Agressive Russian Strategy

[Ashkayel]

This strategy is based on an agressive russian strike against both Axis powers. It is a VERY risky tactic, it can be devastating, or it can open Moscow’s doors to the Wehrmacht. It consist in 4 combats on your first turn.

Purchase Units :
8 infantry (24 IPCs)

Combat moves :
Attack Manchuria with 5 inf and 1 tank
Attack Finland-Norway with 2 inf (Kar), 2 tanks (Kar or Rus), 1 fighter
Attack Ukraine with 6 inf (Cauc and Kar), 1 tank (Kar or Rus), 1 fighter
Attack Baltic Fleet with 1 sub and 1 transp

I’ll be honest, you need a LOT of luck to win these 4 combats.

In the naval combat in Baltic, ur goal is to destroy the transport. As soon as u have done this u can retreat in UK sea zone and serve as cannon fodder. For the tank, id suggest to take 1 tank from russia and 1 from kar to attack Finland, as ull be able to come back to Karelia with one of the tanks, most likely the last survivor of the fight. The other tank in Ukraine will most likely be the last surviving land unit in Ukraine and he wont have enough move to come back to Karelia, but his job now is to prevent german tanks from blitzing to Caucassus.

Lets take a look at the PERFECT case : On the west, u have take 2 german territories, and u have killed : 6 infantry, 3 tanks, 2 fighters, a transport, and a sub (70 IPCs). This considerably reduces german power. Without these troops (and -2 inf from Berlin @ transport), Karelia is safe. On the East, u have killed 3 inf and a fighter (21 IPCs).

Non-Combat moves :
2 Fighters land on Karelia
1 tank from Finland-Norway go back to Karelia (assuming that u have destroyed the German transport, so he cant take Finland back)
4 Inf from russia go to Karelia (maybe ull want to send 1-2 Inf to caucassus, anticipating an amphibious assault from Black Sea, depending on how the combats in Ukraine and F-N ended)
2 Inf from the east territory to Yakut (not sure of the name) or Russia, depending of ur needs and the combat results
U can withdraw ur tank from manchuria to soviet far east, to protect the coast, or to Yakut (a safer choice), or simply stay to Manch.

Place new Units :
8 Inf in karelia

So now there should be around 12 Inf, 1 tank and 2 fighters on Karelia, a too big army for the Wehrmacht (assuming that u won/retreated-from ur combats). The German will simply retake Ukraine and maybe Caucassus by the Black sea (assuming that he isnt taking the Med transport to A: destroying UK battleship with his battleship + transport or B: bringing more troops to invade Africa). Assuming that ur army is too big for a german attack, theres big chances that he’ll completly destroy UK fleet around Europe and canada instead of attacking u.

Eventually, ull need help from UK and USA, like an attack/IC-to-india to take a bit of Japanese’s attention off Russia. Finland-Norway is a good target because ull most likely keep it for the whole game (except if he manage to take Karelia), cause German wont buy a transport in the Baltic (or if he does UK or u will easily destroy it).

Collect Income:
32 IPCs !!! U now have German Income ! If ur 3 land combats went well, U money ready to be used ahave a big bag of gainst the Wehrmacht !

I know this strategy is REALLY risky, and maybe it can give the victory to the Axis in the first few turns, but if u manage to win 3-4 of ur combats on ur first turn, German will be in deep shit. Maybe this strat will work half, 1/4 or 1/10 of the times, but it seriously worth the try.

Please give me feedbacks and suggestions!

[Guest]

I believe this is commonly referred to as the ‘Crazy Ivan’ opening you are right you do need to get some luck to pull this off, and by in large bidding limits its effectiveness greatly. But if you are an inexperienced player, playing somebody you know to be very good sometimes these kinds of things are in your best interest assuming you will lose in the longterm due to your lack of experience.

[Ashkayel]

Im not an inexperienced player. Its just a strategy, im not using it at every games. Seriously i tried it once and i wont 2/4 combats. There is a lot of other safer strat, but its fun to try something new.

[cystic crypt]

I have tried this strat before. Without solid allies who play “as a team” then it is quite foolhardy. With approprate biding it is even sillier (unless Germany places in Africa etc.).
Still, i like the idea - even tho’ i do tend to only play RR.

[Guest]

Im not an inexperienced player. Its just a strategy, im not using it at every games. Seriously i tried it once and i wont 2/4 combats. There is a lot of other safer strat, but its fun to try something new.

Really then what kind of bid was played. IMO this risk of this strat should be severely weakened if the Axis either bid 5+ units into Ukr, or bid at least 2inf-Manch in conjunction with an Africa bid of some sort. For this reason it really isn’t a good idea.

[Ashkayel]

WTF r u talking about when u say bids? Is it new rules ? ive never seen this be4 this site.

And the Poll should be “will u TRY this strat”

[cystic crypt]

@Ashkayel:

WTF r u talking about when u say bids? Is it new rules ? ive never seen this be4 this site.

