Not many people design 1941 scenarios for Panzerblitz (PB). Up until a short time ago -- when Avalon Hill published Ramiro Cruz's Panzer Leader 1940 (PL 1940) and his Panzerblitz 1941 (Volume 13, Number 3 of the General) -- there were simply no units available to design scenarios. Counters for PB 1941 were provided by Avalon Hill in Volume 28, Number 3. (Interesting enough, no Russian BT tanks were included in spite of how common they were in the first year of the war). They were much appreciated, and with the units provided by PL 1940, gave gamers a good representation of the German army in the early years of the war. Coupled with the Russian units included, players could now design and play East Front scenarios for 1941 and early 1942.

An important game unit that was not adjusted was the Russian infantry. Ramiro Cruz pointed out the Russian rifle units in the game "...are O.K. There was not that much development in weapons design from 1941 to 1943. Evolution in the men forming those units is known to be even slower." Of course, there is no point in arguing with that statement. But I do think the Russian 1941 infantry factors should be adjusted based on the changes in the organization (and ability) of the Soviet forces that did evolve from 1941 to 1943.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 the Russian military was one of the most inefficient armies in Europe. Stalin's purges robbed the Red Army of effective leadership and any initiative it possessed. In games terms this is reflected by the fact that -- even by 1943 -- the Russian rifle companies, in spite of being three times as large and possessing substantially more submachineguns and machineguns, are little better than the German platoons when attacking. Small unit leadership and training comes into play. The Russians never really got the upper hand on the Germans in this area.

In addition, the Soviet 1941 rifle division had more men (around 10% more) and fewer submachineguns (around 200% less) and machineguns (about 33% less) than the 1942 rifle division. It was not until shortly after the Battle of Stalingrad that the Russian rifle division reached its final organizational form. The game pieces provided reflect the infantry from that time forward.

If you play PB for 1941, you will run into a serious problem with the Germans as well. Thanks to Ramiro Cruz's PL 1940, we have plenty of units for the pre-1943 German army. Any scenarios designed for PB 1941 should use the infantry and armor from PL 1940 (with the additions provided by Avalon Hill -- most Panzer IIIs had the short 50mm gun by Barbarossa). The German army did not reorganize their infantry divisions (for the first time including large numbers of submachineguns) until around December of 1942.

In addition, the German armored forces were substantially weaker than the units provided in the game. Ever try shooting a Russian rifle company with the Stuh 42? Imagine how useless those Panzer IVs with the 75/L24 guns are. The addition of German airpower and artillery is overwhelmingly necessary to offset the Soviet numerical and (for the AFVs) qualitative advantages.

I provided units for Russian 1941 infantry companies to replace the units in the current game. They more accurately represent the "horde infantry" that the Russians hurled into the path of the German juggernaut in 1941. (I should note here that I decided not to redo the SMG and engineer units. Since the SMG units represent the amount of automatic weapons in the regiment, I felt just bringing down the effectiveness of the infantry was enough. The SMG units should be used in limited numbers anyway. As I noted above, there were far fewer submachineguns in the 1941 regiments than in the 1942 regiments. Engineer units should be used sparingly — at best — in 1941 scenarios. These specialists" were usually thrown in with the infantry to stop the Germans. They were poorly equipped and had not received much training). But I would like to take changing the Russian infantry a bit further.

Outside of the problem of unit density, I can think of no good reason not to break the Russian infantry down to platoon levels. This has two advantages. The first is that the German units such as the Panzer IV (with the 76/L24 guns) are not totally useless (outside of being used as fully tracked infantry transport). While their attack factor cannot put a dent in a Russian infantry company, they have a chance to disperse a platoon. The second is that breaking the Russian infantry down to platoons allows easier backfitting of Panzer Leader rules to Panzerblitz (especially the stacking rules). While the second is a matter of personal preference, I believe the first is important for historical realism. There have never been more useless units on the Eastern Front than the Panzer IV (75/L24), GW 38 (M) and Stuh 42.

