The Bright Skies

Thanks guys for all the feedback, one week left until the game. So far the consensus is that USA bomber fleet is good idea, however too many bombers are not. I can see why, therefore I will build bombers the first 3 turns, that is 12 bombers, more when earlier at war. Those bombers have 1 mission, kill the baltic fleet and hurt Germany afterwards.

Secondly it is agreed Germany is simply too strong to contain so early, they need to expand / thin their lines. Also on this I agree. However to Leningrad it is 2 steps, while to Stalingrad / Caucasus it is 4 steps. South is more interesting for Germany, while it gives the USRR more time to level its land troops mass with that of Germany. So now this leaves me with the question, how can I lure / influence Germany going south.

Currently I think this can be done by getting all troops to the North so Belarus / Leningrad while having minimal resistance in the South. This will hopefully lure Germany in south to a quick Moscow rush / south harvest. Because it is slower, it is easier to get enough mass to prevent a quick moscow rush. A strafe on Bryansk can reinforce moscow from Belarus. In order to play these tactical games I will not mass Infantry, but Mech. Infantry, which allows me to be very mobile with my Russian ‘mass’ from north to south or any counter-attack.

So buys will be 6 mech, 3 artillery etc.

This allows you to for example stack Leningrad, but still be in Moscow on time when they go south by either strafing Bryansk or force him to go by Tambov and you have enough time to move into Russia.

This puts Germany on pressure, much more than full infantry buys.

What do you think?

Thanks! I have developed a 4 turn strategy, will post it soon. Even Rhinos can be tricked.

Leningrad: Not one step back!

This strategy assumes a German DOW2, but is well suited for earlier or later declarations of war.

Russia 1
Purchase: 3 Artillery, 6 Mechanized Infantry

Non-Combat moves
3 Infantry from Vyborg move to Karelia
6 Infantry, 1 Artillery move from Novgorod to Karelia
3 Infantry from Baltic States move to Novgorod
1 Infantry from Belarus moves to Novgorod
1 Infantry from Archangel move to Novgorod
1 Tank, 1 Mech. Infantry from Russia move to Belarus
1 Infantry, 1 Artillery from Russia move to Smolensk
2 Infantry from Eastern Poland move to Belarus
2 Infantry from Bessarabia move to Western Ukraine
3 Infantry from Ukraine move to Western Ukraine
1 Mech. Infantry from Volgograd move to Bryansk
All Siberian infantry unite at Buryatia

Building Phase: 3 Mech. Infantry in Volgograd (for Iraq), 3 Artillery in Novgorod and 3 Mech. Infantry in Russia

Collect income: 38

The heavy reinforcement of Karelia is done in order to let Germany use the 7 Scandinavion infantry move defensive, ideally to keep them in Finland. This results into 7 less infantry that can attack Novgorod in G3. The strategy is based around taking over Scandinavia from Germany, while being able to respond quickly to opportunities or the ultimate defense of Moscow. In order to conquer Scandinavia two things need to be achieved: Leningrad must hold its ground and the Baltic fleet needs to be destroyed. This can all be done by luring Germany to the southern route to the oil.

Russia 2
Purchase: 3 Artillery, 6 Mech. Infantry

In case Germany has kept its infantry in Finland while moved its main stack to the Baltic States, retreat Karelia into Novgorod, together with the reinforcements from Belarus/Bryansk. You now have 2 AA, 18 Infantry, 2 Mech. Infantry, 7 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Tactical Bomber, 2 Fighters defending Leningrad, against 16 Infantry, 3 Artillery, some Eastern tanks and Luftwaffe that was in place. This Leningrad can be reinforced by UK / French fighters that landed in Scotland UK1.

Keep buying Mech. Infantry and Artillery. There are several tactical possibilities Russia gets when its Infantry mass gets mechanized. From Russia it can reach Ukraine in a single turn. Massed Mech. Infantry in Novgorod can combo-attack a big German stack in Bryank together with Russia, strafing and retreating back into Moscow. It can put out an incredible counter-attack when mixed with well placed groups of Artillery. While I agree Russia needs to bulk up as much as possible, I think building mainly infantry limits Russia in its option to counter-attack. As soon Germany makes one mistake, Russia should be able to fully capitalize this. Also building infantry can not defend Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad, while mech. infantry will be much better suited to relocate to strongpoints. Finally, mech. infantry can help out China faster later in the game when breathing space is created with Germany.

In R2 you liberate NW Persia with 1 Tank, 3 Mech. Infantry, 2 Infantry and attack Iraq the following turn. As soon Iraq is captured, 1 Tank and 1 Mech. Infantry go for the money hunt Italian countries such as Somaliland and Sicily/Sardinia.

