Russian Campaign

In my reading upon this forum, I have noticed that there have been no concrete plans for the Russian Front Campaign, except an idea to do the entire campaign from Barbarossa to Berlin, which in my opinion is totally unrealistic, given that all the technology in the game already is late 1943/early to mid 1944, and contrary to what you see in the films, there were no T34-85s at Stalingrad. being a historian of WWII, i put my thinking cap on and wrote up a ten mission list for a Russian campaign that is both relevant to the timescale, and fits in nicely with the western front campaigns.

Operation Bagration was the Soviet 1944 Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation, that annihilated German Army Group Centre and pushed the Germans out of Russia, and into Poland. This Campaign focuses on the northern spearhead (the ‘Hammer’) and in particular the 3rd Guards Mechanised Corps, and the 3rd Guards Tank Corps. As the forces in the previous campaigns are fictional (Able company, 3rd Battalion) I have created a fictional Russian unit for the campaign, the 3rd Guards.

Reconnaissance in Force: 20th June, 1944. The 3rd Guards must probe and test the positions of the German 256th infantry, and capture several jump-off points for Bagration.

Stalin’s Strike: 22nd June, 1944. The Russian forces unleash their full scale attack against the defending 78th Sturm Division outside Orsha. 3rd Guards must break through the German lines.

Tiger Taming: 25th June 1944. The 501st Tiger Gruppe is the last obstacle on the road to Orsha. The 3rd Guards, with Stalin II in support, must eliminate the Tigers and clear the road to Orsha.

Orsha:  27th June 1944. The Critical Railhead of Orsha is vital to the drive on Minsk. The remnants of the 78th Sturm have heavily fortified the city. The Railyard must be secured.

Tolochin Marshes: 28th June 1944. The Tolochin Marshes are a back door to Minsk, are lightly Guarded, and a haven for Partisans. 3rd Guards must sweep aside the defending Sicherungs (security, Partisan Hunting) troops and seize a vital roadway through the marshes.

Borizov: Taking the City: 29 June 1944. The City of Borizov is a vital crossing point of the River Berezina, and 3rd Guards must take the city, and capture it’s bridges intact.

Borizov: the German Assault: 29 June 1944. Kampfgruppe Von Sauken, consisting of the 5th Panzer and 505th Tiger Gruppe are launching a full scale counterattack to eliminate the Russian bridgehead. 3rd Guards must hold them back, and protect the Bridges.

Crossing the Berezina: 1st July 1944. As the Germans Retreated, they destroyed the Bridges. Now the 3rd Guards must force a crossing of the river farther north to continue the Advance.

Lepel: 2nd July 1944. The 5th Panzer remnants are the last thing between the Russians and Minsk. 3rd Guards must draw out the 5th Panzer, and then encircle and destroy them.

Minsk: 3rd July 1944. Minsk, the last great soviet city still under German control, is almost within the Russians Grasp. 3rd Guards must link up with the 4th Guards Tank from the southern spearhead east of Minsk, then drive into the city to liberate it and complete the destruction of Army Group Centre.

if an Ostheer campaign is needed, i will do some more research and compile one, probably based on army group north.

The liberation of Belarus can be a good campaign. I always say it. ^_^

Sounds like a nicely thought out and interesting campaign. However a lot of people will definately be wanting a Stalingrad mission, a Kursk mission and all the other "iconic" battles of the Eastern Front.

Personally I dont mind either, maybe a mix of both. I like CoH for its slightly arcadey, "hollywood" style. I've got Men of War to play for realism  :)

Cheers

Perhaps a campaign about the soviet marschall Shukov would be good for the mod because Shukov was involved in most of the important battles of the eastern front. From Moskau too Berlin you always find marshall Shukov ;)

( Edit: @Taub: Because of a campaign of Heeresgruppe Nord: Do you know the book "Tiger in the mud"? )

Last edited September 18, 2009 at 1:35 PM by Lord Rommel

And marshal Zhukov was in Mongolia too ^_^
P.S. Zhuk (Beetle) and Shuka/Shchuka (Pike) are different creatures ;)

Last edited September 18, 2009 at 4:19 PM by UeArtemis

Sorry, but here in Germany i read so much different versions of marshall Shukov.
Schukov, Shukov, Zhukov, and so on!
But you know this man  ;D

