Russian Basics

DarthMaximus

The first thing you need to realize is you are not alone in the battle. It will take all 3 Allies to beat the Axis, but due to other priorities you can’t really expect significant help from the UK and US until round 4 or 5 (outside of some air support). So, what is a good way to set up a solid base and ensure your survival until the Allies can take some pressure off of Moscow?

Lets take this step by step and start off with your purchases.
Russia has quite a few options, but I’m only going to list 3 basic buys (with one alt) which most others can then be adjusted from.

The conservative play (8 inf buy). 8 units, 8-attack, 16-defense
This is great for defensive purposes but due to Russia’s placing limitations, it restricts what Russia can do in rds 2 and 3, in terms of detering German advances, and might leave you a little too weak offensively. You also lack mobility since you only start with 4 armor and 2 ftrs.

I do not like this buy, b/c an aggressive Germany player can take advantage of the lack of early Russian firepower and mobility. Just a bit too conservative for me.

The middle of the road play (5 inf, 1 rt, 1 arm). 7 units, 11-attack, 15-defense
You get a little more punch with this buy and it only costs you one less unit and one less defensive point. You can place 3 inf, 1 rt in Cauc and with the rest in Moscow and you now have potentially 5 armor to use on Russia 2.

I certainly favor this buy over the 8 inf purchase, and is good for beginners who want to attack or at least threaten multiple territories while still providing a solid defensive base. This buy will not lose you any games.

The aggressive play (3 inf, 3 arm). 6 units, 12-attack, 15-defense.
I term this aggressive b/c you are only buying 6 units, you do add 12 attack points and still get 15 for defense, but you don’t have quite as big of a stack of infantry as some players may like.

I really like this buy and teamed up with an infantry retreat (Eve, Novo, Kaz) you can really put a serious threat on Germany’s eastern borders (Ukr in particular) and force Germany into thinking twice before making any aggressive moves into the East. Also you almost match Germany interms of armor since you should have 7 on the board and right on the front lines.

(Note: an alternative aggressive buy would be the 2 inf, 2 rt, 2 arm buy. 6 units, 14-attack, 14-defense <– I like this one as well.)

Now to your Combat Moves.

In my opinion Russia should be very careful in not overextending themselves and risk too many losses on R1. I think there are some solid “basic” attacks that Russia can do to inflict enough damage on Germany or stregthen your position. I would limit my attacks to 1 or 2 of the following 3: Wrus, Belo, and Ukr. I think Wrus is the only must attack and your other attack may depend on a possible bid placement.

My early preference has been to attack Wrus and Ukr with max available Russian units (assuming no bid units to Ukr). However, lately I’ve been just attacking Wrus with about 10 inf, 2 rt, 2 arm, 2 ftrs. I like the idea of trying to limit Russia’s round 1 losses and with an “aggresive” buy, Germany will not be able to stack Ukr on G1 and you can just trade Ukr from R2 on.
You leave an extra German ftr, but I think it is essentially a wash between killing the fighter and losing 1 rt and 3 arm. As long as you went with an “aggressive” buy you should feel no ill effects of leaving Ukr as is, but I’m certainly not going to fault players that want to take out that fighter.
In terms of the Belo and Wrus Attacks, I prefer to just attack Wrus in that case, again to minimize Russian losses and IMO Belo is not a priority which means the Germany player doesn not have to counter it on G1 which could mean a heavy Germany move to Ukr early esp if you took a few extra losses in Wrus as a result.

Now that Combat is done, you’ll want to land your fighters in Cauc and non-combat any available tanks there and move your Moscow aa-gun to Wrus and your sub to sz 2. I prefer to retreat all my Eastern infantry one territiory to maximize the early pressure on Germany as well as cutting down my supply lines while increasing Japan’s. It really does not hurt you to give up Bury, Sfe, and even Yak in the first 1-3 rds. Together they are only worth 3 ipc and if you can get and hold Ukr b/c of it it is well worth it. And if Japan gets overly aggressive it isn’t too hard to pickoff 1-2 inf with the Allied forces already in Asia.

Now it is time for placement, you want to place 4 units in Cauc with the rest in Moscow. Always place armor in Moscow, since they can move 2 spaces, until you can take and hold Ukr.

