Historically, the Soviets defense of Odessa lasted until October of 1941. In FitE/SE, the defense of Odessa can also be a prolonged affair, depending upon the desire of the Soviet player to commit the resources necessary (which in turn greatly depends upon the overall game situation during the first summer). This analysis will approach the subject from an optimum viewpoint, assuming maximum resource availability. The two major problems confronting the Odessa Military District (MD) commander are supply availability and air cover. The latter consideration is indispensable to the solving of the former problem, so will be considered first.

The sea approaches to Odessa will need to be covered by air power from Sevastopol northward. Therefore, one of the 8 airfields available from the starting strategic VVS forces should be placed at Sevastopol, giving a capacity of 4 (including the fortress). A 1-6 Lt AA III and at least 1 point of position AA combined with the naval position AA will give each ship in port 7 points of AA protection, which seems to be the best "bang for the buck".

One of the Odessa MD 1-6 engineers should begin the game at Simferopol; it should move to hex 3B:3206 on Jun II 41 and build a temporary airfield on Jul I 41. Long- range fighters (Mig-3s) operating from Sevastopol- 3B:3206 Odessa should be able to keep the sea lanes clear of enemy airnaval-search (ANS) with extended-range fighter protection.

Since any determined Luftwaffe ANS will patrol from Romania with a strong escort, it may be difficult to oppose the enemy air forces with only the 6 fighters able to base in Odessa. The area airbase capacity should be increased with a temporary airfield or two if the situation allows (that is, if the Axis is only loosely masking the area with light forces).

Early in the game, spending a precious resource point to build a fort in Odessa is probably not worth the -1 die roll modifier (better to negate armor effects on the main front).

Having taken all reasonable steps to provide for the air defense of the port and sea lanes, it is time to consider the garrison itself. The strongest garrison would be the two 5-6 infantry divisions, 2-3-6 and 2-6 artillery brigades, and 1-6 AA regiment from the Odessa MD initial forces; the Jul I NKVD regiment; and the two 3-6 infantry brigades from Hango and the Baltic MD.

This force would provide 23 strength points with two 1-6 cadres; in the event of any EX result, the German would need at least 40 factors of c/m units to overrun after combat-a force not too likely to be available to him at that place and time. Since many German commanders choose to bypass Odessa and mask it with weak infantry forces (at least until the railroad can be regauged to allow the RR artillery and siege guns to join any attack), you should be able to accumulate enough infantry replacements at the isolated city to combine with the (isolated) special replacements from the combat to replace most of the garrison troops immediately.

Any Axis AR or AS results along the way will only give you additional time to build up replacements. (if the Axis is only lightly masking the area and fails to cover all nearby hexes in a ZOC, another way to build up the local replacement pool is to move partisans next to the city and disband them, a recommended move since they aren't very effective early in the game anyway.)

Five points of position AA should be part of the garrison; with the 1-6 AA regiment, you will have 7 flak factors to deter the Luftwaffe from raiding the shipping in port and to drive off ground support. This AA plus up to 6 friendly fighters should ensure that the Luftwaffe will have to make a major appearance to be involved, thus relieving the strain on your other fronts (since the VVS should be using the strategy of "be where the LW ain't,' this deployment of air units favors the Soviets, who need to conserve and build up the Red Air Force early in the game).

This 14.5-RE garrison (12 REs of troops, 2.5 REs of position AA) can be supplied by just two ships. If the Luftwaffe intervenes and you want to risk only one ship to ANS, roll for the infantry brigades and position AA.

An alternative to risking your ships, however, is availableresupply at night by air. Depending on how many of your transports survived the initial onslaught, you should be able to resupply the main Odessa garrison units from the airbases in the Krasnodar/Novorossiysk area (you can also fly in light position AA to replace any lost to supply rolls, while any infantry lost can be replaced from the city replacement pool). This option should be carefully considered, since the planes have to roll for crash-landing and the bases need to be fairly well- protected against Luftwaffe raids on any aborted transports. Still, it can frustrate Luftwaffe ANS for several turns, tying up valuable enemy aircraft. If, or when, the Luftwaffe doesn't fly, send in the ships again.

By now you can see how the defense of Odessa can be a prolonged affair, depending upon how the defense of Bessarabia goes and how much the German decides to commit to the capture of the port (and when he decides to go for it).

If the German does bypass the area and screens it with weak forces, you can conduct an aggressive defense (as the Soviets did historically) and mount a fairly powerful offensive out of the area using the garrison, accumulated replacements, reinforcements shipped in, plus longrange bomber ground support and perhaps even naval gunfire.

Any such limited offensive should be delayed until the main front has swept far past and there 'is no danger of an immediate German counterattack. If and when powerful enemy forces do gather' reassemble the garrison and ship out excess units.

Against an unwary, sloppy, or timid German player, an aggressive Soviet defense of Odessa can prove very effective, causing the enemy to divert resources from his front line during the critical first summer. If an aggressive German chooses to ignore attacks out of Odessa, the Soviet can also consider launching supportirig attacks out of the Crimea with raids on the coast or by river flotillas up the Dnieper.

Of course, the party won't last forever, and when the German approaches the city with sufficient force (siege guns, RR artillery, engineers, etc., after the railroad has been regauged), the Soviets should try to cut their losses and run: transfer the fighters, spend accumulated replacements and evacuate the replaced units, etc.

Timing is everything: you must develop a "feel" for when the goal of disrupting enemy plans has been met to the fullest extent, when a determined defense has a reasonable chance of succeeding and when prolonged opposition is hopeless; when the VVS should sortie and when it should stay on the ground (or transfer out), etc.

The Soviet forces are not as powerful or flexible as the German forces, but they do have some special capabilities and these need to be exploited to the fullest extent. The city of Odessa offers one of the few areas where the VVS, VMF, and Red Army can operate together effectively early in the war, and this opportunity should not be ignored out of hand.

More East Front

Chapter 1: Advice for Soviet Players
Chapter 2: The Defense of Odessa
Chapter 3: The VVS
Chapter 4: The Transcaucasus Military District
Chapter 5: The Soviet "Other Forces"
Chapter 6: The Soviet Border Armies