And the Poll should be “will u TRY this strat”

A bid considers that the game is in favor of the Allies. This means that without Russia Restricted, the Allies will win around around 19/20 times.
If you are playing with 2 players, you bid “x” ipcs to determine who will take the Axis (i.e. the person who “bids” the least ipcs will play the Axis).

Do a search on “bidding” or “bids” so that you may see what others have to see on the subject.

[Linkon]

Tanks moved into dice-roll combat are not allowed to move in non-combat. After you win a dice-roll battle with them, they are required to stay in the newly claimed land.

Attacking the Tr, S in the Baltic w/o ftrs gives you unfavorable odds.

Most players I know would rather bulk up a defensive position rather than attack w/disfavor. It risks opening up favorable counter-attacks by your opponent.

[Guest]

Also the biggest reason to not do the crazy Ivan is that it ends up sacking a couple of russian armor in EE/Ukr just to protect Ukr. In the end the only reason the Germans care about EEuro on G1 is to counter attack Ukr if Russia took it, but if you’ve already killed 1-2 of your armor anyway then who cares if I lost a few inf. I’m still better off than if I counterattacked Ukr(4inf 3arm or 5inf 3arm) with 3inf arm f/EEuro, 2arm f/Germ, and arm f/SEuro.

[DarthMaximus]

I don’t think I’d try this strat just because I don’t think it is needed for Russia to be that aggressive in Round 1 in a non RR or non-bid game.

I do usually play RR and would would consider doing something like that in Round 2 minus the baltic battle of course. Manch would be a tough call in round 2, but if Japan attacked too much in rd 1 it could be open.

I’ll hit Fin, Ukr and Cauc (if taken by Ger), and I’d consider hitting Man if it was left open.

[Jennifer]

I’d rather just jump E.Europe with everything I can (less tanks) and use the Tranny/Sub in baltic.

Once you have E.Euro you cut off Germany and Italy from attacking Karelia and if you have 8 inf, 2 arm, 2 fgt there, the last remnants of the Eastern Front won’t be taking Karelia, at least not on T1.

Also, I like to leave Finland/Norway for the US. After Germany falls it’s going to be left up to the US to take Japan, since they have the most convenient IC for the job. (I also like to leave Algeria and Libya for the US as well, it makes up for the 4 lost in Asia.)

Then again, I tend to give as much to my allies as I can as Russia so they can help out easier. After all, the sooner the USA is dumping 12-20 infantry in Finland and the UK is dumping 6-10, the sooner you can turn your red army on mainland Asia.

[Ashkayel]

U guys dont understand the meaning of the game ; try new strats! If u always do the same moves, its boring.

[DarthMaximus]

I like trying new strats, but I like doing it with Germany and Japan.

The problem with most Allied strats (in a regular game) is no matter what the Allies do they are going to win.

I mean even if this strat fails on 2 or 3 battles the Allies should/could still win the game.

Bids and playing RR, allow you to try new things and put a little pressure on the Allies, thus allowing new Allied (and Axis) strats to emerge.

For example, put an extra German tank and 3 inf in Afr to start, or a few extra German inf in Europe, or Japanese inf in Asia. It opens the game up more and gives the Axis more of a fighting chance. If you do, you’ll see that this overly aggressive Russian turn could be a big loser for the Allies, whereas in a normal game the Allies can still win with it even if Russia loses 3 battles.

[Guest]

Exactly right Max!

[Ashkayel]

No, the first time i used this strat the naval and the manch combats went well, but not the 2 europeans. On the germanys turn he took karelia. Russia was open. Its a strat that gives more chances to germany to win if it goes not the way u wanted.

[Guest]

I disagree just because Germany takes Karelia that doesn’t mean it the game, and especially not if Germany is not able to attack all the Allies navies as a result. The lack of a bid makes it virtually impossible for the Axis to win.

[MuthaRussia]

This is actually my favorite strategy!!!

Good idea!

[DarthMaximus]

No, the first time i used this strat the naval and the manch combats went well, but not the 2 europeans. On the germanys turn he took karelia. Russia was open. Its a strat that gives more chances to germany to win if it goes not the way u wanted.

But why, as Russia, open your self up to this?
The Naval battle is meaningless if the European battles go bad, and so is the Man battle. Like your example shows. Why open the door for Ger and give them the oppurtunity to win?

[MuthaRussia]

@DarthMaximus:

No, the first time i used this strat the naval and the manch combats went well, but not the 2 europeans. On the germanys turn he took karelia. Russia was open. Its a strat that gives more chances to germany to win if it goes not the way u wanted.

But why, as Russia, open your self up to this?
The Naval battle is meaningless if the European battles go bad, and so is the Man battle. Like your example shows. Why open the door for Ger and give them the oppurtunity to win?

Yopu aren’t opening yourself up, you are actually protecting Karelia… :wink:

[Guest]

No you aren’t. In 2nd Edition no RR no bid there is little to no chance Germany can or will attack Karelia on G1. If they do you can manage it so they will have very bad odds against them. At the same time without a bid they will quickly lose Africa, and they will never have the income to leverage against Russia to achieve victory. Max is 100% there is no reason to take any chances on R1 without a bid.