Flames of War: Who are the Russians
“We are prepared to pay the price!”
This statement really symbolizes the spirit of the Russian army in this game. The Soviet army had a rebirth during the midwar period and rose into something fierce for late-war. Lets take a look:
The Basics
Whether you go for Strelkovy, Motostrelk or Tankovy, its all about big units that can take losses. The soviet lists are geared for Mass…. Expect 4-6 Companies – Large amounts of Models. Also, you are building a Battalion, not a Company. So you are buying Companies.
In Midwar, most of your troops are conscripts. They are cheap, so don’t scrimp by not making big platoons. Conscripts are hit at 2+ within 16 inches. The Good thing is that if you have 15 or more stands in your Infantry, then you can take 10 hits from direct fire through Quality of Quantity. The bad thing is that conscripts means you just about guarantee that any unit seen, will be a hit. Conscript also sucks in scoring hits in the Assault. You will 5+ to make your kills.
On the other hand, you are going to Fearless and you can buy Kommissars! That means that you don’t have to sit around waiting to unpin to make your attack. Plus, your companies will less likely to break.
In Late War, the gain experience and are not as likely to throw away good troops. So your base troops are Confident Trained. Your cost goes up some, but you still have the Soviet rules. So it gives you that Russian feel.
Guards option in Mid-War and Late-War gives you Fearless – Trained. Its gives you the best feel of Soviet elite force. While the cost might prohibit you from taking the 30+ team Strelkovy Company, you should have enough mass to do what you want.
Russian Special Rules
Artillery usually has to be big to be effective.
Your tanks are generally better than the Germans, but conscript crews means expect heavy losses. Hens and Chicks drive most Tankers nuts. If you can handle it/master it, you have a very potent force. Hens & Chicks means that if one tank in a platoon moves more than 6 inches, then the platoon can not fire.
Scouts and Spetznaz are the only Veteran Troops and they are only a Company choice, so expect Death and Destruction. If you go Guards, expect smaller companies.
The Army Categories
Strelkovy – Infantry –
The main thing about Soviet Infantry is you need big companies and take flameThrowers. They are the only reliable pinning or anti-armor systems you have besides tanks. Mortars are the most effective of a bad lot of artillery. You have no smoke (except Sappers from River of Heroes). The AT guns are worthless, Inf guns are worthless. Buy pioneers and flamethrowers to add to your platoons to get Quality of Quantity. The Penal list is a bloody carnage assault fest.
Strelkovy, – Confident – Fortress Europe
Udarny, – Guards – Fearless – Stalins Onslaught
Sapper – Fearless – River of Heroes
Penal Inf – Fearless – Stalins Onslaught
Mechanized – Motostrelkovy
Gives you more Armor options, but no Flamethrowers in the Motostrelk lists except in the ATP support choice. Faster List. Forward Detachments and Rota list are really the only “normal” Lists.
Motostrelk, – Confident – Fortress Europe, Hammer And Sickle
Guards Motostrelk – Fearless – Hammer and Sickle
Forward Detach – Fearless – PDF
Rota Radvecki – Fearless – Hammer and Sickle
Tank Company – Tankovy
T-34/85 is a great tank to build around in Late-War. IS-2s are a great assault tank. But any list with Panthers will eat your lunch. These lists are designed to kill German infantry lists. ISU-122/152s can make very interesting limited option armies. KV-1s should never be more than support option in Late-War. In Mid-War, T-34/76s and KV-1s are good. A lot people do KV-85s because of Tigers.
Tankovy, – Confident – Fortress Europe, Hammer and Sickle
Assualt Gun battalion – Confident – PDF
Gds Tankovy, – Fearless -Hammer And Sickle
Gds heavy Tankovy, – Fearless – Stalins Onslaught
Gds Heavy Assualt Gun – Fearless – River of Heroes
I hope this give you guys a taste of what the Soviet Army is all about. See you at the table. This article wraps up our introductory posts for flames of War, so expect all kinds of varied topics fromt his point on. If you have any special requests, lets hear them.
-A guest column by Bluestroll
