Matrix Games Forums

I play russian side and in December 41 I receive more and more rifle brigades.How can I use it ?

Let them behind the front digging ? Put them in armies, isn'it a waste of armies command points ?

As a German-o-phile type player (albeit with 6 winning Soviet campaigns to my name), the Rifle Brigades are really good defenders once they get over 4-ish thousand men. They can't take new ground well because of the brigade penalty to movement, but they hold lines well.

When they are shells (under 1.5-ish thousand men), they soak up German movement points to attack just as well as a corps would, so it's often useful to put shell brigades in defense that have no hope of Held results, but will still cause the Germans to have to attack them. Bear in mind that in the latest patch, lone brigades are subject to route/shatter more, but where shell brigades are concerned in 1941, this is no big deal. Losing half of nothing (in terms of long-term manpower) is still nothing. You do, however, need to know how to play the Admin Point game in terms of not losing so many units that you are unable to rebuild an army later.

So how do you organize them, under the Army command or do you let them under STAVKA.

Thanks for your quick and useful answer !

Organize them under the Army command. Another use, once you have Rifle Corps is to use them to rebuild worn out Corps quickly by merging them into the Corps.

I keep most of mine under STAVKA. I also use them to keep forts from degrading. And I use a line of them to keep the Finns at bay (the very poorest, sorriest, worn out ones I can find).
I use them to make Rifle Corps (2 div + brigade).

Also put them in quiet areas of the front, to allow division size units to rest and refit.