I need Axis help against Russia

[Dashofpepper]

Hey folks!

I feel like a lot of Axis guides and strategies rely on rushing into Russia and felling Moscow - but I haven’t been able to make it work.  This is the general German progress:

G1:  Germany takes France and Yugoslavia, walks into Bulgaria and Finland.

G2: German armor moves east.
I2:  Italy declares war on Russia and takes Eastern Poland.

G3: Germany stacks up in Eastern Poland, starts bombing Russia.
I3: Italy takes Western Ukraine.

G4: Germany stacks up in Western Ukraine, bombs Russia. At this point, Russia is usually stacked up in Bryansk.
I4:  Italy takes Ukraine.

G5: Germany stacks up in Ukraine (to go around the Bryansk stack via Rostov / Volgograd)

By this time, there’s ~15-20 infantry and 30-35 tanks with the german stack, along with the planes.  It’s not enough to break through the Russian defense in Bryansk, even though there are 8-10 tanks moving east every turn to join the stack; when Baltic and Novgorod clear out, I send whatever minimal force north I can to take them away - but about this time western europe gets invaded by the allies, and I have to pause in my tank building to get a turn or two of infantry defending germany and france.

Eventually, Japan starts creeping into Russia from the far east, but there is no break through for a clean kill on Russia.

Advice?

[Zhukov44]

You can try stacking Belorussia instead of Western Ukraine.  I prefer this way because it allows me to secure my left flank (Novgorod, Scandanavia, and possibly run some mechanized units around Russia’s right) and I don’t have to worry about the Bryansk stack.  From Belo, the Germans can bypass Bryansk by moving to Smolnsk.

That said, it ought to be tough for Russia to pull off the Round 4 Bryansk stack unless they get alot of help from UK fighters or if they get the opportunity because German air is out of range.  Your G1 and G2 buys might not be the most efficient or you might not be getting every possible unit in range.

[Arthur Bomber Harris]

Here are tips to push into Moscow.  This plan does have some flexibility to either do more air force, land units, or naval forces with flex spending.

I1:  Buy 1 mech and 1 tank.   VERY IMPORTANT FOR CAN OPENING

G2: Buy minimum 10 fast movers on Western Germany
I2: Declare war, move into Eastern Poland

G3: Declare war, have main stack join forces in Eastern Poland; buy additional fast movers in W. Germany
I3: Move into Belarus.  I have mastered the Northern route.  Much easier to learn and thrive this option.

G4: Move main stack into Belarus, capture Novgorod
I4: Move into Bryansk

G5: Move main stack into Bryansk.  Calculate how many planes are required to land there to prevent counterattack.  VERY IMPORTANT!  Have <~10% chance of successful Russian attack on your stack.  If he wants to test his luck, let him.
I5:  Calculate if Moscow can survive a G6 attack.  If they can, move stack to Rostov

G6: Capture Caucasus and Volgagrod.  Return air force to counter Allied invasions in W. Europe

At this point you can have a stack of fast movers head down to the oil fields, head east to China/Siberia, or come back to threaten Moscow.  So much depends on how the Allies divided the money between the Atlantic and Pacific.  Pretty much the only way that this general gameplan will need adjustment is if Russia decides to put a force in your way that is too big from your Italians to crush.  Tossing away 6 Russian infantry to delay you a round should be viewed as a great thing for the Axis.

Tip 1) purchase 2 inf + 1 art per turn in France whenever possible.  Combined with planes you will have a potent force to counter Allied invasion in Normandy.  Maybe replace an inf with a mech if you want flexibility to support Italy

Tip 2).  Purchase 2 inf or 1 inf + 1 art each turn and move with transport to Finland.

Tip 3).  Have big air force that has the flexibility to attack into:
a) sea zones
b) W. Europe
c) Scandanavia
d) Russia
e) oil fields

Tip 4) try to keep Italy from being convoyed raided to death;  if the Allies commit almost everything in the Med, that is great because it is difficult to send additional forces from the United States.

15-20 bombers create a devastating strike force when combined with some fodder forces.  From an airbase in W. Germany or Italy, they can go almost anywhere.

Don’t worry too much about taking Moscow if he is flying up a huge number of UK fighters to protect the capitol.  Eventually your flexible Dark Skies option combined with cheap units will overwhelm one of his defensive guard posts.  Get your economy up to 80+ PUs per turn and good things happen to Germany, especially if he doesn’t have a solid foothold in Europe.

[Arthur Bomber Harris]

@Zhukov44:

That said, it ought to be tough for Russia to pull off the Round 4 Bryansk stack unless they get alot of help from UK fighters or if they get the opportunity because German air is out of range.  Your G1 and G2 buys might not be the most efficient or you might not be getting every possible unit in range.

When you go North, you have the great threat to Italian canopener to Smolensk followed by German fast movers + planes hitting Moscow.  As Zhukov mentioned, if you purchase correctly then Russia should not be able to simultaneously defend Bryansk + Smolensk or Bryansk + Moscow.  Hence he retreats back to his capitol on that critical fourth round.  If you go South, there is no way to bypass a Bryansk force and he can stop your progress.  Some of the most talented league players do opt to head South, but I have not mastered the nuances.