A typical summary for me, if I go 3 inf, 3 arm with only the Wrus attack will look someing like this:

Wrus: ~8-9 inf, 2 rt, 2 arm, aa
Cauc: ~6 inf, 3 arm, 2 ftrs, aa
Mos: 4 inf, 2 arm
Yak: 4 inf (or 6 inf)
Novo: 2 inf (or 0 inf)
Kar: 1 inf
Sz 2: 1 sub (with UK ships)

This isn’t the most aggressive opening but I find it to be very solid and very tough to crack, and you haven’t done anything that gives Germany/Japan a big opening or willl cost you the game. You’ve got a mobile army, where you can add 1 tank per turn, and a strong power base in Wrus, Cauc, and Mos. This also allows the UK and US some freedom to do different things since Russia does have a strong central location and isn’t in need of immediate air support or reinforcements.

This opening also will work with most if not all bid placements of 8 or under.

newpaintbrush

I think 8 inf is solid, and that the proposed 1 Karelian infantry at end of noncombat is not. I think even a conservative strategy should hit Belorussia and West Russia in preference to just West Russia. I think that your proposed move leaves Germany with a possible opening for Tank Dash to Moscow.

What would I recommend instead?

Read my version of the Russian turn in my SUPER GOSU ARTICLE!!! COMING SOON!

–

8 inf: If you protect Moscow, that’s all you need to do. Inf are useful for claiming territories later on; you have to build them sometime if you want to do a serious land war in Europe.

1 inf in Karelia: If the Germans blitz to Archangel, they’re trading a 5 IPC tank for a 2 IPC territory. I want the Germans to blitz to Archangel. As for leaving an infantry in Karelia, I don’t think I can protect Karelia anyways, why let the Germans off a Russian infantry for free? I’d do it if I knew UK could counterattack and take Karelia, but there’s no guarantee that UK will be free to do so on its turn (it’s possible Germany may have some very strong counters to such a UK move).

"A typical summary for me, if I go 3 inf, 3 arm with only the Wrus attack will look someing like this:

Wrus: ~8-9 inf, 2 rt, 2 arm, aa
Cauc: ~6 inf, 3 arm, 2 ftrs, aa
Mos: 4 inf, 2 arm
Yak: 4 inf (or 6 inf)
Novo: 2 inf (or 0 inf)
Kar: 1 inf
Sz 2: 1 sub (with UK ships)"

What if Germany ignores the Atlantic and Africa, and instead goes heavy on the East? Leaving those 3 Belorussian infantry alone gives Germany a possible attack of 6 inf 1 art 3 arm 6 fig 1 bomber; the West Russia AA gun can be a deterrent, but combined with an 8 tank German build, it’s an opening for Axis Tank Dash to Moscow.

DarthMaximus

I didn’t want to get too deep into options, as this is just a “Basic Layout” IMO.

Tank dash will not work with a stacked Wrus/Cauc/Mos. You simply don’t have the numbers to take Mos.

If Ger wants to take a shot at Wrus, bring it on. 6 inf, 1 rt, 3 arm, 6 ftrs, 1 bom vs. 8 inf, 2 rt, 2 arm, aa means Ger takes with a 6-7 units (most of which are planes). Should they start to sack their airforce they take with maybe 1 rt, 3 arm 2-3 planes left?

Russia counters with anything from 10 inf (6 cauc, 4 mos), 5 arm, 2 ftrs. Poof bye bye German threat even with an 8 arm buy. Russia can deadzone Cauc or Wrus (conserving its tanks), and simply wait for Germany to walk into a strafe, since she lost 6 inf on G1 (wrus attack) and bought 0 inf on G1.

IMO, It is an empty threat.

I think if you attack two spots you’re better off going Ukr and Wrus. I’ve had no trouble with just the Wrus attack.

If I go Ukr and Wrus, then yes I’ll leave Kar open. As you said no point in defending it. But if go just Wrus, there is no harm in leaving an inf behind. But if you do bring it to Wrus, then Ger is looking at 9-10 inf there.

