Bolt Action Solo

OK, managed to get my second WWII game sorted today, this time Bolt Action to see how well it played solo and also to confirm my prejudices re both games. The scenario was the same, the opening game of the Konigsberg campaign, they Germans have to get off the enemy side of the table, neither side had armour which made things slightly easier for me but harder for both armies.

You can get a file with cards from the Solo Wargamers Facebook page, you get one set for the units and one for the command die with instructions as to what the unit will do in the circumstances it finds itself in. Phil over at News From The Front said he preferred only using the unit cards, so I only printed them. I think if you choose a German die you pick a card to see which unit activates, I might of course be wrong about this but that is the way I saw it. It actually came to naught anyway as I just got so involved I allocated the dice for both sides as they came out and kept forgetting the cards, but they certainly could work.

I continued with the plan which Matt had given me a few days ago for Chain of Command, so the Germans would push up their right flank from the small farm. As there was no patrol phase I started both sides six inches in from the table edge. The Russians raced up the road to once again take the outskirts of the village, the Germans sent one squad up the road and two through the farm, the MMG was sent to support the guys on the road. The Russians too legged it up the road and the first squad managed to get to the entrenchments, so far so good.

The German squad on the road now took heavy casualties from both deployed Soviet squads, the MMG became a target for the Russian sniper and one crew member bit the dust, a bad round for Jerry. Then things turned around slightly and the MMG riddled the snipers loft and both he and his companion died, the Germans in the road took more casualties and ran for a nearby shell hole to shelter in. The German mortar now hit with its second shot and devastated the Soviet heavy squad with the two LMG's, this outfit failed its morale and fled, this left only one Russian squad defending the forward positions in the village. I had intended the third squad to flank the German MMG but then as the defence collapsed I sent them back to the crossroads.

The advanced Soviet squad now began to take heavy casualties and just managed to withdraw out of harms way the Germans saw their chance and advanced on the village as the Russians cleared out. It was a crushing German victory.

As I said above I kept forgetting to use the cards in the excitement of it all but no matter the game played well, it was a lot faster and although in hindsight not as bloody as Chain of Command it was decisive. There is certainly more opportunity to maneuver in Bolt Action and you can take a chance and advance in the open, you will take casualties from machine guns on the way in but this is not the brickwall of lead you meet in CoC. This little game only had one platoon each, with more units I suspect BA would handle things better as everyone gets a turn while with CoC you might be hard pushed to get enough command dice, you can certainly overcome this with extra leaders but they are not always a support option. So, which is better, slow and subtle with CoC or fast and furious with Bolt Action, you decide.

I finished off my extra figures this week, British and German artillery crew and just for the hell of it some German Feldgendarmerie or 'Chain Dogs' a really nice little group to look after the German rear areas. I also took a break and built my MDF truck from Sarissa Precision, I got this to use as scatter for my upcoming industrial complex, it is a neat kit although it came without side panels, Sarissa are sending them out, but I think I now like the flatbed version. Compared to plastic kits it is huge but then the Matador was a big truck, it will do as a one off but in future I would stick with plastic despite it being a really smart piece of work.

I scratched another itch today, I got my roads a long time ago and have never been pleased with them, especially the edging, this also applies to some of my fields, so I decided to do something about it and ordered up two tubs of grass from 4Ground and found half a bottle of PVA glue lying about. It only took me an hour or so and I had completely re-edged all the roads in Late Summer flock, the same that I use on all my bases, this has improved them but I now think I may have to paint them the same colour (I got two separate bundles). That really will have to wait.

I have my Seven Year War generals and horses primed and ready to go but may build those industrial units first, or at least a couple of them. I found out that The Assault Group had Soviets with automatic-rifles so as each of my squads have one I bought some, along with some extra guys armed with SMG's, why not, they probably won't be noticeable on the table but I will know they are correct, something else not to worry about.

Chain of Command Solo

I am doing fairly well with wargaming at the moment albeit I would prefer to look into the eyes of my opponent as my plan comes together and I can see the panic come over him, I wish. No matter, I thought I would again try the Konigsberg campaign as I bought all the troops and equipment which it might need. I also thought I would fight the first battle with both CoC and Bolt Action to see what happens.

First up was Chain of Command, the Germans have to get a unit off the enemy end of the table, my mate Matt chose the German supports and gave me a guide to how the attack would take place, I was basically rooting for the Russians. Matt took an MMG and a Forward Observer while I took a Commissar, an MMG and entrenchments to cover one squad.

