Your primary combat arm is the infantry. Count the number of 14-4-3 divisions you have. Yes, you really do have that many of them. Paired with your weaker divisions, they serve as a force multiplier, as a 14-4-3 and 12-2-2 attacking together are almost identical in effect to two 14-43s attacking together. Infantry is the force to dig Germans out of cities, to hit them in the forests, and above all to break their lines should they dare to stand and fight you in the open. It can also overrun across minor rivers.

A word about overruns. Usually, you should avoid them like the plague; the Germans have superior action ratings. However, high-odds overruns can be very useful against lone units. Or you may want to drive the Germans out of a particular hex, accepting some losses now to make your combat-phase attacks more destructive. Or you may want to get in several attacks on a fortress city in a single turn. Don't use overruns automatically like the Germans do, but do use them when appropriate. Your 5 AR tank battalions are very useful here.

Keep in mind that infantry doesn't have to all be in the front line. A second wave of infantry in reserve can be extremely useful when assaulting a strong German line, or attacking a fortified city. A second wave hitting already-DGed troops spares you the effort (and supply cost!) of DGing them again.

Russian armor has three main functions. First, it supports the infantry. Armor stacked with infantry in the open helps protect against panzers. More importantly, it attacks with them. Armor attacking targets in the open can be extremely supply-efficient: a 6-3-6 mech brigade provides 912 points of offensive strength for IT, more than the 6-7 you get from an infantry division (6 from a 12-2-2 or 12-4-3, 7 for a 14-4-3 down a step, if you're not using proportional losses) or the 4-6 you get from move mode tanks, though of course you have to fuel it too. An entire tank division in combat mode in the front lines can generate an amazing amount of force against German mech units in the open; stacked with an AR 5 Guards tank battalion oran AR4 infantry division in move mode, it can even pull off high-odds overruns. This can be devastating against DGed units during the Exploit Phase, for instance.

Armor's second function is positional. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you have in a hex, only that you have something there. Denying German use of rail lines, spotting for an artillery barrage or air attack, preventing supply throw and draw, setting up blocking positions on the flanks or in the rear of units you're about to attack ("ZOC-blocking," which forces them to lose units if they retreat DGed), having anti-tank protection in an open hex, overrunning isolated artillery, shutting down airfields, holding a bridge or river line to prevent panzers rushing across itarmor does all of this, and more, just by being where you need it. Of course, armor deployed like this outside of infantry support is very vulnerable to German counter-attacks. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since it might be better for you if the Germans spend 2 SP to send a panzer division to take out one tank battalion in the woods in their rear, rather than 6 SP for that same panzer division to wipe out two infantry divisions and two armor units stacked with them in your front lines (and, yes, a panzer division can do just that!). I like to use the 4-3-6 tank battalions for this purpose,they're very fast and can go a long way in move mode. In particular, look for opportunities to get around the flanks of a German line, either to spot for air barrages on his reserves before they can move, or to ZOC-block during the Exploit Phase.

The final function of armor is deep exploitation. This is not mere raids into the rear (that's done by lone tank battalions and is mainly positional in nature), but operations intended to smash German resistance by surrounding chunks of their army, destroying reserves, and seizing key hexes (VP cities, rail junctions) in their rear in sufficient strength to hold them. Usually the big AR 4 Guards mech corps are the ones tapped for this job, but the AR 3 units can have a role to play as well. Combat-mode armor can stack with move-mode infantry to quickly form a powerful line many hexes long; move-mode armor can swing wide and pocket large chunks of an enemy formation.

You will have to be patient and prepare properly for this mission: unsupported units sent deep near German reserves are not likely to come back. Worse, the German reserves may frustrate the mission of your armor (say, by breaking open a pocket before the Supply Phase, or recapturing a city before you have time to flip into Combat Mode). Therefore you must deal with them before driving into the German rear. There are several ways to do this. DG them with air power. Shell them the turn before your main attack. Draw them into the front line by attacking it so ferociously it must be reinforced. Break through the front line, surround them, shell them, and attack them. Interdict the roads they must travel to reach the front. Attack with so much armor the Germans can't destroy it all. Be creative.