I would guess you're talking about my idea, let me explain how tge campaign was constructed:

1. Stalingrad is a critical part of the eastern front

2. Ofc the t34-85 wasn't in any of the battles in my campaign, but there are some abilities which can be disabled in campaigns

3. I've wanted to put right what most people think about Stalingrad from the call of duty franchise and enemy at the gates, so here is a detailed campaign based on 13th guards rifle division, with historical figures such as
rodimstev, commander, 13th GRD
Chuikov, commander, 62nd army
Zhukov, Marshall of the soviet union

4. 13th GRD had a truly illustrious history- it practically saved the Volga beachead from collapsing under a german assault and fought in almost every major battle of the war

5. Characters already devised!

The campaign also focuses on Kursk, though I was planning a possible second campaign based on 1944, perhaps you're interested in changing 3rd GD to 13th GRD? I know that they're fictional units in vcoh, but I 13th GRD thought in some battles so dramatic that they don't need much of a storyline

 

Last edited September 19, 2009 at 8:49 PM by vengefulnoob

People have been making maps for Leningrad, Stalingrad, Minsk, and many others. Your campaign draws a very thin line on the war.                                                                                What they should do is do what tales of valor did. Do several mini campaigns so they can do the entire front. Doing one major campaign would mean that they would have to stay with the same army. Doing several would they could do a Northern, Central, and southern campaign. They could even do a final push campaign that you can co that would be a campaign in Germany and Poland.                                                                        They couldn't relay do a campaign in Romania or Finland or Hungry. (They have said that the ostheer will be the only new axis faction so they cant "historically" do a campaign there but a smaller set of several campaigns would be more broad and scene this mod is looking at all of Russia instead of just Normandy in France they should do that.

If you were doing those early battles, you would lose a number of units.

Barbarossa, Stalingrad
T70 (entered service mid 1942, not used in large numbers until 1943)
T90
T34-85
Su 85
IS II
ISU 152

Kursk
T90
T34-85
Su 85
IS II
ISU 152

And if you were trying to do the German opposition, it gets ever harder. in Barbarossa, for example, you would have Panzer 35(t) and 38(t), Panzer II F, as well as early model Panzer III (Ausf C-H) and Stug III C. the Russians would need to get KV 1 and SU 76. this would require a lot of 'one of' units for both sides.

most of the units are designed with 1944 in mind, and it is best that they are used for a campaign with a 1944 setting. Bagration is little known in the west (i had to go to Russia to research much of the information) and this campaign could educate those who play it on a little known but vital campaign for the red army.

if you wanted to include Zhukov, you could have him congratulating Polkovnk (Major) Danko on his unit's exemplary performance in the liberation of Minsk.

Actually, both the su-85 and su-152 (forerunner to the isu152, just on kv chasis instead of is, if you can spot the difference in game you'd be quite pedantic really) were present during Kursk

Das wrote:
If you were doing those early battles, you would lose a number of units.

Barbarossa, Stalingrad
T70 (entered service mid 1942, not used in large numbers until 1943)
T90
T34-85
Su 85
IS II
ISU 152

Kursk
T90
T34-85
Su 85
IS II
ISU 152

And if you were trying to do the German opposition, it gets ever harder. in Barbarossa, for example, you would have Panzer 35(t) and 38(t), Panzer II F, as well as early model Panzer III (Ausf C-H) and Stug III C. the Russians would need to get KV 1 and SU 76. this would require a lot of 'one of' units for both sides.

most of the units are designed with 1944 in mind, and it is best that they are used for a campaign with a 1944 setting. Bagration is little known in the west (i had to go to Russia to research much of the information) and this campaign could educate those who play it on a little known but vital campaign for the red army.

if you wanted to include Zhukov, you could have him congratulating Polkovnk (Major) Danko on his unit's exemplary performance in the liberation of Minsk.

The t-34 came out in 1940 so the main bulk of the Russian tanks will be usable.
PS did any of you read my other post????

