While preparing for a game of FITE/SE/Urals, I was assigned to the Soviet team and requested the Arctic sector. To my surprise, upon review of the Arkhangelsk MD order of battle I discovered that I had a grand total of four units consisting of one 4-6 rifle division, a 2-3-7 mountain brigade, a 1-6 antiaircraft regiment, and a 0-5 construction regiment under my command. Where were my stalwart armies to oppose the impending Axis onslaught? Under command of the Leningrad MD, that's where.

The 14th, 7th and 23rd Armies are deployed on the map in the Arkhangelsk MD and yet they are listed as controlled by the Leningrad MD according to the Soviet OB. I didn't remember reading any errata on this situation or seeing anything in TEM. A call to Rick Gayler was my next step. He indicated the subject had been previously addressed in ETO #36.

I managed to borrow a copy of that issue, and it helped, but it still didn't give me total satisfaction. I believe that the initial troop dispositions in the Leningrad and Arkhangelsk MDs can be further clarified. This situation was overlooked in Scorched Earth and rubber-stamped through The Urals, and has yet to be officially corrected-hence this article.

As already established in ETO #36, both the map hex notations and the physical deployment areas for the 14th, 7th and 23rd Armies are correct. Thus, I have concluded that the problem is with the printed Soviet OB. It's easy to simply modify the Soviet OB by reassigning the units listed for the 14th, 7th, and 23rd Armies to the Arkhangelsk MD. The headache comes when assigning non-divisional units and determining the deployment status (border or interior) for the realigned MDs.

By using the guidelines given by Charles Sharp in his "Soviet Order of Battle, Sept 39 through June 41" (ETO #49), from the Soviet OB printed in The Urals, and from the material presented in ETO #36, I believe that I have come up with a workable solution.

Charles states that when forming an army per Glavkom orders you must provide at least a 1-6 Lt AA III, a 1-6 Eng or 0-5 Cons III, a 3-2-8 or 2-3-6 Art X, and a 2-6 Art X. It is interesting to note that the Soviet Strategic Reserve Armies listed in The Urals OB all have these components. So, using the above as my model, I redistributed the non-divisional units from the Leningrad MD to reflect this (see facing page). Note that when given a choice during my redistribution, I consistently left the best non-divisional assets with the Leningrad MD.

Next on the agenda was determining whether the Leningrad and Arkhangelsk MDs were border or interior MDs. I chose to reclassify the Arkhangelsk MD as a border MD, but left the Leningrad MD as a border MD. The choice to retain Leningrad as a border MD is primarily meaningful only as regards deployment sequence, but it did require taking a 0-5 Cons III from the Strategic Reserves to give the MD some construction capacity. Further, since all its former AA assets were given to the 14th, 7th and 23rd Armies, additional AA capability must come from any positional AA you can spare from the interior reserves.

My last point and concern deals with the reinforcements and replacements scheduled for the Leningrad MD. Are they correct or do some of them rightfully belong to the Arkhangelsk MD? I don't know and am not qualified to say, but that's a lot of troops going to Leningrad on Jul I and Jul II 41.

To conclude, I do not believe that my suggested OB is necessarily the best or even the most correct one, but I challenge you, the reader, to better my offering. I further challenge the Europa design team to correct this long-overlooked discrepancy.

Questions and Answers from ETO #36
By Brad Hay
(GDW answerman at the time)

Is the territory along the Finnish borders where the Soviets set up their 7th, 14th and 23rd Armies considered part of the Leningrad or Arkhangelsk MD?

Arkhangelsk MD.

May non-divisional units listed in the Leningrad MD set up in hexes with units of the 7th, 14th and 23rd Armies?

Yes.

May non-divisional units listed in the Leningrad MD set up in cities in the Arkhangelsk MD?

No.

May non-divisional units listed in the Leningrad MD set up in hexes listed under the Arkhangelsk MD?

No.

May non-divisional units from the Interior MDs pool set up in hexes with units of the 7th, 14th and 23rd Armies?

Those non-div units must be deployed in a major city per the setup instructions; as there are no major cities for these three armies to set up in, they may not be joined by non-divisional units from the interior MDs Pool.

May non-divisional units from the Interior MDs pool set up in major cities in the Arkhangelsk MD?

Yes.

May non-divisional units from the Interior MDs pools set up with units listed under the Arkhangelsk MD?

Yes, but only in a major city (Arkhangelsk is the only one in the MD).

May non-divisional units from the Interior MDs pool set up in cities in the Leningrad MD?

No.

Do 7th, 14th and 23rd Armies set up before or after German initial deployment?

Before, along with the rest of the Leningrad MD, which remains a border military district and includes the forces of these three armies.

Does the Arkhangelsk MD set up before or after German initial deployment?

Arkhangelsk remains an interior MD, so all its forces (which do not include the 3 armies) deploy after German deployment.

BORDER MILITARY DISTRICTS

Arkhangelsk Military District

14th Army. Within 5 Hexes of the Soviet border from 6A:1219 to 6A:3126.

2x 5-6 Rifle XX 14, 52 (w)
2x 4-6 Rifle XX 104, 122 (w)
1x 0-1-5 Border III (NKVD)
1x 3-2-8 Art X
1x 2-6 Art X
1x 1-6 Lt AA III
1x 1-6 Eng III

7th Army. Within 5 hexes of the Soviet border from 6A:3226 to 6A:5029.

2x 5-6 Rifle XX 54, 71 1x 4-6 Rifle XX 168
1x 3-6 Rifle XX 237
1x 0-1-5 Border III (NKVD)
1x 3-2-8 Art X
1x 2-6 Art X
1x 1-6 Lt AA III
1x 1-6 Eng III

23rd Army. Within 5 hexes of the Soviet border from 6A:5130 to 113:0402.

2x 5-6 Rifle XX 43, 115
2x 4-6 Rifle XX 123, 142
1x 3-6 Rifle XX 177
2x 0-1-5 Border III (NKVD)
1x 3-2-8 Art X
1x 2-6 Art X
1x 1-6 Lt AA III
1x 1-6 Eng III
1Oth Mechanized Corps
1x 8-4-8 Tank XX 21
1x 7-4-8 Tank XX 24
1x 4-8 Mot XX 198

Kandalaksha (6A:2420).

1x 8-4-8 Tank XX 1

Hango (113:0515).

1x 3-6* Rifle X 8

Arkhangelsk (6A:3907) Within one hex of the city.

1x 4-6 Rifle XX 88
1x 2-3-7 Mtn Rifle X 1 (w)
1x 1-6 Lt AA III
1x 2-6 Art X
1x 0-5 Cons III

Leningrad Military District: Up to 7 REs (total) in any cities within 10 hexes of Leningrad, the rest in Leningrad

1x 6-6 Rifle XX 70 (w)
1x 3-6 Rifle XX 191
1x 4-2-8 Art X
1x 2-3-6 Art X
1x 2-0-6 Siege Art X
1x 0-5 Cons III*
1st Mechanized Corps (-)
1 x 8-4-8 Tank XX 3
1 x 4-8 Mot XX 163
1 x 1-8 M/C III
5th Airborne Corps
1 x 1-2-6 Para X 201
1 x 1-2-6 Para-Inf X 9


*This 0-5 Cons III was taken from the Interior MD non-divisional pool. Adjust that total from 10 to 9.