Some defensive russia advice

[ghr2]

Im using Russia against a Germany and he has a tendancy to mass mostly mech/tank(with a little inf/rtl/air units mixed in of course) on G2 and G3 buys in his preparations to attack me on G3-G4.  He tends to focus on going south via Beb/Ukraine with the bulk of his forces (like 10 inf 8 mech and 8 tank not including planes). What would be the best Russian counterbuild and troop deployment I can do to counter this and prevent him form getting moscow on G6-G7.

[Graunie]

Sounds like he is attacking with a lot of ones.

[ghr2]

Well, i understated the amount of armor, the airpower and rtl also count here.  Its just alot of stuff, mostly comprised of armor and mech, he had like 20 some tanks and 10ish mehcs when he attacked moscow from ukraine

[Bodeacious]

all tanks all rounds sitting in smolensk will do.

[nimitz1]

Let him come to you, build infantry and one fighter each turn, retreat everything into moscow leaving one infantry in each territory to block his advance to one territory (i.e. one step closer to moscow) a turn.  You have 3 builds before you are attacked, then another 3 turns before he is next to moscow.  So you should have over 50 infantry in moscow with some artillery, a few tanks and around 6 or 7 fighters by the time he gets to your doorstep.  See how enthusiastic he is when facing 10 red chips of infantry and a heap of fighter “4’s”, even if he succeeds it will be a Pyrrhic victory, he will be decimated, leaving  him very short of ground forces.  This Turtle strategy works almost every time when playing Russia who only needs to hold out for the UK to do its job and open up a second front.  The key to taking out russia for the Germans is to attack it on G1 or G2 at the latest, with 37 IPCs a turn for the first three turns, russia can build 27 infantry and 3 fighters…a lovely start to a defense of Moscow.

[Gargantua]

Try to match what your opponent has on the ground,

If you have the same amount of tanks, a similar amount of artillery, and more or the same amount of infantry, you stand a good chance of winning - because you are usually on the defence.  Where the game is on at that stage, is how you balance your resources against your opponents invasion, obviously he is going to want to take many territories at the same time, so be prepared to give up some - for better self positioning, whilst vigourously defending others.  Counter attack when you can - and when you are slated to win.

Focus on the long game, and get help from your allies as soon as possible.

[Duncan-O]

You are Russia, so you have lots of men.  Don’t waste them, but don’t be afraid to lose some, either.  Keep them backed up by buying tanks and some arty.  Fighters and the occasional tac bomber for those 4’s on counterattack are a good idea too.  Germany will by necessity have to stretch his lines thin.  If you can catch his tanks in the open with no infantry support, hit them hard.  Use the “retreat to one territory from which your attacking units came” rule to your advantage…this works well for a tactical repositioning for creative counterattacks or that final turtle.  Above all, make him pay for that territory he’s stolen.  Those troops and arty he took all those rounds marching into Russia?  Make sure they marched in vain.  His factories are much further than yours, and as you retreat, you are actually consolidating…so counterattack at every opportunity.

[Bigtiti]

@nimitz1:

Let him come to you, build infantry and one fighter each turn, retreat everything into moscow leaving one infantry in each territory to block his advance to one territory (i.e. one step closer to moscow) a turn.  You have 3 builds before you are attacked, then another 3 turns before he is next to moscow.  So you should have over 50 infantry in moscow with some artillery, a few tanks and around 6 or 7 fighters by the time he gets to your doorstep.  See how enthusiastic he is when facing 10 red chips of infantry and a heap of fighter “4’s”, even if he succeeds it will be a Pyrrhic victory, he will be decimated, leaving  him very short of ground forces.   This Turtle strategy works almost every time when playing Russia who only needs to hold out for the UK to do its job and open up a second front.  The key to taking out russia for the Germans is to attack it on G1 or G2 at the latest, with 37 IPCs a turn for the first three turns, russia can build 27 infantry and 3 fighters…a lovely start to a defense of Moscow.

(i play OOB) so 37 is a lot for russia, no? japan can easily snatch some cash of them
and don’t the germans get money from being at peace with them?
You also don’t have the reinforcements when you attack russia soon (from france, and build on round 2)

i’m trying a full scale barbarossa in my next game, so if you want to comment and give tips how to weaken russia (in OOb), please tell

[rocknroll]

it is for OOB!

i don´t know if it works in global, too, but in europe 1940 it worked quite well. maybe you can call it full-scale-barbarossa: i bought from the first round on only mech and tanks. an occasional sub to deny the no-sub-NO, but mostly mech.
G1: 6 mech, 1 sub (30 IPC)
G2: 1 inf, 2 art, 3 tank, 8 mech (61 IPC)
G3: 3 inf, 13 mech
attack on G4 with a can-opener by italy in east poland to land mostly all german aircraft there. mass all troops there, too. conquer karelia, vyborg, baltic-states and bessarabia.

the subsequent rounds your buys should cover actual situations, which means paying more attention to the uk und the usa, of course. But, mostly buying mech is helping a lot. i can only speak for myself so far, but i had been amazed by the cumulative power of a mostly-mech-buy sake of speeding up the german play by faster troops as mech an tanks in combination with fighter and tactical bombers.
russia gets under higher pressure and needs to give up certain territories to secure defense. Novogorod fell in G5 without problems, but italy has to make sure to clean up the baltic-states, which means mech-buys for italy, too.
even, if the allies start to harass germany on the continent, you can cover a vast territory with mech-supported-forces for defensive and offensive purposes.

