Quick background: I am a humanities major, who did a thesis on that darn Sun Tzu guy, applying his integration of morale to modern warfare. It's also used in management. From day one, I was able to gather information about the Ossetian War, that's the one with Georgia, Ossetia, Russia and Abkhazia. By the title, the astute reader knows that most of the fighting took place in Ossetia. Roughly 75-85%, depending on who you ask.
I was looking for a simulator to help me sim the war, and see how accurately the outcome could be predicted, and then I heard about a new patch to a game I liked, this one. BTW - the patch is awesome
And I decided to start taking baby steps to simulating the war, using WinSPMBT. However a word of caution: while I do have most of the correct ORBAT, I am a complete newb in editing, mapping, etc. Any help would be appreciated, and help is needed already, see a few paragraphs below!
First a quick plan: initially I want to take a sample Georgian Battalion vs. a sample Russian Battalion, 591 and 501 men respectively, and have them duke it out over a map of the Caucasian Region, (Komsomolskoye). It should be a meeting engagement.
Meanwhile, I am hoping to create a mini-war, using only 10% of each sides forces, and replecating the Ossetian Region where most of the fighting took place on a mini-map, which is 200x160, as mapping 2575 kilometers of land is not very appealing.
Here's an example of how I am planning to downsize it, using tanks: despite what you may have been told about Russia having 1,200 tanks involved, the US spotted only 150 Russo-Ossetian tanks. Of these, 15 belonged to Ossetia, 10 T-55 and 5 T-72B. Russia introduced 30 T-72BM, 29 T-62 and 76 T-72B tanks. Georgia had 210 total active tanks, of which 180 were used in the war: 30 T-72 Sim-I, 70 Czech T-72s, 60 Ukrainian T-72s, and 20 upgraded versions of T-55AM. BTW, here's a great website
http://www.deagel.com/equipment/Main...2-a000770.aspx for tracking tank purchases. The Russians also left 31 T-72s in Georgia. (The website says that Ukraine sold 91 T-72s, but upon closer examination you notice that 1 T-72 was sold after the war.)
Thus, I would have Russia with 1 T-55, 3 T-62s, 8 T-72Bs, and 3 T-72BMs and Georgia with 3 T-72 SIM-Is, 7 T-72s (Czech) 6 T-72s (Ukrainian)and 2 T-55AMs.
The map will downsize on distances between major cities, and will only feature one city, Tskhinvali, fully. More on the map later.
Thus, I give you the Order of Battle for Battalions:
Russian Battalion:
HQ, Staff & Supply
1st Company
2nd Company
3rd Company
Mortar Battery
Weapons company
HQ, Staff & Supply
(For an active tactical battalion, the Russians sent their HQ Staff to command Companies. Thus the company command unit is a part of HQ staff command, assigned to, and under, companies.)
HQ – 6 men
Sniper Team – 2 men (can also be used to clear area/deliver commands if radio communications break down)
BTR – 80 (Russian Battalions, with slight exceptions, have standardized vehicles. For this “typical” battalion, I chose the BTR-80. In the Ossetian War, (which is what the war should be called, Chechen War, Ossetian War, just makes sense,) there were five regiments, roughly of 2,200 men, as compared to Georgian regiments of 3,300 men, and also five, but more on that later. The Russians had the 135th, 503rd, 693rd of the 58th Army and 70th and 71st of the 42nd Division. The 70th and 71st had BTR-70s, the 135th had a mixture of BMP-1s and BMP-2s, the 503rd had BTR-80s, and the 693rd had BMP-2s.
4 ammunition trucks, (MT-LB) and 4 medical trucks. The Russians used Urals for medical trucks.
Total: 18 (58) men, 12 units, BTR-80A (58-18=40 men and trucks left on base)
1st Company:
Company Command + Igla (9 men) on BTR-80 (2 men) (I used the infantry provided in the BTR ORBAT, and picked the one that was more suitable for infantry v infantry fighting, as Chechens had a lot more infantry than tanks.)
1st Platoon Command + RPG-29 Vampir (standard RPGs for Russians in the Ossetian war were the RPG-29 Vampir (vampire) and RPG-22.
1st Platoon Command Support + Igla (Iglas were standard portable AA guns used by both sides in the war.)
1st Platoon Support Unit + Sniper + MG (I picked the Pecheneg, because it was the MG that was most likely used; additionally the active platoon support units had snipers that could operate independently.)