IMO, the 8 inf buy is dangerous, esp if you attack 2 territories. This means Germany can potentially stack and hold Ukr on G1 and Russia won’t be able to stafre or push them out since they possibly lost 1 rt, 3 arm in taking Ukr on R1 and if they attacked Belo then Ger can land ftrs in Ukr. Not good.

newpaintbrush

Deliberately losing German air on the German attack against Russian held West Russia is ridiculous. Don’t waste time trying to say it’s going to happen. Even if the Germans did it, they can’t hold West Russia anyways, so why would they do it in the first place? It’s like me saying that I’m going to buy five transports with Germany, and you’re going to respond with UK by buying an industrial complex and a bomber. Don’t be silly!

DarthMaximus

I agree that Germany sacking air to take Wrus is bad. That is one of the points I was getting at. If Ger does the Wrus attack and takes with 6-7 units and 5-6 are planes that means only 1-2 Ger armor left in Wrus. That is an easy counter for Russia, they don’t need 10 inf, 5 arm to counter in that case.

I would not put 10 inf, 5 arm in Wrus, I was just pointing out that is what is available to counter Wrus and no sane German player will do that attack on G1, thus it is a moot point and the Wrus open remains solid in terms of having to worry about Germany smashing Wrus or Cauc on G1.

I’m not concerned with Belo, so I’m not sure why Russia would move there with ~10 inf, and 5 arm. And if 8 tanks are bought on G1 they can’t reach Wrus (or Cauc) until G3. If you ment Ukr, that is a fair point, but again I don’t know why Russia would move there unless they already had they numbers such that a German strafe does more damage to the Axis then it would the Allies.

As long as you don’t allow the Germans to hold Ukr, you’re fine. The tanks will have to be stacked in EE, cause if they do go to Ukr with too few inf and a large number of tanks, you’ll see a Russian strafe then a retreat to Wrus and deadzoning of Cauc (or vice versa).
And if the tanks are in EE, you’re in no better position b/c Ukr, Belo and Kar are still tradeable by Russia and you are down a full turn of not buying inf.
Unless I’m missing what you are getting at.

Now if you throw in Japan ftrs it gets interesting, but again I think that starts to qualify as “advanced” tactics and I just wanted to start out with some basics.

I also agree that the R1 Belo attack is “safe”, but I think it can be exploited and I think it is very dangerous to allow Germany the ability to land planes in Ukr if you can’t properly counter. Namely Russia should have bought some attacking units on R1 and retreated inf From Kaz, Novo, Eve to Cauc and Mos. With the Wrus only attack, as Russia I guarantan-damn-tee Germany isn’t moving any big units to Ukr cause I’ll be able to attack with ~14-15 inf, 2 rt, 7 arm, 2 ftrs. So Ukr is successfully deadzoned. That is good for the Allies. As a sidenote, it also prevents a G heavy move to Kar.

Suppose you attack Wrus and Belo and you take both but you took 3-4 inf losses in Wrus b/c the battle went a few rds. I think in this scenerio you are much more open to a tank dash, b/c Germany can stack Ukr and you took too many inf losses in your Wrus battle to really make him pay for the move. I like the Wrus heavy on R1 b/c at most I’ll lose 1-2 inf as Russia, whereas if I do Belo and Wrus I might lose a combined 3-4.
It could also get really nasty if Germany bid a trn to sz 14. 8-)

Good feedback!

I’m working on the time to finish out the series of G, UK, J, and US “basics” but I’m not sure when I’ll actually get them posted.

newpaintbrush

TripleA test for turn summary auto-posting.

A&A Forum : http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=9759.5#msg203491
Screenshot: http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/18133/2004192712779807141_rs.jpg

[attachment deleted by admin]

newpaintbrush

Yeah, I edited my post because I posted at the end of work, and I realized I wrote the wrong territory down for the German tanks advance.

What I should have written is that Germany . . . well, here.

DarthMaximus

I can’t view that jpg or saved game. It just says test post.

newpaintbrush

Game History

Round :1

Purchase Units - Germans
Germans buy 8 armour; 0 ipcs remaining

Combat Move - Germans
3 infantry moved from Norway to Karelia S.S.R.
Germans take Karelia S.S.R. from Russians
2 infantry moved from Western Europe to 5 Sea Zone
2 infantry moved from 5 Sea Zone to Karelia S.S.R.
1 fighter moved from Norway to 13 Sea Zone
1 fighter moved from Western Europe to 13 Sea Zone
1 submarine moved from 8 Sea Zone to 13 Sea Zone
2 infantry moved from Southern Europe to 14 Sea Zone
1 battleship, 2 infantry and 1 transport moved from 14 Sea Zone to 16 Sea Zone
2 infantry moved from 16 Sea Zone to Caucus
1 armour, 1 artillery, 1 fighter and 3 infantry moved from Ukraine S.S.R. to Caucus
1 fighter moved from Eastern Europe to Caucus
1 fighter moved from Balkans to Caucus
1 bomber moved from Germany to Caucus
1 fighter moved from Germany to Caucus
1 armour moved from Eastern Europe to Caucus
1 armour moved from Balkans to Caucus
1 artillery and 1 infantry moved from Algeria to Libya