Yes, provided that tub is interested, we could have a two campaign storyline here. Ie follow my campaign with tubs

vengefulnoob wrote:
Yes, provided that tub is interested, we could have a two campaign storyline here. Ie follow my campaign with tubs

Ok but I like the idea of three or four short campaigns. Just makes sense.

why not make one campaign in the call of duty style, where you play different characters or maybe play the same but throughout the war (over many years)

I have my campaign idea here, adapted to fit in a second chapter:

"Ok I've figured out the campaign if ur interested:

the campaign follows the 13th guards rifle division from it's deployment at Stalingrad to The retaking of Orel. The characters are as follows:

1. The player, lieutenant sergei trufanov (fictional)
2. The players commander, general rotmistrov
3. Player's cocommander in certain missions, captain nikolai ivanov (fictional)
4. Other lower rank characters from 13th grds div
sergeant jakob Pavlov
lieutenant Anton kuzmich dragan

the mission list is as follows:
1. Landing on the Volga and taking part in pavlov's house, then moving on to the train station to assist dragan's defence
2. Attempting to take back mamayev kurgan's summit from the germans
3. Operation Uranus (player is reassigned to 4th tank corps under A.G. Kravchenko) and breaks through the Romanian lines
4. Operation ring: reassigned to 13th grds once more, the player attacks the red October tractor works where the last Germans remain.
5. Voronezh front: the player defends the Kursk bulge on it's southern side with 13th guards part of 5th guards tank army. Mostly infantry and at, NOT many tanks at this point
6. Prokhorovka: the player is commanded to take the divisions tanks into the battle of prokhorovka in a massive tank on tank battle
7. Operation rumiantsev counteroffensive: the player uses a combined force of tanks, infantry and friendly katyushas with plenty if air support to smash through the german lines and reach bogodukov. At the end of the mission, the player is seriously injured by a tiger tank Of 2nd ss "Das Reich" which kills Ivanov
8. Orel counterattack: the player recovers from his wounds and is reassigned to 3rd guards tank army, to attack Orel. Similar to rumiantsev, but with many more tanks (circa 30 t34s, 30 squads of guards and 16 t-70s (that's the rough size of the soviet motor rifle batalion at Kursk, counting motor rifle companies only))
when the battle ends, the player reflects on the battle: "3rd GTA was a worthy unit, but I knew which unit was my real home. 13th GRD"

before tub's campaign, the player rejoins 13th GRD and is promoted to captain in Ivanov's place, and put in command of 3rd guards mechanised battalion 

I've been working on this for some time, and the campaign is mostly historically acurate but also playable (ie the map with the Volga landing and the train station is about 2km in length)

however there is one problem: I don't know where pavlov's house was... "

Last edited September 20, 2009 at 9:44 PM by vengefulnoob

the tricky thing about adding romania to this mod is that it joined the war in 1940 as an ally of germany but then fought against them after 1944 with the russians. but then however when the war ended, it was declared as one of the contries that lost the war.

vengefulnoob wrote:
however there is one problem: I don't know where pavlov's house was... "

"The house was a four-story building in the center of Stalingrad, built parallel to the embankment of the river Volga and overseeing the "9th January Square", a large square named for Bloody Sunday (1905)." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlov%27s_House)

vengefulnoob wrote:
I have my campaign idea here, adapted to fit in a second chapter:

"Ok I've figured out the campaign if ur interested:

the campaign follows the 13th guards rifle division from it's deployment at Stalingrad to The retaking of Orel. The characters are as follows:

1. The player, lieutenant sergei trufanov (fictional)
2. The players commander, general rotmistrov
3. Player's cocommander in certain missions, captain nikolai ivanov (fictional)
4. Other lower rank characters from 13th grds div
sergeant jakob Pavlov
lieutenant Anton kuzmich dragan

