Matrix Games Forums

I wrote an extensive post on the topic that the forum ate because I'm not allowed to post links. So that is super annoying.

A short summary :

en.wikipedia DOT org/wiki/List_of_infantry_divisions_of_the_Soviet_Union_1917%E2%80%9357#People's_Militia

and

armchairgeneral DOT com/rkkaww2/formation/DNO DOT htm

provide lists of the extensive PMU formations raised at Moscow, Stalingrad and Leningrad. Leningrad could justify two garrisons and a corps. Moscow could justify 4 to 6 corps and an Engineer. Stalingrad could justify a Cavalry Corps.

These events would be similar to the Volkssturm events for the Germans. When the Germans close into within ten tiles of these cities, they start spawning units.

There should be some events related to women in the RKKA, PVO and VVS. The standard thing to do is to spawn the 588 Night Bomber since that one has a long history in Soviet propaganda, but you could do a lot more. Svetlana Alexievich's The Unwomanly Face of War (Amazon has a kindle version in English, buy it) has substantial first hand accounts from women in every arm of the Soviet military, including in front line roles as tank crew, infantry, air defense operators and snipers among many others. It also discusses some of the more "Me Too" style elements of the experience. An event related to the huge number of women that signed up and attempted to sign up would be a nice recognition of their service and of the unique status of women in the Soviet armed forces.

The Soviets should get a couple of events related to the massive crash mobilization undertaken in 41. Where the Wehrmacht was depleting reserves of every equipment type and had run dry on replacements (meaning trained recruits available for service in existing units) before starting Typhoon, the Soviet military replaced itself three times over and still managed to grow in size! Surely an event is warranted here.

An event for the formation of SMERSH would be a neat note.

On the cultural side, it'd be neat to see some recognition for Vasiliy Grossman and other front line reporters, as well as some mention of some of the big propaganda films that got put out in this era. I'd link some but holy heck this forum is rude about links.

There's more, but writing the same post twice isn't exactly fun so....

The Soviets need a flat 200 MPP increase.

PS forums cannot eat posts that are written in another software first, the copied to the forum

This is a great game, but I think the Russian theater lacks the volatility that happened historically, and that was well captured in the old Avalon Hill board game Russian Campaign. SC WaW captures the general ebb and flow but damps things down, at least in my games. The initial German success are less dramatic; the effect of the first winter and the Russian winter counteroffensive less pronounced, the wide open advances of the summer of 42 less marked, and the disasters of the winter of 42-43 relatively mild. Special event and more dramatic weather and winter supply effects might recreate some of this. As it is, all my Barbarossas have been grinding three year advances that ultimately peter out and then are gradually driven back over the next 2-3 years, regardless of which side I play, wthout any of the dramatic successes and sudden reversals that happened historically.

I agree. The greatest land war is very simplified at least in this global scale. Russian success depends on other conditions very much.

Which is why I think WiE is a better game [:)]