Fortress Europe – Our Forces are numberless -Soviets!

By Benny Christiansen

Soviet players, rejoice! Even if the prospects of another Soviet book is a long time into the future, there is plenty of “good stuff” in the Fortress Europe to keep you busy painting and gluing and playing till then.

In this article, I will try to describe a few of the things I have found most interesting and most promising about the content of the Soviet part of Fortress Europe. It will not be a page-by-page walkthrough, but more like a tactical suggestion article. My aim is to let you get a feeling of the things that I have found most likely to be in my first LW battles.

In MW the Soviets have had a few things, that really stood out to me as the most interesting choices. The KV1 was very likely to be used as support. The T-34 was a formidable tank, capable of rushing most enemy positions. The Hero Motor choices were automatic in most situations, where you fielded infantry. The 76 artillery choice was also something seen very often, along with the SU-76s. I looked forward to find out what they would do to make the Soviets last as long as they will have to do, compared to the other forces. I must say, I am not disappointed.

After having read through the Soviet part a few times, these are my thoughts on what kind of formations I want to try out first:

• Churchill Guards Heavy Tank Regiment.
  • I want to try fielding these ugly, mean and terrifying tanks in large numbers. I admit I do not have the 26 Churchills needed to field the full 67 pts formation. But I want to field as many of them as I can!
• Hero Motor Rifle Battalion
  • These were my favorites in MW and I see only improvements to them in LW.

But let me show you what I would do in a 100 pts list and give you an idea as to what my thoughts are.

Churchill Guards Heavy Tank Regiment

HQ 1 Churchill

Tank Company (5 Churchills)

Tank Company (5 Churchills)

Tank Company (4 Churchills)

Support

Hero T34 Tank Company (1 76mm and 2 85mm T-34s)

SU-85 Tank-Killer Battery (3 SU-85)

IL-2 Sturmovik Assault Company (2 Il-2 Shturmovik)

Hero Motor Rifle Company (11 teams incl commisar+1 PTRD)

BA-10 Armoured Car Platoon (3 BA-10)

 

This list adds up to 100 points. It has a staggering 15 Churchills! Now, compare it to a German list, they would have some Tigers or Ferdinands, but a Churchill comes at 3-pts per tank, I outnumber them easily. I have chosen no artillery, simply because I cannot fathom if this will not be a force that will simply run over the opponent.

I would bring in the Hero T-34s because they have incredible Tactics of 3+, due to the new Special Rule “Crafty” that I’m sure all Soviet players will love. They can Blitz or Shoot ‘n’ Scoot in or out of trouble. The AT12 gun on the T34/85, which does NOT have Overworked, is just too good not to have in practically any list that I can think of. You can get them, for the price of 2 pts, in the normal Tankovy also, but without the 3+ Tactics skill. Veteran V3 players should be aware that the T34/85 does not have better armor than the normal T34.

I bring in the SU-85 again. In MW it was too expensive to field even if it had veteran and fearless crews. But in LW I believe they stand a fair chance of being fielded. The choice between them and the 57mm AT guns in the Heavy Tank-Killer Company is not easy for me. The SU-85s will be my first choice however, simply because they have speed and skill that makes me want to try out what these boys can do. And being Fearless in LW does give them some staying power. The armor value of 5 will be the thing that might be their downfall, but if I’m up against Tigers and Ferdinand, the armor value does not matter, but the Careful value to be hit on 4+ does make a difference.

The Shturmovik is also something that I think we will be seeing more of now. It used to be pretty expensive (with the Special Character Command Card) but in LW the pilots have increased their skill. Their AT5/FP4+ bombs now range in on 4+ with the Trained skill rating. They have the ROF 2 AT6/FP5+ gun just like in MW but the price has not changed, unlike some of the other nations. At 7 points it is an effective way to threaten the Germans heavy tanks.

The infantry is covered below, but I think it is always a sound move to try to have something to defend an objective or hold it with, other than tanks.

 

Hero Motor Rifle Battalion

HQ – 2 Teams

Hero Motor Rifle Company – 11 teams incl Commisar + 2 PTRD

Hero Motor Rifle Company – 11 teams incl Commisar + 2 PTRD

Makism Machine-Gun Company – 9 HMG

120mm Mortar Company – 6 Mortars

45mm Anti-Tank Company – 4 guns

76mm Anti-Tank Company – 4 guns

Hero T-34 Tank Company – 3 Tanks (1 T-34 (76mm) and 2 T-34 (85mm))

Support

Heavy Tank-Killer Company – 4 guns (57mm)

Heavy Tank-Killer Company – 4 guns (57mm)

Churchill Guards Heavy Tank Company (4 Churchills)

This comes to a total of 100 pts.

In my perspective, the Hero Motor Rifle Company is the best infantry unit in MW. Their guns and assault ratings in MW are phenomenal, but their morale and abilities to use orders, such as Dig In, were limited. They had a 4+ Moral with a Commissar, 5+ without. In LW this is now 3+/4+ respectively. Their Skill is now Veteran so they perform better when using orders. I added the PTRDs, but I’m not really sure they will be used.

I’m not sure there will be a lot of units with armor low enough for the PTRDs to be of any consequence. The same can be said for the 45mm AT guns, that was a part of my list in MW, due to their range and AT8. The HMG unit is a personal favorite of mine, as I find them really good at taking and holding objectives near buildings. The positive thing for me is that the 120mm Mortars now are Trained so they now range in on 4+ instead of 5+ as they did in MW-. With 6 in a platoon the reroll misses is good and the FP of 3+ makes this choice really good.

As most players do not own an entire army, many of us have to “settle with” the minis we have at hand. I think that the Soviets has alternatives for almost everything. If you have a lot of Gun Teams, you can field a good list with that. If you have a ton of tanks, you can field a good list with that. An alternative to this list could be one with a lot of artillery, but I’m not sure that is the right way to go. None of the artillery units, as far as I have noticed, has been reduced in price. This means the 76mm artillery battery might still be good to use, but I might field Lees instead.

The Lees are now hit on 3+ instead of 2+ as earlier. No other change to them, but they go down 2,5 pts per tank giving you 10 Lees with 75mm guns for just below 30 points. To compare the two you then have the 76mm artillery guns for 2-points per team and the Lee at 2.9-pts per team. I’m not saying it is an easy or even viable comparison, I’m saying that when you start building your lists, just make sure you notice this little thing. For me, the skill change and no price change, has made the Katyusha obsolete. With everyone being so good at artillery (Soviets still among the worst with 4+ skill), it just dies too fast for me. But maybe you have noticed something I have not?

All in All

The Soviets has been given a very strong list if I compare to the US or Germans. I think they have some really strong and powerful units in the Hero Motor Rifle, Churchill, T-34/85 and SU-85s. I will be testing the Gun Line in LW to see if it has the same potential as it did in MW. I’m sure that LW will be seeing a lot more Tigers than MW but maybe less Ferdinands. I’m sure the British Firefly and the American Sherman will be fielded to a great extent. It does not matter what country I compare the Soviets to in the Fortress Europe book, I find myself thinking “Not a problem, I only need to field… ”

At this moment, I do not see the Soviets having problems with Red vs Blue games. I think they have an answer for anything the Germans can field. I’m not saying they are better than the Germans, I’m simply saying they can hold their own, making them very playable.

To mention a few other things, the Armored Reconnaissance Platoon is an interesting choice. Same price as in MW but with better skill, and the Reconnaissance Platoon with their ROF3/3 is also of interest to me now, they have improved Skill. I will try to test some of these things and share my thoughts with you.