ghr2:
Russian strategies very based on Italian and German strategies. It is very hard to detail all possible strategies for Russia when all Russia needs to do is hold two victory cities to prevent the Axis from winning.
In the example that Germany ignores England:
Russia builds primarily infantry in forward positions until they cannot be held any longer. Russian units slowely retreat to Moscow (Muskva) over 8 rounds. Losing Leningrad and/or Stalingrad is not such an issue, as London has not fallen and therefore, Germany essentially needs both Leningrad and Stalingrad as well as potentially Moscow.
With Germany ignoring England, Egypt is no longer a certain event. Neither is the German NO for having a ground unit in Egypt, as England can readily put 6 units a round into the holding of Egypt if needed. 3 from Central Persia/Iraq and 3 from S. Africa. One might even go so far as to put a complex in Iraq and Persia to augment the one in S. Africa (and the transports needed to get them up to Egypt) and thus have 9 units a round. After all, once London is secure from attack, it is SECURE from attack. There’s no second chance at Sea Lion, you miss your chance, you’ve missed it permanently. It will only be under-defended so long, after all, and then it becomes cost prohibitive.
Should Germany go Sea Lion, this is at least 4 transports and 20/30 ground units lost or trapped in England the water. That’s at least 100 IPC probably closer to 180 IPC worth of units that Russia now does not have to face. That alone gives Russia the advantage in stalling the Germans and Italians. (Again, I look at a strong British open, going for the throat whereever possible against Italy on Round 1 to neuter it. If Germany augments, this will probably make England that much more secure, if Germany does not augment, then British forces should win more decisively. Essentially, I want to kill every German plane I can with England on round 1. If I cannot kill any German planes, then I can have a much easier time sinking Italian ships and killing Italian soldiers.)
In regards to “back dooring” Russia, as I have said, I invite it. Many have claimed, erroneously, that this is 48 IPC for Japan. (6 IPC a round for 8 rounds.) That is blatantly untrue! First off, you cannot take 6 IPC worth of Russia in one round! Secondly, you are not just walking in, you have to send something! And you have to send something to protect that something. And you have to send something to reinforce that something.
So as I said:
Japanese Gains:
- +14 IPC in conquered land
- -69 IPC worth of units (lost due to position on the board.)
Russian Gains:
- +60 IPC worth of units
- +9 IPC in land not conquered yet
- +12 IPC National Objective of getting Japan to declare war on them
Benefits: Japan 55 IPC loss, Russia 81 IPC gain
I do not see invading Russia as a winning proposition, unless you can convince Russia to send units to go fight you. However, I do not feel a good Russian strategy is to go fight Japan. You don’t really need too. It is 4 rounds minimum before they can get units to trade for TIM, and 5 or 6 before they can send enough units there to hold TIM. By then, the Japanese should be completely strangulated with Chinese forces making strong pushes into Jehol, British units from India (the ones I detailed that could be sent to China to help, less the aircraft which should go back to the Middle East long before now) in Kansu holding the Japanese out of China’s back door and what I will detail about naval position now:
Japan is also losing at least 24 IPC in warships a round. It is probably an even trade with Australia, who is putting 24 IPC worth of warships in the water each round. This is to prevent the Americans from attacking SZ 6 by blocking (with picket ships) SZ 16, 17 and 18. Australia then counters with Destroyer, Fighter to SZ 16, SZ 17 and SZ 18. (If both destroyers are lost, then it’s an allied gain, if only the Japanese one is lost, then it is an allied gain, if only the Australian one was lost, then it’s neither a gain nor loss for the Allies. Yes, this means the Allies cannot lose here.) This means that America loses nothing in position, war materials or strength, rather only gains in the latter two while Japan at best stays even, at worst starts to lose strength.
Thus, if Japan invades Russia you have:
24 IPC a round into replacing lost destroyers to Australia (does not include anything to counter American builds.)
Probably another 18 IPC a round into China to hold your own.
69 IPC in units lost in the Russian hinterland giving you virtually no benefit.
But what about Germany and Italy?
Well, with Russia building and retreating (and keeping in mind that if Russia earns less than 30 IPC, they can build it all in Moscow still) and with 6 rounds to walk someone from N. Italy to Russia and 5 rounds to walk someone from Germany to Moscow, it shouldn’t be hard to imagine it taking the Axis 9 or 10 rounds just to get in position to trade territories around Moscow.
That can be cut down with transports, but not significantly, since transports would negate much of the gains in movement speed by cost of the transports and the opportunity cost to divert units to protect said transports.
A tank dash is another option, but you quickly find yourself trading 6 IPC tanks for 3 IPC infantry. That means you need 2 IPC for every 1 IPC Russia earns to break even. Worse yet, since it takes roughly 3:1 odds to win a battle, you are risking at least 2 armored units (with airpower to assist) to kill 1 Russian infantry, whereas Russia is risking 2 or 3 infantry to kill 1 or 2 armored units. This is a trade deficit and will eventually lead to Russia overpowering the Germans. This is why virtually every tank dash in the game has been defeated. Assuming the person being dashed against has seen the solution before (either by trying him/herself or just reading someone’s game who has done it. It is how I learned.)
Parting thought, in regard to Russia: Russia is not the weak kitten it is made out to be. Granted, it does not have nearly the offensive capabilities of Germany, but then, we are not asking it to march to Berlin, we are asking it to stop Germany from marching to Moscow. It does not need the offensive capabilities, it needs the defensive, and it has the defensive.
But but but…I need: {Paris, Berlin, Rome, Warsaw, Egypt, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Moscow} to win! I don’t need London. Of course you do not need London! No one said you did! But you are going to need Moscow! I can stop you from taking Moscow with Russia! I can stop you with planes from England to help! yes, it takes 2 turns, but if you are not going for London, I have all these extra planes (and a French one, the hell else am I going to do with a French fighter???) to fly over to Moscow to stop you!
I think it might be a good idea for you to try and figure out an Axis strategy that can defeat this allied strategy. It might take some radical changes to the beginning of your games, plus a few changes to the time tables. For instance, I have already mentioned how easy it is for the axis to save the Italian army in Africa, you yourself said that in that case UK would vacate the Med and save the fleet too! Really this move is a no-brainer. Secondly, because you wait until J4 to attack,(or is it J3?) You are actually beefing up ANZAC enough that they /can/ afford to swap 24 ipcs of production with Japan. In my games(attack J2) ANZAC is lucky to be making 20ipcs 1 turn, after that they struggle to make 15, I think a more realistic ANZAC support consists of 1 sub 1 dd or maybe 2 subs. Thirdly, I don’t see much value to Japan staging their fleet outside Carolines unless they plan on invading Australia/Hawaii. As you’ve said, thats a fools errand for Japan because of the huge American fleet. So why not do the smart thing and drag that American fleet all over the Pacific? Stage in Philippines, or build a minor/NB/AB in Celebres(an awesome location to maintain your naval empire). By forming up your fleet more west you can support the coast(where the money is) and the money islands and forget about Carolines and other moneyless islands.
Lastly it appears you have yet to find out about one of the new units added to this version of the game. The Mechanized infantry is great for adding to the Tank Dash strategy. It now means that if you take a casualty, its only 4ipcs instead of the 6 you have been losing. Try adding a few to your tank dashes……especially for Germany. For 1 ipc more you can now move twice as fast in vast russia. This also might be a reason Germany is stalling.
