U.S.S.R

[darkangel]

with the USSR having the first turn, and being the most important country to the allies, what strategy do you use.  i find it good to attack, the northern part of the german map(i dont have direct access to a A&A map.  so i dont know the names yet).  Then attack with caucusses, and tanks from the Capital on the southern flank.  move one fighter and one armor to india for protetion, for the british occupied india.  then put 4 inftry on russia and 4 on caucusses.

[c.kruse]

I like to attack belorussia with 3 inf + 2 fig, and west russia with all pice you can get in…  i move all out af caucasus to west russia so the GER dont attack west russia and kill all my offencive forces.  8 inf or 4inf/3art all placed in russia… if GER take caucasus you can easy take it back !.. my main objective is to kill the GER inf ind the front line… so the GER player has to produce new inf and move to front.

[Axel Allie]

I’m totally going for aggressive and defensive at the same time…

that’s why i voted:
moderately aggressive versus G.
mostly defensive versus J.

[theduke]

One person’s highly aggressive move is another’s moderately aggressive one. I think you would get more objective feedback if you somehow defined what your criteria is for each category. With that said, I voted highly aggressive because I will probably never end up being any more aggressive on any of the latter Russian turns.

I attack W. Russia and Ukraine. I try to use as much as I can in Ukraine, but it’s not going to be a lot. I like to use fighters in Ukraine and armor in W. Russia so the armor is protected just in case I get lucky and take Ukraine. I will probably not take it, but my goal is just to strafe down as much infantry as I can so they can’t be used to attack Caucasus on G1. I will probably just end up trading infantry hits against the Germans, but if I get lucky I can really help the Brits by taking out a German fighter and significantly change the game. Retreat both fighters to Russia to maximize their possibilities on R2.

Now if the battle in Ukraine went either as expected or better than expected, then Germany shouldn’t be able to consider attacking Caucasus on G1, so I don’t have to leave a lot of infantry in Caucasus on R1 (maybe just leave 5-6 infantry). I like to push as many infantry as possible in Sinkiang and Yakut. The ones in Yakut form a nice defensive wall away from the bombarding Japanese battleships. The ones in Sinkiang can be moved into China and be used to best exploit a possible bad outcome for the Japanese battle in China on J1. If they don’t end up moving into China on a KJF, they can still protect a Sinkiang IC for 1-2 turns or still make it back to Caucasus by the time Germany can organize an assault strong enough to take Caucasus by turn 3-4.

The fighters in Russia are key so that if Germany buys transports for the Baltic, Russia can send them to UK for defense for 1 turn until US can mobilize their purchases. If J1 goes bad for the Japanese the fighters can exploit this by either attacking or landing in China or Bury. on R2. If the fighters aren’t used for either of the 1st 2 options they can still be used to do the typical strafing of Germany units on the western front.

[critmonster]

i used to be a fan of strafing ukrain r1 but now i lean towards taking it, if you bring 2 armor, 2 figs, 3 inf and the art you should have 1-2 tanks left to kill 1-2 inf when germany recaptures.  it sucks losing armor but killing that nazi stuka sure helps out long term.  i like the 5 inf, 1 art, 1 arm buy with my art in cauc and the armor in russia.  i like the fighters based in russia and building my eastern defense against japan off the coast as well because once you lose that stack you can’t effectively replace it and hold off germany.  if i am sending my kaz inf to sink or persia i will land my figs in cauc turn 1 until i build my defense/buffer to deter a german assault but i am thinking of leaving that complex “open” to try and get germany to go for it instead of egypt if i pull russia next time (tomorrow! finally)

[Guest]

I used to be a “take Belorussia and West Russia” person… but I am now moving heavilly to the take Ukraine, and take West Russia HEAVY (West Russia Stack).

The gains by destroying that much German offensive force in those 2 territories is worth the cost.

A mixed ARM and INF build to replace lost RUssian armor in R1, and voila!  Germany loses a LOT of offense (including a fig), and Russia gets 5 extra IPC’s for an 8 INF, 1 ARM build in R2.

[yamamato456]

I usually build 3 art. and 4 inf. R1 then do the usual attack on Belorussia with X inf. and 2 fig.  Everything else into West Russia except inf. from Caucasus, and 1 inf from arch. then land planes in cauc.  Non-combat, move 1 inf into Karelia from archangel so Germ. cannot blitz, all possible inf into buryatia (even if Japan bombards it and takes it I still have 2 inf in yakut and this means Japan is weaker in china and did not do pearl, U.S.A. can island hop with just its starting units), novo into Sinkiang.  Put 3 art. and 1 inf. into cauc. and 3 inf. into Russia.

I’m wondering if you should move 1 or 2 inf. into mid-east, because in the Russian front a.k.a. meat grinder, 1 or 2 inf. make little difference, but on different fronts like the mideast, India, or china where there are comparatively less units 1 or 2 inf. might make or break the game.

Just throwing an idea out there…

[Guest]

I have been considering the 2 INF bleed via Persia for some weeks now…

Only reason I have not tried it is the reduced speed of getting units to the Ukraine front, which is always sorely pressed early (thus my drive to Ukraine instead of Bel prefference).

[yamamato456]

hmmmm Good idea, I never seem to be able to invade Ukraine, I’ve even played games where I’ve taken Germany but still hadn’t taken Ukraine because it was either to strong or I didn’t have many untis by it.  After reading more Russian strategies I’m beginning to lean towards a Ukraine attack instead of Bello.  Also a Ukraine assault also seems to compliment a better west russian stack.
If you take Bello. you have a West Russian stack but also have to put units in Cauc.  If you take Ukraine you have a west russian stack and thats the only stack you’ll have and instead of Ukraine threatening you, you’ll be trading Bellorussia, Karelia, AND Ukraine.

One might ask that if you are trading 3 territories you might want to build another fighter on R1.  R1 build 3 inf. 1 tank, and 1 fig.  Then all inf. for the rest of the game.

[Guest]

I am working with a strat of 3 ARM, 3 INF on R1, as well as a pull back in Asia all the way to Russia before turning to face Japan.

Is working well in my current game… Russia holds Evenk, Novo, Kazakh all with 4 INF, Persia with 5 INF & 2 ARM, Ukraine with 4 INF, Belorussia with 3 INF, and 1 INF sharing space with a huge number of UK troops in Karelia.  Caucuses has 3 INF, 2 ART, 2 FIG, and Russia has 4 INF.

Russia is currently UP $4 IPC’s (after R4) and has never collected LESS than their starting $24 IPCs.

To me, that is a STRONG Russia play… to still be UP net IPC’s after R4…  And fairly well defended along their main perimeter against Japan, and still trading Bel and Ukraine with Germany…

[Octopus]

Hey Switch,

I believe you kept Russia above 24 most of our last game.  Did you tell them how it finished?

[Guest]

LOL, but in the last game, the US was not going to drop 12 divisions into Western on US5… they were still screwing around in the Pacific (and I already have more gains in the Pacific this game than last…)

You are playing MUCH better this game Octo.  I congratulate you on your improvement!  If you had played Germany like you did in our first match, you would be toast now.  Very pleased that you have stepped up and made this game a serious challenge!