Soviet Commandos in WW2

Redleg · Post by **Redleg** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 3:04 am

Being ill for a while, I have not been able to spend much time at the computer - but it did afford me a lot of time to read....

Soviet Spetsnaz - Commandos formed from naval infantry (the Soviet Marines in SPWAW). These elite troops performed many commando operations - beginning as early as June of '41.

They are to be the object of 3-4 quick-play scenarios. If all goes well, these new scenarios will be posted to the Dirty Dozen for April. Actually, I knew exactly what the first 2 scenarios would be thanks to a couple of books I was able to locate. So these first 2 scenarios went together quite quickly.

The books I found on the topic are:
"Blood on the Shore" by Victor Leonov who was one of the commanders of a Spetsnaz detachment. This book describes the exploits of the Northern Fleet.

"Commandos from the Sea" by Yuriy Strekhnin. This book focuses on operations in the South - where the Spetsnaz were operated much like a "Riverine" outfit.

In the meantime, for a selection of Version 7 scenarios, please check out:

Dirty Dozen

There you will find more than 50 scenarios created for Version 7.

Beginning next month, "The Dirty Dozen" will take on a new and different look. The object will remain trying to find a selection of interesting V7 scenarios each month but the format of the webpage will change.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:15 am

Redleg, is the book by Strekhnin a very good book? I've seen it listed in the Naval Institute Press cataloge and was thinking about gettinng it. Thanks

Penetrator · Post by **Penetrator** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:17 am

On battlefield.ru you can find an interesting article, though not on naval special operations.

Bing · Post by **Bing** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:50 am

An interesting chapter in amphib operations involves the Russians during WWI. The theater was the Black Sea - they often did an end run on the Turks and drove them crazy.

We tend to think amphib ops came about during the 1920's, Soviet history shows otherwise. IIRC, these were not just hit-and-run commando affairs, either, though they did some of those. These were in some cases pretty good sized landings. I can get more info out of the Helperin book on WWI if anyone is interested.

Bing

Redleg · Post by **Redleg** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 7:19 am

Blood on the Shores was much better (IMO) than Commandos From the Sea. More specifics about the combat operations in the artic in Blood on the Shores.

Both were interesting due to the rarity of information about the Spetsnaz. Neither seems to flow well - probably due to translation problems.

Larry Holt · Post by **Larry Holt** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 9:01 am

Spetnatz (special designation forces) were used for deep penetration combat raids and intell collection. They were formed at army & numbered fleet and above and at the national level by the GRU (military intelligence) and NKVD. As a side note, SO Paras wear a blue & white striped undershirt thingy because they were first formed from naval inf also.

JTGEN · Post by **JTGEN** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 7:58 pm

Are their deep penetration raids the same as Soviet special troops operations in Finland? To slaugter civilian villages near the boarder.

Larry Holt · Post by **Larry Holt** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:15 pm

Originally posted by JTGEN
Are their deep penetration raids the same as Soviet special troops operations in Finland? To slaugter civilian villages near the boarder.

Spetsnaz seem to be more military orientated than general security (ministery of the interior security) troops. I do not know if the border guards had spetsnaz. Spetsnatz could be used for assination and killing of key civilians but they were never used for large scale combat operations of any type. Spetsnatz seem to operate in small teams as SF and commandos do although they could and did conduct some conventional style combat operations, just deeper.

In the post WWII USSR, spetsnatz were used to scout West Ge terrain under the guise of truck drivers, were Olympic athletes and were used to seize the Afganaistan, Hungarian and Chech governments prior to general intervention.

Larry Holt · Post by **Larry Holt** » Fri Mar 29, 2002 7:41 pm

OK, this is personal and kind of off topic but, I got my avatar to work. Its a picture of me dressed as a Soviet Spetsnatz OPFOR during a raid on a US armor bn CP during exercies in GE during the '80s. It was fun until they turned on the thermal sights and found me.

Redleg · Post by **Redleg** » Sat Mar 30, 2002 1:57 am

According to what I have been reading, the northern fleet Spetsnaz operated in operations as small as 2-3 persons and on occasion, detachments of 6 or 7 platoons. For larger operations, they combined with a Naval Infantry force.

The smaller teams often operated as Forward Observers and attempted to capture "tongues" (prisoners).

The larger teams would launch diversionary attacks in support of landing operations. Scouting and probing German positions was a major activity discussed in-depth in the reading.

Three scenarios finished; One probe and evacuation by sea (1941); One raid (1942); one attack in conjunction with Naval infantry attack on Cape Krestovyy (1944).

The last will be an attack on Japanese positions in Korea, 1945.

After more testing, these will be posted here:

Dirty Dozen