3 BRT-80s as support
2nd Platoon Command + RPG-29 Vampir
2nd Platoon Comm. Supp. + Igla
2nd Platoon Support + Sniper + MG
3 BTR-80s as support
3rd Platoon Command + RPG-29 Vampir
3rd Platoon Comm. Supp. + Igla
3rd Platoon Support + Sniper + MG
3 BTR-80s as support
Total: 110 men, 33 units, 10 BTR-80As
2nd Company: Same as 1st Company
Total: 110 men, 33 units, 10 BTR-80s
3rd Company: Same as 1st Company
Total: 110 men, 33 units, 10 BTR-80s
Mortar Battery:
Russia trusted their battalion commanders with mortars, who usually granted the company commanders’ requests to use mortars when appropriate. The company commanders in turn relied on the platoon commanders. In short, the Russians were able to demonstrate effective use of mortars when and where needed, whereas the Georgians focused on heavy bombardments, that sometimes hit their own units. Georgian 120mm mortars were under brigade command, while the Russian ones were under battalion command. The Russian mortar batteries usually had 6 82mm Mortars and 3 “Vasilek” auto-82mm mortars. The Vasileks often received GAZ-66 vehicles for support. Additionally the mortar battery had 6 120mm mobile mortars, the 2S12 Sani, which were deployed with the HQ.
Vasilek Mortar Battery – 3 auto-82mm mortars (15 men)
3 GAZ-66 vehicles used as Vasilek mounts (6 men) (They were also usually used to carry the regular, 82mm mortars.)
1st 82mm Mortar Battery – 3 82mm mortars (12 men)
2nd 82mm Mortar Battery – 3 82mm mortars (12 men)
1st Sani Mortar Battery – 2 Sani mortars (8 men)
2nd Sani Mortar Battery – 2 Sani mortars (8 men)
3rd Sani Mortar Battery – 2 Sani mortars (8 men)
Total: 69 men, 18 units
Weapons Battery:
Sometimes the assault just needs a little extra fire. That fire is provided by the weapons battery, which usually consists of AGS-17s, SPG-9s and Konkurs or Fagot AGTMs, mounted on Battalion support vehicles, in our case the BTR-80As. These are deployed between the HQ and the mortar battery, but can also be deployed in the same vicinity.
2 AGS-17s on BTR-80 (8 men)
2 AGS-17s on BTR-80 (8 men)
2 AGS-17s on BTR-80 (8 men)
3 Konkurs (11 men)
3 SPG-9s on BTR-80 (11 men) (I used para SPG-9s, because I couldn’t find any others.)
Total: 44 men, 16 units, 4 BTR-80
Grand Total: 501 men, 145 units, 35 BTR-80 (I know it’s not 100% accurate, but it still gives a startlingly good perspective of what an unsupported Russian battalion looks like. Besides, most of the Russian Battalions going in were up to fighting requirements, but were not perfect. A battalion exactly like the one mentioned above, may have been used in the Ossetian War, and battalions with slight differences were used.)
Georgian Battalion:
HQ, Staff, & Supply
1st Company
2nd Company
3rd Company
Anti-Tank Company (apparently to fight all the tanks that the Taliban had, as Georgians were being armed to fight the Taliban, not Russia. CNN never lies. I also opted to place the AT-Co in the lead, for easier navigation through the Georgian ORBAT.)
(For Georgia, the support units were attached to the respective companies, and it was hoped that the companies would operate independently, with HQ just there to provide oversight. Additionally the companies had portable mortars, (81mm) assigned to them, but no equivalent of the 120mm mortars were present. Georgian battalions needed the rest of the 3,300 man brigade to operate. The brigade’s structure was as follows: HQ + HQ Command – 168 men and 2 BMP-2s, 3 infantry battalions with 591 men, consisting of the companies listed above, mechanized battalion with 380 men, 15 BMP-2s (although some had BMP-1s) and 30 T-72 tanks, either of Czech, Ukrainian or upgraded Israeli design, artillery battalion with 371 men, 18 D-30 guns, 12 120mm mortars and 4 Shilka AA-Guns, Scout Company with 101 men on 8 BTR-80s, (although some had BTR-70s) a Communications Company with 88 men and 3 BTR-80s, although some had BTR-70s) an Engineer Company of 96 men, (funny story about that, ask me later) and a 288 men support battalion. The support battalion provided transportation for the infantry battalions, which is why they are all on foot. They were also sent into combat on foot, and because the Russians were mounted and the Georgians, not so much, the latter ended up being outmaneuvered repeatedly. The Russians are the World’s most mobile army, always have been. In the late ninth century, in Russia’s first major battle against the Byzantine Empire, the Russians managed to mount 100,000 men – a remarkable feat for that time period. The T-34 was the most maneuverable medium tank of WWII. This is why I always laugh when “analysts” are “shocked” that Russians were able to execute such a swift response. Also, the Georgians tried to gear their AT-Companies against the Russian vehicles – but the Russians had years of experience, and were able to escape massive damage by Georgian AT-Cos. Let’s see if the player can do the same, but I won’t digress any further.)
