Soviet Rifle Division
Artillery Regiment x 0-1
*The commanders of all the artillery regiments can be shown in the divisional HQ.
Pioneer Battalion
It is unimportant if the infantry battalion is shown with six individual bases or two stands each with two or three strength points. The size of the stands is not important either, within reason. It is helpful to show specialist units that you might want to disperse, as single strength point bases, such as recce and engineers.
The miniatures on this page are from the collections of the Author and Phil Steele (his are the nicely painted ones)
TO&E (Table of Organization and Equipment)
1 Gaz Jeep, 1 Signals Staff Car, 1 AA stand (truck, towed or horse drawn), 3(3) recce stands, (on foot, horse or Motorcycle), 15(30) Comd stands (3 Bde, 3 Arty and 9 Bn)*, 3 82mmMortars, 3(3-6) SMG or NKVD stands, 4 45mm or 76mm Regt Guns + 5-7 limbers, 18(36) Rifle stands, 10-12 MMGs, 0-3 FOO stands, 1 76mm Div gun, 0-1 122mm Howitzer, 0-1 120mm Mortar, 2 Anti-tank Rifles, 2(4) Pioneer stands, 1-2 Wagons + 0-1 Bridging Trailer. Normally fielded at corps or front level – 3 trucks.
* A stand may have 2 or 3 figures on it. The figure in brackets is the number of figures you might need to purchase, based on 2 figs for rifles and comd, Mortars and MMG assume you will use the numbers of crew that come with the packs that you purchase. Atk guns assume 3 crew and field artillery assumes 4 crew.
Note that the Soviet infantry division would have no forward observation officers (FOOs), early in the war, so can only pre-plan indirect artillery fire, or use direct artillery fire. As the War progressed FOOs were introduced in greater quantity.
23 Infantry Division on parade before the Great Patriotic War
This early picture dating from the ’90s of a rifle division deviates from the orbat. The pioneer battalion only has 1 wagon. The anti-tank battalion 45mm gun is towed by a captured German Granit truck. The rifle regiments can only muster two battalions per brigade, and if they have no battalion command stands, they can only operate as a brigade, not individually. The brigade HQs have had to make do with ATRs instead of 45mm Atk guns. Two of the three artillery regiments, are making do with 76mm regimental guns instead of the more powerful divisional gun. At least one of the divisional recce companies is over-strength.