Combat - Germans
Battle in 13 Sea Zone
Germans attack with 2 fighters and 1 submarine
British defend with 1 battleship
Units damaged: 1 battleship
Germans win with 2 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is 16
Casualties for Germans: 1 submarine
Casualties for British: 1 battleship
Battle in Caucus
Germans attack with 3 armour, 1 artillery, 1 bomber, 4 fighters and 5 infantry
Russians defend with 1 aaGun, 3 armour, 1 factory, 2 fighters and 6 infantry
Germans win, taking Caucus from Russians with 2 armour, 1 bomber and 4 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is 29
Casualties for Germans: 1 armour, 1 artillery and 5 infantry
Casualties for Russians: 3 armour, 2 fighters and 6 infantry

Non Combat Move - Germans
3 infantry moved from Belorussia to Ukraine S.S.R.
2 infantry moved from Eastern Europe to Ukraine S.S.R.
2 infantry moved from Balkans to Ukraine S.S.R.
4 fighters moved from Caucus to Ukraine S.S.R.
1 armour moved from Southern Europe to Ukraine S.S.R.
1 artillery moved from Southern Europe to Balkans
2 armour moved from Western Europe to Balkans
1 armour moved from Germany to Western Europe
2 fighters moved from 13 Sea Zone to Western Europe
3 infantry moved from Germany to Western Europe
1 armour moved from Germany to Ukraine S.S.R.
1 bomber moved from Caucus to Ukraine S.S.R.

Place Units - Germans
8 armour placed in Germany

Turn Complete - Germans
Germans collect 44 ipcs; end with 44 ipcs total

A&A Forum : http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=9759.8#msg203499
Screenshot: http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/20334/2003512234941960300_rs.jpg

[attachment deleted by admin]

newpaintbrush

I should have written this move out in the first place, because Caucasus is less defended than West Russia. That’s what happens when I’m not looking at a board.

Anyways, you can see that if the Russians attack north, the Germans retain control of the Caucasus early. If the Russians attack Ukraine, it’s not good for the Russians. If the Russians retake Caucasus, the Germans can unite at West Russia on G2, by which point you can get a good number of Jap fighters in to reinforce, so Russia is forced to pull back to Moscow (if the Russians don’t, the Germans take Moscow), after which the Germans get a strong grip on the Caucasus.

That’s what happens! Okay, the Germans risk two more fighters than you see in the screenshot, and it could be considerably worse for the Germans, depending on the results of 1 sub 2 fighters vs German battleship at Gibraltar on G1, and the AA gun results in Caucasus - but the general line plays out the same.

newpaintbrush

Oh yeah, important point. The screenie doesn’t show what happens when you have a German bid in Africa. 1 inf 1 art lets Germany kill off Anglo-Egypt units, to avoid the whole “Fortress India” scenario.

DarthMaximus

@newpaintbrush:

I should have written this move out in the first place, because Caucasus is less defended than West Russia. That’s what happens when I’m not looking at a board.

Anyways, you can see that if the Russians attack north, the Germans retain control of the Caucasus early. If the Russians attack Ukraine, it’s not good for the Russians. If the Russians retake Caucasus, the Germans can unite at West Russia on G2, by which point you can get a good number of Jap fighters in to reinforce, so Russia is forced to pull back to Moscow (if the Russians don’t, the Germans take Moscow), after which the Germans get a strong grip on the Caucasus.

That’s what happens! Okay, the Germans risk two more fighters than you see in the screenshot, and it could be considerably worse for the Germans, depending on the results of 1 sub 2 fighters vs German battleship at Gibraltar on G1, and the AA gun results in Caucasus - but the general line plays out the same.