HQ, Staff & Supply:
HQ – 6 men
4 Bunkers – 24 men (used to represent Georgian supplies. The player can opt to use 4 MT-LBs instead)
3 SF Scouts – 12 men (I just used this to fill the manpower gap, and to give Georgia a chance. HQ had 42 total men, I felt like these were the best units. This is one of the very few guesses in the ORBAT.)
Total: 42 men, 8 units
1st Company:
Inf. Co. Command – 10 men
Inf. Pl. Command – 10 men
Inf. Pl. Comm. Supp. – 10 men
Inf. Pl. Comm. Supp. – 10 men
Heavy Infantry with Sniper – 9 men
Inf. Pl. Command – 10 men
Inf. Pl. Comm. Supp. – 10 men
Inf. Pl. Comm. Supp. – 10 men
Heavy Infantry with Sniper – 9 men
Inf. Pl. Command – 10 men
Inf. Pl. Comm. Supp. – 10 men
Inf. Pl. Comm. Supp. – 10 men
Heavy Infantry with Sniper – 9 men
12.7mm MG – 4 men & 12.7mm MG – 4 men
81mm mortar – 4 men & 81mm mortar – 4 men
4 RPG – 7V Teams – 12 men
4 Igla teams – 6 men
Auto GL – 3 men & Auto GL – 3 men
Med Truck – 2 men & Med Truck – 2 men
Total: 173 men, 32 units
(When I saw how perfectly the “Rifle Company +” of the Green ORBAT matched up, I was stunned. Granted, they had AK-74 rifles, not AK-47 rifles, but the structure was perfect. Additionally, I read on Georgia’s NATO integration website, damn good website actually, if only their president was as intelligent as their website makers, that a company of 173 men fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, can’t remember which one. It was a company in the 3rd Infantry Brigade. Considering that Georgia has everything standardized, I quickly added up the 3 companies, and got 173 men. I also read that 169 men fought, leaving 4 men with 2 medical trucks. I believe Georgia uses GAZ-66 for med trucks. The structure is similar, with regular men being 10-13 and support being 8. I added the snipers, because Georgia had snipers. The MGs and the mortars also matched up nicely, and they had an AGL, so I found those. There were 4 Iglas, per company, as those AA-Guns were quite effective. It’s fascinating to note that the Georgians always trained with Iglas, again must be to attack all that aircraft that the Taliban had. Additionally Georgia’s anti-tank capacity was quite strong; hence I added 2 more RPG-7V teams to reflect that. When you multiple 173 by 3, you get 519, and subtracting that from 591, you get 72. 30 goes to the AT-Co and you’re left with 42; 24 were used to supply, which I represented with bunkers. 6 were for HQ. And I used the remaining 12 to give the battalion scouting capacity, which it had to have in order to operate. The astute reader probably noticed that all those brigade units totaled up to 3265, not 3300. The remaining 35 were working with medical equipment for the brigade, at which, and I must give the Georgians credit where it’s due, they were quite efficient.)
2nd Company: same as 1st Company
Total: 173 men, 32 units
3rd Company: same as 1st Company
Total: 173 men, 32 units
AT-Company: the AT company had 30 men in 10 units. I had to choose the AT-4 Fagot, as that was the closest to what was used, that I could find. Some units actually used the Fagot, so it has a dose of realism. The structure should have been 1-3-3-3, not 2-2-2-2-2, but since the rest of the ORBAT matched up nicely, I did what I had to. The AT-Cos served as a basis for Georgia’s AT-Battalion, that was formed after the Ossetian War.
Total: 30 men, 10 units
Grand Total: 591 men, 114 units
Map, Force Comparison, Historical Notes & Other Stuff:
For the map, I have chosen Komsomolskoye. Although it was the Chechen War that took place there, the map shows the area rather well, and after spending scores of hours researching this war, as a hobby, I didn’t want to design a map. Would I design one had Komsomolskoye not been mapped? I don’t know. I will say that in the Caucasus, the areas of combat are often similar. In our case, the Russians are starting in the north and heading south; the Georgians are starting in the south, and heading north. It is a meeting engagement, and it should be played as one.