the mission list is as follows:
1. Landing on the Volga and taking part in pavlov's house, then moving on to the train station to assist dragan's defence
2. Attempting to take back mamayev kurgan's summit from the germans
3. Operation Uranus (player is reassigned to 4th tank corps under A.G. Kravchenko) and breaks through the Romanian lines
4. Operation ring: reassigned to 13th grds once more, the player attacks the red October tractor works where the last Germans remain.
5. Voronezh front: the player defends the Kursk bulge on it's southern side with 13th guards part of 5th guards tank army. Mostly infantry and at, NOT many tanks at this point
6. Prokhorovka: the player is commanded to take the divisions tanks into the battle of prokhorovka in a massive tank on tank battle
7. Operation rumiantsev counteroffensive: the player uses a combined force of tanks, infantry and friendly katyushas with plenty if air support to smash through the german lines and reach bogodukov. At the end of the mission, the player is seriously injured by a tiger tank Of 2nd ss "Das Reich" which kills Ivanov
8. Orel counterattack: the player recovers from his wounds and is reassigned to 3rd guards tank army, to attack Orel. Similar to rumiantsev, but with many more tanks (circa 30 t34s, 30 squads of guards and 16 t-70s (that's the rough size of the soviet motor rifle batalion at Kursk, counting motor rifle companies only))
when the battle ends, the player reflects on the battle: "3rd GTA was a worthy unit, but I knew which unit was my real home. 13th GRD"

before tub's campaign, the player rejoins 13th GRD and is promoted to captain in Ivanov's place, and put in command of 3rd guards mechanised battalion 

I've been working on this for some time, and the campaign is mostly historically acurate but also playable (ie the map with the Volga landing and the train station is about 2km in length)

however there is one problem: I don't know where pavlov's house was... "

The fact is, is that that makes no sense for one army to go all over Russia like the other guy said I would like to see a call of duty campaign where you play as several different armies. Or something like the Tales of Valor thing with several short campaigns

if there was to be two campaigns, one focused on Stalingrad/Kursk, and the other on Bagration, then there could be a slight link between the two.

Reconnaissance in Force: 20th June, 1944. The 3rd Guards, under the Command of Polkovniv Ivan Danko, formerly a Starshi Leytenant in the 13th Guards, must probe and test the positions of the German 256th infantry, and capture several jump-off points in preperation for Bagration.

Minsk: 3rd July 1944. Minsk, the last great soviet city still under German control, is almost within the Russians Grasp. 3rd Guards must link up with Polkovnic Danko's old unit, the 13th Guards from the southern spearhead east of Minsk, then together drive into the city to liberate it and complete the destruction of Army Group Centre.

if the campaign needed to be shortened, the missions Lepel, Tolochin Marshes and crossing the Berezina could be cut out, though i'd love to see them included.

i don't know how it'll work, i mean the main menu is allready very full...adding many more campaigns could be difficult

We will be able to find a way.

a slide bar xD

Return to a single button "Campaigns" like in the vCoH and choose a campaign in the menu of campaigns.

13th GRD was a real division and actualy fought in these battles, that's why I chose it

ty for pavlov's house info

@taub: maybe change the character's name to Trufanov? Continuity... As for 3rd guards, why not make it 3rd guards airborne? It was a real unit within 13th guards and post 1942, most airborne units were converted to standard infantry

I Chose Danko as he is the one mentioned in the 'Ultimate Guide'. he could easily be in the other campaign, as a Starshi Leytenant in a different part of the 13th Guards.

Guards Airborne (Gvardsky Vosdushno Descantniki) were little used during 1944.
i chose '3rd Guards' as an almenguation of the 3rd Guards mechanized, and the 3rd Guards tank, both key units of the northern spearhead of Operation Bagration. the 13th Guards was assigned to the southern spearhead, driving into Bobroisk and Ostprovichi.

I do not approve of a idea of using guard airdescenders ("Gvardeyskie Vozdushno-Desantnie" divisions). They have done less in this war than famous Naval Infantrymen ("Morpehi"=Marines).
Bobruisk is very famous city in the CIS. Russian like it very much if this city would be in the campaign.
P.S.For style: I propose to use such words for Russian units: motorized and airdescenders (or simply descenders), Naval Infantry (not Marine) and etc.

Last edited September 22, 2009 at 7:56 AM by UeArtemis

Bobruisk was in the path of the Southern Spearhead, and my Campaign is focused on the Northern Spearhead (where the heaviest fighting took Place) however, i fail to see it not being included somewhere (most likely as another map)

We need medals to the campaign. There are some examples of times of the end of the war.

Last edited September 26, 2009 at 11:57 AM by UeArtemis

Hero Of the soviet union?

