Russia's Eastern troops

Here are some things for you to consider:
Option #1 = CON:  It is a LONG way across Russia.  By the time your 6 guys from Buryatia get to Moscow, it will be round 6.  If Germany makes a strong dedicated push for Moscow, they may get there before your infantry arrive.  Also, you leave all Far East territories open for easy taking by Japan, thus boosting their income and perhaps making it a little harder on the Pacific Allies.  Also, that will be a little less income for RUssia as well.
                    PRO:  On the other hand, if Germany is delayed in getting to Moscow, those extra 18, or even 6 infantry could make the difference in Moscow’s defense.  The 6 Buryatia infantry will get there first and that may be enough for Germany to wait for more reinforcements from Berlin.  Plus the other 12 infantry and 2 AA guns will get in Moscow next round, making Germany’s task that much harder.  Also, once even 1 Japanese soldier steps foot on Amur, you will also get the 6 infantry in Mongolia, which you could also head for Moscow.

Option #2 = CON:  Same problem as option 1, it will be rounds 6 and 7 before these guys make it to Moscow.
                    PRO:  This may be your best option.  At least you had 6 guys and the AA guns to defend Amur, perhaps giving Japan second thoughts about attacking you at all.  Japan may just leave you alone so you only have to worry about Germany.  If Japan does attack, they will have to use up a fair amount of resources and you will probably take a few of them with you.  Plus you get the Mongolian infantry.

Option #3 = CON:  Once you attack Japan, you lose the Mongolian troops forever, they remain strict neutrals from then on.  Also, all of your 18 guys only attack at “1” so it will be hard for you to get decent hits on the Japanese.  If they still have a fair amount of guys there, you could end up wasting a lot of men and possibly not even win.
                    PRO:  If Japan does leave themselves light on Manchuria and Korea, this could be a good way for you te get an extra 3 IPC plus boost China’s income (and they sorely need it).  If USA is in the war by now, Japan could be too busy contending with the US Navy to be able to take Korea back.  Also, a Soviet owned Korea could become a good US bomber base.  Even if US is not in the war, or not heavily involved in the Pacific, it will still cost Japan valuable resources to take Korea and Manchuria back from you, thus setting Japan’s plans off further south.  It’s even possible Japan could ignore you to concentrate on their plans against India and the DEI.  Then they would be missing 6 IPCs in income which is a sizable chunk for Japan, especially early in the game.

Well, there are some things to consider.  Hope it helps out in your game.  Good luck.

Stack them on Amur and wait for Japan to ignore/forget about them, then attack.  At some point Japan is going to have to turn around to deal with it or face losing at least 7 IPC a turn.

If Russia stacks their 18 inf 2aa guns in amur Japan should attack this on their R1. Then put an IC in machuria and go for a Europe win. With Russia down 20 units and all that money eastern russia he is going to be hurting real bad. Germany can take her time and take our russia on T8 or so.

Yeah, taking those eastern Soviet territories and killing those 18 inf and 2 aa guns will hurt Russia, especially when Germany comes barrelling down from the west.  However, if you spend too much time and resources as Japan messing around with Russia, you can just about forget getting the DEI or India.  If you do manage to get them, you won’t keep them for long.  Japan just doesn’t have enough resources to go both ways in strength.
So if you are just buying time for Germany to win it in Europe, then yeah, this could work if done right.
If you want to try for a Japanese win, best to leave Russia alone.  Russia and China are a waste of manpower better used elsewhere.

@Spendo02:

Stack them on Amur and wait for Japan to ignore/forget about them, then attack.

The problem I see in this is that Japan can use their huge air force on this one stack, and then no defenses. If you don’t stack them, when Japan attacks they will probably take ground casualties. If left unstacked, you could counter attack those ground forces left, without the threat of air force to wipe you out.