Overall, the Russian forces were substantially better than their Georgian counterparts, because of training and having actually fought. All of the Russian forces not manning supply lines were a professional fighting force. From the Georgian side, the 4th infantry brigade, one company from the 3rd infantry brigade, 1 company from the 5th infantry brigade and the separate infantry battalion had combat experience. That is not the entire force with combat experience. Additionally the Georgians misused their equipment. For instance, some idiots now think that the reputation of the D-30 Howitzer was tarnished by this war. Bull****. The D-30 Howitzer is an excellent, defensive gun that is supposed to be used for infantry suppression in mass numbers. If you place 18 D-30s against a VDV Company, it is not going to fare well. No Howitzer will. This is why you do not do that. The Russians are also guilty of misusing their forces, albeit to a lesser extent. The TU-22M3 is a strategic bomber, that should not have even been used in this war. It is supposed to fly above 15,000 meters, with fighter protection. It is an excellent bomber. However, when you fly said bomber at 4,000 meters, conveniently in range of all Georgian AA Guns in the area, it is going to get hit. If you have 4 strategic bombers do that, you assure that at least one will be hit. Whoever ordered the TU-22M3 to be used in this war, and in this manner, should… Although to Russia’s credit, to date the TU-22M3 is the only major mistake they made in this war that I found, whereas in Georgia's case... Nogovitsyn getting ambushed was not a major mistake, just a general who wanted to "visit the frontlines" and got shot. A mistake, but not a major one, and the ambush ultimately failed.
I’m not talking about the PR War, where both sides’ mass media tried to play “who can best outdo Stalin’s Pravda”. CNN won, and the New York Times came in second, after claiming that genocide is a form of ethnic cleansing, which is a form of property destruction. The Russian Media usually tacked on a 0 to civilian casualties, with 200 becoming 2,000 and 8 becoming 80. The Jamestown Foundation, notorious hacks that worked hard to start the Iraq War, just made **** up, like claiming that Russia used 1,200 tanks! This is funny because the Caucasus Front had fewer than 700 active tanks. The actual tank number was between 120 and 150, with around 10 T-55s (Ossetian), 69 T-62s, 30 T-72BMs and the rest 81 T-72Bs. Georgia had roughly about 180 tanks, of similar or slightly better quality. CNN’s coverage of massive numbers of Russians, around 100,000, actually demoralized Georgian volunteers, and caused a massive panic in Tbilisi. As a result, CNN is the only news network to be reviled in Russia and Georgia, but hey, at least they made the Guinness Book of Records.
In terms of battalions, having the BMPs and BTRs definitely helped the Russians. The Russians had better leadership, better unit cohesion and more firepower. The Georgians had more men, yet their attacks were often disorganized, as Georgians used Brigade-based attacks, whereas Russians had Battalion-based attacks. A Russian Battalion with a company of artillery (Akatsiya guns) and a group of SpetzNaz support (see our SpN Group in ORBAT,) a VDV company and a tank company, could, and did, operate independently. It was just easier to organize Battalions than Brigades.
This battle isn’t a battle that would have occurred. Rather it is a battle of a standard Russian Battalion, around the time of the Ossetian War, going up against a standard Georgian Battalion, around the time of the Ossetian War. That is my sole intent.
Another reason supplementing that intent, is that each side had over 10 battalions, 6 from the 58th Army, 4 from the 42nd Division and 3 from the Ossetian ORBAT for the Russo-Ossetian side. Georgia had 3 apiece from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th infantry regiments, 1 from the 1st and 5th infantry regiments, and the separate infantry battalion.
I could easily expand this battle into something bigger; but this serves as my first battle, that I created, that is battalion sized. Thus I have no idea what I am doing. I wrote this explanation to help the reader figure out my intent, as I’m honestly a newbie in battle design. Eventually I hope to have enough experience to write a mini-campaign to capture the Ossetian War through the eyes of several Russian commanders, as well as Georgian commanders, whose battle reports I’ve read. Also, if you have any questions about the war, post them here, or e-mail
snipeys@yahoo.com. If you have questions about other wars, First Chechen, Dagestan, Second Chechen, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, e-mail me, and I will respond; this thread however is just to focus on the Ossetian War.
I tried to write a battle based on all this info using the editor, but weird stuff just kept happening, such as the Russian HQ dissapearing, results not being saved, etc. You have the ORBAT and the Map, now I need newbie instructions on the battle design.
Ossetian War Scenario - Info + Help Request
Although for some reason, Georgian SF were of the same quality as mercenary battalions, and had the same structure too, but of course mercs didn't fight, as mass media said so...) 
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