Let us reform the Red Army of Workers and Peasants! (Advice needed)

[Wiedrock]

AA Regiments vs battalions - Regiments have lower manpower but both need the same amount of trucks. I would disband the batts except that they use the 85mm AA gun.

I am sure you confused something in this.

Not sure if you know but there are Naval AA Battalion TOEs which are Non-Mot and therefore you can disband all the regular AA Battalions and build Naval AA Battalions (if you want AA Battalions).

Note that AA that gets "rolled" into combat isn't shooting at planes.
...I am somewhat sceptical on how AA works/how worthwile it is in attached/GS-bombing contexts (especially so for Soviets). AA Guns always perform bad against ground targets, no matter what, so that's nothing you'd want to use them for. But i guess this would be a separate Thread.

One good case to use 76+85mm AA guns is in High Intensity Combat (Urban/Heavy Urban/Port), defences. There they shine, for whatever unknown reason.

Mortar - a battalion has more tubes than a regiment, using only a third of the manpower and trucks. So a batt is a more efficient use of resources but cant go Guards....

If this TOE is historically/legit, buildable without limits and right to be kept around all game long I have my doubts.
You keep the mortar battalions, you can't have 100% Guards on Mortars anyways and the Battalions increase the "base" the percentage is calculated from, so having them does not hurt your Guards numbers in itself. Imo Battalions with amazing manpower/gun/CV/truck ratios can be kept (especially if they have the same firepower as an regiment as in this case).

Rocket regiments and battalions - cv of a tooth pick and take lots of trucks. Disband?

Artillery isn't about CV, it's about making hits.
Soviet Rocket Artillery is bad at both
Rockets have a special Ammo reduction which goes on top of all the other Soviet Ammo reductions.

What I can say with some confidence (not 100% sure on this), but it feels they are way better on attacks ...or WAY WORSE on defence for some reason. It may have to do in some way with them being "rolled" or they have some further defence debuff as "rockets" (or whatever).
But even comparing a 20Gun 76.2mm AT-Regiment on the defence being rolled into combat, performs at least equal or better than a Rocket Regiment, while winning in Manpower needs by ~1.5-2.0 and trucks being equal to the heavy Rocket Regiment but ~x1.8 needed in the Light Rocket Regiment.
On attacks they are able to somewhat "break even" in some metrics with some bad Artillery TOEs/Elements (like Corps Regiment with 16x76.2mm+12x122mm) when having their +10MOREX and are in an ASSAULT HQ.

Whenever I look at them I only can come up with engineering "perfect conditions" (+10EXP+ASSAULT+Attack(not defence)) for them to barely break even with the worst of the worst Artillery (in some metrics).
Not sure if there are cases/metrics to use to consider them worthwile before 1944, maybe someone has some hints...maybe the Ammo modifiers in 1943 work already...or the onmap rocket units....or when always used with 100CPP may make some more sense/give better ratios...
...until then, imo the only reasons to use them is if you lack other assets or you want to LARP.

ROCKETS: I think the Light Rocket Regts are fine, even when the TOE reduces to 24....am I off base? Rocket Bn are waste of time

See what I wrote above, I would like to hear how they are supposed to be worthwile, I may be missing smth.

I also noticed that I've ended up with a limited number of PVO AA units in the RESERVES; I've been refitting those, as I noticed they are NOT Motorized, so do not take trucks. That seems handy, attached to Rifle, Cav, or HQ units.....

You can not attach "PVO"-containing units to normal Divisions/Corps.
And note that when AA Untis get "rolled" into combat they will not perform AA shooting and still suck at shooting ground targets as AA assets always do.

Also, what do you do with the NAVAL INFANTRY BRIGADES? They are a dead-end as they can't combine into Division, can't be guards. If the focus is Rifle Brigades, should these eventually be disbanded for manpower?

You can't have 100% Guards for infantry anyways, I think you can use the AP you get for other things. If anything you could think about disbanding those that disband themselves later in game so you do not lose 10-15 Inf Brigades (if they survive until then) which you then can't rebuild, but that's far planning ahead.

Army Artillery: 36 Tubes of Heavy, Build Lots
Cannon Regt: 48 Tubes of 122 Field Gun; build a bunch within production limits
Howitzer Brigade: 84 Tubes of 122 Howitzer; build some, lots of punch, but are truck hogs

Am I on target?

Looks reasonable.

[Q-Ball]

OK, good to know on Rockets.....they don't work that well. Stick to the standard artillery. Got it.

What about TANK units?

BRIGADES or REGTS for SU attachment? You need Brigades to get to Guards to make Tank Corps, so I know you need some. But aren't REGT more efficient in terms of Manpower/Tanks/Vehicles?

TANK BN are a waste of time, correct? (Since they can't be Guards)

HEAVY TANK REGT.....I know M60 doesn't like them, but they seem like a light Manpower Commitment (200 men), are Insta-Guards, and well, you have plenty of KV Tanks anyway (even if the KV-1s really isn't better than a T-34/76)

When Assault Guns start arriving, the SU-152/SU-122 Regts look like must-haves with their hitting power in assaults

[Shupov]

Help suggestions please.

The weather is on the improve in 1942. My Army is large and the constraint will probably be trucks. I want to make the Army stronger, not necessarily bigger.

1. What units should i build from scratch.

The discussion provides excellent information and guidance. But always keep in mind the Red Army will primarily derive its strength from infantry divisions and corps. In 1942 you will mostly still be playing defense. The Rifle Corps provides concentrated power where needed for offense and defending key objectives but in many cases individual Rifle Divisions up to stacks of three can hold the line.

If the Soviets are doing reasonably well in 1942 then manpower is plentiful. Build enough Rifle Division equivalents (Brigade = ½, Division = 1, Corps = 3) to reach 450-500 (On-Map and SR) before 1943, when the RD build limit reduces to 8. Don’t spend the 5 AP for Rifle Corps except where necessary. In 1943 it will cost 11 AP to get three RD including the 5 AP for the RC so don’t get caught short.

[56ajax]

The discussion provides excellent information and guidance. But always keep in mind the Red Army will primarily derive its strength from infantry divisions and corps. In 1942 you will mostly still be playing defense. The Rifle Corps provides concentrated power where needed for offense and defending key objectives but in many cases individual Rifle Divisions up to stacks of three can hold the line.

If the Soviets are doing reasonably well in 1942 then manpower is plentiful. Build enough Rifle Division equivalents (Brigade = ½, Division = 1, Corps = 3) to reach 450-500 (On-Map and SR) before 1943, when the RD build limit reduces to 8. Don’t spend the 5 AP for Rifle Corps except where necessary. In 1943 it will cost 11 AP to get three RD including the 5 AP for the RC so don’t get caught short.
[/quote]

Thanks for this. Where do you find the dates for the build limit reductions - manual or throught the editor somehow?

[Shupov]

Thanks for this. Where do you find the dates for the build limit reductions - manual or throught the editor somehow?

I have a spreadsheet with data accumulated from prior games.

I suggest running the entire scenario on auto-play (computer vs. computer) in a separate folder. The game will store a save file for each side for each turn. Then you can load the scenario to see what's going to change for any given turn.

Here is the partial GC41 Build menu for T81 1/3/1943

T81 Build Menu.png (98.64 KiB) Viewed 89 times

[CaedusZ]

I'm sorry for the format, PDF is the only file type I am able to upload. But I created a list about a year and a half ago, maybe someone needs it.

[Shupov]

Very useful doc, thanks!

[56ajax]

I'm sorry for the format, PDF is the only file type I am able to upload. But I created a list about a year and a half ago, maybe someone needs it.

That is excellent. Thanks.