G1 Attack on Russia?

As Russia, you will invariably be the target of a massive German attack early on in the game. If this attack succeeds, the Axis will almost surely win. If it fails, you can destroy Germany with the other Allies. Therefore, a bit of preparation for the onslaught is required. But how to prepare?

Purchasing for the Defense

In the start of the game, you have four Industrial Complexes: in Moscow, Leningrad, Ukraine, and Stalingrad. You also have 37 IPCs to spend. But on what? I think the best purchase is six tanks, split between Novgorod and Ukraine, with a tactical bomber or artillery every now and then. This provides for lots of power on offense, while also providing lots of units for defense. However, this combination is missing a few notable things:

#1: Strategic bombers. They’re a complete waste of I.P.C.s. For a start, you are going to be defending for the early part of the campaign, so having units that defend on a 1 is useless.

#2: Infantry/Mechanized Infantry. You already have enough infantry, and for the early stages of the defense, you don’t need any more. Use what you have as cannon fodder, and once the German blows have fallen, build some in Moscow or Stalingrad.

#3: Fighters. Although they do defend on a 4, they are too expensive to be worth it. The only time that you should build fighters during this early stage is for a last-ditch defense of a Victory City.

#4: Any naval units whatsoever. You will not see hide nor hair of the German navy during this stage of the war, and probably never! An amphibious assault against Leningrad is unlikely, but in any event, if you follow the strategy given below, Leningrad will be so well-defended that an amphibious assault is unlikely.

#5: AA guns. You start the game with a good number, and what you do have will likely be enough. You have enough in Leningrad, and the AA guns in Moscow (out of reach even of strat bombers for several turns), can reach the Ukraine in 2 turns. Also, the two AA guns in Buryatia can move towards the front, but they’ll not likely reach it in time.

In sum, tanks are the best all-round purchase for your defense. However, there is a strategy that you should employ to help soften the blows…

Retreating

This strategy will not miraculously prevent a German breakthrough, but it will buy you a good bit of time. Here it is:

Move your forces in Karelia and Vyborg into Novgorod, minus one infantry in each. Move one of your Bessarabia infantry into Western Ukraine. Move one of your Eastern Poland infantry into Belarus, and move two of your Baltic States infantry into Belarus. Also, move all of your forces in Volgograd and Rostov into Ukraine. What have you gained by doing this? You’ve created a buffer zone that Germany cannot blitz through, or move its aircraft into. If the Germans attack these territories, you can counter-attack next turn, while still building more tanks in Ukraine and Leningrad. This may not be enough to save Leningrad and Ukraine, but it will buy you a fair amount of time to evacuate or build up in those territories. In spite of this, a G1 attack will upset many of these plans.

Defending Against a G1 Attack

A G1 attack is dangerous, but not fatal. Your biggest advantage is the dice. Germany cannot make up losses as easily as you, as you have two ICs right at the front, and another two safely behind your own lines. Germany, by contrast, cannot reach Bessarabia with land units at all, and reaching Eastern Poland/Baltic States uses up a tank/artillery’s full movement. The only potential IC site- Finland- won’t be ready until G2. However, the Germans will have 49 IPCs on hand on G2, while you’ll only have 35. Still, you can buy 3 tanks in Leningrad and 2 in Ukraine, plus an artillery in Ukraine. This should tie down the Germans for a good while. In the center, retreat wherever possible. Move your Belarus units (assuming an air attack hasn’t killed them) into Smolensk. There, they can link up with your Moscow units and defend effectively, right next to a major IC. The units in Rostov can also support Ukraine. In Western Ukraine, evacuate your infantry and artillery to Bryansk, where they can be supported by the IC in Moscow. This will buy you some time to conduct a defensive campaign, but the Germans may still get to a territory bordering Moscow. How to defend your capital will be the subject of the next installment…

Thanks we have the old rule book, that’s much clearer

@JDOW:

I am very much convinced that USA focussing on reinforcing Russia is a bad idea because it is totally ineffient.

All what Japan has do it is to more or less ignore the threat. Either just block Amur/Korea which it will easily be capable of or even concede korea/Manchuria temporarily.

In the meantime Japan will just easily bash India because it has not to worry about DEI or losing transports. USA has way more important jobs to do than focussing on sending units to eastern Russia.

I agree. I think the UK should help Russia via the Middle East, and the US should focus on the DEI…

That is as valid an opinion as mine.  :evil:

That’s okay, I would also increase the number of German submarines on the board and put some convoy zones out in the mid North Atlantic that hurt US Economy (and UK Economy)

But then, if we implemented my changes, the Germans would need a significant bid again probably.  So yea, in the case of game balance, realism does need to take a back seat (that is not to say forget it completely!)

Then u have a better chance at taking Finland if guys are left behind.  I’ve never done it but I missed a perfect chance at doing it once.  Germany had no transports and the whole air force was out of range.  They were busy taking out the uk navy and the us navy.

I was just adding ideas to the thread.  It’s only 7 ipcs and it makes Germany have to think of different scenarios to defend as opposed to pure offensive.

One reason to use them on land would be to take FRA, WFR, and SFR all at once … but it probably doesn’t outweigh the strategic advantage of sinking an extra SZ of Allied ships.

Though you have me thinking now about how many land units you can safely free up (i.e. start moving toward Russia early) by using significant air over Paris and how much difference that would make against the USSR.  This would only make sense if you only do Sea Lion opportunistically and you plan an early Barbarossa.

@Alsch91:

Normally I think UK could take back both Shan State and Yunnan on UK 3 before pulling back to Calcutta.
Thus your planes have no landing spot.

Might be costly, but also might be worth it for the reasons you suggested.

Yea, I suppose it’s unlikely for allied units to be trekking across Russia. Still it is a bit odd that in the same round a Russian fighter can land on a US carrier in the Atlantic but not in the Pacific.

I guess the rule is the way it is in the interest of simplicity. It did sort out the whole Russia going to war with Japan in order to take neutrals in Europe thing.