1941-45 reworked OOB

[Teo41_ITA]

Hi everyone

This modded 1941-1945 scenario is the result of my passionate dedication to have play the grand campaign with an OOB as accurate as possible. This is by no mean an insult to the titanic work of Trey Marshall (aka Great_Ajax) but I thought that a few things here and there could have been improved in regard to the Axis and, more importantly, the Soviet OOBs.

What started out as a minor "fix here and there" ended up in a massive rework of the OOBs for both sides. I must say I haven't tested yet the mod but I am pretty sure it will need to get some balances in regard to production. True, many units (especially from the Soviet side) do have pre-scripted disbandments/transformations so (unless wiped out by the Axis), they should provide the Soviet player/AI with enough equipment to fill up the additional brigades/regiments/battalions added.

To avoid some confusion when writing down the notes, I kept the original names in German and translated the Russian ones

Any comment/criticism is more than welcome, of course! To test/play the scenario, just unzip the file in Gary Grigby's War in the East 2/Dat/Scen

Sources used:
- For the German OOB: Lexikon der Wehrmacht, Dr. Leo Niehorster's website;
- For the Soviets: https://www.soldat.ru/force/sssr/rkka; http://tankfront.ru; http://www.teatrskazka.com/Raznoe/Perec ... Voisk.html; https://pamyat-naroda.ru/; https://rkka.wiki/

Units were added when enogh information were found (active period in the army, disbandment, transformation, theatre of operation).

General remarks
I created this mod with the goal of having a more challenging SP campaign. Hence, I would highly recommend to either select at least the Hard difficulty level when playing against the AI or at least give 150 points to the Logistics and Transport Levels to the AI-controlled faction. The amount of added and reworked units is immense (as of version 2.4 - 30/08/2022) and I think it's fair enough to let the AI enjoy some additional boni. The graph here below gives you an indication of the amount of changes I've done (especially to the Soviet OOB):

Graphs WITE2.png (24.34 KiB) Viewed 5939 times

Although some may think that this is a Soviet-bias mod, I tried my best to ensure that both players will face a significant challenge throughout the entire campaign.

The Axis perspective
The Axis main advantages are the additional railway repair (R.A.D. and O.T) and heavy artillery battalions as well as a small tweak of the Rumanian national morale in throughout 1941. The Axis does have more than enough units to fully repair all the Baltic and Belorussian as well as most of the Ukrainian/southern Russia's railway network by the end of 1941. The additional heavy artillery units could always become useful in bringing down Tallinn or Odessa Fortresses a couple of turn earlier than what historically happened. In 1942, Germany receives additional construction and railway repair units, as well as 4 panzer battalions attached to the 3rd, 16th, 29th and 60th motorized divisions, in preparation for the summer offensive. The Axis player should find a way to obtain a strategic victory by 1942, not because the strategic initiative will switch to the Soviets, but because trying to hold the conquered lands throughout 1943 will become simply impossible.

The Soviet perspective
The second half of 1941 is probably the darkest and most challenging period of the Soviet faction. The Red Army must fight for its survival, and it this is further exacerbated by the loss of several tank divisions and artillery regiments, plus a small reduction of the national morale in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa. I would highly recommended for the player to have a look at which units will subsequently gain the Guards status or will upgrade their TOE and make sure that those units will survive to fight another day. Having survived the initial onslaught, the Red Army progressively receives reinforcements throughout 1942, especially aviation regiments and tank units (brigades, separate regiments and battalions). By the end of the year, the player should have gathered enough strenght to launch a major counterattack in at least one section of the front and set the stage for the final march to Berlin. It is throughout 1943 that the Red Army will gain the upper hand in terms of firepower, with the arrival of several artillery brigades and divisions. With a growing strength in the air and on the ground, it won't be too challenging to liberate the Moderland from the invaders and win the war by 1945.

