[updated 26 July 2023]
Theater of War Mission Pack: Operation Barbarossa
Mission: Winter Defense
This is a solo mission in which you use a very limited group of squads, with very limited equipment, to defend a point—which is vulnerable to attacks from three sides—from multiple waves of attacks, each stronger than the one before it. You complete the mission by keeping control of the point through seven waves, but there are another three bonus waves, the last of which includes an attacking Tiger tank.
The early waves are easy to handle, especially if you spread out your defense so that incoming German squads are in a crossfire. Upgrade your engineers with flamethrowers asap. Don’t waste munitions on mines in the early waves, since you don’t know where enemy vehicles will go, and it is usually possible to kill them (scout cars, 251s, mortar halftracks, StuGs, Pz IVs) for free with PTRS rifles and/or your 45mm AT gun. Make sure at least one of your Guards Rifle infantry squads is upgraded with PTRS. The other Guards Rifle squad can be upgraded with LMGs. Put your sniper unit (when it arrives) in the tower. In general, try to keep your dispositions fluid before a battle so the CPU can’t easily map your weak spots and plan attacks on them. Use your munitions points sparingly so that you can afford IL2 strafing support, which will help when you are facing the Panzer IV and later the StuGs and Tiger.
Waves 1 and 2 bring simple infantry attacks from osttruppen and grenadiers, respectively. Wave 3 brings German HMGs, which you can capture. Wave 4 sees the first vehicles—a couple of scout cars that your captured MG42s and PTRS rifles can handle easily. Wave 5 brings a Panzer IV; by this time you will have the 45mm AT gun. Wave 6 brings snipers—have some squads run out and greet them with Molotov cocktails and other forms of Red Army hospitality. In Wave 7 you get strafed and pinned by a Stuka–retreat pinned units to free them up, but keep your sniper in the tower and keep your HMGs covering as much of the point as possible.
When you finish Wave 7 you’ve completed the basic mission requirement and can have a go at the three bonus waves. Wave 8 brings German mortars, which you should run out immediately and capture. Three StuGs come in wave 9—use your CAS call-in and try to position your AT gun and PTRS guys to hit them from different angles. Also try to sink them in the river with mortars, of course. If you have extra muni points at the end of this mission (with enough to spare for another CAS call-in), use your engineer squads to put mines on plausible paths across the ice. A Tiger comes in wave 10, and its very satisfying when it hits a mine and sinks. You can try to sink it with mortars too, of course. If it gets across the ice intact, just keep plugging away with your AT rifles and 45mm gun. It doesn’t do much besides offer you a fat target.
♠♠♠
