Ideal Soviet Attack Tactics Summer 1942 Against Entrenched Opponent

[matt.buttsworth]

I am attacking as Soviet player in 1942 summer against a weaker but very well entrenched Allied player.
What is the best soviet stack - 3 infantry corps? or two infantry corps + 1 tank division?
What is the best way to allocate reserves? Must they be under the same commander?
How do you use artillery in an attack?
How do you make sure sappers in headquarters are used effectively to destroy fortifications?
I pushed my oppenent back easily in blizzards but now we have a entrenched trench line battle similar to WW1 and I am finding it difficult to pierce his lines despite 3 to 1 superiority in unit size and number of troops in the army.
What am I doing wrong?

Matthew Buttsworth
Germany

[BletchleyGeek]

ORIGINAL: matt.buttsworth

I am attacking as Soviet player in 1942 summer against a weaker but very well entrenched Allied player.
What is the best soviet stack - 3 infantry corps? or two infantry corps + 1 tank division?
What is the best way to allocate reserves? Must they be under the same commander?
How do you use artillery in an attack?
How do you make sure sappers in headquarters are used effectively to destroy fortifications?
I pushed my oppenent back easily in blizzards but now we have a entrenched trench line battle similar to WW1 and I am finding it difficult to pierce his lines despite 3 to 1 superiority in unit size and number of troops in the army.
What am I doing wrong?

Soviet vs. "Allied" Army? Tank Divisions in 1942? [&:]

From what you say I'd advice you to assign the sappers directly to the infantry corps, that makes sure they will get involved. Keep construction units out of the Army HQs and have lots of them there: the chances of SU's intervening are proportional to the number of SU's attached to the HQ.

You need artillery divisions to make good progress: they won't be widely available until 1943.

Other than that, I doubt you're doing anything "wrong". The RKKA just isn't up to the task of destroying an experienced and well-entrenched enemy in one single summer campaign, and even less in 1942. Keep the pressure on him, wear him down but do not throw away your troops. Sooner or later, as attrition mounts, he'll have to slowly fall backwards to Germany.

[Klydon]

I would not use the early 42 tank corps to crack a line. They just are not that strong. The 42b tank corps is stronger, but still not tough enough to get the job done compared to a infantry corps.

I would try to generate several guards infantry corps and stash them in a shock army to get the double moral bump. The Russians start with a pile of engineer battalions. I would see about getting rid of some of those and create some engineer regiments instead. Unlike Russian infantry divisions, you can assign up to 3 support units to a corps. The shock army commanders that start 1942 suck, so where your main effort is, I would look to make sure you have some of the Russian all stars there.

One thing I am finding out is that while the infantry corps are very strong, when they get run down, it takes a bit to get them back up to strength compared to a rifle division.

One final suggestion is if you can swing it, you can do an attack in depth. I use this tactic as the Germans against Leningrad, but basically have your front line units do their deliberate attack (may fail), move them out and move up a fresh set of troops that are right behind the front line so they don't expend much in movement points. As Russians, they have to be fairly rested/up on moral so they can move into German ZOC and still have enough for a deliberate attack, but it should at least crack the position and cause a retreat. You may not be able to effectively follow up on it, but that big level 3/4 fortification will be gone and it will be party time the next turn. 

[Tarhunnas]

Try to build Guards infantry corps, they are great for attacks. Combine two guards and one regular infantry divisions. Guards corps are tough. Make sure you have enough support units and a good commander. And use shock armies or tank armies where you want progress, they have a morale bonus. Guards cavalry corps are very useful too, can be used as exploitation forces as well. Early tank corps are extremely brittle, so are not very useful, except in exploitation situations against weak enemies.

Don't expect results too soon, the trick is to wear the Germans down. You may have to attack the same hex several times/turns. Do not be afraid of losses (to an extent), you can afford them, jerry can't.

[Klydon]

Actually, the tank army HQ's only get a admin bump involving motorized/armored units. They don't give any moral bonus and neither do Guards HQ's. Only the Shock Army HQ's give the moral bonus to attached units. 

[squatter]

Is it really the case that non-combat SUs attached to an HQ decreases the overall chance of combat SUs being committed to battle?
 
Would be good to get official confirmation of this.

[ComradeP]

Is it really the case that non-combat SUs attached to an HQ decreases the overall chance of combat SUs being committed to battle?

Would be good to get official confirmation of this.

I don't know where Bletchley Geek got that idea from, as 15.4.1 clearly specifies that "non-construction" SU's decrease the chance of commitment.

Unless the manual is wrong, which it seems to be from time to time, the number of construction units in HQ's shouldn't have an impact on support unit commitment in combat.