Additional Axis units
- Added 83. O.T. Abteilung to FBD-2;
- Assigned K15 R.A.D. from Heeresgruppe Nord to 16. Armee;
- Assigned K83 R.A.D. from Heeresgruppe Nord to 18. Armee;
- Assigned K12 R.A.D. from Heeresgruppe Süd to 16. Armee;
- Added 1./637. schwere Haubitzen Abteilung (mot). to 18. Armee;
- Assigned 19. O.T. Abteilung from FBD-5 to 4. Armee;
- Assigned 133. Bau-Bataillon from 102 Korück to 4. Armee;
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilungen 291 and 293 to North Africa (turn 73);
- Added Heeres-Flak-Bataillon (lei). 614 to OKH;
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 288 to 9. Armee (turn 33);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 289 to OKH (turn 33);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 290 to OKH (turn 71);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 292 to OKH (turn 71);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 294 to OKH (turn 97);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 295 to OKH (turn 99);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 296 to OKH (turn 83);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 297 to OKH (turn 82);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 298 to OKH (turn 83);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 311 to BA (turn 130);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 312 to OKH (turn 38);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 313 to OKH (turn 38);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 281 to OKH (turn 38);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 282 to OKH (turn 41);
- Added Heeres-Flakartillerie-Abteilung (mot). 283 to OKH (turn 36);
- Added MG-Bataillon 14 in FI;
- Removed delay from MG-Bataillon 17 (7. Armee);
- Added 2. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to the Axis reserves;
- Added 15. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to 16. Armee;
- Added 83. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to 4. Armee;
- Added 106. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to 4. Panzergruppe;
- Added 111. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to the Axis reserves;
- Added 139. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to 9. Armee;
- Added 404. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to 17. Armee;
- Added 408. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to Heeresgruppe Mitte;
- Added 511. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to Western Europe;
- Added 512. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to the 18. Armee;
- Added 513. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to the 6. Armee;
- Added 514. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to the Axis reserves;
- Added 515. Eisenbahn-Bau-Bataillon to the Axis reserves;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 4 to 16. Armee;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 3 to 18. Armee;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 6 to 4. Panzergruppe;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 2 to 4. Armee;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 2 to 9. Armee;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 4 to 6. Armee;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 1 to 11. Armee;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 1 to Heeresgruppe Mitte;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 3 to the Axis reserves;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 5 to the Axis reserves;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 5 to the Axis reserves;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 6 to Norway;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 7 to the Axis reserves;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 7 to the Axis reserves;
- Added I./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 8 to the Axis reserves;
- Added II./Eisenbahn-Pioneer-Regiment 8 to the Axis reserves;
- Added Panzer-abteilung 103 to 3. Infanterie-Division (mot). (turn 34);
- Added Panzer-abteilung 116 to 16. Infanterie-Division (mot). (turn 46);
- Added Panzer-abteilung 129 to 29. Infanterie-Division (mot). (turn 52);
- Added Panzer-abteilung 160 to 60. Infanterie-Division (mot). (turn 52);

- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 5 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 6 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 8 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 9 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 12 to the AR;
- Delayed I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 15 to turn 125;
- Removed delay from II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 18. It arrives to WE on turn 172;
- Changed TOE of II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 18 (from 457 to 1920);
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 25 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 26 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 27 to the AR on turn 167;
- Added II/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 29 to the AR;
- Removed delay from I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 31. It arrives to the AR on turn 181;
- Removed delay from II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 31. It arrives to the AR on turn 177;
- Added I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 32 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 32 to the AR;
- Added II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 33 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 33 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 36 to the AR;
- Removed delay from I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 39. It arrives to the AR on turn 181;
- Removed delay from II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 39. It arrives to the AR on turn 181;
- The I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 42 arrives to the AR on turn 168;
- The II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 42 arrives to the AR on turn 168;
- The III/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 42 arrives to the AR on turn 168;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 43 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 51 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 52 to the AR;
- Removed delay from I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 55. It arrives to the AR on turn 181;
- Removed delay from II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 55. It arrives to the AR on turn 181;
- Changed TOE of I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 55 (from 457 to 1920);
- Changed TOE of II/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 55 (from 457 to 1920);
- Removed delay from I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 56. It arrives to the AR on turn 181;
- Changed TOE of I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 56 (from 457 to 1920);
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 64 to the AR;
- Added I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 241 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 241 to the AR;
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 411 to the AR;
- Removed delay from I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 611. It arrives to NO.
- Changed TOE of I/Flak-Regiment (gem. mot.) 611 (from 457 to 1920);
- Added III/Flak-Regiment (Sw. mot.) 611 to the AR;

- Added 102nd Rail Repair Battalion to the 2nd Hungarian Army on turn 52;

- Added II/Artillerie-Abteilung 108 to the AR;
- Added III/Artillerie-Abteilung 108 to the AR;
- Added I/Sw. Artillerie-Abteilung 127 to the AR;
- Added Artillerie-Abteilung 900 to the AR and it disbands on turn 43;
- Added Sw. Artillerie-Abteilung 102 to the AR;
- Added Sw. Artillerie-Abteilung 511 to the AR and it disbands on turn 82;
- Added Sw. Artillerie-Abteilung 822 to the AR and it disbands on turn 15;

[Teo41_ITA]

EDIT II: translated all names into English, for a faster understanding by the community. As of August 8th 2022, there is a character limit to the posts. See the additional Soviet units at the end of the discussion.

