Russian kills German Fleet Turn 1?

[Taewakan]

Why not sent a Russian Fighter and Bomber to take out the German Fleet on Turn 1 in the Anniversary 42 scenario. It is a 3-4 vs a 2-3. Seems like good odds to me.

[DoManMacgee]

People will say it’s too dicey (and they have a point, it can very easily go pear-shaped for you if you get unlikely rolls. Battle calc gives you 58% chance of success (all of the Nazis die and at least one Soviet survives), 24% of failure (all of the Soviets die and some Nazi surface-vessel survives), and 18% chance of partial failure (all Soviets dead, all Nazi surface-vessels dead, Nazi transports survive)).

I make a similar play R1 in 42SE to destroy the Baltic Fleet and make it impossible for Germany to take Leningrad G1. I imagine you’re going for the same sort of idea here, since Leningrad is both a Victory City and contains a Factory, so delaying Germany access to both, even if it’s just for one turn, can mean the difference between dying to a Moscow crush and UK/US air units arriving in Moscow in time to survive into the late game.

I guess you need to evaluate how your opponents typically open the game, and how much of a bid you’re giving the Allies. If you can get a high enough bid, an extra Fighter pretty much makes this opening strategy 100% safe (~92% chance of success).

[axis_roll]

@Taewakan said in Russian kills German Fleet Turn 1?:

Why not sent a Russian Fighter and Bomber to take out the German Fleet on Turn 1 in the Anniversary 42 scenario. It is a 3-4 vs a 2-3. Seems like good odds to me.

You can also send a russian bomber on the Germany sz13 fleet of a Destroyer and transport. A “4” on a “2”.

[innohub]

I also did something like this on 42 2E, and worked. A bit risky but worth the fun doing this as an alternative start.