Soviet Brigades in '41

[Zoetermeer]

I'm running a few PBEM games as the Soviets (all are between turns 15 and 25). Around this time I start to get a large number of rifle and tank brigades as reinforcements. Though in '42 you can eventually build these up into corps, in '41 they are essentially useless, as their construction values are terrible and they really have no hope of building up a decent CV for either attack or defense.

What do people do with these brigades? In '41, I want to make sure all my manpower gets to my divisions ASAP. These brigades just sit there, soaking up valuable manpower and not really doing anything useful. Should I think about disbanding them, or maybe reducing their max TOE %?

[Jajusha]

They provide a zone of control just like a corp or a division unit. Remember that entering a ZOC costs you extra MP. Also, the enemy needs to attack (even if its a hasty attack) to make them move, so, think of them as MP soakers.

Of course, some brigades are more usefull then others, like 3 para brigades can turn into a red guard inf division, or arty brigades that can shoot from 2 hexes distance...

[76mm]

Their construction values can be decent, eventually (~10). As Jajusha says, they are great for forming checkerboards. I filled the paratrooper corps with other brigades and put them fortifying key sectors.

[Speedysteve]

Ditto to the above. They fill the lines to produce defence in depth or for checkerboards.

ARM bdes are handy when filled out so I quite often place these with Rifle divisions to give them an extra punch.