East front WW2 books

[Mad Russian]

I have no use for a game designers OOB other than possibly as a starting place. I want actual OOB's in front of me other than something a game designer may have made up to work in a game. I long ago found that game OOB's are at least 50% fictional. They may be better now but I would never use one if I had an alternate source of information.

Then you need to read Russian. My understanding is that HPS uses the "Боевой состав Советской Армии", the "Order of Battle of the Soviet Army" microfische released in 1997 for PzC OBs. You can't get any closer to the source. As for German sources there is a plethora of primary documentation available there as well. Unless it's used then any alternate source of information is probably exactly what any given game designer used.

Okay. But your understanding may not be correct. I'm not saying if it is or it isn't. I've been involved in wargames for along time and I've seen some of the OOB's that have come from game designers. Until I find a corraborating source I take a game designers OOB with a grain of salt.

Paul Karl Schmidt aka "Paul Carell" was, for lack of a better phrase, a hack. His writing is not to be trusted as accurate, intent as he was to blame all military failures against the Soviets on Hitler. Reading his writing one comes away with the notion that the Red Army, indeed all the people of the Soviet Union, had nothing to do with winning the war. If only Hitler hadn't been in charge, the German Volk would have marched to the Pacific! :rolleyes:

Define hack.

All authors, yes I said all authors, have a national bias. Period. Some worse than others. Paul Carell brought WWII history as an interesting subject to hundreds of thousands of readers. Lots of folks don't have a clue who John Erickson, Thomas Jentz is but they have read Paul Carell and that's what got them started in........input anything from reading military history to wargames in this space..........

He comes with a pretty colored past too. That has nothing to do with his writing. Most of the German books come with the Hitler did it theme. Most American books come with an America did theme. Most British books come with a we really helped theme. Most Soviet books come with a we did it by ourselves theme......

A national bias is no reason not to read an authors books. If it was there would be little to read on the subject.

Good Hunting.

MR