I am happy to unveil my first draft of Operation Suvorov. Also known as the 2nd Battle for Smolensk or simply Smolensk 1943.
After Kursk, the Soviet armies were seizing the initiative all along the front. Now was the time to liberate Smolensk. No less than 9 soviet armies would concentrate in this area. However, unlike the battles raging for the last month, tank reserves would be rather light, relying on the artillery and the bravery of the Russian soldier to smash through the hard German defenses which have been built up over time.
Before Stavka split up the operation into Stages in how we know the battle today, the initial attack was a broad offensive with the lofty goal of liberating Smolensk. This scenario hopes to recreate those initial 11 days when the Soviet armies lunged themselves against the German defenses all along the front of the German 4th Army.
It is my hope in the future, as I obtain more information on this battle, to create the 2nd and 3rd Stage of the battles as well.
Instead of posting the entire OOB, I'm just going to post what I could use assistance with instead. If anything materializes great, if not, no worries, I'll keep looking regardless.
At present, I'm looking for the composition of the Soviet 21st Army (at best I know it had eight rifle divisions when it was reconstituted on July 12 1943), in addition to what battalions that make up the 2nd, 9th and 45th Mechanized Brigades, and the 233rd Tank Brigade.
(12-15-2017, 06:29 AM)Ocito80 Wrote: Instead of posting the entire OOB, I'm just going to post what I could use assistance with instead. If anything materializes great, if not, no worries, I'll keep looking regardless.
At present, I'm looking for the composition of the Soviet 21st Army (at best I know it had eight rifle divisions when it was reconstituted on July 12 1943), in addition to what battalions that make up the 2nd, 9th and 45th Mechanized Brigades, and the 233rd Tank Brigade.
With the help of a couple other members, i've been able to put together a pretty solid Russian OOB, and made in-roads on the German side as well. The project will be split into 2 scenarios,
First scenario - August Operations (Aug 7th to Sept 6th) "Breaking the defenses"
Second Scenario - September Operations (Sept 14th to Oct 2nd) "Rush to the Dnepr"
I'm still looking for a little help, particularly with the German OOB. If you have any sources or tid-bits of information you wish to contribute, feel free to pass them along, even if it's just about one unit. And this extends to those little obscure units often attached as Corps/Army assets.
The complete OOB is nearing the finish line. My main issue at present is identifying any German Divisions that arrive after the start of the Russian offensive, and of course "when" they arrive. I lack sources to make this an easier task. I've also begun researching starting positions and the German defensive lines that existed. I believe I do have the front accurately drawn out, well as accurate as I think I could be.
I'm still hoping to have the Aug 7th scenario ready to go by the end of the month.
(12-15-2017, 06:29 AM)Ocito80 Wrote: Instead of posting the entire OOB, I'm just going to post what I could use assistance with instead. If anything materializes great, if not, no worries, I'll keep looking regardless.
At present, I'm looking for the composition of the Soviet 21st Army (at best I know it had eight rifle divisions when it was reconstituted on July 12 1943), in addition to what battalions that make up the 2nd, 9th and 45th Mechanized Brigades, and the 233rd Tank Brigade.
Sent an email to you
Hello...
As far as I can ascertain, the Soviet 21st Army (July, 1943) was made up of the 61st Rifle Corps ( 51st, 62nd and 119th Rifle Divisions). Additional attached (?) Rifle Divisions where, the 63rd, 70th, 76th, 91st, 95th and 174th (The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, R.G. Poirier and A.Z. Conner)
O.O.B. for the 2nd Mechanized Brigade...
1st, 2nd and 3rd Rifle Battalions and the 54th Tank Regiment.
O.O.B. for the 9th Mechanized Brigade...
1st, 2nd and 3rd Rifle Battalions and the 46th Tank Regiment.
O.O.B. for the 45th Mechanized Brigade...
1st, 2nd and 3rd Rifle Battalions and the 156th Tank Regiment.
O.O.B for the 233rd Tank Brigade...
611th Tank Battalion, 612th Tank Battalion and the 233rd Motorized Rifle Battalion.
I decided to put aside my HW company concept and just merge them into a inf company hybrid type unit. Thus I've redone the german oob again, tweaked the russians and fixed some errors I noticed. So, a silver lining :)
I added the 13 and 14th companies to infantry regiments where applicable. Overall, a unit count reduction still occurred :)
Archived Forums
Help
Calendar
Member List
Search
Atheory's Project: Op_Suvorov (aka Smolensk 1943)
){kind=link}