Cart (0)Order of Battle: Red Star brings the Red Army as a playable force for the first time in the Order of Battle saga.
It covers the first years of combat of the Soviet Union, starting from the border clashes against Japan, then moving on to the Winter War in Finland. Then it will be the time to face the German aggression and defend the Motherland!
Today we're going to have a look at a few chosen scenarios from the new DLC.
Battles of Khalkhin Gol (scenario #2 and #3)
In 1939 Japan and Soviet Russia clashed in a conflict at the Khalkhin Gol river near the border between Mongolia and Manchuria, which escalated from early skirmishes in May to large military operations in summer.
In the second scenario the player needs to stop the main Japanese attacks in early July 1939. The IJA launched a determined strike with armored support against Soviet positions on the east banks of the Khalkhin Gol and additionally tried to cross the river in the northern sector of the battlefield to defeat Soviet defences behind the river line.
The player's core force needs to prevent the enemy from crossing the river while ensuring his comrades at the east banks do not get completey overrun by Japanese tanks.
In the third the player leads the decisive Soviet counterstrike in late August 1939 to finally defeat the Japanese. After the main Japanese attack had been defeated the Soviet side amassed significant armored forces to turn the tables. Attacking in two pincers at the flanks of the enemy the Red Army managed to encircle and subsequenly annihilate much of the Japanese force.
They are rarely portrayed battles in wargaming. They were fought with quite atypical equipment for the late 1930s from fast BT tanks to I-16 monoplane fighters, I-153 biplane fighters on the Soviet side and Type 89 and Type 95 tanks for Japan, as well as Ki-10 and Ki-27 fighters.
The 2nd Battle of Summa 1940 (scenario #7)
As many people know the Winter War vs. Finland did not went well for the Red Army initially. The Finns achieved several victories against superior Red Army formations, and were able to hold back the Soviet advance at the Mannerheim Line in Karelia.
Summa was the most fortified part of the line since it guarded the road to the important city of Viipuri. The Soviet 7th Army assaulted Summa in December 1939, but the attack was completely defeated.
Now in February 1940, still in harsh winter conditions, the player has to achieve a full breakthrough in a second attempt, while also taking key spots in the wider area around Summa to protect his flanks. But an assault against a line of fortifications backed up by artillery and mobile infantry may prove rather costly, even when the Soviet side is enjoying numerical superiority...
Battle of Raseiniai (scenario #9)
The first battle vs. Germany takes place right at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. As part of Army Group North the German 4th Panzer Group advances from East Prussia into Lithuania and clashes with two Soviet Mechanized Corps. This results in a large tank battle with almost 1000 tanks involved, over 700 of them Soviet.
While the battle ended in a German success historically the player has to hold off the enemy onslaught for some time at least. That is certainly no easy task, as he has to confront experienced enemy armor supported by effective Luftwaffe units.
To make matters worse many Red Army units at this point are still fielding outdated equipment and may suffer heavy casualties, so the player needs to ensure at least his own core forces are upgraded as good as possible to make a difference. This scenario is certainly one of the most challenging battles in this campaign.
Battle of Yelnya (scenario #11)
Following defensive action in the region of Smolensk the Red Army launched its first planned offensive of the war against Yelnya in late August 1941.
The Yelnya salient was a potential staging ground for further German attacks, and retaking this area was seen as crucial to slow down the German drive on Moscow. The Soviet operation succeed and retook Yelnya temporarily, albeit only after heavy losses.
This operation also led to the creation of Soviet Guards units, which can be activated later once the player unlocked a specific "Guards Infantry" specialisation.
The scenario puts the player into the offensive again after several defensive battles. But while the battlefield is rather limited and the enemy has no large armored force at his disposal driving well dug-in German forces from their postions around Yelnya needs coordinated attacks using tanks and infantry with substantial aerial and artillery support.