The Russians managed to get two squads out first and make it to the edge of the village, the heavy squad was behind the entrenchments while the second was in the open behind barbed wire, they also managed to get the MMG and I put it on the left flank commanding the approaches to the village on that side. The Jerries were attacking the Soviet left as the left hand approach to the village was completely devoid of cover, despite this I placed the MMG here along with the Forward Observer, both of whom had entrenchments. Also in the first wave was a German squad who took up position in a small farm which would become the jump off point for the attack, as the bullets began to fly this squad lost their Junior Leader which meant the German Senior Leader had to deploy early. The Russians now got a sniper who started shooting at the MMG, this was trading shots with the Russian squad behind the barbed wire and this time a Soviet Junior Leader bit the dust, this caused the Platoon leader to abandon the heavy squad and leg it over to the uncommanded squad.

The Germans now dropped their barrage on the heavy squad and it was on target but surprisingly ineffective, however under the cover of this two more German squads began to move on the village. The barrage was lifted but the swarm of lead heading towards the Russians hardly dented them, on the other hand return fire brought down two Junior Leaders, being a commander in this game was proving deadly. Although the Soviet squad behind the barbed wire was just still holding on the heavy squad controlled the approach to the village on their flank, the Red Army also still had a squad in reserve. Looking over the battle from the German point of view the attack had fizzled out with only one leader left on the table, they were not going anywhere fast and unusually for panzergrenadier squads had taken heavy casualties without owning the battlefield. It was game over.

I need to point out a few things, I used my own late war Soviet Rifle Platoon which has a heavy squad with two LMG's, this is a boon fighting those damn MG42's. I also used the rule amendments by Truscott Trotter an active CoC forum member, there are some I like and others I am not so sure of. I am also a believer in allowing pinned units to retreat without taking off pips for shock, luckily this time I did not need to do that although it was building up on the heavy squad and the German assault troops. I also dropped a dice for each double phase, another thing which is quite good is that if a unit has already fired they don't get to fire again, so some poor mugs just don't sit and get shot to pieces and then run away.

So there you have it, playing solo was no problem and you just went with the command dice, what I did miss is that if you have another person they help with rules which you might overlook while you are concentrating on both sides. I have the table back to pristine condition having removed the bodies so it is Bolt Action over the next few days, I am using the same forces and cards for the German activations.

Needle in a haystack II

As I mentioned I had started a second Goeben campaign to run alongside the first, I overloaded myself a bit with all my small projects, painting etc. and running two campaigns but they were both highly enjoyable and certainly gave me something to do.

The second involved Dan (Milne), Stuart (Troubridge) and Stewart (Souchon), I was learning more as we went along, Dan was a hands on CinC which left Stuart merely to sail his ships as ordered, I talked to Stuart and we decided if Troubridge met the Germans he would actually have the last say on whether to engage or not, not the CinC. If I did it again I would only have two players, British and German. A French gentleman on Facebook informed me that the French had several modern ships available in the Med so you could if you wanted add a French battlegroup, I however did not and if Goeben had met the French would have strongly advised her to sail away, in real life they didn't meet hence they were under the control of the umpire.

This time the British CinC concentrated his ships at Malta  and once informed of the bombardment of Phillipeville made for the Tunis-Sicily Gap while sending light forces to scout ahead. HMS Chatham and four destroyers were sent to keep an eye on the Straits of Messina. The urgent signal from the British Embassy in Rome informing Milne that Goeben was coaling at Messina set the game afoot. Sadly for the British Goeben only had a few hours left to finish coaling and their ships were too far away to catch her. Nonetheless forces were sent north and south of Sicily just in case.

Because of this Chatham and her destroyers made a brave effort as Goeben exited Messina to damage and slow down the German ship. Chatham was severely damaged and was forced to withdraw as the Germans sped past, three destroyers went to the bottom but not before two had launched torpedo salvos at Goeben. Of the eight torpedoes fired only two hit and exploded, although damaged, Goeben's armoured belt reduced the effect of the explosions enough that her speed was not compromised. She sailed off for the fleshpots of Constantinople.

HMS Chatham

Typical WWI destroyer

Again another excellent little game and a hard task for the British, I have played this several times since 1987 and the worst thing to happen to the Germans is that the Breslau gets sunk, Goeben has always managed to evade the British battlecruisers. This has inspired me to fight a what if at the club when I am allowed out again, to see just how the Goeben might have managed against the 1st Cruiser Squadron or perhaps the battlecruisers.

