All the Russian openings: For Begginers

Its tricky, I think against a very cautious German player that sort of defense might work, but against bloodthirsty numbers cruncher, it invites an immediate German attack.

Using the scenario outlined above, the risk would be to W. Russia rather than Caucasus. Say for example that you take the expected 2 hits in Western Russia exchange, under the numbers proposed that leaves you with what?

5 infantry 3 artillery and 3 tanks parked in W. Russia for defense on G1 right?

If Germany sends all their ground in range (including the units you didn’t destroy in Belo/Ukraine) and a reasonable amount of air, say something like…

6 inf 1 artillery 4 tanks, 3 fighters and 1 bomber. Germany has a 99% chance to destroy the W. Russia stack with like 7/8 units remaining (basically all their air and armor have a good chance to survive.) Sure they might die on counter if the Russians attack out of Caucasus/Moscow on R2, but that still leaves Germany with 6 infantry and 2 tanks to stack Karelia after the soviets are destroyed in W. Russia.

Sending the AA to defend in W. Russia can drop this by a few percentage points, but even then G can still crack you.

If the Soviets still try to attack Karelia on R2, with the 2 inf from Archangel, 2 tanks (purchased at Moscow), with the 2 fighters from Caucasus vs Germany’s 6 infantry and 2 tanks, that is only a 13% chance of victory for the Russians (there 3rd tank would be out of range in Caucasus, since W. Russia is likely to be recaptured. So basically, if G goes balls to the Wall on G1 in response to the Caucasus defense plan, they can crush your Soviet armor and artillery in W. Russia and still stack Karelia and Belo (the ideal landing spot for fighters) for solid G2 positioning on the Eastern Front.

Caucasus will hold through G1 and likely G2 for sure, but the Russian line against Karelia for R2 counter attack will basically be screwed in the exchange. Its also much harder for UK to transit fighters on UK1 with W. Russia in German hands and arch under threat on G2. I think often its very hard in 1942.2 to gauge how many troops are really required to put up a proper defense in W. Russia vs the all out G1 assault. As the soviets, without running any R1 attacks, to deplete the number of Germans arrayed against you, its really necessary to stack W. Russia much deeper than you might think.

Russia is in a definite bind. There lack of ground units at the outset, is one of the main reasons why the Allied air wall at the center is so necessary to face down that German crunch, and they’re factories are in terrible locations haha. Its funny to imagine units being produced out of the Caucasus during the middle of the battle of Stalingrad, I think Volograd would have made more sense.

One interesting alternative to an Allied bid, is allowing the Allies to remove 1 of their factories, as a way to achieve better balance for their side. The obvious choices would be Karelia (perhaps even Caucasus or India for some strategies), getting rid of any of those starting factories can actually help the Allies more than it hurts them, since the factories cannot be used by the Axis unless Axis actually purchase the production. In my HR games I sometimes allow the Allies to move one of their starting factories as a set up change. For example moving the Karelia factory to Volodga for free, just as a set up change before the game begins.

That’s actually an idea I toyed with for a while, as a possible way to set up a more effective KJF game. I haven’t quite found one that works in an optimal way for me yet, where G doesn’t stomp, but it somehow seems like something that should be possible.

Another idea I had for a set up change, back when we were first exploring set-up changes for Russia instead of open bids for the Allies, was to re-orient Russia’s production behind the Urals.

The Karelia factory moves to Vologda
And the Caucasus factory moves to Kazakh

I felt that this more accurately modeled the situation in the real War. Since Leningrad and Stalingrad were contested by Germany, it feels kind of weird that the Russians are forced to defend these front line factories, instead of producing stuff behind the Urals like they did historically. Moving these factories nerfs the Axis production position on the center (improving balance by sides), although it also had the effect of encouraging the JTDTM, since Japan is under a lot more pressure to slam Russia from the rear. The Japanese definitely have a harder time of it though, because Russia can project more power towards the Asian side.
Basically it tended to move the whole eastern front defensive “line” for the Russians, even further east. Archangel, Evenki and the territories of western China became even more critical.

