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loki100 -> RE: Soviet Army Size Target For 43/44 (12/4/2021 10:27:12 AM)
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some big chunky ideas.
Have a look at the pre-release Soviet AAR I wrote, that may give you a feel for the numbers I was able to supply and use at key stages.
Big things:
a) you have, and I really stress this, have to understand the logistics system or the Soviets will strangle themselves. Depot location, priorities, rear area depot build ups, super-depots, thinking of force tailoring and activity on certain sectors are all critical
b) divide up the map. Assuming you hold Moscow as your NSS then there are 3 'zones'
b1) Minsk-Kiev
b2) 1941 borders
b3) the Reich (& Hungary as an even more tricky subset)
c) for b1, you shouldn't have any fundamental concerns; over b2, you should be able to project around 7m men and a mechanized army; for b3, feasibly 6m + mechanised assets
Hungary will test your understanding of the logistics tools, so take a leaf out of the historical Soviet operational tempo. Build up, hit hard, run west, stop.
You'll notice I am not saying much about the army composition. In terms of mechanization, I'd keep a close eye on your truck pool, no point in low MP mech/tank corps simply due to a truck lack. Its not till the 1944 LL multipliers can you build up in this regard. Another issue is the lack of heavy artillery will push you towards rocket formations ... and, they want trucks.
So my broad advice - really understand how to manipulate the logistics system. Keep a close eye on the truck/unit and truck/reserve ratios, use those to structure how fast you mechanise.
Think broadly of the Road to Berlin in 3 stages and tailor the logistics demand of your army to that geographical framing.
edit - don't underestimate Cavalry Corps, they have a better hitting power than the Tank Corps till 1944 and remain very useful after that. They have enough mobility to be able to exploit a gap torn by the Rifle Corps and are pretty useful as a defensive shield to hold a break out
edit 2 - when you start an offensive don't mess about saving formations 'for later' a stack of Rifle Corps can go through most things, try to open up a 3 hex gap and, if you can, win each breakthrough battle at 10-1 or better. That removes the combat delay and any ZoC interdiction on the centre hex, then you can exploit. For every set piece Soviet offensive, its T1 that matters, everything else is then a matter of exploiting that situation as much as possible.
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