Your motorized infantry regiments are ideal for deep drives against cities (since they are at full strength if attacking, and usually have better ARs than the German fortress brigades and alert battalions); preserve them for this time, and rebuild them quickly if they are destroyed. Tanks are better for combat in the open and cutting rail lines,- mech has some of the strengths of both. Try to use your mech units against German tanks (they're xl.5, just like your tanks), and your tanks against German mech units (where they'll be x2 on the attack in the open). Of course, the Germans can counter this by deploying tanks everywherebut single tank battalions in each hex are not concentrated into powerful formations wrecking your lines.

Artillery... ah, artillery. Mighty barrages disrupting huge stretches of the enemy line. Guns parked wheel-to-wheel for miles. Shelling your way to victory...

Dream on. Artillery takes too much supply to use indiscriminately. You have more artillery than you will ever be able to afford to fire. The Red Air Force is much cheaper, much more flexible, and much longerranged. Use Sturmoviks whenever you can.

Unfortunately, weather and enemy fighters may stop them, and you don't have enough planes to cover the entire front. Artillery works even when planes don't fly, or in areas where enemy fighters control the air. Also, artillery hits harder than the Red Air Force can: even without the Katyushas, two brigades to-ether generate a 5T barrage that should hit most targets. And artillery isn't affected by flak; it can still fire even if DGed by enemy barrages in the Reaction Phase.

You need to use artillery carefully. Use it on hexes that you must attack, or on worthwhile targets like enemy panzer divisions. Use it surgically, to support breakthroughs, rather than indiscriminately all along the front.

A note, by the way, on the theory of DGing. It is almost always better to DG enemy units during your turn. Defensive artillery fire is, more often than not, a waste of supply in Hube's Pocket. The enemy may not be planning to attack where you think he is. He may have enough units that even if you DG some, his others will be able to carry out the mission. You may miss.

A stack you DG during your reaction phase may not be able to attack that turn (though it might anyway), and the DG will be removed before you can do anything about it; the stack will still be there next turn. (Step losses from artillery should never be counted on, and are an inefficient way to kill steps anyway. If you get one, chalk it up to good luck. Don't plan on it.) But if you DG an enemy stack during your turn, you may be able to destroy it entirely later in the turn, and it will never come back. Even if you don't, it will be DGed during the next turn as well, meaning that the enemy will not be able to attack effectively with it.

Nor, and this is very important, will he be able to put it into reserve mode. A panzer division shelled or bombed during your turn will be vulnerable that turn, and not able to attack effectively or react to your actions next turn either. (A minor bonus for a double-turn: when you go second and DG enemy stacks, any survivors will still be DGed if you move first next turn, so you don't need to spend supply or air power to wreck them again.)

You can afford to risk artillery. You start with staggering amounts of it (five divisions, with two more as reinforcements), and losing a brigade here or there in a dangerous operation doesn't matter much. Move mode artillery can travel a fair distance into the enemy rear, and perhaps reach reserves he had thought out of immediate danger. In general, you will want one artillery division for each sector of the front, tasked for defense and combat-phase barrages, with an extra division, tasked to support exploitation, in the sector where you are making your major effort.

A quick note on air power

The Sturmoviks are so short-ranged it's unlikely they'll be able to go after many of the German air bases. Don't worry about that: the longer ranged bombers, and your fighters, are capable of handling the Luftwaffe. Save the Sturmoviks for ground support.

You will have to think about your 9-point bombers: do you team them with two Sturmoviks to hit on the 25-40 column of the barrage table (instead of the 17-24), or do you fly them offmap to pick up supplies (2T each, 1 SP /turn).

You want to keep as much of your air power on as few bases as possible-four level 3 air bases let you fight your entire air war on 1 SP/ turn, while the Germans are spending at least that much for far fewer planes, if you can force them to disperse.

More Setup and Strategy in Hube's Pocket Part 2

The Conduct of the Battle: Zhukov
The Tools
The Techniques
The Conduct of the Battle: Manstein
Air War, Options, and Historical Note

More Setup and Strategy in Hube's Pocket Part 1

Introduction
The German Setup
Soviet Opening: North, South, or Deep?
The Soviet Setup