While doing some reading on WWII,
I ran across an interesting tactical organization used by the
Red Army in WWII during the defence of Stalingrad.
- Soviet 62nd Army Storm
Group (1942-1943)
- Table of Organization
& Equipment:
In 1942, the Red Army was regaining
its strength after the massive defeats it had faced in the prior
year during the German Barbarossa offensive. The 62nd Army, under
Lt. General V.I. Chuikov was tasked with the defence of Stalingrad.
Chuikov recognized the need to
neutralize the Wehrmacht's superiority in armor and air support,
and in Stalingrad, he recognized that the terrain would give
him significant advantages in doing just that. Chuikov also recognized
the assets of the Russian soldier of 1942, who was a very highly
motivated and tenacious fighter. So, in order to defend Stalingrad
and the Rodina, Chuikov adopted a tactical organization of assault
groups or storm groups that made use of the terrain and his riflemen.
Storm Groups were platoon sized
or larger and tailored to the mission. Their role was one of
active defence--they would stage assaults on forward German positions
to make the Germans bleed for every inch of Russian soil. The
Germans never did manage to counter the Storm Group tactics,
and Storm Groups were used right up to the liberation of Stalingrad.
Storm Groups were built around
two or more Assault Teams, consisting of a leader and 8-10 men.
Supporting these assault teams was a Reinforcement section consisting
of Antitank groups, Mortar Groups, Machinegunners, and specialists,
such as demolitions teams, snipers, or flamethrower teams. Providing
further support was a reserve detachment organized into two or
more assault teams.
In action, the assault teams
would use stealth and speed to approach a German position, holding
their fire if possible until they were right on top of their
objective. Then they would use grenades, submachineguns and even
entrenching tools and shovels to disrupt and suppress and ultimately
kill or drive out the German soldiers on the objective. Once
the assault teams were on the objective, they would signal the
Reinforcement section to move up and secure the flanks. During
this time, the assault temas would be cleaning up the objective,
and fortifying it against counterattack, or as a staging point
for the next storm group operation.
Other missions performed by Storm
Groups includedraids on enemy supply lines, and even tunnelling
under German positions to set explosives.
Storm groups appeared when the
62nd Army was desperately trying to hold on to Stalingrad in
September, 1942, and the organization grew out of the use of
traditional rifle groups, which did not have the firepower to
maximize assault tactics. Storm groups eventually were found
in every division that fought in Stalingrad.
The following tables provide
a sample storm group organization, and players can use this as
a base from which to build organizations for their own scenarios.
I have given the Storm Groups Crack morale, since all the storm
groups were composed of volunteers,
The antitank crews were armed
with two 45mm Antitank guns, and three Antitank rifles. I do
not have any data on these at the moment, but I will update this
page as soon as more data comes available.
In addition to the above elements,
the storm group also included a reserve detachment consisting
of two or more assault groups and one Headquarters group. Also,
Storm groups would also make liberal use of flamethrower teams,
demolitions teams, and snipers. These can be added almost anywhere
to the organization.