I actually thought it worked quite well, though I had a hard time persuading others of its merits, which is why I just started to give the Russians a bomber, since that was easier to explain while adding some excitement. I still really like the factory tweak idea though, over an open bid (which everyone just uses to break the Med, or sz 37.) More fun in my view to give the Russians a better fighting chance, with a more dynamic production spread.
:-D

It’s true, the two minor factories still serve as a Russian Achilles heal, and like you, when I tested it, Japan gunned for Kazakh (which is my usual 1942.2 attack route for Japan anyway), but the advantage for Russia is that it stretches the German logistics. So Russia can trade with less fear of G immediately stacking the captured factories. Kazakh is kind of interesting too because Indian tanks can reach it in 1 move, and bombers from UK can likewise reach it in 1 move. It’s also possible for the Soviets to put more pressure on Japan in the first round, since Russian tanks built here can reach Kwang on the blitz, while still covering W. Russia or Ukraine. This advantage diminished with each round that elapses, since Japan can shuck so easy, but it might be fun for teasing out new round 1 plays vs Japan. The Kazakh factory is also a permanent blocker, which can come in handy if getting pressed by Japanese tanks and you need to do a full evac.

It took me a while to realize how important Kazakh is to the Russian position at the center in 1942.2, (the China design is different from earlier A&A boards where this territory, while important, was somewhat less critical in Classic or Revised.) Often in 1942.2 I’ve seen the Russian player let Japan snag it uncontested, which invariably causes the center to fold faster than it might otherwise. The sz61 push to Yunnan allows the Japanese to reach Kazakh very quickly with reinforcements from the home island, and a Japanese held Kazakh is usually in range of German air too, which means that sometimes the Allied player gets tripped up here. They will pull out of Kazakh thinking they can trade the territory with ease, only to get caught with their pants down and lose it permanently to Axis, with no real chance of recovery, as Japan just keeps funneling ground there each round. Here the proposed starting factory draws a big red bulls eye on the territory, making it pretty clear to both sides, that this territory should not be given up without a fight.
:-D

Also, by removing the Caucasus factory, you really alter the German player’s priorities at the center of the gameboard. They can still park units in Caucasus or Karelia to threaten the center, but they can’t reinforce that stack as easily, which makes the move somewhat less attractive. I rather envision that the trading which occurs in Caucasus and Karelia between G and Russia, is like the Siege of Leningrad or the battle of Stalingrad, with control shifting back and forth, ownership representing when one side or the other has gained the upper hand, but without allowing for immediate spams of infantry. Instead ground has to be moved into the city first haha.

Vologda is less useful, of course, but it can help to control the north vs an Axis link up, and gives you a but more reach into the Soviet Far east. Its hard to justify building units here at the outset, but this factory is 1 space closer to Japan, so perhaps useful in a KJF type scenario where you want to hold the north against an early blast, or rush some defenders towards the far East, so you don’t have to watch all that red land turn yellow with no contest.

Archangel is an interesting alternative candidate. It’s only worth 1 ipc on this map, which would be somewhat limiting for Russia, though also limiting for Axis when captured, and it would be a permanent blocker. I like the concept of 1 ipc factories, though I get the impression others might feel that 1 ipc is too low for a starting factory on this board.

Kazakh and Vologda aren’t quite perfect, but I find that the Russians can be pretty effective out of Moscow, if they don’t have to worry as much about Germany stacking Caucasus with a free factory. Now if G wants to build out of Karelia or Caucasus they’d have to spend 15 ipcs first and face a one round delay, which can make a big difference at about round 6 or 7 when Axis can usually stack the south with ease. Less pressure for UK in India, can also help free up British units to cover Suez or the Russian capital, if Japan goes balls out against China.

I agree with you about sz37, the set up there is a bit odd. I suppose there is nothing to prevent you from giving the Russians the extra bomber too, in addition to the factory change, if it seems like the Soviets are still too weak.
 :-D

I posted the factory change idea with a gamesave in the HR section, in case anyone wants to try it.
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=36172.0

Part of the reason I like this tweak, is because it encourages to the Russian player to actually fight against Japan, instead of just ceding control of the East as soon as Japan arrives. Kazakh is not quite as hard to stack/hold as might seem to be the case at the outset. After a few rounds of building, even Evenki and Yakut can hold, provided you’re willing to trade a bit against Japan early on. I think the issue OOB is that Russia is under huge pressure to stay fixated on Karelia and Caucasus for fear of early German stacking, which means they have basically no free units/opportunities to send against Japan. The challenge I think, under the set up I proposed, is that the lack of a starting Factory in Caucasus (no permanent blocker there) changes the way the Allies can “can-open” at the center. You have to be more on guard against a potential Axis blitz route, and remember to leave a blocking unit if you pull out of the territory as Russia, since the factory is not their to serve this function.