I have started a solo game of Chain of Command but the sun is out and I may be suffering from locked up syndrome so I am going to get some fresh air and clean and wash the car after which I may get on with the game. My new Soviet organisation is going really well against the panzergrenadiers.

Looking over my terrain as I put the table together I noticed a few greens did not match up so I now cannot leave it alone and have ordered up two boxes of the static grass I use to eliminate this problem, should have done it ages ago. I also noticed that my lovely shell holes have no bottom, so if you put them in a corn field, you see corn surrounded by earth, daft, so they too are getting a facelift.

Nine figures started so they will get finished next week just in time for my Seven Year War generals to turn up, so for the third week of lockdown, I am unsure how many at the mo, I will set to on my industrial buildings of which there are half a dozen.

Needle in a haystack

As the country went into lockdown what would I do with my time, wargaming is my number one activity and the local club my main outlet, so I would now be self isolating 100% instead of just 80% and in to the bargain having to talk to the missus more, sorry, listen to the missus more.

I found odds and ends of terrain and figures to do, then bought more terrain and more figures, I am now running out of time as the days fly past. That was not enough and I remembered a small campaign which I wrote back in 1987 for Miniature Wargames, an historical naval campaign based during the opening days of WWI in the Mediterranean, it would only last a week in campaign time, involved small forces and only needed three commanders and would give me something to fill up what spare time I did have.

The campaign involves the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and her escorting light cruiser SMS Breslau who found themselves stuck in the Mediterranean as war broke out between France and Germany, Great Britain would also join within twenty-four hours. The Germans have to eventually make their way to Constantinople and deliver both ships to Turkey, however if they can they are to interrupt the convoying of the French Army of Africa from Algeria to France. The British CinC has limited forces, a group of modern battlecruisers and a squadron of older armoured cruisers, several light cruisers and destroyers, as war breaks out on the 4th August his job is to find the Goeben and sink her, a tall order.

SMS Goeben

SMS Breslau

HMS Defence

 Admiral Souchon (Matt Smith) turned the Goeben towards Algeria and bombarded the ports of Bone and Phillipeville after which he sailed for Messina, coal had been organised here so his ships could refuel before heading to the Dardanelles and Constantinople, ironically the coal was first rate Welsh coal, he arrived at Messina at 1430 4th August. Meanwhile Rear Admiral Milne (Rob Martin) had despatched HMS Dublin to patrol from Sardinia to Tunis but Goeben slipped past, his flagship with escorts patrolled the Tunis-Sicily gap. The powerful battlecruiser's Indomitable and Indefatigable patrolled the southern end of the Straits of Messina, sadly they were ordered away before the Goeben left Messina. Meanwhile Rear Admiral Troubridge (Simon Newby) had decided to block the eastern end of the Mediterranean and made for the Crete-Greece gap. Milne eventually also decided to head East and set his forces enroute. News of the whereabouts of the Goeben was eventually received (thanks to spies in Messina) and Milne attempted to turn his ships in order to intercept but the Goeben had completed coaling and was several hours in front.

Goeben shells Bone.

Phillipeville suffers from bombardment

At 0300 6th August Troubridge's patrol line noticed two shapes approaching in the darkness, within five minutes gunfire exploded. Due to a lengthy patrol line only HMS Black Prince, HMS Defence and two destroyers, Lapwing and Liberty would manage to engage the Germans as both sides went to full speed ahead. Troubridge was outgunned but perhaps a lucky shot or torpedo would manage to slow the Goeben in order that the British battlecruisers could catch her.

The first shells from both sides were wide of the mark but soon the German ships had the range and the British began to suffer, especially the small destroyers, basically torpedo boats at this time. Despite being hit several times and her decks in flame Lapwing managed to launch a salvo of four torpedoes at Breslau, the lead ship, two hit but failed to explode. Once again the Germans fired accurate salvos, Defence now had the range as she raced to cut off the Germans but once again British gunnery let the side down.

Goeben turned on Defence and one of the first shells hit a magazine and the British ship disappeared in a tremendous explosion, the British destroyers were now targeted by Breslau and Goeben's secondary armaments and both sink. Being no match for the Goeben the Black Prince fired a last salvo which also misses and withdraws. Goeben and Breslau once again melt into the darkness and make for the Dardanelles and safety.

