From my understanding, the doctrine agrees with the "middle of the speed safety slider." But with some interesting execution. The idea is that once the gap has been made in the enemies line and the tank formations flow in, the density of defense will be much lower. So, the scout cars and light forces are the first to rush in, trying to be as close to the extreme speed side of the slider. They're purpose is not to find the location of AT or machine guns, but rather to find where they aren't. A successful armoured car is the one who found no combat, but a path that led deeper into the enemys operational depth. Success is reinforced and the tanks follow with tankodesaniki mounted at full speed, never dismounting, sometimes even for suspected enemy positions. But, one the tanks or tank riders are fired upon, the riders hop of the tanks and, crucially, the tanks stop and blow away whatever fired at the formation. If it's something far away, the tankodesanikis job is just to stay out of trouble and lie in the grass. If it's short range the ppsh goes to work. The whole idea is your creating a dilemma for a weaker opponent that prioritizes speed without losing too much safety. If the defenders choose to fire before you get close, you will have killed minimal tank riders, while the 10 85mm of a tank formation know where you're hidden. The longer you choose to wait to open fire, the more and more powerful the ppsh becomes, the more and more overbearing the tanks get and the smaller and smaller your kill zone gets. Soviet doctrine is all about this type of dilemma. Both solutions are bad for the defender. An important thing to remember is that tankodesantiki are not supposed to be fighting stiff resistance. They are not assualt troops, they are part of the soviet's exploitation arm.

this tactic is also popular in desert campaigns or terrains because in that situation no one has cover anyway lmao

It's also worth noting that the Soviet embrace of submachine guns came after they experienced heavy losses to them in Finland in 1939. Handfuls of Finns with SMG's took out company sized elements of Soviet troops on multiple occasions. Basically from late 1940 through 1945 the Soviets were continuously producing SMG's because they found out the hard way how effective they could be.

First! Also love these unit reviews so much, always really interesting to hear you describe their history and organization

One of the reasons the Soviets were such a preponderant of issuing SMGs in mass was simply cost. SMGs are stamped, rifles are machined. iirc The difference in cost between was like $15 USD difference in favor of the PPSH and could be produced almost twice as fast. The PPSH and two drums could be issued for almost the same cost as a singe Mosin.

These unit guides are always such a real pleasure! Keep it up man!

After all the campaigns in Normandy with the brits i am sure your mouth is watering at the sight of the volume of fire of those PPSh

new hapless vid dropped explaining the intricate details of a game I don't own. excited

Shame that none of them are carrying the red flag of the USSR, like in the films and seen in berlin pictures, it would be quite an interesting sight to see.

Picked up CMRT the other day and played the Tankovyi Desant mission as my first real test after the training campaign. These guys absolutely kick ass and are unstoppable when you're properly supported by the T-34s. Definitely need to go everywhere in platoon strength though, the only radio I had in an entire company belonged to the company commander and I had to have him sitting in shouting range of both platoon commanders so he could relay it to the tanks. Tons of fun playing as them though, can't even stomach the idea of playing Germans because the Soviet caveman murderblob is just so cool.

Fun Fact:

I believe that at most combat ranges, the ppsh would be effective at engaging targets tbh.

Got CMRT and the DLC just 2 days ago, playing through some of the scenarios I have had multiple pixeltruppen die to SU-152s while riding tanks, not from the rounds impacting the tanks but rather pancaking the poor souls who got in the way of the round as it passed over top of the tank

Great video. Will we get a follow up about Toyotadesantniki?

to give desant riders a fair shake, most other battle taxi options only offered marginal better protection (and given how they are most likely open topped, sometimes not at all), so in any cases where desant riders would get massacred, a haft track wouldn't have faired much better.

eh, the whole "doctrine" was that there weren't enough trucks, and barely any half trucks in the soviet army. once the breakthrough occured, tanks needed infantry support - hence this "tactic".

Good job, I know these videos aren't easy to make. Keep up the great work man!

Did not the Soviets use a variation of this in which they towed various kinds of sleds behind tanks on which their soldiers could ride providing more cover in some circumstances? Thanks for another great video!

Are you stalking me lol, I just picked up red thunder 😂

I always find these videos so interesting and, I never played CM. Might have to give it a try soon.