What I like to do is sent the 6 inf in Buryatia back to Moscow, most of the time they make it back in time to defend moscow against the big assualt.  Once they made it back to lead a successful counterattack of Moscow.  The 6 inf from Sakha and 1 AA I move west so that my opponent thinks I am sending them to Moscow, but then I move them into Kansu in NW China to help defend there.  I also position my China stack there so that it is a rather large force for Japan to take on.  If things in Moscow aren’t looking good, I will send them on to Moscow.  That is why I like to send them west so that I can have the option.  I leave the last 6 and 1 AA gun in Buryatia.  When Japan is off fighting in other theaters and it’s airforce is spread out I will move then Buryatia troops back to Amur to threaten an invasion of Korea (because Japan can attack Korea and still keep the possibility of Mongolian army joining them, unless of course you have moved the troops into NW China).

I always retreat them to Novosibirsk, which in my opinion, is the true eastern gate to Russia. Getting those troops to Novosibirsk allows them to:

1. defend against a Japanese blitz through China towards Stalingrad (Japan won’t care if your stack in Amur takes over a few coastal territories, if their goal is to help Germany win on the Europe board).

2. provide a quick counter attack to liberate Moscow against what should be only a few German units.

3. provide a defensive garrison in Moscow if Germany is late getting there.

4. prevent an expanding Italy from controlling the Cacaucus, which would give Germany a $5 NO.

Don’t be too worried about Japan taking $4 or $5 from Russia, this will acually help the Pacific allies if Japan invests infantry north instead of south, and the 6 free infantry from Mongolia will slow their advance.

What ever you do, don’t stack them all together in Amur or the territory above Amur. Â

@Pherman1215:

Thanks guys, this helps.  So does Mongolia go pro-Allies if Japan attacks Russia?

Mongolia territories and standing armies turn pro-Russia if Japan attacks any Russian territory adjacent to any Mongolian territory. Do you play any of the Alpha rule updates? this Mongolian rule is from Alpha+3.

I’m playing as the Soviets in an on going game. I’m moving twelve infantry to the Eastern Front and left the AA guns and 6 inf. in Amur. Japan attacked the far eastern territories that aren’t adjacent to Mongolia but left Korea wide open so I took it. They could get it back if they wanted but the US is two spaces away from Japan. It really depends on what the other Allies are going to do that should determine what you should do. Japan has to deal with the US, Britain, ANZAC and China, personally as Japan I try to avoid a Soviet confrontation as Japan has enough on its plate as it is. Japan should spend its time getting the Dutch East Indies before anything else.

@Pherman1215:

I will be playing my first global 1940 game tomorrow and i will be playing Russia.  I was wondering what i should do with the troops in the far east.  I came up with 3 general options.
1. Evacuate all 18 troops to stop Germany’s invasion
You won’t STOP Germany, but those 18 infantry and AA Gun(s) have really come in handy before!  It really depends on what you see Germany doing.  Start off retreating and after you see Germany round 2 (and Japan round 1 of course) decide on whether or not to stay put or retreat more.  As knp mentioned, there are times those infantry are fun in Japan!  Just don’t stay on the coast where you can get shore shot.
2. Evacuate 12 troops and leave 6 behind with the AA gun in case Japan attacks
A viable option.  I would not personally take it, but it’s viable.
3. Violate the non-aggression pact and push into Korea and Northern China with all 18 troops.
I see this a lot.  Personally, I’ve never seen it help the Allies, but maybe my allied players are sub-optimal players?

I am wondering what people with some experience think of these three plans.  Which option has generally worked out the best for people?

I am confused at how Russia can get 18 inf into manchuria or korea? Doesn’t that mean they have to be in Amur? When those units are in Amur Japan can just crush them.

@theROCmonster:

I am confused at how Russia can get 18 inf into manchuria or korea? Doesn’t that mean they have to be in Amur? When those units are in Amur Japan can just crush them.

They can move to Amur when Japan moves the fleet out of SZ 6 (unless Japan gets a NB or stays in range of SZ 6) so it’s not that hard really.

Agreed. Fall back, then surge in as Japan heads south.

@Pherman1215:

I learned two lessons:  G3 Barbarossa is safer than G2; And pushing Straight for Moscow is rather risky.  I felt if i pushed the Ukraine and Stalingrad complexes i would have fared better than pushing directly towards Moscow.