Last edited September 22, 2009 at 6:22 PM by vengefulnoob

The Gold Star medal is a special insignia that identifies recipients of the title "Hero" in the Soviet Union and several post-Soviet states.

can you please explain the last 3?

Order of the Patriotic War, Order of the Red Banner and Order of the Red Star?
The Order of the Patriotic War was a basis for the emblem of the Soviets in the Red Alert ^_^
Look in the wiki. There is a lot about this.

The Order of the Red Banner was awarded to individuals as well as whole formations, which then added the prefix "Red Banner" to their official designations.
The Order of the Red Star was an order of the Soviet Union, given to Red Army and Soviet Navy personnel for "exceptional service in the cause of the defence of the Soviet Union in both war and peace".
The Order of the Patriotic War was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisans for heroic deeds during the Great Patriotic War.
Now, the Order of the Patriotic War is one of symbols of the WWII, like the Iron Cross.

Last edited September 22, 2009 at 7:16 PM by UeArtemis

thank you

And finally, about my country:

The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky (Russian: Орден Богдана Хмельницкого, Ukrainian: Орден Богдана Хмельницького) is a Soviet/Ukrainian award, named after cossack hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, first established on October 10, 1943 (during World War II) by the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR and re-established by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma on May 3, 1995.

Last edited September 26, 2009 at 11:53 AM by UeArtemis

A list of Medals for the “Liberation of Minsk” Campaign
Reconnaissance in Force: "Excellent scout" Badge
Stalin’s Strike: "For excellent artillery fire" Badge
Tiger Taming: Order Of Glory (1st Class)
Orsha: Order Of Suvorov (3rd Class)
Tolochin Marshes: Partisan Medal (1st Class)
Borizov: Taking the City: "Excellent mortarman"Badge
Borizov: the German Assault: Ushakov Medal
Crossing the Berezina: Medal "for Partisan of the Patriotic War"
Lepel: Order Of Alexander Nevsky
Minsk: “Order of the Patriotic War”
End Medal: "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"

And for the Stalingrad-Kursk Campaign, here are a few ideas

For The Defence Of Stalingrad Medal

Ushakov Medal is for Naval.
I think that the Partisan Medal is the Medal "for Partisan of the Patriotic War"

Last edited September 28, 2009 at 4:11 PM by UeArtemis

This is real funny ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D I mean they rely don't even know if there gonna make a campaign and you chaps are just throwing crap to a wall to see what's gonna stick  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Das Taub, i hate to say this, as im not 100% sure, but from reading a book called "Stalingrad" by Anthony Beevor, who is a highly respected historian, and in it, it mentioned a factory in Stalingrad, which was producing T-34 tanks, and sending them straight into the defence, without gunsights and most of the usual tank features, apart from the hull, the engine and the gun. So in theory you could put the T-34 into a stalingrad mission, though in a very limited number, say just one or two. Also, i dont think many were actually used in Stalingrad, as the factories were vitually destroyed in the battle.


Also, as people have mentioned Stalingrad, i was thinking it IS neccessary in a campaign, though you cant just focus on it, or randomly shove it in.

Maybe there could be a completely separate campaign for stalingrad (and leningrade mixed in aswell, as that was another huge siege and battle)

Mission 1 (for stalingrad)
Lead Elements
- Lead elements of the German force are 5 miles away from Stalingrad. You must hold them off for atleast 30 minutes to allow for the defences to be strengthened. You will not be able to build new units or be re-inforced by reserves, as we cannot spare the man power.

Mission 2.
Outskirts
The 24th Panzer Division have reached the Outskirts. You must Hold them off, and drive them out (secondary objective) for aslong as possible. Each extra minute helps in your next mission. If you fail to hold the germans off for 30 minutes, all is lost.

Mission 3.
The Docks
The Germans have pushed us back to our dock, and our only supply of troops and munitions. YOU MUST DRIVE THEM BACK IMMEDIATELY. NOT ONE STEP BACKWARDS.

Mission 4
The Factory District
The Germans are attempting to capture the last areas of the factory district we still control. Hold out with your last remaining troops until re-inforcements arrive in 30 minutes and then drive the Facists out. Do not Fail.