Goeben spotted in the darkness.

Defence blows up.

 So there you have it, the first campaign is over, one more to report, this kept us all occupied for about a week in real time and almost the same in campaign time which is what I had hoped for. The Goeben story had real time consequences, Troubridge found the Goeben but decided that as his orders had told him not to engage superior forces he let her go without a fight. He was later court-martialed for this and made an example of. Some time later when Admiral Craddock and his squadron ran into the elite German East Asia Squadron he felt he had to engage, almost all his ships were sunk at the Battle of Coronel.

PS Matt has put his own version on Wargames Table.

This is a good read as are his other naval books.

Something I like

How did I cope before without all afternoons off, I don't seem to have enough hours in the day.

I just went in and got on with my SYW game, I got through another few moves but felt I had to call a halt and retreat. You see although I have a sign up saying I am closed with the shop front being all glass I cannot hide, so if someone batters into the door and see me they think I should do the decent thing and serve them, despite said sign. So perhaps my solo gaming will have to be done when I am usually closed.

Anyway the upshot of my starter game is that I got most things right but a couple of serious things wrong, well one main mistake, I did not have enough commanders on the table and this would have made a difference to the steadfastness of my men. As for the game itself the British were coming out as the losers and were close to breaking point, their cavalry had been beaten and swept from the field so their left flank was wide open and the 2nd Brigade had obviously got the frights as they refused all orders to advance once the Guards had retreated from Kutzdorf. The French had lost one battalion and although a couple more needed to rally they were winning the firefight.

2nd Brigade not so keen now.

Mercy buckets silver plate.

It is really going wrong for the British, outnumbered and on the back foot.

So there we have it, my first foray into the Seven Years War and it won't be my last, I can see more troops being added now after I finish all my other projects which will take about two to three weeks perhaps. In the meantime I am ordering up officers as I need at least three more for each side at the moment, maybe even four.

The first naval campaign is coming to a close, it has given four of us something to do for about a week I have another just started. I have a small action to fight and then a report to write up so it will keep me going for another day or so. I suddenly realised I needed damage cards for the ships concerned and looked out all my old naval stuff and thankfully found all my old files, but I am having a hard time opening them.

I looked online to see if I could pick up a game to play on the PC, there is only one which caught my eye and I first heard about it way back in the early 90's and for its day was off the charts, Hitlers War in Russia now titled War in the East but the £68 price tag was just too much, still.......

So I have plenty to do in the upcoming weeks, but I do miss sharing everything at the club with social interaction and a bit of a laugh and a chinwag.

Solo, not Han or Napoleon

Where does the time go, I had a bit of a lie in, made the breakfast then sat sorting the campaigns out, which is proving great fun for me at least, for a couple of hours.

I set up my small Seven Years War forces yesterday for a run through today with the Honours of War rules from Osprey. At 64 pages many of which contain army lists it is way lighter than Black Powder which I also have sitting waiting to try, although I have read through the book I wasn't sure how things would turn out on the table. I am a member of the HoW forum and downloaded a QRS, errata and clarifications before starting a small scenario contained in the rule book, Clash at Kutzdorf. Many people have moaned about the artillery being too effective, I don't know so although you can tone it down I played the rules.

The battle has Blue force (British) being attacked in flank by Red (French) as it sits on a ridge, both are almost equal, the French are supposed to have two light infantry battalions but I don't have any of those so they were instead regulars. I just went along with the sequence of play and checked things as they turned up.

You throw dice for initiative and then the players take turns moving brigades or independent units, the same system is used for firing, once this is complete your men react depending how many casualties they are carrying, five is a rout and lifted off, four a retreat, 3 will affect your shooting, any lower and you are fine. The firing is quite brutal and you either get hardly any casualties or you get too many and you are gone or retire, so far I have had one French infantry battalion and one British cavalry squadron lifted off while a couple of others have retired. You always get one hit on a natural five using an average dice, this is brutal as your five will probably get you three or four hits anyway so that unit is retiring or gone, having said that of the two gone from the field one was from melee and one from shooting over at least half a dozen turns. You can rally these hits off but you have to be out of harms way to do it which with linear tactics is not easy, your commander can also rally off hits but I didn't get the best out of mine as you move them first before the troops so they never seem to be in the right place at the right time, something to learn. I have several questions and need another read through the book as I am only half way through the game and will pick it up again tomorrow afternoon. I enjoyed it.

