Flames of War - Soviet Starter Force M4 Sherman Forward Detachment

Forward Detachments (Peredovoye Otryad) came in all sizes, but by 1944 they were all combined arms formations, containing infantry, tanks, guns or assault guns, and engineers. The Forward Detachments kept the momentum of the advance by securing deep objectives by surprise and hindering German attempts to establish new defensive lines.

If a Forward Detachment meets stiff German resistance, the following infantry, supported by an anti-tank battalion, would dig in to hold against the inevitable German counterattack.

The Forward Detachment would then move around the hardpoint to continue the advance, with mechanised or tank forces trailing them. Later, infantry forces would arrive to complete the destruction of the defensive hardpoint.