@88:
JamesG- I love the 3 inf/ 3arm combo, but I’ve slowly moved away from it toward inf/ art on an approximate 5-1 basis, and here’s why. I hate leaving Russian armor on the front to die (but I do enjoy it as Germany…), therefore I always find myself hoarding armor when I play Russia. It’s a personal problem I have. For me Russian armor tends to stack as mobile defense or be used in a single decisive battle- not bad ideas in and of themselves but counter to my need for continuous Russian aggression vs. Germany. Russian artillery, on the other hand, I have no problem leaving to die. Cheap offense to complement the small Russian air force, and expendable.
Overall I agree with this, and remember I said 3Inf/3Arm is my R1 purchase, to replace the 3 Arm I’m going to lose in the Ukraine during R1 and G1. After that my Russian purchases are generally “What’s the max Inf I can buy? Plan to buy that. Do I have one or two IPC left over? If so, convert one or two Inf to Art and spend all IPCs.”
Though I do have to say newpaintbrush has convinced me to reconsider the WR/Bel attack as a safer alternative. I too think the Allies have an advantage overall in a long game, so why be too risky R1? Since usually I commit 3 tanks to the Ukraine, I generally do win that pretty decisively. But I’ve seen my WR attack go badly… I still win it, but at the cost of a LOT of Inf. If/When I start playing TripleA ladder games again, maybe I’ll try the West Russia/Belorussia opening sometimes, just to see the difference.
Well that stinks, JamesG just got converted… my only W Rus/ Ukraine ally!!!
Newpaintbrush, you’re persuasive.
Good analysis. It’s hard to shake my conviction, although I haven’t been disappointed when I’ve attacked W Russia/ Belo, I admit. It’s extremely solid. I think it’s probably the safest way to go and I understand why people do it.
But man, I love killing the German fighter…
Hah, you still have another player on your side for WR/Ukraine
It’s good to kill that Ukraine German fighter trust me.
Because they can lose other fighters on counter-attacks.
take my latest tournament game.
In my tournament game I lost it on Ukraine on R1 and when I hit the British BB on G1 with 1 Sub, 4 fgts, I managed to get unlucky and lose another fighter.
down 2 fighters after turn 1, and committed 2 fgts to the Defense of SZ 5 right away, bad way to start a game.
Well 88, I would not say I’m completely off the WR/Ukraine opening. But I’m more willing to consider the WR/Bel alternative now.
TriHero was a major advocate of the WR/Belo opening.
He is the one who taught me the game. But since then I have decided that the Ukraine is a better “hit” for Russia on R1, barring a significant bid to Ukraine (2 INF or better)
newpaintbrush,
When you do a WR/Bel opening, what do you leave in Caucasus at the end of R1?
When I have used it…
Build units (4 INF), 2 INF from Kazakh, 2 FIG, 1 AA, 1 IC
6 Inf + 2 Figs seems like a tempting target to me … it would be possible to wipe out the russian figs would it not?
Of course you would probably have to leave Ukraine for a turn or 2 but still killing the russian figs would be worth it IMO
Perhaps we shall see in our game coming up :wink:
When I do West Russia/Belorussia, I leave Caucasus pretty much open. Like 3-4 infantry. No AA gun.
If Germany wants to stratbomb, great, that’s something else that didn’t get hit (like Anglo-Egypt).
If Germany wants to invade heavily, great, they can attack with everything they have, and I can still kick them out with massed W. Russia/Russia forces next turn.
If Germany wants to invade lightly - well, it’s not easy even then. If Germany wants to attack without committing tanks, it has to use air, and you know how tricky it is to allocate German air on G1. (Even if the Germans send the Med fleet west, if German fighters hit Caucasus, they MUST land in the east, which lets the Allies get a turbo boost on setting up their transport fleets, without the fighters in W. Europe to worry about that first turn). If Germany DOES commit artillery and/or tanks, well, I just traded Russian infantry for German infantry, artillery, and/or tanks. And what’s more - I traded Russian infantry for FORWARD MOBILIZED German infantry, artillery, and/or tanks. Quite nice.
Russian fighters land at Moscow. This deters a German transport build in the Baltic on G1.
@ncscswitch:
When I have used it…
Build units (4 INF), 2 INF from Kazakh, 2 FIG, 1 AA, 1 IC
I don’t do that with W Russia/Belorussia. It is too tempting for the Germans to just say “okayz!”, and send the German army plus air support to wipe out Caucasus. Germany CAN kill those Russian fighters if it has a mind to, and if it DOES do that, it is pretty costly to Germany - but also very costly to Russia.
When I do West Russia/Belorussia, I leave Caucasus pretty much open. Like 3-4 infantry. No AA gun.
I had been thinking 5-6 Inf and the AA Gun (but no fighters), thinking that anything less would make it too easy for Germany to take. But based on your analysis, maybe it is better to tempt Germany into overextenting on G2.
usually leave it at 5 inf, AA gun. (buying 3 inf, 3 arm on R1)
no aa, 1 inf.
Go for it.
no aa, 1 inf.
Go for it.
Naw, because remember that this is after West Russia/Belorussia, not West Russia/Ukraine.
So Germany can attack with some craptastic force like 2 inf or whatever from Ukraine. Germany loses 6 IPC of mobilized units, Russia loses 3 IPC of units, Germany gains 4 IPC from the territory, plus 1 or 2 more expected value for whatever the German infantry may destroy.
And Russian troops have 1 more space to walk to get to germany…
