During the recent playtest of GDW's BARBAROSSA 25, I had the interesting experience of serving as "GOD" for the campaign, and found that in addition to holding that position, I also ended up serving as the Chief Staff Officerfor both the Russian and Axis Armies. This last came about as it was one of my duties as "God" to keep track of the actual strength of all of the units in the game for both sides, so that I was the one person who had an accurate idea of abilities of each army as a whole. As a result I ended up helping organize both armies, as well as on several occasions writing battle plans after sitting down and talking to the area commanders involved.
This article is written from the point of view of my German half, Oberst Gregor Novak. After getting my copy of BARBAROSSA 25, I noticed that the Russian organization given is the organization that my Russian half helped Marshall Wally - the Chairman of the County Board of theCCCT-devise. (The letters CCCT was marked on all Russian equipment, and stood for the Union of Soviet Socialist Townships.) I n the actual game, the Soviets started with a divisional structure similar to the German one, which was quickly abandoned due to the fact that it was unsuitable for the task at hand. Thus, this article is written from the German point of view to redress the balance and pass along some hard learned knowledge.
First, and more important, the entire German Army needs to be reorganized before it sets foot in the CCCT. The organization given in the book is perfectly correct for this period of history, and totally unfit for the game being played. The reasons for this are several, but the most important of them is that the division is not suitable as a command element within the game. The players serving as Corps Commanders will be acting in reality as divisional commanders, so this level of command is not needed. Second, and as important, is that players tend to keep the Recon Battalions and Antitank Battalions intact, with disastrous effects. The Recon Battalions are too weak to fight, and the Antitank Battalions tended to stay together and block roads forthe most part. Engineer Battalions likewise tended to remain in the rear too often and not be in the action where needed. In the end, the Infantry Divisions were disbanded, and the following replaced them as the standard German unit.
The rule that units cannot be larger than the original units is not final and binding - rather it was intended to prevent players from building "battalions" the size of regiments. Changes in the TO&E are permissible if cleared by the game master and consistent. The following proposed changes were done in accordance with this rule.
Command Decision's Barbarossa 25 WWII Campaign Notes
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