650th Rifle Regiment

A Soviet Rifle Company Recreated in 15 mm

This project reconstructs, in 15 mm scale and for the Crossfire wargame system, a reduced and reinforced Soviet rifle company during the final struggle for the Barrikady district at Stalingrad.

The force is specifically inspired by the 650th Rifle Regiment of the 138th Rifle Division, one of the formations that held the narrow Soviet bridgehead east of the Barrikady Gun Factory in November 1942. Its soldiers fought among shattered workers' housing, ruined industrial buildings, trenches and shell holes, with the River Volga immediately behind them.

The reconstruction combines historical research, the detailed battlefield studies of Jason D. Mark, the Crossfire rules and the practical basing and force-building guidance developed by Steven Thomas on the Balagan website.

The result is not intended as a literal reproduction of every man present at a single hour. It is a historically grounded interpretation of an exhausted rifle company, reinforced with surviving support weapons and adapted to the distinctive tactical language of Crossfire.

The 138th Rifle Division at Stalingrad

The 138th Rifle Division was transferred into Stalingrad during the fighting for the northern industrial district in October 1942. Under Colonel Ivan Ilyich Lyudnikov, it crossed the Volga and entered the Barrikady sector, where Soviet troops were attempting to prevent the German Sixth Army from reaching the river and eliminating the last bridgeheads of the 62nd Army.

The division included three rifle regiments:

·       344th Rifle Regiment;

·       650th Rifle Regiment;

·       768th Rifle Regiment.

These were supported by the division's artillery and by engineer, antitank, signals, reconnaissance, medical and service elements. Colonel Sergei Yakovlevich Tychinskiy served as the division's artillery commander.

The Barrikady battlefield bore little resemblance to open-country warfare. The gun factory, railway lines, workers' settlements and strongly built houses had been broken into isolated fragments by bombardment. Rubble blocked movement, walls channelled attacks and cellars became defensive positions. Units separated by only a short distance could lose contact with one another, while command, resupply and casualty evacuation became increasingly difficult.

As the German attacks pushed eastwards, the area held by the 138th Rifle Division contracted into a narrow strip beside the Volga. This isolated bridgehead later became widely known as “Lyudnikov's Island”. It was not literally an island, but a pocket cut off from neighbouring Soviet formations on the landward side and dependent upon the dangerous river crossing for reinforcement and supply.

The 650th Rifle Regiment

The 650th Rifle Regiment, commanded by Major Pechenyuk, formed part of the division's defence in the Barrikady workers' settlement and the approaches to the Volga.

By November, the term “regiment” could give a misleading impression of its real strength. The division had already suffered heavily, and its rifle formations were reduced to small groups holding individual buildings, trenches and fragments of ruined ground. Formal boundaries between companies and platoons remained important for command, but the actual fighting was often carried out by improvised detachments centred on the men and weapons still available.

The regiment's position was connected with the fighting around buildings identified in the battlefield records as Dom 37 and Dom 38. These numbered houses were not important because of their names or architectural distinction. They mattered because every surviving structure could dominate a short approach, shelter a small garrison and form another link in the shrinking Soviet defensive system.

The original garrison of Dom 37 included troops of the 1st Company, 650th Rifle Regiment. As the fighting intensified, the defenders were reinforced and reorganised. The struggle for these positions between 13 and 17 November 1942 illustrates the fragmented character of the Barrikady battle: repeated attacks, close-range fire, damaged communications and very small groups attempting to hold ground that could no longer be defended by intact formations.

14 November 1942: a division near breaking point

The surviving figures for 14 November reveal the extreme condition of the 138th Rifle Division more clearly than any general description.

On that day the division recorded:

·       22 killed;

·       93 wounded;

·       115 total casualties.

The combined remaining combat strength of its rifle regiments was reported as only 244 men. Their recorded weapons comprised:

·       164 rifles;

·       70 PPSh submachine guns;

·       2 light machine guns;

·       5 antitank rifles;

·       2 heavy machine guns;

·       6 mortars;

·       2 antitank guns.

These totals refer to the surviving combat strength of the division's rifle regiments as a whole, not to the 650th Rifle Regiment alone. They must therefore not be used as an exact company return. Nevertheless, they provide essential context for the model force: the Soviet defenders were no longer operating according to their full theoretical establishment. Men and weapons had been lost, redistributed or concentrated wherever they were most urgently required.