Mission 5
The Grain Silo
Our valient comrades have fallen defending the Grain Silo, which is now in German hands. You must take it back at all costs, as the German officers in the tower are calling down lethal artillery on our ships in the Volga and troops in the city.

Mission 6
Trainyard
We have pushed the Germans back to the edge of the Trainyard. Now you must finish the job. Secure the whole trainyard. Eliminate All Enemies.

Mission 7
The Turning Point
You have been tasked to break through the Romanian defenders on the flank of Stalingrad. This is part of Operation Uranus, and we will encircle and destroy the Germans in Stalingrad. Note: your troops can now mount up on our T-34s comrade. Crush the Germans underfoot.

Mission 8
Final Battle
The Germans have been completely surrounded in Stalingrad. Only pockets of resistance now remain, focussed in the Centre of the City. Wipe them out. Victory is at hand comrade!

Mission 9 (Maybe)
Their Land. Their Blood.
Berlin. The final obstacle the Nazis have for us. They will use all they can to defend the city. Fight your way to the Reichstag and capture it for our glorious Motherland. The end is nigh comrade!

Mission 10 (maybe)
Inside the Reichstag
*a description for this is better really. It's a inside layer of the Reichstag, and you need to capture the building (3 strategic points) to win. Only infantry in here. would be difficult to make this map, but would be new and different from all the others. Think of the Call of Duty World as War style mission, and something similar to that*

There are also possibilities to the Leningrad Siege, though i don't know as much about the Leningrad battle.

I think Das Taub's campaign is very good. Da game needs a campaign with a close storyline like the Normandy 1 in the original Company of Heroes. I am no historian but i think that the Minsk battle is a very gud bg 4 the Russian campaign.

henri wrote:
I think Das Taub's campaign is very good. Da game needs a campaign with a close storyline like the Normandy 1 in the original Company of Heroes. I am no historian but i think that the Minsk battle is a very gud bg 4 the Russian campaign.

I agree, but he didnt need to post it 5 times  :P

EDIT: Sorry, meant TrueSights  ;D

Last edited October 25, 2009 at 11:16 PM by Polkovnik_Petr

'I agree, but he didnt need to post it 5 times  :P'

That Wasn't Me. that was TrueSights

I never said anything about the T34-76 not being included in Stalingrad, i was talking about the T34-85, and the SU85, and T70/90, none of which were in service in 1942.

Das wrote:
'I agree, but he didnt need to post it 5 times  :P'

That Wasn't Me. that was TrueSights

I never said anything about the T34-76 not being included in Stalingrad, i was talking about the T34-85, and the SU85, and T70/90, none of which were in service in 1942.

Ah, then i apologize, i misread that. Yes, that would have been accurate as the T34-85 wouldn't have been at stalingrad at all.

Hey, I think If you do a Stalingrad mission it should be sniper based, because The Soviets used a heckload of Snipers in Stalingrad!

xxredmaxx wrote:
Hey, I think If you do a Stalingrad mission it should be sniper based, because The Soviets used a heckload of Snipers in Stalingrad!

Wheres the fun in that though? You need to have conscripts to throw at the German line while the snipers take them out. Otherwise it'd just be a walk in the park, 20 snipers versus 100 germans. That'd just be a slaughter and too easy

I was thnking more you have 5 minutes to place 15 snipers in stragic points defend for 5 mins then get reinforcements and push the Germans out of Stalingrad :)

xxredmaxx wrote:
I was thnking more you have 5 minutes to place 15 snipers in stragic points defend for 5 mins then get reinforcements and push the Germans out of Stalingrad :)

That sounds pretty hardcore. :P Elaborate upon that idea!!

Well asking a heckload of my friends who have COH their favourite mission of all was the defend Carentan one, I really liked it to...Im not sure how I came up with this it just sounds like fun.

I hate the defence missions. The Carentan one was alright but I preferred Assaulting Carentan more. Hill defence missions are boring.

Well whats your oinion on what I proposed?

Aye, I'm not so keen on defence missions either, once in a while theyre ok though.

They can be good if your retreating, like after a certain amount of time you have to fall back and so on. Might be a nice idea for any earlier Soviet missions.

I prefer maps with a few different objectives to attack and multiple ways to do so, starting of with relatively few forces and gradually gaining more through reinforcements etc.

Cheers