@idk_iam_swiss:
Its almost unusable? I play with Russia the old school way. Buy stacks of infantry and NOTHING ELSE. With mech infantry now. artillery are really really redundant.
(Hopefully it is legal to take my own subforum off topic, because I don’t mind…)
I am not sure I understand why artillery are redundant now, as you say. To me they still have a place, perhaps more so for Russia than anyone else.
Artillery pieces are most useful if you have large quantities of infantry, like Russia does. Their pace is the same as that of infantry, so they can stay together during movement. And artillery can do wonders for attached infantry if the amount is right. Although infantry are the easiest buy for Russia, I feel that they need some sort of offensive punch/mobility, otherwise they get crushed by the Germans. Russia cannot afford to just dawdle the game out with infantry, at least that has been my experience. (Unless the Russian player basically has the other Allies Lend-Lease him everything they produce… but that it not a winning strategy either.)
And as for redundancy, artillery’s supportive role for infantry is unique within the game. Mechanized infantry, by contrast, are useful in their 2 space movement ability, but in combat that is unavailable without a matching tank. And Mech Infantry can still only attack on 1s. Now I can’t say with certainty pertaining to E40 and G40 because I have not played them, but in past games the most cost and tactically effective buy for Russia are infantry and artillery. (I think a few tanks are a good buy too, at least before they became 6 IPCs). Mech Infantry are no better than artillery, they only have different attributes. And there will be instances where Mech infantry are the better buy, it just depends. But I believe artillery still have their place.
