IMPORTANT! Soviet mot. rifle SMG squads with one man less?

[Amedeo]

The booklet "Soviet Infantry Tactics in WWII" by C. Sharp (available also at the BFC bookstore) says on pag.117 that:

"In mid-1942 the submachinegun units were all standardized, whether they were part of the motorized rifle battalions in the tank brigades or the submachinegun units in the regular rifle units. The squad remained the same for the rest of the war: 1 Squad Leader, 1 Assistant Squad Leader 6 Submachinegunners"

Thus it seems that from late 1942 onward, all Soviet pure SMG squads in rifle units (motorized or not, I'm not talking about airborne or mountain troops) should number 8 men. The standard CMBB Soviet motorized rifle SMG squad is however only 7 men strong.

If we look at Zaloga's "Red Army Handbook 1939-45", a good source for TO&E, we see that the typical "pure" SMG company of a motorized rifle battalion attached to tank is composed of (see pag. 82):

4 Officers, 10 NCOs, 81 ORs for a total of 95 men

In CMBB the same unit has a Coy HQ (7) plus three platoons with a Platoon HQ (4) and three SMG squads (7) each, for a total of 82 men. This should suggest that the actual SMG squads were composed of 8 soldiers each and not 7.

If we took the "heavy" SMG companies in the same motorized battalion, we see that they were composed of:

5 Officers, 22 NCOs, 74 ORs for a total of 101 men

They are also listed having 9 LMGs and 2 MMGs. We should remove two of the four Maxim MG teams that are currently present with these companies in the game.

Summing up it seems that the pure SMG squads in motorized rifle units should have their complement of men increased by one unit. Additionally the 'heavy' SMG companies have two more MMGs than actually available.

[Edited to correct an erroneous calculation]

I think that these changes should be included in the upcoming v1.03 patch.

Comments?

Amedeo

[ April 12, 2003, 09:29 AM: Message edited by: Amedeo ]

[Amedeo]

*BUMP*