Hello everyone, I'm Das. Before starting today's article. I would like to briefly introduce this RTS (real-time strategy) game - "Iron Master". The game aims to recreate the battlefields of the Western and Eastern Fronts in World War II. Players can fight AI enemies in a single-player campaign, or multiplayer co-op against several opponents in a large 10v10 map. Players can use troops with historical archetypal backgrounds to configure them with their own battle group. The game has been released for two generations now. Its developer, Eugen Studios, is also a game production team with extensive development experience.
Two generations of "Master of Steel" authors have accumulated more than 700 hours of play. To be honest, what fascinates me most about this game is that it has combat units based on historical prototypes. Starting with this issue, our article will also begin with an introduction to the prototypes of the various styles of "divisions" in the game.
Well, without further ado, please read the first issue of the historical prototype of our "Master of Steel" series - "Bezuguri" rapid cluster.
The Bezuguri Rapid Cluster is one of the starting Soviet units that we can use in the second generation of the game. It was officially positioned as a B-class mechanizer.
Eugen's production team used the "division" in the game, or more precisely, a synthetic battle group. Depending on the type of use, the cards are divided into: Reconnaissance, Infantry, Tanks, Support, Anti-Tank Guns, Anti-Aircraft, Anti-Aircraft, Artillery, Aircraft, and Defense. Players can adjust their cards to meet the various combat needs of the game.
The divisions in "Master of Steel" have their own historical archetypes, but also have their own distinctive characteristics. Of course, each deck has a large number of generic units. These unit authors do not want to introduce them one by one, but focus on the historical prototypes of those characteristic units.
"Bezuguri" rapid cluster
The official introduction to the Bezuguri cluster in the game
To say that the most prominent feature of the "Bezuguri" rapid cluster is the two "T-VI" and one "SU-88" that appear in the unit introduction. As the starting 18 "divisions", these two weapons are rare and powerful cards even in the German cards. So how did they get into the kaku of the "Bezuguri" fast cluster?
Before that, let's return to the first question. Who is "Bezuguri"? Usually, a tactical formation of ad hoc formations is usually named after its supreme commander. According to the official introduction, the "Bezuguri" was a fast unit under the 39th Army, the core of which was the 28th Tank Brigade of the Guards.
So would "Bezuguri" be the commander of the 28th Tank Brigade of the Guards? The author consulted the material and found that none of the successive commanders of the Guards Tank Brigade were called "Bezuguri". So what kind of Holy Spirit is "Bezuguri"?
It turned out that in Operation Bagrakiang, the 28th Tank Brigade of the Guards, which belonged to the 39th Army, was reinforced to the 5th Guards Infantry Corps. The Ministry was given an important breakthrough task. The commander of the army at the time was Bezuguri Ivan Semyonovich. The 5th Guards Infantry Corps consisted of three Guards (17, 19 and 91) infantry divisions.
Commander of the 5th Guards Infantry Corps, Bezouguri Ivan Semyonovich
Well, now we finally know the ins and outs of the "Bezuguri" battle group. Next, let's take a look at how Eugen restored such a unit in the game.
The 5th Guards Infantry Corps was deployed in the area south of the city of Vitebsk in Operation Bagration. The department was subordinate to the 39th Army/3rd Belorussian Front. The Fronts gave them the important task of cooperating with the First Baltic Front in breaking through and encircling the German Vitebsk group. To this end, the army group has strengthened a large number of synthetic troops for them. In this way, the enemy achieves absolute superiority.
T-VI
The T-VI is also known as the Tiger heavy tank. The owner of the T-VI of "Bezuguri" was the 28th Tank Brigade of the Guards. It turned out that the battle around Vitebsk was more than one in June 1944. Let's set the timeline back half a year. The predecessor of the 3rd Belorussian Front, which was also called the Western Front, began to fight for the city of Uyghur. Correspondingly, the Germans also brought in several armored units, including two (501st and 505th) heavy armor battalions. In the end, after three battles, the two sides also failed to divide the victory and defeat in Vitebsk. But the 28th Guards Tank Brigade received a great gift. They captured two Tiger tanks from the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion during the operation. The officers and men of the Guards Tank Brigade, who were not wealthy, could hardly refuse this great gift. After repainting the red star and "Тигр", it was incorporated into its own battle queue. In the next "Bagrakiang" operation, the two "giant beasts" will change the flag to complete the revenge battle.
"Тигр" T-VI in the game
SU-88
Su-88, also known as the "Rhino" tank destroyer. The vehicle's combat prowess comes from a Pak 43 88 mm gun. It had the ability to penetrate even the most powerful tanks of the Soviet Army at the time. After being captured by the Soviets, it was given a very Soviet code name, SU-88. However, although the Red Army did capture and use this enemy weapon. However, the author does not have a record of the use of the vehicle explicitly by the Guards Tank Brigade or even other units of the "Bezuguri" cluster. Of course, in the Vitebsk region of operation "Bezuguri". The Germans did deploy a large number of units equipped with Rhino tank destroyers, the 519th Heavy Tank Fighter Battalion.