As to the battle the French cautiously advanced into a firing line while their cavalry went for their British counterparts on the right beyond Kutzdorf. The British infantry too formed a line and their left hand brigade moved off the ridge while the Scots Guards took Kutzdorf, prior to this Regiment Bretagne had fled the field. The 33rd Foot now retired as did the 7th Dragoons from the victorious French horse, to make matters worse French artillery fire meant the Scots had to evacuate Kutzdorf, not everything went right for the French though as a battalion of Grenadiers de France fell back leaving both lines in disarray. More fighting to come.

Day 3, food holding out, morale good.....

Strange times, trade only just dropping off in the PO then what to do the rest of the day, it didn't even seem like this when stuck on an oil platform for three weeks, of course there were a lot of other people which is the difference.

Anyway, I have ordered up a little industrial bundle from Sarissa and once that comes I shall also build the minehead wheel given to me by the bloke in the village who cuts MDF, I don't really need more buildings but the wheel or whatever it is called is a lovely kit and deserves more than being stuffed in the corner under some books. I also have some barbed wire defences to do. Oh, don't ever buy the big windmill from Sarissa, it does not really fit in a box or a shelf or anywhere and every time you move you catch the sails, nice kit just a dreadful thing to store.

My extra Russians are now done along with a little tarting up of a large barn/store, there is a sniper team in there and the other kneeling guy has a scope on his rifle so a free sniper perhaps.

I have also just received some British and German mortar/artillery figures for the extra crew members required by Chain of Command, I also spotted a nice trio of German Feldgendarmerie which I could not resist, I think these will be based for a Jump Off Point.

I am halfway through my gaggle of civilians, these are very easy to paint and won't take long to complete, they will soon be clogging roads used by invading or liberating forces or simply trying to keep out of the way, fat chance on a 6x4.

 What about actual wargaming, well with so much spare time even if I do the odd job around the place I can still set up a game. To this end I am running two small naval campaigns roping in some of the lads from the club, my son and mate Matt, the first is running along nicely and the second is about to start, I am really enjoying these. I hope to get a couple of battles from the campaigns although these may not necessarily turn up as both sides may want to avoid a fight! I have also just today set up my small Seven Year War forces at last to try out the Honours of War rules from Osprey, it may be tomorrow before I get around to actually throwing a die but it is ready to go.

For the next couple of weeks I think it will be Solo Bolt Action, fighting some scenarios from the campaign books. Although I do have another small scale campaign in my armoury from the American Civil War and a larger one if the lockdown continues.

In Limbo

Apart from the odd lunch and a Tuesday night I may as well have been self distancing/isolating but when your choice is suddenly taken away you want it back, the choice to sit around doing nothing if I want is important, I see that now. I still get customers coming for the odd stamp and with a shopping return, nothing I suspect which is essential, however I retreat to the 'fortress' and they keep at arms length after which I sanitise my hands, counter top and door handles, from today I have decided to only open for three hours in the morning as the village is deserted and I may as well sit inside safe than sit here and wait to see what comes through the door.

My oldest son had ordered up some hand sanitiser and masks for his old folks on the front line only to fall foul of the scum that all these emergencies allow to float to the top of the pond, the site was a scam, thankfully he got his money back. Not for them "what can I do to help" but "how can I make some dough" it doesn't matter the crises up they pop. "Pssst, want some loo roll, £40 guv".

What am I doing, well I have some troops which I am taking my time to complete, some extra Soviets and a bunch of civilians, I also have a few more on the way so I can pass an hour or so of an evening before trying to find something to watch on my four or five streaming services, where's my book? I am also looking over my Eastern Front buildings with a view to 'tarting' them up. I also rescued a couple of Dark Age carts to use as dual purpose scatter.

Dark Ages

Russian Front

I had decided to try some solo games and at last give those SYW troops and rules a run out, then thought about a mini-campaign to give me a reason to fight a battle. I had a small WWI naval campaign lying about from 1987 based on the hunting of two German warships in the Mediterranean just before the declaration of war, the Goeben and Breslau, the British had to catch them but not be defeated by them, a tall order for at least a part of the British fleet. I found my three players and sent all relevant information out. As of this morning everyone is at sea and the hunt is on, I hope the players get some fun out of this, so far it has taken up most of my morning dabbling here and there and working out orders and courses which is great.