[56ajax]

Like wow. That is a big effort. I do love OOBs

Before I can comment I would like some clarifications please.

1. All the items you have listed are changes to the existing OOB?

2. [Added] means a new unit that is not in the existing OOB?

3. The 4-ja Tankovaja Divizija disbands on turn 3 translates as The 4th (Soviet) Tank Division (has been changed to) disband on turn 3?

Cheers

[Teo41_ITA]

ORIGINAL: 56ajax

Like wow. That is a big effort. I do love OOBs

Before I can comment I would like some clarifications please.

1. All the items you have listed are changes to the existing OOB?

2. [Added] means a new unit that is not in the existing OOB?

3. The 4-ja Tankovaja Divizija disbands on turn 3 translates as The 4th (Soviet) Tank Division (has been changed to) disband on turn 3?

Cheers

Hi 56ajax!

Yes, precisely! All the listed items are changes/addition to the existing OOB. You are right, I should have done some more clarification:

- [Added] means that the unit was not present in the original OOB;
- "Renames/becomes" means that the unit will change its TOE into Guards status/different unit;

EDIT: disbandment of units means that the unit will disappear from the map but the player will retain the equipment. This has been done to simulate the official orders from the STAVKA to write off units from the OOB.

Concerning theatre boxes, the following abbreviations indicate:
- SR = Strategic reserve;
- AR = Axis reserve;
- NF = Northern Front;
- FE = Far East;
- BA = Balkans;
- WE = Western Europe;
- NO = Norway;
- FI = Finnland

[56ajax]

So if I may, the 4th Tank Division which you disband on T3, was historically smashed in the field and ceased to exist within 2 weeks of the start and thus removed from the Soviet OOB (by T3). So for Soviet units that were historically destroyed in the field are you disbanding them if they still exist after their historic destruction date?

And for Regiments and Battalions, it is at the discretion of the player if they wish to to build up to the historic numbers that existed during the War. Forcing the player to do so would probably make the game unplayable.

[Teo41_ITA]

ORIGINAL: 56ajax

So if I may, the 4th Tank Division which you disband on T3, was historically smashed in the field and ceased to exist within 2 weeks of the start and thus removed from the Soviet OOB (by T3). So for Soviet units that were historically destroyed in the field are you disbanding them if they still exist after their historic destruction date?

Precisely. I have put a lot of efforts particularly in regard to the tank divisions and the pre-existing howitzer regiments. While the developers ensured that all tank divisions either get disbanded or become tank brigades by January 1942, I thought it would have been slightly more realistic to give the Soviet player/AI the challenge of holding the ground with less tank divisions than what we currently have in the base game.

Additionally, since I found out that many tank brigades later during the war either gained the Guard status or became light/medium/heavy self-propelled artillery brigades, I decided to add the "conversion chains" for the existing tank brigades. This should motivate the player in being careful in not losing such units, as once gone they won't be upgraded anymore.

ORIGINAL: 56ajax
And for Regiments and Battalions, it is at the discretion of the player if they wish to to build up to the historic numbers that existed during the War. Forcing the player to do so would probably make the game unplayable.

Thank you for your criticism. It's true, the game could become unplayable. In my mind however, I thought of having an OOB as historically close to the one available to the Red Army. I thought that the player can always disband units which he/she thinks are not needed in any particular stage of the war.

[Cavalry Corp]

Nice work - will download, you have gone to a lot of trouble. I hope the official game looks at your work if there are some additions to be made to the original game hope they will take a note.
There would probably be a lot of interest to in a more complete chromed Axis OOB too, like adding Ski Battalions in 41 ( which later disband), Penal Battalions (on both sides), Volkstrum attached to Towns and Cities... would be real nice? I suspect there a quite a lot of missing SS security units/ Cossacks and so on. Not so much combat use but should all be there for realism.
I would like to see all Axis Regt Size units be able to become SU - this would simulate late war KG and so on very well rather than merging and so on.

[StefanKreis]

thank You, great work!