"Rhino" tank destroyer of the 519th Heavy Tank Fighter Battalion. Vitebsk region
Magic or Muggles?
Well, after introducing the characteristic units of "Bezuguri". Let's talk about how well Eugen has restored the history of this force.
The Vitebsk offensive was essentially a joint operation between the two fronts. The 39th Army, where the "Bezuguri" cluster was located, was a battle group that gathered the full strength of the Front.
reconnoiter
As a breakthrough force. Reconnaissance forces are indispensable. The reconnaissance cards of the game 'Bezuguri' are complete and rich. Everything from scouts to armored reconnaissance vehicles to reconnaissance tanks.
infantry
The main force of the Bezuguri is still three Guards infantry divisions. In addition, Eugen gave them disciplinary unit cards (with the characteristics of "discouragement"). With the progress of operation "Bagrachion". Belarus was liberated. Former Red Army soldiers who had been captured by the Germans would have the opportunity to make a contribution to the penal units.
tank
As mentioned earlier. The game's Bezuguri can have up to two T-VI Tiger tanks. Besides. As officially introduced. The 28th Guards Tank Brigade did not have priority for equipment. This was reflected in the summer of 1944, when the T-34 medium and T-70 light tanks were still mixed. Even the SU-76 and SU-122 self-propelled guns were incorporated to make up for the tank's deficiencies. The game recreates this history well. In the game though. Eugen gave the Bezuguri tank deck a KV-1S command form. After reviewing the war footprints of the 28th Guards Tank Brigade, the author did not find any record of the brigade explicitly equipped with the KV-1S, not to mention that the KV-1S was usually used by heavy tank regiments.
Prior to the operation, the 28th Guards Tank Brigade consisted of a mixture of Soviet and German light, medium and heavy tanks, and even self-propelled guns. As Eugen describes in the introduction. The ministry did not have priority equipment rights, and even equipped itself with self-propelled guns to make up for the shortage of tanks.
support
The "Bezuguri" support column is very ordinary. The Guards Infantry Division could only supply heavy machine guns and infantry guns. Assault Sappers will also provide additional Sapper strength. In addition, there are SU-122s supplied due to the reinforcement of the 28th Tank Brigade of the Guards.
Anti-tank
The anti-tank deck of the "Bezuguri" is equally unremarkable. The Guards Infantry Division supplied only the less than satisfactory 45 mm M-42 anti-tank gun and anti-tank rifle. Due to the reinforcement of the 725th and 953rd Self-Propelled Guns, a large number of SU-76Ms were added by Eugen to the anti-tank deck. The Su-76M was equipped with the Zis-3 although it was a multi-purpose gun. However, due to shell problems, when used as an anti-tank gun, its armor-piercing ability is inferior to that of the sworn enemy "Weasel" series. The SU-88 (SuJiao "Rhinoceros") has great armor-piercing abilities. However, since there is only 1 vehicle, this leads to extra caution in the use of the game.
Su-88 of the game "Bezuguri". The level of magic is high. Interestingly, the basic livery of the German and Soviet versions in the game is consistent tri-color camouflage. Is this an implication that the car may have been seized for personal use during the trip?
air defence
"Bezuguri" is a synthetic cluster. In the game their air defense also has two directions: towed and self-propelled.
ZSU M15 of "Bezuguri". This kind of rental weapon is quite magical.
artillery
The artillery of the game 'Bezuguri' is not very powerful. The 120 mm mortars of the Guards Infantry Division, the 76 mm or 122 mm division guns are completely "missing". As compensation, two sets of SU-76M were provided. This was two self-propelled artillery regiments reinforced at neta to the Guards 5th Infantry Corps. However, in Operation Bagrakiang, the artillery of the 5th Guards Infantry Corps was indeed very strong, as a breakthrough force for the Army Group. It was also natural to concentrate the vast majority of artillery units for them.
The Guards 5th Infantry Corps in Operation Bagrakiang was not short of artillery. In addition to their own divisional artillery. In fact, the 39th Army reinforced them with several mortar and artillery units.
air force
The Air Force is also a relatively easy place to magic in the game. After all, as long as an airplane flew over my head, eugen could claim that the division was supported. However, it is undeniable that in operation Bagrakion, the Soviet Air Force had absolute strength. Some aircraft of the 1st Air Army will support the Vitebsk offensive in which Bezuguri participated. In the game, "Bezuguri" has quite powerful air force cards. Especially ground attack aircraft. Once air supremacy is seized, the massive number of ground attack aircraft cards of the "Bezuguri" will certainly be able to further expand the results of the battle.
1st Aviation Army supporting the 3rd Belorussian Front. It has a very strong strength. Of course, their main task was to support the direction of Orsha. Interestingly, for the sake of gameplay, it seems that the fighter of the "Bezuguri" is consciously weakened. In fact, the Aviation Army has a more advanced Yak-7/9 than the yak-1 in the game
In summary, the "Bezuguri" is a captured heavy chariot. The pros and cons are obvious units. Have a powerful deck of ground attack aircraft, but no equally powerful fighter jet to take over the air. In the game, "Bezuguri" relies heavily on cooperation with teammates. In order to play the characteristics in addition.
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