this said, it is really worth 4 IPCs! :D

i hope it helped you a bit.

rock`n roll

[Pherman1215]

@Frontovik:

@nimitz1:

Let him come to you, build infantry and one fighter each turn, retreat everything into moscow leaving one infantry in each territory to block his advance to one territory (i.e. one step closer to moscow) a turn.  You have 3 builds before you are attacked, then another 3 turns before he is next to moscow.  So you should have over 50 infantry in moscow with some artillery, a few tanks and around 6 or 7 fighters by the time he gets to your doorstep.  See how enthusiastic he is when facing 10 red chips of infantry and a heap of fighter “4’s”, even if he succeeds it will be a Pyrrhic victory, he will be decimated, leaving  him very short of ground forces.  This Turtle strategy works almost every time when playing Russia who only needs to hold out for the UK to do its job and open up a second front.  The key to taking out russia for the Germans is to attack it on G1 or G2 at the latest, with 37 IPCs a turn for the first three turns, russia can build 27 infantry and 3 fighters…a lovely start to a defense of Moscow.

This person knows what he is talking about.  But, i would add more tanks into the mix then he is advising.  Remember, you are on the allied team.  This means time is very much on your side.  Your job as Russia is to extend the game for as long as possible to let the combined IPC power of the allies to hit the axis’ hard.

(i play OOB) so 37 is a lot for russia, no? japan can easily snatch some cash of them
and don’t the germans get money from being at peace with them?
You also don’t have the reinforcements when you attack russia soon (from france, and build on round 2)

i’m trying a full scale barbarossa in my next game, so if you want to comment and give tips how to weaken russia (in OOb), please tell

[ghr2]

Why OOB?  It is very ally favored

[Bigtiti]

@rock`n:

it is for OOB!

i don´t know if it works in global, too, but in europe 1940 it worked quite well. maybe you can call it full-scale-barbarossa: i bought from the first round on only mech and tanks. an occasional sub to deny the no-sub-NO, but mostly mech.
G1: 6 mech, 1 sub (30 IPC)
G2: 1 inf, 2 art, 3 tank, 8 mech (61 IPC)
G3: 3 inf, 13 mech
attack on G4 with a can-opener by italy in east poland to land mostly all german aircraft there. mass all troops there, too. conquer karelia, vyborg, baltic-states and bessarabia.

the subsequent rounds your buys should cover actual situations, which means paying more attention to the uk und the usa, of course. But, mostly buying mech is helping a lot. i can only speak for myself so far, but i had been amazed by the cumulative power of a mostly-mech-buy sake of speeding up the german play by faster troops as mech an tanks in combination with fighter and tactical bombers.
russia gets under higher pressure and needs to give up certain territories to secure defense. Novogorod fell in G5 without problems, but italy has to make sure to clean up the baltic-states, which means mech-buys for italy, too.
even, if the allies start to harass germany on the continent, you can cover a vast territory with mech-supported-forces for defensive and offensive purposes.

this said, it is really worth 4 IPCs! :D

i hope it helped you a bit.

rock`n roll

than you give up your german navy…
i invest first round an AC too, together with the sub.
the one transport can give some support to the army, aswell keep the north
troosp from finland can never reach moscow in time (round G6)
i liek tacticals too, but you need core of tanks, preferably bought with french money

[rocknroll]

@Frontovik:

than you give up your german navy…
i invest first round an AC too, together with the sub.
the one transport can give some support to the army, aswell keep the north
troosp from finland can never reach moscow in time (round G6)
i liek tacticals too, but you need core of tanks, preferably bought with french money

yeah, eventually. if the uk-player is looking after the german fleet, then italy is free to do in the mediterranian whatever it wants to. so, this sacrifice is it worth. italy can harass the uk in africa then and only needs to send some 3 or 4 mechs with a tank to the east (helping to get novogorod). getting greece (maybe leaving that to germany), s.france etc. just buying time and preparing to defend against the usa, which means: occupying gibraltar.
as germany i had minimum 12 tanks in play! kind of a huge hammer… :D

so as russia: buying mostly inf, just for delaying the german eastward-progression, buying time is once again the only task to fullfill. but with faster units, germany has a big advantage for almost 5 or 6 rounds of play. just imagine: >20 mech, some inf, >5 art, >12 tank, 3 fighter, 3 tacticals coming to you every round attacking mostly only one territory. reinforcements like >13 mech coming to secure occupied territories etc. it is devastating.
therefor, i think, counter-attacks are not advised. only then, if you can hold the retaken lands or as strafing ones.
and the aim is allways moscow. if you manage to stack >50 inf and tanks and planes it should take a while to get it, right?

[ghr2]

The only problem with moscow turtle, is that it leaves caucusse, your NO, and the middle east in German Hands

[JimmyHat]

Best way to defend Russia?  Don’t withdraw if you can last through G2.  Place all but a screen of your units in Epol.  When Germ attacks take Poland and prepare to crush Germany.  At the very least, as so and so pointed out leave Epol strong enough to resist an Italian attack because it is the best location to stage your army.  I would add that mostly tank builds will help hold Epol.

[ghr2]

I’m thinking about thath Epol strats, just I dont think you can get enough forces there by the time germ attacks.