I think there are some other potential factories tweaks you could make too, if you don’t like the Vologda/Kazakh idea.

One solution might be to move the starting factory in Karelia to W. Russia (German occupied at the outset, but easy for the Soviets to recover on R1) and just keep the Caucasus factory in place. This does the double duty, of denying Germany their easy Lendingrad factory capture, while giving the Russians +2 production in a critical space. The danger there is of Germany taking and stacking W. Russia right next to Moscow, but that just means that the factory can still serve as a swing territory available to either side over the course of play.

Another idea suggest above is to move the Karelia factory to safe territory that is only worth 1 ipc, to make it less valuable as a target. Arch, Evenki, or Novos could be interesting.

This stuff is of course all just musing on bid alternatives, and not necessary for beginners. But I think its fun to have some suggestions for different ideas to try, when the game gets a bit old, and you want to attempt something new on your 1942.2 board.

My favorite tweak is probably still just the Russian bomber at Moscow, if you need a quick fix. I like how the sculpt is so damned huge!

Also, it’s not inconceivable, that, when provided with an extra bomber from the outset, the Russian player might even get to point where they decide “Well, ����-it! I’m just going to buy second big bomber!” Drop 12 ipcs just the one time, to unleash the dread Red Air armada haha! A pair of fighters, and pair of bombers! The double duo in the skies! A death defying dual with Germany in the light trading game. Plus you get some extra reach on the air evac, in case Stalin has to fly away during the endgame heheh.
:-D

To the first question, submarines and transports no longer create a hostile sea zone in A&A games since the 50th Anniversary Edition. This means that such a move is not possible in 1942.2, since subs can’t block. The German subs and cruiser can ignore the Russian sub in sz6, passing through it to attack sz7, since the sub doesn’t make sz6 “hostile.” This can be a tricky concept to get your head around if coming to 1942.2 from Classic or Revised, since in those games all naval units create a hostile sea zone. Basically the only way for the Russians to bottleneck sz6 is to bid a destroyer in sz 4 and them move it to block.

To counter a tank spam you need to put pressure on Berlin with the western Allies. Buy max hitpoints with Russia and then use British and American air to prop up the Russian capital. The USA should also build a fleet ASAP and work to set up in Europe as quickly as possible, Germany will be vulnerable to amphibious landings by UK.

It’s possible, if the people in your group are used to Revised A&A tank drives, that they are trying to set something up from G1 (since that play was workable in Revised when tanks cost 5 ipcs)
In 1942.2 this opener leaves Germany fodder poor, and lacking the necessary hitpoints to overcome the W. Russia/Moscow air wall.

Here this thread might he helpful too… http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=35768.0
It describes another move I like to get the air wall up and running.

There’s some info about the new cost structure for 1942.2 armor in this thread… PrivatePanic helped edit a doc that should make the armor section of that guide easier to locate. Basically tucked in there is a discussion of how to use inf/art in conjunction with air to “deadzone” territory and trade cheaper units for enemy tanks over the course of the game.
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=35703.0

Also, cool ideas up there Darth! Glad to see others contributing to this thread and keeping the Russian strategy guide active with more feedback

Something I forgot to mention at the outset, but which is fairly important sometimes… if you are attacking Ukraine, it’s better to run the attack in West Russia first. This is because, if you get the chance to strafe Ukraine, it’s good to know how many infantry survived in West Russia. Occasionally Germany will clap hard on you with their defense, in which case taking Ukraine can be more advantageous than strafing it. Either way you are committed to both attacks, but if you run Ukraine first instead of W. Russia, it can sometimes come back to haunt you, even with a brilliant strafe, if you get hammered in W. Russia and allow the Germans a blitz path from Poland and Romania to W. Russia via Ukraine.