MAKING THE TRANSITION

Now, how does it all fit together in game terms? For units on the TO&E use the following: a complete rifle regiment has 21 x 1941/42 infantry and 3 x SMG. A complete Guards/rifle regiment has 22 x Guards infantry and 6 x SMG (not including the recon and engineer units). To convert the units in the scenarios use the following rules: 1) form all the infantry/guards and SMG units into regiments and "break them down" per regiment. Example: the scenario card calls for the Soviet player to receive 6 x Guards, 12 x Infantry and 4 x SMG. Remove the 9 x Infantry and 1 x SMG -- the infantry complement of a rifle regiment -- and replace them with 21 x infantry and 3 x SMG platoons). 2) take the remaining Guards, Rifle and SMG units and use the following criteria for replacement:

Guards Infantry

• replace each company-sized unit with 2 platoon sized units
• add 1 SMG for every 2nd company unit
• add 1 additional platoon for every 2nd company unit (in the above example, this gives you 15 x Guards platoons and 3 x SMG)

Rifle Infantry (41 and 42)

• replace each remaining company-sized unit with 2 platoon sized units
• add 1 SMG for every 4th company unit
• add 1 platoon for every 3rd company (in the above example, this gives you an additional 7 x infantry platoons in place of the remaining 3 infantry companies)

Submachinegun Companies

• replace each company with 2 SMG platoons (in the above example, this give you an additional 6 x SMG platoons).

To summarize the example given, the Russian player is exchanging 6 x Guards, 12 x Rifle and 4 x SMG companies for 15 x Guards, 28 x Rifle and 12 x SMG platoons. Players will discover why artillery was the backbone of any German defense.

To replace recon units, take the total number of recon companies available x 1.5 (drop fractions). So 3 x recon companies available converts to 4 x recon platoons (3 x 1.5 = 4.5). Replace each engineer company with 2 engineer platoons.

These replacements will allow the Russian player to substitute platoon-sized units for his present company-sized units and use the PL stacking rules without any problems or confusion. What's more, the unit strengths and weaknesses play out well in game (and BPV) terms. The BPV for a Rifle regiment (company/platoon) comes out to 229/222. The Guards regiment comes out 278/286. And there are so many more of them. German and Russian players will develop new respect for the GW 38 (M) and the Stuh 42. The attack factors on these units are no longer inadequate to deal with Russian infantry.

THOUGHTS ON ARMOR AND CAVALRY

I considered redoing the armored units as well as the infantry (the artillery is the same size for each army so I did not touch it). But I do not see the need. Simply count the Russian tanks as 2 units for stacking purposes (as per the French in PL 1940). After all, they have twice as many AFV per unit. Also we don't want to increase counter density any more than necessary. Cavalry is weird. I made the units into "half squadrons" to bring it inline with the rest of the infantry type units. But count it as 2 units for the purpose of stacking. As usual, cavalry will exist in a world of its own.A thought on the Panzerblitz Assault. The Russians can still use this attack (of course), but may only transport 1 infantry unit per AFV unit in spite of reduced size. If you consider how odd the attack is to begin with-- an average of 16 infantry riding across the steppe on each T-34c -- this only makes sense. The German still is able to stack an inordinate amount of infantry on each tank or armored car, but it works for gaming purposes so I won't nitpick.

TRANSPORT

In all scenario OBs, when the Russians are on the attack (including "meeting engagements"), multiply the available trucks by 2.5 and the available wagons by 2. The number of halftracks always stays the same. When the Russians are on the defense, multiply the available number of trucks and wagons by 2. One big exception: in any case, the Soviets should never have more transport (AFV included) than units to transport. If they do (after adjustment) remove the difference in trucks (not wagons or halftracks).In DYO scenarios, players may allow the Russian to double the number of wagons he buys. If he wants anything else, make him buy it.

In the end, the Russian infantry is right where it should be. Not as good as the Germans and about equal with the Allied infantry (Arm-ored infantry and Airborne - from the General -- exempted). The Guards are a little better than the standard allied infantry due to their ability to Panzerblitz Assault. Also the Russian SMG units can close assault without having to be stacked with another infantry unit. The strength of the Russian infantry, though, lies in numbers. And you'll get a lot of them. In fact, one of the great joys of using platoons instead of companies is watching the expression on the German player's face as you bring them on the board. Savor it.

MAKING THE UNITS

I included a countersheet for the units. If you follow these instructions for making them, you will end up with units remarkably close to those in the game.

1) copy the countersheet onto yellow paper (available at Kinko's -- don't use astro bright, use the "powder" yellow).

2) color over the units with a Pantone by Letraset marker #154

3) mount and laminate using sheet lamination.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys the counters. Which ones you prefer to use (if any) are of course up to you. Any questions or comments are appreciated. If you disagree with any of the counter strengths, a little white-out and the use of Franklin Gothic extra condensed 12 point number will allow you to change them to your satisfaction.