A G2 Barbarrossa may look something like this:

Round 1:  Attack France for the money, Attack the British fleet (because now’s the best time you’ll ever get for the rest of the game to do so), strafe Yugoslavia (basically to get units in Romania exploiting the “all units retreat to the same territory” rule to get your S. Germans to Romania in one round.
Round 2:  Buy 10 Infantry, 10 Artillery and attack Russia
Round 3:  Push harder, deeper, faster
Round 4-6:  Buy Mechanized Infantry/Armor, push on Russia
Round 7 (and 8 if necessary, but you really want to be done buying stuff on Round 7 latest!): Buy all aircraft, preferably Strategic Bombers so they can hit Moscow immediately on Round 8

The longest I’ve ever seen it take to get Russians from Amur back to Moscow is 8 rounds, hence the deadline.

First thing is to never pull all Russian units to Sakha R1 (or even partial), Japs can move everything they have to Amur J1 (you won’t be able to attack them w/1’s), and trap you there. You can’t retreat, the Japs can hit all your options from Amur. Your dead, leaving them a clear path across the north, with only the Mongolian Russians to protect you. This does make it a little tough for Jap though because they will be expending resources they need in the south & China, but it can be devastating for the allies.

I normally retreat all Russians back (6 inf to Yak, and 12 inf +AA to Bury). Next turn continue to retreat 6 inf from Yak towards Moscow, or they can move into China later if not needed at home (Sea Lion). I keep the 12 inf + AA in Bury for now.

The game we’re playing now the Japs have moved everything south (very little left near Japan). They built a naval base in Kwangsi (pretty typical) to threaten India (we blocked them w/dd), or to grab the DEI, Phil and threaten Anz (Japs have 5-6 loaded tpts). Seeing that Jap moved just about every thing south, as US I started moving fleet to the north. I have things spread out from Hawaii (small fleet), Wake (2 loaded carriers w/1ftr on Wake), and sz 16 (1bb, 2 cruisers, 2dd’s & 2 loaded tpts) all out of Jap range (for now). We are just starting turn #3, and the Russians (12 inf+AA) will be returning to Amur (out of Jap range as well). If Jap attacks J3 (think they will, or at least that looks like what the plan was), I can get the US troops safely to Amur (sz5), along with 5 aircraft (on/next to Wake). I could also move everything to sz6, depending on what Japan does. I’m sure he’ll protect the Jap home island somehow, but it should put a damper on his plans to the south. W/US troops and air in Amur protected w/12 Russian inf+AA guns it will be interesting to see what the Japs do. If they don’t protect Manchuria, I can take it w/US, then move the Russians in for defense (Turn order) keeping the Mongolian rule intact, BTW we have also saved a couple IPC’s w/China to add more troops to Manchu once liberated. Korea is also an option for US/Russia to stage there. I could also send the US air force towards Moscow (from Amur) to def against the German heavy Barbarossa leaving the 20+ ground units, 2AA guns and Chinese ftr in Manchu (if we get it) for Japan to deal with (if nothing else it should chew up some very limited Jap ground troops). If the Japs move back towards the home land, the Anz & UK are set-up to snipe Jap tpts etc…

Anyways I like to keep the bulk of the Russians in the east just to F*** w/Japan. I’ll leave it to my allies to help def Moscow (air power, or troops from India etc…), or start up a 2nd front to stall the Germans in a Barbarossa game. Those Russians can be used in China or in this case may end up saving India, or stalling the Japs  by combo w/US & China.

I sort of like keeping them in Buryatia for a round, two max.  If Japan’s going hard India, then moving them into Amur > Korea > Manchuria (that path does not negate Mongolia) becomes an option, if they move heavy China or Russia you can retreat them back to Moscow before Germany can attack, usually.

@Cmdr:

I sort of like keeping them in Buryatia for a round, two max.  If Japan’s going hard India, then moving them into Amur > Korea > Manchuria (that path does not negate Mongolia) becomes an option, if they move heavy China or Russia you can retreat them back to Moscow before Germany can attack, usually.

No any time the Russians attack Jap owed Manchu (or any other Jap owned tt that boarders Mongolia) it would negate the Mongo rule. If Manchu is liberated then the Russians can NCM in. But yea I like keeping a stack in Bury for when the Japs let their guard down.