2nd Edition Soviet Order of Battle

8th Army Non-Divisional Units
1-8 M/C III 1B:2320
3-2-8 Art X 1B:2024
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 1B:2024
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 1B:2023
2-6 Art X 1B:2023
2-6 Art X 1B:2220
2-3-8 AT X 1B:2320
1-6 Eng III 1B:2223
1-6 Lt AA III 1B:2422

11th Army Non-Divisional Units
3-2-8 Art X 1B:2519
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 1B:2822
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 1B:2818
2-6 Art X 1B:2818
1-6 Eng III 1B:2722
1-6 Lt AA III 1B:2719

27th Army Non-Divisional Units
2-6 Art X 1B:1706
2-6 Art X 113:1706

Baltic MD Reserves
3-6* Rifle X 3 1B:1016
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 1B:1016

Baltic MD Non-Divisional Units
3-2-8 Art X 1B:1816
3-2-8 Art X 1B:2008
2-3-6 Art X 1B:2512
1-0-6 Sg Art III 1B:1812
1-6 Eng III 1B:1816
1-6 Lt AA III 1B:1816

Leningrad MD Reserves
6-6 Rifle XX 70 (w) 2A:1031
3-6 Rifle XX 191 2A:1031
8-4-8 Tk XX 3 1B:1705
4-8 Mot XX 163 1B:1705
1-8 M/C III 1B:1705
1-2-6 Para X 201 2A:1030
1-2-6 Para-Inf X 9 2A: 1030

41st Rifle Corps
4-6 Rifle XX 111 1B:1906
4-6 Rifle XX 118 1B:1904
3-6 Rifle XX 235 1B:1905
2-6 Art X 1B:1905

Leningrad MD Non-Divisional Units
3-2-8 Art X 2A:1031 3-6 Art X 1B:1904
3-6 Art X 1B:1906
3-6 Art X 2A:1031
2-3-6 Art X 1B:1704
2-6 Art X 1B:1806
2-0-6 Sg Art X 2A: 1030
1-6 Eng III 1B:1704
1-6 Lt AA III 1B:1806
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 1B:1906
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 2A:1031
0-1-5 Bdr III (NKVD) 2A:1030

Baltic Fleet
BB Okt Rev 2A:0832
BB Marat 2A:0832
CA Kirov 2A:0832
CA Gorkiy 2A:0832
(CA) Petropav. 2A:0832
CL Aurora 2A:0832
3-6* Marine X 1 2A:0832

Resource Points
RPs = 3 2A:1031
RPs = 1 2A:1031
RPs = 1 2A:1031
RPs = 1 2A:1031
RPs = 1 2A:1031 Antiaircraft Units
Pos AA (Lt) = 1 1B:1421
Pos AA (Lt) = 1 1B:1408
Pos AA (Lt) = 1 1B:1213
Pos AA (Lt) = 1 2A:0832
Pos AA (Lt) = 1 1B:3016
Pos AA (Hv) = 1 1B:1816
Pos AA (Hv) = 1 1B:0711
Pos AA (Hv) = 1 113:1401
Pos AA (Hv) = 1 2A:0931
Pos AA (Hv) = 2 2A: 1030
Pos AA (Hv) = 2 2A:1031 

Baltic Fleet Aviation
I-16 2A:0931
I-16 1B:0711
I-153 1B:1724
DB-3B 2A:0832
SB-2 1B:1421

Leningrad/Northern Front VVS
MiG-3 1B:1705
Yak-1 1B:1902
I-153 1B:1401
Ar-2 1B:1004
SB-2 2A:1731

Leningrad PVO
LaGG-3 2A: 1031
I-16 2A:0931
I-16 2A:0931
I-153 2A:1031
I-153 2A:1031

All Other Forces: As shown in the Soviet OB.

Jennings Commentary

I have made my set up so that most of the Soviet's strength will be in the Pskov area, in order to possibly counter a German thrust there early on. If the German is slow in killing the forces on the border, the Pskov units will stay where they are until the Luga line is established. At that time, I hope they will be able to man that position.

The units on the border are meant to die as noble a death as possible, slowing the Germans down and maybe even killing a few points in exchanges.

The fleet must be saved to support Leningrad. No grand sorties!

Make the German fight for Riga.

Garrison the small Baltic ports.

Judge's Verdict

This set up suffers from many of the same flaws as the previous entry. A number of border hexes are overrunnable (take note, comrades-the Germans can overrun 5-strength-point stacks in hexes 2423-2822). Also, hex 1B:2323 is not occupied. This combination will see the border forces isolated and then shredded, which might prevent them from achieving their "noble death."

There are a number of illegal placements (this is instructive--if David isn't clear on this, many others probably aren't either). The 8th Army non-divs in hexes 1B:2023 and 2024 are not in or adjacent to a hex containing a division of that army. Several Leningrad MD non-divs are misplaced as well. These must be placed in Leningrad MD either with another unit in the MD or in a city: hexes 1B:1704 and 1806 do not qualify. I almost ranked this deployment 5th due to these errors, but consider this: in competitive play, correction of these errors would not really compromise David's overall defensive plan.

The strong point of this set up is that regardless of how badly the Soviets fare west of their 1939 border, there will be a formidable array of well-positioned units near Pskov to rally around. This is not to be discounted-so long as the Red Army remains a coherent fighting machine the Germans will have their hands full winning this scenario.

It's a good thing the Pskov gap is well defended, since, once again, this set up leaves the Germans to have their way along the rail line to Daugavpils. Trust me, friends-clearing the rails (in conjunction with the more liberal admin movement in this scenario) is bad medicine and should receive more than passing attention in Soviet defensive planning.

Note the deployment of a point of position AA in Wilno (1B:3016). I'm glad David put this guy here, because it allows me to clarify the situation regarding Wilno once and for all. Since the city lies inside the Western MD, no units of the Baltic or Leningrad MDs can deploy there. However, the Soviet player is allowed to deploy one or more points of position AA there. In fact, this is highly recommended. Putting a position AA point in Wilno will usually prevent its capture in the surprise turn. This gives just the effect the scenario developers intended: the Soviets cannot make a serious defense of the city (which is being overrun by units of Army Group Center), but the units of Army Group North won't be able to perform any quirky or dirty tricks after capturing it during the surprise turn.

Quibbles: What is the 1-6 Lt AA III in 1B:2422 supposed to accomplish? Or the 1-0-6 Sg Art III in 1812? Both seem uselessly wasted. And is an I-16 really more valuable than an SB-2 in this scenario? Given the dire need for DAS, I have to wonder.

Verdict: 4th Place.

Europa Contest #1 Leningrad: 1941 Scenario

Randy Pukalo
David Jennings
Ed Dickenson
Alan Tibbetts
Sam Dahman