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Ski Troops?


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Hi,

Winter has fallen in my campaign game, and I need to add some ski troops for the Germans and Soviets.

Historically, which types of units were generally ski-capable? Were ad-hoc ski units formed on an as-needed basis?

I would guess that German mountain troops would be ski capable. What about battalion or regimental recon units? I would think that these commanders would be tempted to pull all the unit's skiers into one unit, but was this generally done?

And what about the Soviets? Were ski troops common? It seems like every book you read about winter combat in Russia features legions of Russian ski troops, but this seems overblown...

Any comments appreciated.

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Actually ski troops were relatively rare and mostly confined to Mountain Divisions and specialty Ski Battalions in all armies. The Finns, of course, had more but apparently they are capable of knocking out tanks with oversized toothpicks. No doubt some individuals in other formations might have used skis, but that is not within the scope of CM.

DavidI

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Originally posted by 76mm:

David, thanks for the response, makes sense.

JK, thanks too for pointing out that ski troops are rather lame in CMBB, but the main thing I wanted to add them for was faster movement on the operational-level map.

I've used ski troops to represent cavalry on a very large map for that very reason - mobility. Check it out it's called "Peiper's Chariots of Fire" and you can get it at this LINK

Cheers fur noo

George

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76mm,

I never said they were lame; I merely noted that there was no capability for them to return to skis

once off them, an event I believe is triggered by their opening fire. Thus ski troops can go racing in for an attack and open up, but unlike their real world counterparts, they can't exit at high speed but are instead forced to slog through the snow like regular grunts. IOW, they can hit, but they can't run.

Regards,

John Kettler

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76mm - for the Russians, ski forces were specialists in their own formations. The largest unit was the ski brigade, and that was the standard operational force used. It had a company of 9 82mm mortars for fire support, some AA machineguns, controlled an antitank rifle group as the unit's only real AT asset, plus command signals and supply etc.

The maneuver units were 3 ski battalions, each with 9 50mm mortars in 3 platoons of 3, 3 sled-mounted Maxim MGs in one platoon, sections of pioneers recon and HQ, and 3 line companies. There were also 2 sniper teams at battalion level, each 2 men.

The line companies had 3 platoons, typically 2 rifle+DP LMG platoons, and 1 SMG platoon. There was also typically a sniper rifle sharpshooter at company level, and they often had a mortar platoon attached from their battalion, and an ATR squad (3 ATRs) likewise, from the brigade's ATR company.

The whole force was quite light, meant to be able to maneuver off any sort of road or main supply route, and to support itself in forest fighting. The heavier weapons were centralized up one echelon and pulled by sleds, and used indirect (the 82s) or to defend positions (for the MGs). Pioneers helped with route improvement as well as mine clearing and fording stuff.

Mostly they fought as light infantry, trying to outflank any enemy they encountered by moving through the middle of deep masses of forest or frozen swampland. Sometimes an ordinary rifle formation would form the front side on an encirclement attempt, while they went for the flank or rear. Thin screens warned where the enemy was, and the rest moved in narrow columns to avoid detection (by all passing along a narrow, scouted route) before deploying to fight.

This worked particularly well in the first winter, when the poorly prepared Germans were largely confined to inhabited locations to get shelter. They might man wider defenses - still close to such places - during the day, but at night only a few frostbitten sentries would be out, as most tried to stay warm near a fire inside. That created perfect conditions for these lightly equipped light infantry forces to move en masse into the German operational rear. Then they would show themselves the next day by cutting a road or conducting a raid etc.

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JasonC,

thanks, I was hoping you'd weigh in. Two questions:

1) It sounds like neither the Russians nor the Germans made much use of ad-hoc ski units (ie, all the men in the regiment, etc., who knew how to ski) for winter raiding, patrols, etc. Is that fair to say?

2) any idea what the specialized soviet ski troops did during the summer months? typical light infantry, scouting stuff?

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Whether the Germans used ad hoc skiers for scouts is more than I know, they may have. The Russians did not form such things and they certainly didn't ask if someone already knew how to do something - they just took whoever and trained them how to do whatever was needed. Not exactly rocket science.

As for other seasons, some independent ski brigades stayed around as infantry regiments in the north, but many were simply disbanded every Spring, and new ones made the next winter. At one date there will be 50 ski brigades on the line and at other there will be 4.

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Sergei,

I appreciate the correction! You'd think that what droves of skiers do at ski resorts every winter (removing skis upon entering the building and putting them back on when leaving), combat trained troops could manage, too, but I guess the game engine wouldn't support it.

Regards,

John Kettler

[ August 16, 2006, 02:24 PM: Message edited by: John Kettler ]

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