Russian Strategy

Russia starts with plenty of infantry in 1941, the first two purchases should be mostly attacking units, I like to buy a bomber first turn with two artillery and two tanks, this allows for several R2 counters. No the bomber doesn’t defend well but its range is critical for trading territories with Germany. There’s just so much you can do with that bomber on all fronts. If you are playing with NO’s you may even be able to buy a second and then if you happen to get paratroopers (not unlikely since Russia has to go with chart 1) you can cause serious problems for the Axis. Never push too far ahead, let the Germans come to you and then slide in the back door with the UK and US.

I can’t be the only one executing The Russia bomber strategy?

Its really boring, but effective. The strategy is based on that Germany never will take Russia. If you feel unsure of it try it with fighters instead as they can defend russia in worst case scenarios.
What you do is, you buy one Bomber each round. Fill the rest of ipc with mainly infantry and if it adds up, 1 or 2 tanks. This way your bombers will stack up and become a powerful weapon, ready to strike wherever its necessery. Together with infantry you dont lose that valuable tanks to counterattacks and you still have great attacking power.

And even in the 5th round when you find yourself with 4 bombers, buy another one. Stay consistant. Someone said that attack is the best defence. Was it right or wrong?

Go for it, I’d love Russia to be putting 4 less Inf down each turn as Germany.  I don’t think you would have enough fodder to trade territories for very long and Germany would start to get the upper hand as far as the Income balance goes.  By round 5 Japan should be showing up from the South as well.

I don’t think buying a bomber a turn is a good strategy at all.  I’ve seen Russia buy a few fighters to help in trading along the front and I could understand a bomber but not 1 a turn.

Well of course it depends on the situation. If germany is threating Moscow then you wont build a bomber, that turn. But lets say both Germany and Japan is in safe distance, you will never be disappointed with your Bomber. The Vision with the Russia Bomber Strategy is to gain air supremecy with Russia. 1 bomber every turn is maybe to exaggerate but its something you should always strive for. And believe me, it pays off.

I may not be very adaptive, but ahhh…

also I don’t play with NO’s (they are a optional rule), and I don’t really like to throw money away on tech.

I still say men and tanks win the war, I generally build 3 tanks and 5 men on R1.  then proceed to build my best 8 from there on out.  t2 is usually 2 tanks 6 men (oh yeah, arty’s aren’t a unit in my book, one too many bad experiences with them  in the past), turn three… well it’s adaptive but it depends where the Germans have got themselves. turn three is where I take stock…

am I gonna be alone, are the allies set up to start landing on France, how much longer till japan shows up?  T3 is usually when I start to take Russia on the offense if she is gonna have one.  if everything is in play the Germans have got themselves in deep enough into russia that she won’t be able to retreat fully.  The UK and USA are making demands for the german affection, this is the turn I would probably build all tanks and start pushing out… as for as the turns after that… back to superior men builds with a few tanks… let’s not forget the japanese are prolly only 2 turns out from being a sever threat…

anyways, men and tanks are very boring but in my opinion the most effective.  I mean can russia ever have enough men?  also nothing beats the hitting and defensive power of a tank dollar per dollar… so yeah just men and tanks, lots of both, but mostly men.

also turn one… while it is pain full, it generally helps save American fleet … I like stacking all 7 inf in the far east.  I call it bait, I mean what Japanese player would pass on eating up all those tasty Russian infantry?  it usually changes up what japan would  like to do otherwise… if you roll well you can sometimes get a fighter… but generally your gonna lose and lose bad in that bait fight.  also if your lucky you can draw japan up from the southern route to your capital, to the northern one which is a 5 territory track for her infantry.

I like the 7 infantry bait thing. If Japan ignores them too long, they will create problems. I once walked them thruogh china and India and they walked all the way back to causcasus even if it was only two men left at the end. Two brave men.

Oh, oh! I know!

Russia: Cruiser, Carrier, Infantry, Save 1 IPC
England: Land 2 fighters on Russian Carrier

(Assuming you build it in SZ 4 with your Submarine so the British Fighters Can land there!)

@Cmdr:

Oh, oh! I know!

Russia: Cruiser, Carrier, Infantry, Save 1 IPC
England: Land 2 fighters on Russian Carrier

(Assuming you build it in SZ 4 with your Submarine so the British Fighters Can land there!)

Now I know your probably a waaaaay better strategist then me, but this just sounds like too much of a risk to me.

@bbrett3:

@Cmdr:

Oh, oh! I know!

Russia: Cruiser, Carrier, Infantry, Save 1 IPC
England: Land 2 fighters on Russian Carrier

(Assuming you build it in SZ 4 with your Submarine so the British Fighters Can land there!)

Now I know your probably a waaaaay better strategist then me, but this just sounds like too much of a risk to me.