[Dashofpepper]

@Arthur:

I1:  Buy 1 mech and 1 tank.   VERY IMPORTANT FOR CAN OPENING

I do this.  On I2, two tanks in range attack eastern poland, and on I3, they are joined by the extra tank and mech.  My I2 purchase is 2-3 more tanks, but it takes a turn or two to link up with the can opener.

@Arthur:

G2: Buy minimum 10 fast movers on Western Germany
I2: Declare war, move into Eastern Poland

This is my second turn too - Germany buys 13 tanks.  My first turn is a carrier, which is optimally used to protect a retreating battleship (and maybe a sub too) from SZ111, which gives me threat projection later in the game in the north Atlantic.  It also lets me do a naval landing and bombardment on Nov

@Arthur:

G3: Declare war, have main stack join forces in Eastern Poland; buy additional fast movers in W. Germany
I3: Move into Belarus.  I have mastered the Northern route.  Much easier to learn and thrive this option.

I’ve been going south because there were two factories down there, along with the Caucasus.  I haven’t tried going North - isn’t that going to lead me to getting bottlenecked in the same place though?  Bryansk?  My G3 turn is the same, another ~8 tanks I think.

@Arthur:

Tip 1) purchase 2 inf + 1 art per turn in France whenever possible.  Combined with planes you will have a potent force to counter Allied invasion in Normandy.  Maybe replace an inf with a mech if you want flexibility to support Italy

Tip 2).  Purchase 2 inf or 1 inf + 1 art each turn and move with transport to Finland.

I had not tried these.  I was literally just buying however many tanks I could afford every turn and sending them east - and not doing anything in the west until the allies had landed in Normandy, so I never have a one turn answer to them because I have to build for a turn.  I hadn’t even thought about the transport moving units into Finland - I’d been buying tanks so that they could get to the Moscow threat sooner, but the transit here does the same thing.  The transport lets me get a free naval invasion of Novgorod too, hopefully with naval bombardment.

@Arthur:

Tip 3).  Have big air force that has the flexibility to attack into:
a) sea zones
b) W. Europe
c) Scandanavia
d) Russia
e) oil fields

My German air force usually gets depleted a bit in G1 from the SZ110 and SZ111 attacks.  I don’t rebuild it because I’ve been going full tanks to push the eastern front.  The SZ110 scramble usually costs me a a couple tactical bombers and a fighter.  How do you balance restoring an air force or doing “dark skies” or having the ability to threaten these places at all with building tanks to send east?  The threat of a Russian counterattack against a too small German army is real.

@Arthur:

Tip 4) try to keep Italy from being convoyed raided to death;  if the Allies commit almost everything in the Med, that is great because it is difficult to send additional forces from the United States.

How do you stop Italy from getting convoy raided to death?  I see a lot of staging in Gibraltar.  And can you define the convoy raiding?  Do you mean staging in Gibraltar and then going into southern france or Northern Italy?  I mostly see staging in Gibraltar to invade Normandy/Western Germany, or movement through Africa.

@Arthur:

15-20 bombers create a devastating strike force when combined with some fodder forces.  From an airbase in W. Germany or Italy, they can go almost anywhere.

Same question here - how does one afford that?  Do you not build tanks, and build air force instead?

[Cow]

Rule of thumb for every tank have 1 mech inf to go with it. Here is why, cannon fodder factor. exception is buy only tank from karelia. You want karelia first then Ukraine.

[DessertFox599]

If the british player scrambles in 110, then do sealion. If uk scrambles, he losses 30 ipcs worth od his most important defensive unit in the game. Ppl say a good defense is infantry, which is true, but many ppl are missing a crucial aspect and that is fighters. A combanation of infantry +fighters are the best defense. So when he is scrambling those fighters, he has given up any chance of defending london.

[Cow]

I like to scramble as UK if Germany doesn’t send the bship to sz 110. Fighters hit fighters, usually 3 figs end up hitting 4 fighters or more.

[DessertFox599]

Never thought of that. But the uk should at least be weary of sending those fighters as that is an almost guarantee death for those guys. Maybe send one or two, but nothing more then that.

[Cow]

Nah send them all. It is better. There is a reason the allies get a bid.

[simon33]

@DessertFox599:

Never thought of that. But the uk should at least be weary of sending those fighters as that is an almost guarantee death for those guys. Maybe send one or two, but nothing more then that.

A partial scramble is like trying to be partly pregnant. Won’t end well.

It’s true that a scramble makes sea lion more favourable odds wise. However, Sea Lion isn’t really the strongest move in most cases. I’ll normally scramble if I’m likely to kill german planes at something close to a 1:1 ratio.

[taamvan]

If the fighters die, Taranto is weakened.

Its a small exaggeration, a couple of my bombers always die, you’re going to want 6.  And I agree with you im building mechs and tanks and going east.

Gargantua said hes buying 6 tanks with Russia, I haven’t tried that.  Seems like so few infantry you only have like 20-23? or so to start with its tiny.

I’m going to get routed south in my current game (167 Axis) but im still going to take novogrod on G3 with ease, whatever his posture that’s a gimme.  Italy has 3 tanks and 3 mechs on the continent.  Attacking the Syrian air  stack left after Taranto wasn’t a good idea I lost 2 bombers.