The 344th Rifle Regiment also lost one heavy machine gun and one 45 mm antitank gun during the fighting. At 16.00, German artillery, mortars and machine guns began a methodical preparation against the forward positions of both the 344th and 650th Rifle Regiments. The episode demonstrates how even a small surviving position could be subjected to the combined firepower of several weapon systems before the infantry attack began.

The figures also help explain the unusually high proportion of PPSh submachine guns among the remaining weapons. In the confined ruins of Stalingrad, short-range automatic weapons were particularly valuable. Rifles remained the most numerous weapons, but the surviving force had become a compact close-combat formation shaped by the battlefield on which it was fighting.

The Soviet rifle company and battlefield reality

A Soviet rifle company was normally organised around a company command element and three rifle platoons. Each platoon contained rifle squads whose firepower included rifles, submachine guns and DP light machine guns. Light mortars could provide immediate support, while heavier machine guns, 82 mm mortars, antitank rifles and 45 mm antitank guns were allocated from higher levels or concentrated according to the tactical situation.

Official organisation, however, describes an authorised structure. It does not necessarily describe the force actually present after weeks of combat.

At Barrikady, casualties, isolation, broken communications and the redistribution of surviving weapons transformed the paper organisation. A company might retain its commander and three nominal platoons while possessing only a fraction of its authorised personnel. Support weapons might be detached, lost, combined into improvised groups or assigned temporarily to whichever position was threatened.

For that reason, this project does not attempt to impose a full-strength theoretical organisation upon the documented reality of 14 November. The historical establishment provides the basic framework; the surviving divisional return provides the atmosphere and scale of attrition; Crossfire provides the language through which both are represented on the table.

From the historical company to Crossfire

In Crossfire, the basic infantry stand represents a squad or section rather than the individual miniature soldiers mounted on it. A base carrying three figures therefore represents a complete tactical group, not merely three men.

For this project, one 30 x 30 mm infantry base represents one rifle squad. The basing system follows the practical 15 mm conventions developed by Steven Thomas on the Balagan website, providing a consistent visual distinction between rifle squads, command elements and support weapons.

The model force contains nine rifle-squad stands, arranged as three reduced platoons of three squads each. This preserves the recognisable three-platoon structure of a rifle company while representing a formation that has already suffered severe losses.

The nine stands are not a claim that a particular company of the 650th Rifle Regiment possessed exactly nine effective squads on 14 November 1942. They are a reasoned wargame interpretation: large enough to retain a company identity, but visibly reduced when compared with an untouched paper establishment.

Rifle squads, the DP-27 and the PPSh

The rifle-squad stands combine soldiers armed with rifles and submachine guns. One base includes a DP-27 light machine gun as a visual reminder of the squad's organic automatic firepower.

The DP-27 is not treated as a separate heavy-machine-gun element. Its battlefield effect is incorporated into the rifle squad represented by the stand. This is comparable to the treatment of squad-level light machine guns elsewhere in Crossfire: the miniature shows the weapon, but the base remains a rifle squad.

The presence of PPSh submachine guns is especially appropriate to the November fighting. The divisional strength return for 14 November recorded 70 PPSh among only 244 remaining combat troops in the rifle regiments. The model force therefore includes visible submachine guns without turning every stand into a specialised assault unit.

The PTRD antitank rifle

One rifle-squad base includes a PTRD antitank rifle. This weapon is represented within the squad rather than duplicated as a second independent antitank-rifle stand.

The decision reflects both the historical return and the scale of the game. Five antitank rifles remained across the division's rifle regiments on 14 November, but Crossfire compresses personnel and equipment into tactical elements. A single visible PTRD gives the force the correct historical character without exaggerating the number of independently manoeuvring teams.

In the ruins of Barrikady, the antitank rifle was not limited to engaging tanks in open ground. Its projectile could also threaten firing apertures, lightly protected positions and vehicles exposed at close range, although it remained a limited weapon against the frontal armour of later German tanks.

The 50 mm mortar

The force contains one 50 mm mortar stand, representing the company's surviving immediate indirect-fire capability.

Light mortars were intended to support rifle troops against targets hidden behind walls, rubble and folds in the ground. Their short range and modest explosive effect limited them, but their portability made them valuable in a battlefield where movement through ruins was difficult.

The single stand is an abstraction. It does not assert that only one light mortar served with the historical company. Instead, it represents the reduced and irregular availability of such weapons after prolonged combat.

Attached support weapons

The company is reinforced by weapons and observers representing support allocated from battalion, regimental or divisional resources:

·       one Maxim heavy-machine-gun team;

·       one observer for 82 mm mortar fire;

·       one artillery forward observer;

·       one 45 mm antitank gun.

