When I reviewed Louis Rotundo's article on Soviet Pre-War fortified zones (see TEM #21), I discovered two errors in the start hexes listed for the fortified areas. Kamenets-Podolskiy ("Kamanets-Podoiskii') should be 3B:1019 instead of 3B:1020, which is in Poland. Kovel ("Kowel" is the Polish spelling of the town name, but the Soviets would not use this spelling to name their fortified area there) should be 1B:4622, not 1B:4515.

More importantly, Louis's article has a similar problem to the "State-of-the-Art" Section of the Leningrad. 1941 rules (also in TEM #21)-the FitE/SE modifications in both cases seem more official than they actually are. When an author makes modifications concerning something that has a potentially major impact on the game in question, readers should be provided a disclaimer somewhere assuring them that the modifications are the author's suggestions and are not official. This is especially important for Louis's article, because I strongly disagree with his modifications.

Louis Rotundo is a first-rate researcher and historian, and I greatly respect and rely on his work. But, as you've probably noticed in earlier issues of the magazine, Louis and I occasionally disagree on how to turn history into a simulation game.

For the fortified areas, I believe he has greatly overrated their strength. Only about half of the 182,000 men assigned to the fortified areas were present. Further, the training of these troops was mostly inadequate to their tasks. Also, the physical state of the fortified areas was poor: the pre-September 1939 ones were mostly stripped, neglected, or never completed, while the 1940-41 ones were mostly under construction and incomplete.

With few exceptions, the Germans smashed through the fortified areas with little trouble. Louis, I believe, insufficiently represented the problems of the fortified areas, while simultaneously overrating their strength. Thus, FitE/SE's 20 fortified areas totalling 40 points were expanded to 41 fortified areas totalling 128 points. This should have a negative impact on the game: not only has Soviet defensive strength been boosted tremendously, the boost comes in the critical border sectors, thereby artificially hampering the German invasion from the outset.

I have gone over the research on the fortified areas, and I have tentatively translated it into game effects. The first section below is a general Europa OB of the fortified areas, and the second section turns this OB into deployments for FitE/SE. These sections capture the stripping and dilapidation of the 1939 Stalin Line, with the slow construction and manning of the new fortified areas. In general, only a completed, manned, and trained fortified area is shown as a fortified area unit (which will be represented more like a unit in the Collector Series edition of FitEISE, as illustrated below). Otherwise, fortified areas are shown as forts, either under construction (and thus with no effect) or completed (and thus with regular fort effects).

Section 1: Europa OB

September 1939, initial Forces Stalin Line

Place one 0-2-0* fortified area each in 2A:0730, 3B:1515, and 3B:1119.
3x 0-2-0* FA Kar, MYa, KP

Place one fort in each of the following hexes: 1B:1003, 1705, 2906, 3612, 4610; 3B:0212, 0414, 0607, 1016, 1813, and 2212.
11x forts

Place one fort in each of the following hexes: 1B:2006, 2507, 4014; 3B:0318, 0419, 0616, and 0720. When placing each fort, roll one die. On a roll of 4 or greater, mark the fort as under construction.
7x forts

Notes: The three 0-2-0* units concentrate the 18,000 men assigned to the 1939 Stalin Line into the three fortified areas the Soviets planned to retain. The other fortified areas are shown as forts, with many of the 1938-39 ones still under construction. (Spreading the troops evenly among the pre- war fortifications would have resulted in a defense strength of approximately 0 for each fortified areas.)

Upon the Conquest of Poland

(Historically, Sep II 39/Oct l 39).

When Poland is conquered and if the Soviet Union is not at war with Germany, work is suspended on the Stalin Line. Remove all Stalin Line forts under construction.

Nov I 39

If Poland is not conquered or if the Soviet Union is at war with Germany, all Stalin Line forts under construction are completed.

Jan I 40

If Poland is conquered and the Soviet Union is not at war with Germany, roll one die for each of the Stalin Line forts. (Do not roll for the fortified areas.) On a roll of 5 or greater, remove the fort from the map. (The Soviets strip or neglect the fort.) Do not roll for forts within 5 hexes of the border of any country with which the Soviet Union is at war. (For example, if the Soviet Union is at war with Finland on Jan I 40, as it was historically, do not roll for the fort in hex 1B:1003.)

Apr I 40

If Poland is conquered and the Soviet Union is not at war with Germany, place forts in the following hexes: 6A:1418; 1B:3321, 4824, 4925, 4926, and 5128. Mark these forts as under construction. Also, mark the destroyed fortress of Brest-Litovsk (Brzese-nad-Bugiem; 1B:4124) as under construction.
6x forts
1x fortress

Note: The fortress of Brest-Litovsk is destroyed (or . unimproved", per First to Fight rules), and remains so until its construction is completed. When completed, it is a regular ("improved") fortress.

If Finland has ceded territory to the Soviet Union, place forts at 2A:0231 and 1B:0302. (If Finland has not ceded territory but does so subsequently, place the forts as indicated on the turn following the cession.) Mark the forts as under construction. If Finland either does not cede territory to the Soviet Union or is entirely conquered by the Soviet Union, do not place these forts.
2x forts

If Lithuania is conquered by the Soviet Union, place forts in 1B:2023, 2219, and 2818. (if Lithuania is conquered by the Soviet Union on or after Apr I 40, place the forts as indicated on the first turn after conquest.) Mark the forts as under construction.
3x forts

Jan I 41

If Poland is conquered and the Soviet Union is not at war with Germany, roll one die for each of the Stalin Line forts. (Do not roll for the fortified areas.) On a roll of 5 or greater, remove the fort from the map. (The Soviets strip or neglect the fort.) Do not roll for forts within 5 hexes of the border of any country with which the Soviet Union is at war.

