Soviet Tank Corps
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
June 2010

War came to the Soviet Union in the early morning hours of 22 June 1941 in a well-coordinated surprise attack. German planes struck targets deep in Soviet territory, German artillery pounded border positions, and German troops and tanks surged over the frontier.

On paper, the Red Army of Workers and Peasants should have been well positions to blunt the Nazi attack and throw the fascist invaders back. Serious mobilization efforts had begun a month before, and the Soviet inventory numbered over 23,000 tanks — more than the total of every other nation on the planet combined.

And the tanks had been concentrated into a staggering total of 29 mechanized corps, each of two tank divisions and one motorized division. In addition, two more tank divisions and four motorized divisions were present in the Far Eastern military districts without corps headquarters,

Yet the German attackers crashed through the Red Army and brushed off its attempted armored counter-attacks. How did such huge armored forces manage to do so little to stem the onslaught?

Even though Red Army commanders listed most of the vehicles (over 18,000 of them) as fit for service, this does not seem to have actually been true. When the divisions received their marching orders and set out to fight the fascists, thousands of tanks promptly broke down. Others ran out of gas; still others had no ammunition. Trained crews and officers also proved to be in short supply thanks to the rapid expansion — few Soviet citizens learned how to drive in civilian life, adding extra steps to the training process.

Given the widespread lack of familiarity with motor vehicles, it's of course possible that some of those breakdowns were caused by tank crews unwilling to enter battle. Many armies, from Finland to the United States, experienced similar behavior. That would still fall under the overarching problem with these units: the oldest were less than a year old, and the newest had been in existence only a few weeks. Only one tank division had managed to conduct full-scale exercises before the war broke out.

Within weeks, almost all of the pre-war mechanized corps had been put out of action, managing to field only small mixed battle groups. Only bravery could be found in mass quantity: tankers of 2nd Tank Division, not issued any 76mm ammunition before the outbreak of war, used their heavy KV tanks to ram smaller German vehicles. But bravery would not be enough.

With a few more months to train specialists, conduct large-unit training and bring reserves of fuel and ammunition to their concentration points, the Soviet mechanized corps could have become the powerful formations that their advocates wished.

The Variant

Our Third Reich game doesn't delve into the intricacies of corps organization: that's the sort of detail that gets sorted out well below the command level represented by the player. We constructed the Soviet order of battle to even out the Red Army's capabilities over the 1939-1945 period and overall the effect is reasonably accurate. The Soviet player starts with three 3-5 armor units and can build three more. Four 4-5 armor units are available to be built starting in 1942, and a 4-6 unit in 1944.

That last began as a typographical error and was intended to be a fifth 4-5 unit, but the original developer, Brian Knipple, thought it better reflected growing Soviet capabilities toward the end of the war and changed the counter sheet to match it.

For the most part, Third Reich models a nation's ability to make war, not the effect of better tanks or airplanes. So the arrival of new T-34 and KV tanks (or Panthers and Tigers) isn't something that shows up in the game. But doctrine and organization definitely plays a role in rating the units, and we can reflect the Soviet approach with a much more complicated system: the essence of Daily Content.

When the Molotov-Ribbentrop political marker is drawn, the Soviet player rolls one die. On a result of 4 through 6, remove all Soviet 3-5 ARM units from play. For each 3-5 ARM unit on the map, place two 1-5 units in its place and one 1-5 ARM unit in the Force Pool. If this would result in a violation of stacking limits, place the new unit in an adjacent hex (Soviet player's choice). Replace each 3-5 ARM unit in the Force Pool with three 1-5 ARM units.

On a result of 1 through 3, there is no effect. Ignore all the remaining rules in this variant.

If eliminated, a 1-5 ARM unit is removed from play. It may not be rebuilt.

Starting with the first turn after a major power (any major power) has surrendered, each turn the Soviet player may replace one 1-5 ARM unit on the map with a 3-5 ARM unit at a cost of four BRPs. The unit may not be adjacent to any enemy unit and must be within the Soviet Union (not merely Soviet-controlled territory or areas taken by the Molotov-Ribbentrop political chit).

If another major power declares war on the Soviet Union, each turn the Soviet player may replace up to two 1-5 ARM units (each) on the map or in the force pool with a 3-5 ARM unit at a cost of four BRPs.

Starting with the Spring 1943 turn, each turn the Soviet player may replace two 3-5 ARM units (each) on the map or in the force pool with a 4-5 ARM unit at a cost of two BRPs.

Starting with the Spring 1944 turn, each turn the Soviet player may replace two 4-5 ARM units (each) on the map or in the force pool with a 4-6 ARM unit at a cost of two BRPs.

A unit may only be upgraded one level on the same turn; you can't spend eight BRPs to turn a 1-5 ARM into a 4-6 ARM at once. The unit must progress from 1-5 to 3-5 to 4-5 to 4-6.

Note that under this variant, there are no armor units added to the Soviet force pool at any point after the initial replacement of 3-5 units with 1-5 pieces. The Soviet player may upgrade his or her armor, and in the unlikely event that no 1-5 ARM units were lost could potentially have eighteen 4-6 ARM units in play if the game continues into 1946.

You can download the new tank corps pieces here.

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