The Maxim represents the sustained defensive fire that a surviving heavy machine gun could provide across streets, rubble corridors and exposed approaches. The 82 mm mortar observer represents heavier indirect fire positioned outside the immediate company formation, while the artillery observer connects the small defending force to the division's remaining fire-support system.

The 45 mm antitank gun gives the force a direct-fire weapon suitable for covering a street or narrow approach. Its inclusion is historically plausible within the wider divisional defence, but it should be understood as attached support rather than an organic weapon of the rifle company.

Together, these elements create a temporary combined-arms group: not a full regiment in miniature, but a small part of the defensive network assembled from whatever men, weapons and communications remained available.

Command and political representation

The company includes a command stand and a separate political-officer figure traditionally identified in wargaming terms as a commissar.

This figure should not be interpreted as a second battlefield commander controlling every tactical decision. The Soviet command system changed during 1942, and the earlier system of equal military and political authority was abolished in October. Political personnel nevertheless continued to serve within the Red Army, with responsibilities connected to morale, discipline, political work and cohesion.

On the table, the figure represents that continuing political and morale function within an exhausted formation. It also provides a recognisable visual element, but it is not used to suggest the simplified stereotype of Soviet soldiers being driven forward without tactical judgement.

Optional armoured support

For selected scenarios, the infantry force may be supported by a T-34 representing the 84th Tank Brigade. This is an optional scenario element rather than a permanent component of the company.

German armoured vehicles, including a Panzer III of the 14th Panzer Division or a StuG III, may be used as opposing scenario elements. Their presence should depend upon the action being represented rather than upon a fixed army list.

This approach keeps the central identity of the collection clear: it is first and foremost a Soviet infantry force of the 138th Rifle Division, built around the men who defended the Barrikady bridgehead.

Crossfire as a historical interpretation

Crossfire, designed by Arty Conliffe, is particularly suited to Stalingrad because it emphasises initiative, lines of sight, suppression, close combat and the tactical effect of dense terrain rather than fixed movement distances.

The Barrikady district was divided by:

·       ruined houses and industrial buildings;

·       railway lines and embankments;

·       trenches, shell holes and rubble;

·       narrow fields of fire;

·       isolated strongpoints;

·       uncertain communications between neighbouring positions.

These conditions fragmented units and forced infantry to move between small areas of cover. A few surviving men with a machine gun, mortar or antitank rifle could temporarily dominate an approach, while the loss of a single building might expose the next position behind it.

The model army is therefore not a generic Soviet force assembled only from a game list. It is an attempt to translate a documented historical situation into the tactical language of Crossfire: three reduced platoons, integrated squad weapons, a handful of precious support elements and a defensive identity rooted in a specific division, regiment, place and period.

Modelling the 650th Rifle Regiment

The miniatures were painted to create a coherent but varied late-1942 Soviet force. Khaki and brown uniforms were deliberately allowed to vary slightly from figure to figure, reflecting differences in cloth, wear, dust and field conditions. Soviet green helmets provide a cooler contrast, while rifles, equipment and flesh tones remain strongly defined so that the figures are readable at 15 mm scale.

The bases use an earth-and-rubble finish rather than green grass. Broken brick, stone fragments and uneven ground connect the figures visually to the devastated Barrikady district. The result is intended to look convincing both as a complete army and as small groups photographed among urban terrain.

The painting method combines a black primer, blocked base colours, controlled washes, selective highlights and very fine dark lining. Vallejo colours were used throughout, with the final details protected by a clear satin finish.

As with the historical reconstruction, the modelling approach balances accuracy and interpretation. The colours are based on plausible Soviet uniforms and equipment, but contrast and highlights are adjusted so that the figures remain legible at gaming distance and under photographic lighting.

Sources and acknowledgements

This project is based principally on Jason D. Mark's Island of Fire, used for the identification of the 138th Rifle Division's commanders and units, the fighting around Dom 37 and Dom 38, the operations of 13-17 November 1942, and the divisional strength and casualty figures for 14 November.

The model force was adapted to Crossfire, by Arty Conliffe, using the practical 15 mm basing guidance published by Steven Thomas on the Balagan website.

The finished army represents a historically informed, reduced and reinforced company of the 650th Rifle Regiment. It is not presented as an exact surviving strength return for one identified company at one precise hour.

Only photographs of the author's own miniatures and models are intended for this page. No reconstructed or artificially generated historical image is required.

This project is presented for historical, educational and modelling purposes. It does not celebrate the ideology or political system represented by the forces depicted.

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