Yea, it was a joke. :)

But just imagine how funny it would be done IRL!  Betcha I could take off my shirt, pull this stunt, and still have a slightly decent chance to win the game (since my opponent would be staring at my chest - I hope - I could pull all his tanks off the board without his knowing it!  Thus, I would have a slightly decent chance to win! hehe.)

@Cmdr:

@bbrett3:

@Cmdr:

Oh, oh! I know!

Russia: Cruiser, Carrier, Infantry, Save 1 IPC
England: Land 2 fighters on Russian Carrier

(Assuming you build it in SZ 4 with your Submarine so the British Fighters Can land there!)

Now I know your probably a waaaaay better strategist then me, but this just sounds like too much of a risk to me.

Yea, it was a joke. :)

But just imagine how funny it would be done IRL!  Betcha I could take off my shirt, pull this stunt, and still have a slightly decent chance to win the game (since my opponent would be staring at my chest - I hope - I could pull all his tanks off the board without his knowing it!  Thus, I would have a slightly decent chance to win! hehe.)

LOL :lol:

i wasn’t sure if you were joking so I didn’t want to completely bash this idea  :-D

Humor and sarcasm do have a tendency to be hard to discern on the internet, yea. :lol:

The deadpan is leading to trouble!

After 10 games '41 as either the sole Allied Commander or a consultant to Russian Player, I’ve seen developments on the Axis side that are just plain scarry.  Personally, I play the Allies KIF.  I feel the first capital that falls should be Italy, not just for realism, but this is an attainable goal for the Allies, closest I’ve got is E4.

Now I’ve played Russia aggressive and defensive, and never focused on airpower.  The best I’ve seen is slugging it out with the Germans and then looking at a one-two when Japan shows up.  I have given up any hope for supporting India.

Tactically if Russia backs up, then Germany backs up to Karelia and then starts buying for a UK/US invasion counter waiting for the unimpeded Japan.  I typically spend the first two American rounds in the Atlantic and quickly catch up in the Pacific after that.

Russia is spending a lot on defending Caucasus and the Capital, hoping their Allied relief is strong enough to hold Italy.  Unfortunately, I’m having trouble advancing Russia, as the infantry is too precious to attack with, but I need Russia to wake up when Italy falls.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the critical R4-R5.  Do you go after Japan or Germany?

@Imperious:

If the Soviets build ANY naval while the Germans continue to hold Soviet territory, then the Soviets will surely lose. They need tanks and planes and not transports or destroyers.

They used to have a guy back in 98 ( on MSN game zone) who always bought a Battleship for 24 IPC on turn one and went on to win some victories, but i think he was fluffing up his results so he can tell his grandson how he won games with Soviet Battleships.

Buying naval for the Soviets is like claiming you found the lock ness monster

One transport in SZ16 can help you hit your NO if you play them.  With right circumstances……

@KindWinds:

One transport in SZ16 can help you hit your NO if you play them.  With right circumstances……

Too easy for the Italians to pick off with their fleet or even just a fighter.  The Russian NO only really shows up in the endgame if the allies are winning I’ve found.

@Ó:

My thoughts exactly. I’ve seen some people play foolishly with both Russia and Germany, with Germany exhausting it’s momentum prematurely, then the Russians launching an all out offensive only to be thrown back with terrible losses, putting each back at square one.

Exactly what happened in WW2

I think the best thing the russians can do (round one) is to buy ALL INFANTRY.In later rounds you can have a little offence like a tank or art per turn .Your infantry will soak up many germanand jap tanks if they choose to attack.

6 inf, 3 rt isn’t a bad play.  You get close to the 10 units of an all Inf buy but you get A LOT more firepower.

5 inf, 3 arm is good if you’ll need the two movement points right away to help deter a Ger move to Kar.

I don’t know about all infantry, because particularly in a dice game, it’s best to have some offensive units for counterattacks in case Germany attacks and gets lucky at Karelia or Cauc.  My most common first round buy is 7 inf 1 art 1 arm, 2nd most common is 4 inf 2 art 2 arm.

My normal R1 buy is 2inf, 1art, 2arm, and 1ftr. I usually like having 2 fighters or 1 fighter and 1 bomber with russia because it makes trading territories much more efficient. Otherwise russia ends up wasting a lot of artillery and armor when making trades. The trick is to buy the planes early so you get enough use out of them to recur their cost. Although if Germany is super aggressive with an all tank buy then I usually skip the fighter and go with 2 extra tanks.

Am I the only one who considers a t1 bomber? It can help keep some japanese shipping honest, helps with an offensive unit in the east if you are sending any troops to china/persia, can be used for a counter attack on Jordan (which is one reason why I like to put tanks on the Cau), it can helps to “perserve” offensive units when going against Germany (especially if you think you can get away with building another fig on R2 or 3).