"

In the beginning, 12 - 13 man squads with a pair of LMG's backed up by 10 riflemen. Then the addition of a couple SMG's. Then throw in 2 Automatic Rifles. So yr at 12 men with 2 LMG's / 2 SMG's / 2 Auto-Rifles / 6 Bolt-Action Rifles.

About this time the SMG companies (with 10-man squads) show up too.

But then, because of combat losses and the raising of many new, under-equipped divisions, you get 10-man squads with nothing but bolt-action rifles, and only 2 LMG's to share among a whole company!

So, in short, the Soviet squad mix will prolly look alot like the present CMBO German one: Plenty to choose from, based on year and orginization.