User blog comment:Urbancommando77/Battle of the Allies: 3rd Shock Army V.S. French Foreign Legion/@comment-4661256-20141013221639

El Alamein's Edges:

 Melee: Soviet Machete vs. Camillus:  The Soviet Machete is a fearsome weapon - it's got a lot of surface area that has a lot of potential for killing. A powerful downward slash from that weapon will seriously ruin someone's day, and in the hands of a burly Russian soldier, it's going to do a lot of damage. The Camillus, on the other hand, is smaller and more reserved, but has the ability to deliver puncture wounds (stabs) as well as slashes. Although everyone is denouncing the Machete as being a "makeshift" weapon, I'm still inclined to give it the edge. We saw on Deadliest Warrior that the Camillus could not stand up to the Kukri knife (which was, like the Soviet Machete, a huge, hacking, overkill of a blade), and I don't think it can stand up to the raw power of the Machete here either.

Edge: Third Shock Army

 Close Range: TT-33 vs. MAB:  Both of these guns are bringing seriously underperforming rounds to the battle - neither the Tokarev's dinky 7mm round nor the MAB's .25 are going to perform well in this fight. That being said, the TT-33 has a better reputation historically, and I think it's clear to see why - not only is the TT-33 heavier (giving it more weight and control in a firefight) but it has a larger magazine capacity (8 rounds vs. 5 rounds), and that makes all the difference in this comparison.

Edge: Third Shock Army

 Mid Range: PPSh-41 vs. MAS-38:  Easy win for the PPSh, if you ask me. Sure, the magazine sizes are damn near identical, and 3 rounds won't make much of a difference with an automatic weapon, but what will make the difference is rate of fire. The MAS has a very decent rate of fire of 600-700 rds/min. The PPSh-41 blows that out of the water with an insane 900 rds/min. The Russians can simply lay down such a ridiculous level of suppressing fire with their weapons that the French will not be able to maneuver as effectively under such a heavy concentration of fire. The MAS-38, by contrast, cannot perform such feats of suppression as easily. Another thing to take into account is the PPSh's 50 m advantage when it comes to effective firing range (150 m vs. 100 m).

Edge: Third Shock Army

 Long Range: Mosin-Nagant vs. MAS-36:  The Mosin-Nagant rifle is the bread and butter of the Soviet military. It's durable, reliable, and accurate. The Mosin-Nagant's very respectable 500 m effective range can easily be beefed up with a sniper's scope, but even without the scope it still outranges the MAS-36's 400 m. The Mosin-Nagant also has a superior muzzle velocity (865 m/s vs. 823 m/s), which translates to greater stopping power. It's very close, but couple these factors with the Soviet soldiers' greater reliance on their rifle than the French soldiers' reliance on theirs, and you have a winning combination.

Edge: Third Shock Army

 Special Weapons: Coach Gun vs. BAR:  No contest. The BAR has a larger magazine, a faster rate of fire, a longer effective range, and still packs a hell of a punch with the .30-06 round. The Coach Gun would be useful (maybe) in a close-range fight, but 2 rounds will do it no favor when compared to almost any other weapon, especially against the BAR.

Edge: French Foreign Legion

 Explosive Weapons: Molotov Cocktail vs. F1 Grenade:  Again, no contest. The Molotov Cocktail is simply not a military-grade weapon, and any number of factors instantly complicate its effective deployment (most prominently, will the flames even get on the intended target?) - a lack of shrapnel or concussive pressure wave makes its use less than effective in most situations. The F1 Grenade has no such problems - its fragmentation and concussive power make it deadly.

Edge: French Foreign Legion

WINNER: THIRD SHOCK ARMY

Everyone's saying FFL because "better trained," but training will only take you so far in a combat scenario. The fact is, the Third Shock Army is a group of hardened veterans - they've fought through the Russian winter and all the way to Berlin, losing men the whole way through but never slowing down. The FFL, in my opinion, was not as involved in such large-scale operations in WWII - they simply had less of an impact on Allied victory. In a larger scale 15 vs 15 fight, the disadvantages the FFL has with SMGs and rifles will really hamper their ability to fight effectively, whereas the edges the Russians lose out with grenades and special weapons are really less important on the overall outcome of the fight. Ultimately, the greater combat experience and harshly grim determination of the Third Shock Army will see them through this battle and defeat their French foes.