Any good builds featuring T-34/KV-1 or Commissar?

[crash beedo]

So - most of the time we find ourselves playing the Patton's Rampage type Allied build, or a balanced force with the Easy 8 and Garands and Red Devil, or even the cheesy Jeepzooka swarm.

Does anyone have a 100 point army they like for the Russians? I realize it probably can't be faction-pure at this point, just not enough Russian pieces out there. I know we'd like to see if there is anything that can be done with Commissar and mortars or AT guns, or using the T-34 and KV-1. Thanks for any ideas!

(This is my project this week, trying to put together some Russian builds for next weekend's gaming).

[PatrickWR]

I'm convinced this is a good build, even though I haven't had a good chance to test it yet.

2x KV-1
2x Commissar
1x Cossack Captain
4x Mosin Nagant
1x Flamethrower

Cossack Captain and Flamethrower ride around on the KV-1s and cause as much trouble as possible. Infantry advance towards the objective. On the critical turn, use a Commissar to kill off another Commissar and give your Russian boys a serious boost to secure the objective.

[fifleche]

The Human Wave:

1x KV-1
1x T-34
2x Commissar
10x Mosin-Nagant Infantry

100 pts, 14 figs

The Comissars are on the tanks. Use one of the tanks to tackle light/med ennemy armor. Then, when it is damaged, return to your lines. Always keep one near so your 10 rifle units can swarm the objective/ennemy-held positions. You are slow & predictable because of the need to keep a tank near your troops, but nevertheless hard to counter (we usually play that your opponent doesn't know in advance what you are about to use) because of sheer numbers.

[henrym203]

My younger brother and I usually play 200pts, this is what he uses.

2X kV1
1X T34
1x Sherman
3X humber scout
3X commisar
1X red devil
5X mosin nagant
1X vickers


I have yet to come up with a German army which can defeat it. We usually play town objectives and the best I can do right now is a draw.

I used last game (draw)

SS panther
2X Panzer IV
2X panzer faust
2X pak 30
1X Fhurer
4X SS grenadiers
1X mg42
3X 222
2X mortar

[crash beedo]

Patrick, I really like the KV-1 / Cossack combo, though I won't be able to play it this weekend, we'll probably try to stick with currently available figures.

The Human Wave looks out of my reach too (no 10 Mosin Nagants) though I could probably sub some other cheapie infantry for some of them. I think I have 6 Mosing Nagants in the tackle box. Maybe I can sub in a Mortar or MG to take advantage of the bravery + 1.

[Comassion]

Garands are excellent substitutes for 'better' Russian infantry, and benefit hugely from a Commisar's bravery enforcement and command prescence. I had Garands taking out Panzergrenadiers in a single shot from medium range.

[fifleche]

I have yet to come up with a German army which can defeat it. We usually play town objectives and the best I can do right now is a draw.

I used last game (draw)

SS panther
2X Panzer IV
2X panzer faust
2X pak 30
1X Fhurer
4X SS grenadiers
1X mg42
3X 222
2X mortar
If I were you, I would replace those 3x Sdkfz 222's with 2x Carro-Amato's. MUCH more efficient. See them as highly mobile Pak AT guns. Infantry support/light vehicle hunters/tank mop-up. And speaking of AT guns, I would then take the opportunity of the added AT firepower to remove the two pak's, and add -another- Carro-Amato (the best cityfight tank, IMHO), and 8 pts worth of infantry (SS-Grenadier + Mauser Kar98). Tell me how it goes.

[henrym203]

fifleche,

Thanks for the input, I have 4 carros...will give them a try.

The pak did o-K, damaging a sherman but the dice just didnt seem to be in my favor...especially since the Kv-1 ignores the first damage counter. I had kept my SS panther out of range of the enemy tanks, but 11 dice wasnt enough.

[Aries]

I like the Carro-Amato mobile PAK idea. That is exactly how I was treating it in my first proposed build in my thread. It is only 2 more than the PAK but can move much quicker. The only minus is the flammability. You need to treat it like a "strike and fade" ability where the fade is a 50% chance of brewing up. Strike and Flame

[fifleche]

LOL!
Seriously, tho, you pay 2 pts for what:
-1 attack dice vs armor
+5(!) attack dices VS infantry
4/3 hard defense VS 3/3 soft defense
speed 3 shoot & move VS speed 2 shoot OR move
you loose the -1 on cover rolls
you have 1/3 chance to survive a 2nd hit (yup, if you see the C-A as a highly mobile inf unit, that's how to see it... The Pak DIES at the 2nd hit. If the C-A rolls 1 or 2, it can survive this 2nd hit!).

All this for a measley 2 pts... But then again, if you ask me, the Pak is overpriced a bit... Yup, with the Pak you get +1 dice at all ranges VS armor, but the mobility of the C-A give you the possibility of choosing the engagement range, while the Pak has to sit & wait for the ennemy to show up at whatever range he chooses, or move and be defenseless!

[Bobsalt]

I played a 250-point game w/8 maps against two friends. I "always" build hsitorical forces, but on this one I took 2 T-34's and 3 KV-1's (and a Hellcat). You should have seen their jaws drop. It wasn't a close game. I love the smell of burning Jagpanthers in the evening....

[PatrickWR]

It ain't that much of a stretch to imagine a Hellcat running for the Soviets...after all, they used M10 Wolverines by the end of the war.

[Wayfinder06]

If you can, you can't really do too much wrong with deploying two T-34s relatively close to each other, and putting troops on them (put a mortar or MG crew on them, and drop them off next to a hill or a forest where they can cover a zone). I like to put a couple of Frenchies alongside my Commissar for him to eliminate for the "morale boost."