No gift for brevity and too much time on my hands I guess.
:-D

Even in casual conversation I’m prone to digressions, so I’m sure the same tendencies surface in my writing as well.

As far as Japan goes, there are, broadly speaking, two scenerios you should be ready to manage…
What to do when the Allies are ignoring you?
And what to do when they’re not? Hehe

The first situation is fairly straightforward, you help Germany get into position on the center as quickly as possible. I think there is a general agreement that the easiest way to achieve this is with aircraft. If Germany is doing reasonably well in the East, Japan only requires 12 ipcs a round to make a viable contribution to the war effort against Russia. A bomber built in Tokyo can reach Karelia in one move, and from there can bomb Moscow relentlessly. This is often faster and cheaper than taking red territory directly. If you go with that approach it may not even be necessary for you to bring ground units in range of the center, for Germany to still break the Russians. Your starting fighters can support the German advance (providing defensive pips), while your bombers hammer the Soviet production centers. That leaves you with 20 ipcs a round or more to dedicate to your own ground campaigns in Asia, or naval ambitions. The faster you push ground units towards the Center the more likely it is that Axis will take the Russian capital before the western Allies are in a position to stop the center crush. To get your ground forces in range you can either expand production with factories, or (my preference) transport them from Japan to the mainland. With the latter method I dig the shuck into Yunnan from Japan via sz61.

The second situation, where Allies are focusing on you instead of Germany, is a bit more nuanced. Here your main priority is to preserve the Imperial Japanese Navy for as long as possible, stack the home island and do your best to maintain a route into Asia with your transports. Your goal should be to draw as much Allied TUV into the Pacific as possible, without losing your own TUV in the process, that way Germany has a free hand, again to rush the center. Aircraft are very useful here as well, especially in combination with carriers and a one time sub spam. Basically you want to cover the money islands (Borneo and East Indies) to prevent the USA from gaining a production foothold. American conquest of a south Pacific might be inevitable, but the longer it takes them the greater the chances that Germany will run the board and arrive in time to save you on the mainland. More than anything though, you want to stack Tokyo with enough fodder that USA has to invest two or three times as much in ships and air to get an adequate number of infantry transported in range to actually threaten your defensive investment. Again if you already have Tokyo stacked, and can still afford 12 ipcs a round, you can provide Germany with bomber support. More often than not though, you will be the one in the driver’s seat as Japan, because it’s pretty hard for the Allies to mess with you, while still preventing Germany from taking the center.

With the center under Axis control, and both their starting capitals uncontested, Axis have effectively won the game, regardless of how high the USA is on income. You can defend Eurasia with aircraft alone, until Germany is able to build carriers and achieve Naval parity with the Western Allies.

There’s a bit more to it than that of course, but since this is a Ruskie thread I don’t want to get too sidetracked. I’ll probably draft a Japan guide at some point to cover their openers in more detail.

Hitting sz 53 is a strong play, if you haven’t seen it done before, though this puts your starting bomber out of position on Moscow for 3 rounds. It’s just a matter of keeping your fleet consolidated and shucking infantry into China after you shock the USA into submission. It’s possible to run that attack even if you get smoked in sz 37 by UK. The move is 1 sub 1 cruiser, 1 bomber and 2 fighters  (take the fighter from Japan as your first casualty) then send the carrier to sz 61 and land any surviving aircraft at Wake. As Allies/USA you should dive immediately and save your sub for the counter attack. There is really no way for Russia and UK to influence the sz53 situation, unless they just want to sacrifice units in an attempt to draw the Japanese fighters/bomber somewhere other than pearl.

Before going too much father, it might be helpful for me to ask… Where do you feel you are getting stuck with Japan? At India? Or at Moscow? Or on the water?
If I had a sense of where you feel most frustrated as the Emperor we might be able to give you some more useful opening pointers, or more specific strategy ideas for the second and third rounds.
:)

@craykirk that’s a pretty balsy opening by G? Who was your opponent?

This is the danger of not wearing down either Belo or Ukraine, it leaves G with a lot of fodder to attempt an all out air blitz.

One might think that slamming W. Russia would have some effect on the sz7 battle, though unfortunately G can attack the British battleship with just subs and a cruiser and still come out clean.