HMS Defence, hunter.

HMS Inflexible, hunter

SMS Goeben, hunted.

The campaign only lasts for a few campaign days, involves only a small number of ships and although it works best with three players and an umpire it can work with two and an umpire. The resulting battles can of course be safely fought at home. The campaign could also be adapted for any naval rules to be honest, pre-dreadnought up to WWII. I will do a full report on the campaign at a later date, however if anyone wants a copy then let me know.

The Russian 1944/45

The Germans during the war from top to bottom identified the Soviets as 'The Russian' not Russkies as I normally tend to use, but there you go, useless info, I'm full of it.

My own Eastern Front interest lies as the Russians destroy Army Group Centre in Operation Bagration through to the last desperate fighting in the streets of Berlin. Chain of Command for now seems to stop at Kursk in 1943, the Russian list in the rule book is supposed to cover late war but it doesn't, not according to official Russian sources anyway, it is generic and as such works fine. I had to look for myself, I was going with a simple Russian Rifle Platoon and I found information on such quite quickly online, but again nothing is ever simple and we all know that official organisation normally does not extend to the experience of the front line. No matter it is a start.

So for the bog standard Soviet Rifle Platoon for 1944 we have four squads, two Light and two Heavy, the make up of the platoon is as follows:-

Force Rating: Four Sections +5
(If I have got my sums right on the Chain of Command Calculator Force Ratings for Regular troops are; three sections +0, three six man sections -4, four six man sections -1, the Command stays the same.)

1 x Platoon Commander, Lieutenant or Junior Lieutenant with SMG (Senior Leader)
1 x Deputy Commander, Snr Sgt, rifle
1 x Sniper*

2 Light Infantry Sections
1 x Section Commander, Sgt or Jr Sgt, SMG (Junior Leader)
1 x Deputy Commander, Semi-automatic rifle **
1 x Rifleman, SMG
1 x LMG
1 x Assistant for LMG, Rifle ***
4 x Riflemen, Rifle

2 Heavy Rifle Sections
1 x Section Commander, Sgt or Jr Sgt, SMG (Junior Leader)
1 x Deputy Commander, Semi-automatic rifle **
1 x Rifleman, SMG
2 x LMG
2 x Assistant for LMG, Rifle ***
2 x Riflemen, Rifle



* this was reduced from 2 to 1 sometime between summer 43 and 44, only the sniper is mentioned but for wargame purposes I would count this as a two man team, I don't know if the rules handle one man teams
** this could also have been a normal rifle but several organisations give the platoons one of these so it goes to the senior rifleman.
*** this gentleman could also have been armed with SMG


A Soviet Rifle Company had a medical team, so a medic should be added to the support options in the rule book. Rifle Battalions also had access to 82mm mortars in their make up, at least in 1943 so this too should be in the support options. Another interesting aspect here is you make the Deputy Commander a Junior Leader rather than an assistant as befitting his rank.

Now for the good stuff, just as you get this into your head this was the ideal formation on paper, by the time this got to the Front there was probably only one Heavy Section, this is quite likely because like every other belligerent at this late stage of the war even the Soviets were getting short on infantry especially the way they used them. You can also find variations of this organisation online despite each of them claiming to be from the official records however the variations are fairly small and at the end of the day you have to make a decision. The above with only three sections will probably do you until the end of the war for the Rifle Platoon, there was a new organisation for 1945 which reduced the Guards and therefore more than likely the normal Rifle Platoons to six man sections, basically three rifles, one LMG with Assistant along with the section commander. There is a good chance this did not filter through before the war ended, however if you like living dangerously and have crossed the German border it's an option.

The above all pertains to Chain of Command but could easily be used with Bolt Action or any other platoon level rule set if you are an historically minded player.

While looking around the internet I came upon this strange picture, a PzIV with what looks like severe shell damage to the turret and something very strange stuck to the gun, any ideas?

A couple of links
https://www.battleorder.org/ussr-rifle-co-1944
http://www-solar.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~aaron/WW2ORG/sov_InfDiv44.html
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByQYXLuttS5ZZDlHQTdRbXNpcTg/view Calculator

While I am doing my normal and keeping away from people I now have a bunch of WWII civilians and extra bits and pieces for the Germans, British and Russians to see me through the emergency, I also have tentative plans for a small industrial complex nipping away at me. If this is not enough will I have to start a new period?