Apr I 41

Roll one die for each fort and fortress under construction. On a roll of 1, the fort or fortress is completed.

If Finland has ceded territory to the Soviet Union, place a fort at 6A:5028 and a 0-3-0* fortified area at 1B:0515. (if Finland has not ceded territory but does so subsequently, place these as indicated on the turn following the cession.) Mark the fort (but not the fortified area) as under construction. If Finland either does not cede territory to the Soviet Union or is entirely conquered by the Soviet Union, do not place these items.
1x fort
1x 0-3-0* FA Khnko

Note: Under this system, Hango is a reference city in FitE/SE, not a fortress.

If Lithuania is conquered by the Soviet Union, place a fort in 1B:3120. (if Lithuania is conquered by the Soviet Union on or after Apr I 40, place the fort as indicated on the first turn after conquest.) Mark the fort as under construction.
1x fort

If Poland is conquered and the Soviet Union is not at war with Germany, placeforts in the following hexes: 1B:3325, 3626, and 4622. Mark these forts as under construction.
3x forts

If Romania has ceded Bessarabia to the Soviet Union, place forts at 3B:1817 and 2818. (if Romania has not ceded Bessarabia but does so subsequently, place the forts as indicated on the turn following the cession.) Mark the forts as under construction. If Romania either does not cede Bessarabia to the Soviet Union or is entirely conquered by the Soviet Union, do not place these forts.
2x forts

Oct I 41

If Poland is conquered and the Soviet Union is not at war with Germany, remove all remaining Stalin Line forts (those forts listed as the Stalin Line in the Sep I 39 initial forces; these do not include the Stalin Line fortified areas).

All other forts and the fortress under construction are completed. (Conditional forts placed on or after this turn are under construction for two turns and then are completed.)

Jan I 42

Except for the Stalin Line forts (if still on the map), convert all the above forts (6A:1418, 5028; 2A:0231; 1B:0302, 2023, 2219, 2818, 3120, 3321, 3325, 3626, 4622, 4824, 4925, 4926, 5128; 3B:18117, and 2818) to fortified areas:

18x 0-3-0* FA Titov, Keks, Vy, Tel, Siau, Kns, Grod, VV, Strm, RR, Przm, Sort, Alts, Oso, Zam, Kovel, VP, NP

Also place the following at Brest-Litovsk (Brzesc-nad- Bugiem; 1B:4124) if this city is a completed fortress:
1x 0-3-0* Static MG X BL

Conditional forts placed on or after this turn are under construction for two turns and then are completed. Two turns after completion, they are converted to 0-3-0* fortified areas.

Apr I 42

If the Soviet Union is not at war with Germany, place one fortified area each in 1B:5105 and 3B:2917.
2x 0-2-0* FA Chern, Odssa

If Romania has ceded Bessarabia to the Soviet Union, place a fort at 3B:2917. (If Romania has not ceded Bessarabia but does so subsequently, place the fort as indicated on the turn following the cession.) Mark the forts as under construction. Two turns after placement, it is completed. Two turns after completion, convert it to a fortified area. If Romania either does not cede Bessarabia to the Soviet Union or is entirely conquered by the Soviet Union, do not place this fort/fortified area.
1x 0-3-0* FA Dunay

Names and Abbreviations

Note: Several Finnish cities had sizeable Swedish minorities (or even majorities) and thus sported two official names, one each in Finnish and Swedish. The Soviet names of these cities typically were based on a Russianized version of the Swedish name.

Section II: Fire in the East/Scorched Earth

Soviet Order of Battle, Jun II 41

Initial Forces: Fortifications

Place one 0-2-0* fortified area each at 2A:0730, 313:1515, and 3B:1119. Place one 0-3-0* fortified area at 1B:0515.
1x 0-3-0* FA Khnko
3x 0-2-0* FA Kar, MYa, KP

Place one fort in each of the following hexes: 1B:1003, 1705, 2906, 3612, 4610; 3B:0212, 0414, 0607, 1016, 1813, 2212. When placing each fort, roll one die. On a roll of 4 or greater, remove the fort. (it was stripped or neglected in the period before the start of the game.)
11 x forts

Place one fort in each of the following hexes: 1B:2006, 2507, 4014; 3B:0318, 0419, 0616, 0720. When placing each fort, roll one die. On a roll of 2 or greater, remove the fort. (It was stripped, neglected, or never completed in the period before the start of the game.)
7x forts

Place forts in the following hexes: 6A:1418; 2A:0231; 1B:0302, 2023, 2219, 2818, 3321, 4824, 4925, 4926, and 5128. When placing each fort, roll one die. On a roll of 2 or greater, remove the fort. (it was under construction but not completed in the period before the start of the game.)
11 x forts

Roll one die for the destroyed fortress of Brest-Litovsk (Brzesc-nad-Bugiem; 1B:41124). On a roll of 1, the fortress is rebuilt.