In the meantime, USA buys the first three rounds Bombers, that are sent as soon as possible to London to take out the Baltic Fleet. As soon as the Baltic Fleet is destroyed, the Leningrad forces will start to advance. Even if Leningrad has fallen and Russia is unable to conquer Scandinavia, the UK can take Norway. The UK will build up its invasion fleet as soon is clear Germany will go for Russia, in the meantime it builds fighters / land troops. This will allow the UK to start doing amphibious attacks UK3/4 in Western Europe forcing Germany to spend forces to the Western front.

Combined UK and USA efforts will contain Italy without too much effort. The only way this can be prevented is heavy airlifting from Germany. This is good for Russia as it diverts German power away from Russia.

While going the southern route will provide a lot of money for Germany, its infantry needs a lot more time, 2 more turns, to get there instead of Leningrad. These 2 turns will provide to be crucial for Germany to become more divided, lose some of its Luftwaffe while its supply lines will be stretched deep into Russian territory. That time allows Russian to build up a counter-attack consisting of lots of Mech. Infantry and Artillery.

I have analyzed the board of Russia some more, another interesting find is that both Stalingrad and Leningrad can reinforce / attack each other within 2 turns out of reach of German counter-attacks by moving around Moscow.

I have divided Russia in several zones, based on steps from Moscow
Moscow = Zone 0
Moscow +1 = Zone 1
Moscow +2 = Zone 2
Moscow +3 = Zone 3
Zone Siberia

Especially zone 2 is interesting, as it contains most of Russia. This means that in case of a mechanized infantry mass in Moscow, it can counter-attack most of its territory. Leningrad however is in Zone 3, and would be extremely difficult to retake once lost. On the contrary, from Leningrad both Moscow and Stalingrad can be fastly reinforced - counter-attacked. This made stronger in my view that Leningrad is worth most stacking.

This allows me to defend Russia on much more flanks, than Germany will be able to push with force, given his main advantage is the large infantry base it has. This will give me the advantage as Russia.

Important is to have artillery stacks on strategic positions, so in Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow. All of them should have 6 artillery, and getting them in place should be done in the first turns.

Starting from R4, I will start adding one tank per turn, as soon as I can become more aggressive I will add more tanks so blitzing becomes possible with medium armies.

I just realized the strategic strength of Bryansk again, with just the traditional Russian force of artillery and infantry this is very strong. With mechanized infantry instead of normal one you actually cover all of Russia and only need two stacks: Novgorod + Bryansk. The Bryansk stack can also include some basic infantry as it is able to retreat directly into Moscow.

Thank you for the great post, I see your concerns. However I think this all changes when I can unite those two stacks on the moment before the clash, while divide them before that clash. Mechanized infantry allows this when stationed in Bryansk and Novgorod. They can make a stand in either zone, or retreat into Moscow on time to not be isolated. All this while having the constant ability counter-attack. I believe using mechanized infantry for Russia might revolutionize its play.

Quote from Napoleon: “march divided, fight concentrated”. His ability to have his forces march / group seperately to confuse the enemy but then all unite his forces before battle and overpower his enemy led to many victories. Romans also excelled in this, being able to march Legions fast to crucial places.

Training your infantry to march twice as fast will allow you to become a new Napolean or Bismarck (remember 1870 war). We have that option as Russia for just 1IPC extra investment.

The Russian board allows excellent synergy and advantages for two moving units over single movers, by abusing this, we get some advantage as defender while Germany has be 100% sharp as one minor mistake will be punished by a counter-attack.

Again, it is important to see Russia as the big potential, as the Allied Germany, not as the big victim that will be raped by Germany. Yes it will still need Allied help, but I see lots of ways for Russia itself to do.

@taamvan:

That is what we have to keep focusing on–if your opponent is Cow-lvl you will not be stacking Byransk, or any other territory.   The Germans, without much more than a few SBs over start, can roll in behind the Italians, who have 3 planes and 5 mechs and armor.   No blockers can hold which means that all your stacks have to be able to withstand the full might of the German advance, and if they can can-open through Belarus, they can destroy Byransk and if they can can open through Byransk they can hit Moscow instead of Smolensk.

This is a catch-22–you need all of the Russians bought and kept just to stack at all, but you cant stack where you can be hit or Moscow can be.   So that’s a G5.   If you can hold out until G6 in the face of the breakthroughs, that’s a win.

Ahhhh, now I see the problem… I have not been incorporating the Italian can-openers and therefore liability to keep the movement of Germany under control. Indeed with Italy Germany can sneak through anything.

Then the next question: is there a way to prevent this?

Against only Germany, I still think it can work and the less mechanized infantry can allow the defense of Russia while still able to hold off the Germans from Moscow, while the big Infantry stack is based on only Moscow.

In case I am wrong and Russia is indeed doomed to only infantry.

How often does Moscow fall in high level games where Germany guns for Russia?