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[Strela]

David, do the Soviets face maximum size restrictions for their armoured units in the patch for Moscow '42 winter campaigns? Just like the Germans can grow in size substantially, which can cause problems for the Germans as due to the 1 hex a turn movement for foot infantry they can be encircled fairly easily by tanks (just like the Soviets).

I made a list for myself a while ago, I believe these are the current totals that can be reached:

Soviet maximum Tank total:

KV-1: 180
T-34: 480.
BT-7: 384.
T-26: 448.
T-60: 360.
T-28: 44.
Valentine: 90.
Matilda: 30.
Mixed: 108.

Withdraw:

KV-1: 30.
T-34: 104.
BT-7: 160.
T-26. 64.
T-60: 60.

Total after withdraws:

KV-1: 150.
T-34: 376.
BT-7: 224.
T-26: 384.
T-60: 300.
T-28: 44.
Valentine: 90.
Matilda: 30.
Mixed: 110.

A test run featuring concentrated Soviet armour and artillery assets against 2nd Panzer Group was fairly close to a repeat of Bagration on a smaller scale.

Hi ComradeP,

At this point only the German's are reduced (or should I say their upper limit is lowered).

For simplicity, All German Infantry Battalions that were not disbanded during/after the Winter campaign have a nominal 50% limit i.e. 400 men. All units that were disbanded were set at 40% i.e. 320 men.

All German tanks were set at 50% of TOE. That mean they were usually set in the range of 6 to 9 vehicles maximum in a company.

As far as the Soviets, I did consider some limits, but with so few tanks and many withdrawing early I decided it was a moot point. It's actually hard for the Soviet to rest his tanks with so few actually available and spread across the map. Without them it increases the difficulty of pursuing the retreating Germans. In addition, nearly all the Soviet tank units are brigades with little ability to mass the number of vehicles. The few Tank Divisions available have obsolete tanks such as the T-26 which are vulnerable to infantry assault.

Personally I think the more plentiful cavalry is a bigger danger for the Germans. Tanks are only good if there is a decent break in the lines and no Axis tanks are available in opposition. The cavalry on the other hand are both more resilient and almost as mobile (particularly through the omnipresent forest) - particularly when there is a breakthrough.

As far as your reference to 2nd Panzergruppe, I'm assuming you mean at their original setup as at Dec 6. Guderian very deliberately withdrew his forces starting December 6th when it became apparent that his push to both cut off Tula and reach Kashira had failed. Any player of the campaign would be courting suicide if he didn't pull back the German front from north and east of Tula. It's very deliberate that there are no objectives in the south until you reach the Oka/Neruch' River at Msensk. Guderian had retreated all the way back to the Oka /Neruch' by the time Hitler's stand fast order came through. A German player should consider the exact same thing. Bleeding the remaining Panzers out on the steppes is pointless. Guderian was ultimately sacked for this withdrawal but his precious Panzers did manage to replenish once behind the prepared positions at the river and were instrumental in stopping the Soviets later in the month.

I have heard the #0612_06 Tula scenario is a very good exercise in trying to withdraw under pressure.

David