[AlbertN]

I feel the work on the Soviet end of the OOB is ... kind of moot, because by how I perceive it, if in Turn50 there is a new ... let's say Tank Regiment; that's something the player can duplicate by creating a Tank Regiment via AdminPoint expenditure.

[Teo41_ITA]

ORIGINAL: Cavalry Corp

Nice work - will download, you have gone to a lot of trouble. I hope the official game looks at your work if there are some additions to be made to the original game hope they will take a note.
There would probably be a lot of interest to in a more complete chromed Axis OOB too, like adding Ski Battalions in 41 ( which later disband), Penal Battalions (on both sides), Volkstrum attached to Towns and Cities... would be real nice? I suspect there a quite a lot of missing SS security units/ Cossacks and so on. Not so much combat use but should all be there for realism.
I would like to see all Axis Regt Size units be able to become SU - this would simulate late war KG and so on very well rather than merging and so on.

Thanks! Unfortunately, the main limitation is the number of slots available in the editor. And mind that I did not include the additional artillery (howitzer and cannon) regiments and the pioneer battalions! That would have been too much, as I am planning to leave some slots in case the developers are planning to update the 1941-1945 scenario with new units. This explains why all my additional units are towards the end of the list.

ORIGINAL: Miastowy

thank You, great work!

Thanks! Glad you appreciate that!

ORIGINAL: AlbertN

I feel the work on the Soviet end of the OOB is ... kind of moot, because by how I perceive it, if in Turn50 there is a new ... let's say Tank Regiment; that's something the player can duplicate by creating a Tank Regiment via AdminPoint expenditure.

Thank you for your comment, Albert! I know, unfortunately this is the biggest downside of adding so many units to the Soviet OOB. Please, keep however in mind three aspects:

- this has OOB has been updated for an Axis player playing the CG with the Challenging/Impossible difficulty;
- most of the units will arrive as emtpy shells. Hence, assuming that the Soviets are not AI controlled, the player will have a vast freedom of choice, in regard to the new units;
- most of the added units will disband/upgrade on an historical basis. This was done exclusively to "counterbalance" the evolution of many Axis units. I highly doubt that any Soviet player would like to disband the 160th Tank Brigade on turn 109 just because it was historically incorporated in the 3rd Guards Cavarly Division [;)]

[StefanKreis]

I am started playing this mod, I am axis, regards.

[Teo41_ITA]

ORIGINAL: Miastowy

I am started playing this mod, I am axis, regards.

Great!! Could you please let me know if I need to adjust any variable?

Thanks!

[StefanKreis]

In my case, it may take a while. I have been playing one turn since yesterday, I have to learn some things and read a bit about the military equipment. Anyway, I will let you know how something will happen, or something that needs to be changed in my opinion. Thank you again for your work as an amateur historian, it is a great joy for me.

[StefanKreis]

this is what it looks like at the moment

[Teo41_ITA]

Hi folks,

I just realized that the starting Soviet Air Force OOB was completely messed up (I forgot to check it before uploading the mod on the forum). Version 2.1 now has the AOGs and air regiments where they are supposed to be. Now it should be easier to inflict 3000 or more losses on the VVS on T1 [;)]

Attached to this post is the new zip file.

[Teo41_ITA]

ORIGINAL: Miastowy

this is what it looks like at the moment

Great!! Many thanks for testing out my work! [:)]

[StefanKreis]

Hi folks,

I just realized that the starting Soviet Air Force OOB was completely messed up (I forgot to check it before uploading the mod on the forum). Version 2.1 now has the AOGs and air regiments where they are supposed to be. Now it should be easier to inflict 3000 or more losses on the VVS on T1

Attached to this post is the new zip file.

in the first round the Soviet losses are 1,300 planes on version 1 of You mod I'm at the end of the 2nd round (I play a week in real life for a week in the game) is this a historic result? And if not, can you advise how changes you add? Is it enough if I remove some planes or add some air groups to axis or soviet? What airports to add and which air groups and which planes to remove?, I have beta 1.02.20 version.

turn 2, 2500 losses 1800 on ground 700 in air battle.

[StefanKreis]

Ok, I sat a bit, kicked out 700 Russian machines to make it historic 2000 (according to the Germans), I think they'll be fine Have you changed something more?

[StefanKreis]

Okay, I'm not gonna be messing around, I'll start testing over again. Will this mod go on the latest beta 20?

[StefanKreis]

Ok, 2000 soviet loses in new game, very historical, thats good.