My assessment would be that you went too big into Baltic states. 3 inf 1 artillery and the bomber is bit overkill, since anything in Baltic States is easily destroyed on G1 (they just have a ton of units in range.) Germany has 1 inf and 1 tank in Baltic States, which is 9 TUV.
3 inf and 1 artillery is 13 TUV, so even if you include the 2 ipcs you gain from taking the territory, you’re still trading at a loss. Russia just can’t afford to trade at a loss on this board, at any point, let alone in the first round.

8 inf 2 artillery 2 aaaguns and 4 tanks is a strong result for W. Russia in the Soviet opener. So for G to go balls out and attack you with everything, means that your opponent is either being reckless, or they simply don’t consider you much of a threat.

A larger bid might have been advisable if dealing with a disparity in player experience. If your opponent is seasoned, he may have felt the need to hit you with a hot shot right away, just to shake you. Which seems to have been successful. Forcing a player to play outside their comfort zone is a pretty sound strategy, if you think you can pull it off. Now the dilemma you’re faced with is how to respond to an unconventional play. The only thing you really have going for you at this point is that Gs air is out of position on sz7. So the optimal response is probably a carrier build by UK. Though this will depend on whether your Canadian destroyer survived, and whether G built more bombers.

It’s a tough spot man, I feel for you. I’d say just do you best to muddle through. Instead of approaching things like you’ve already lost, try to see how long you can hold out, and throw everything you can at G with UK/USA. A crushing defeat in W. Russia on G1, requires an immediate response from UK. You can’t give G a round to regroup, but you’ll have to be careful of the threat from the rear. If G smashed all your ground, they might just turtle up and let Japan do the dirty work.

I’m just getting off work and gotta drive home. I’ll response to Fuhrer about Japan when I get home.

@Fuhrer when you say “pumping 2 fighters into India” do you mean he is flying 2 fighters to India from UK, or that he is actually purchasing fighters in India? If the later is the case, that is rather poor purchasing on your opponent’s part, and you should exploit it. This means he will have very low fodder hitpoints at India.

If you’re running into problems pressuring India with Japan, this usually means you aren’t purchasing enough transports.

If your Japanese fleet is being regularly destroyed, that means either you’re not supporting it with sufficient carrier defense, or you’re trying to move it too far from home too quickly.

Operating out of sz 61 or sz62/60 is much safer than trying to do so out of sz 36, especially if UK is concentrating their air-power in India (and if they have ships surviving after a successful sz 37 attack, to help make that air-power more effective.) If you’re second carrier is destroyed, you should replace it immediately.

If your transport in sz 61 survives UK1, you are still in a strong position to crush India, but you have to back it up. Often times the Japanese player will stop short of purchasing enough transports to be effective. This is a minimum of 4 transports so you can transport the max production (8 ground) off Japan each round. But even this is on the low end. It’s better to have 5 or even 6 transports as the Japanese.

This allows you to push units first into Buryatia, to feint like you’re going to drive against Russia along the northern route, only to pick up some of those units the following round (with the purchase of additional transport capacity) and then swing south to pressure India.

Don’t be overly distracted by East Indies, Although it certainly sucks to lose this income to UK, its worse to let it deter your advance on India, while you get stuck out of position trying to recoup your loses in sz 37. If you keep pushing ground units into Yunnan via sz 61, this will allow you to threaten both India, and East Indies the following round, without putting your fleet at risk from India based fighters in the process. Even if Japan loses 2 of their starting fighters in sz 37, they still have 4 fighters and the bomber left, which is a lot of attack power, when combined with sufficient transport capacity.

I’d say your friend is on the right track that he needs fighters for India defense, but he should really be transiting them over from W. Russia or Archangel to India, rather than building them in India, both to cover Moscow and to give India sufficient hitpoints to face down a Japanese Burma push.

As for the 1 destroyer a round built at UK, you should be destroying these with German aircraft as soon as they hit the water. You can trade at advantage vs a single UK destroyer with 2 German fighters pretty easily. The DD only has a 1 in 3 chance to shoot you down, which means more often than not you can crush that enemy TUV at no loss to yourself. Better to sink a destroyer when its by itself, than waiting for it to stack up in a larger group.