It still leaves a UK counter of Kar or Cauc.

Russia can take Cauc heavy and if Germany unites, Russia hits with about ~19 inf, 2 rt, 5 arm. You’ll need 4 J ftrs to turn the tide.
UK still has options as does the US.

2 inf, 1 rt, 1 arm vs. 1 inf, 1 arm, 1 ftr is hardly a gimmie in Egy, even mutual destruction is a win for the Allies.

And of course you can always leave 7 inf in Cauc on R1. That is why I had “~” by my numbers. :-)
Perhaps 6 inf, makes it too inviting??

I’m generally not to worried about the “PE type” play. Germany sells out for a quick kill, that I don’t think is going to happen.

And again, I think we are getting into more “advanced” tactics. I’m not sure if beginners are bringing over 4 J ftrs on J2.

I think it is an unessarily high risk for Ger for potentially little gain. Should you lose 1-2 ftrs in that Cauc battle you just lost the game. I’ll take my chances with the R1 open and my combined Allied defense. Sure every now an then I’ll lose, but that can happen even if you have the perfect opening with no losses. I’ll play the Wrus R1 opening until I start losing with it.

DarthMaximus

I guess one of my main things is, I don’t see why Germany can’t do the same thing if Russia attacked both Wrus and Belo.

The only difference is Ger is down 3 inf and Russia is down 4 or 5 (3 that moved to Belo and 1-2 extra lost at Wrus).

In that case Germany may be looking at only 5 inf in cauc with 3 arm, 2 ftrs, even if they have 6, Germany can still do the same attack you showed here and now Russia can only counter with the inf that survived in Wrus, which is probably 6 and arm in Mos (from the purchase), B/c any Belo inf can’t reach Cauc to counter.

Germany still takes Cauc with an arm or 2, stacks Ukr with 4 inf + arm, ftrs, bom, puts 4 inf in Kar and 1 inf on EE. Now does Russia counter Ukr and attack 4 inf, 4 arm, 3-4 ftrs, 1 bom with 8 inf (2 inf from belo), 2 rt, 4 arm? Ger should hold with 1-3 ftrs left.

Russia still has the same options whether they attack Wrus only or Wrus and Belo. Tank dash is tank dash. Russia’s opening almost doesn’t matter if the German player is just going to be using risky attacks for the sake of a dash to Mos.

newpaintbrush

@DarthMaximus:

@newpaintbrush:

I should have written this move out in the first place, because Caucasus is less defended than West Russia. That’s what happens when I’m not looking at a board.

Anyways, you can see that if the Russians attack north, the Germans retain control of the Caucasus early. If the Russians attack Ukraine, it’s not good for the Russians. If the Russians retake Caucasus, the Germans can unite at West Russia on G2, by which point you can get a good number of Jap fighters in to reinforce, so Russia is forced to pull back to Moscow (if the Russians don’t, the Germans take Moscow), after which the Germans get a strong grip on the Caucasus.

That’s what happens! Okay, the Germans risk two more fighters than you see in the screenshot, and it could be considerably worse for the Germans, depending on the results of 1 sub 2 fighters vs German battleship at Gibraltar on G1, and the AA gun results in Caucasus - but the general line plays out the same.

It still leaves a UK counter of Kar or Cauc.

OK, so move the German sub to block northwest of Norway. Continued control of the Caucasus is not the immediate point of the German move; depletion of the Russian forces is. You could very easily change the German purchase, and take the trade of 5 inf 1 art 3 tanks 1 fighter for 6 infantry 3 tanks 2 fighters. It’s not a bad trade for the Germans.

Russia can take Cauc heavy and if Germany unites, Russia hits with about ~19 inf, 2 rt, 5 arm. You’ll need 4 J ftrs to turn the tide.
UK still has options as does the US.

Yeah, that’s very true, and the combat isn’t as simple as I made it sound like. But the Japs SHOULD have 4 fighters in range. After all, the Axis are supposed to work together, and if Japan leaves Pearl alone, which it should in a Tank Dash, those Jap fighters will be available.

2 inf, 1 rt, 1 arm vs. 1 inf, 1 arm, 1 ftr is hardly a gimmie in Egy, even mutual destruction is a win for the Allies.

And of course you can always leave 7 inf in Cauc on R1. That is why I had “~” by my numbers. :-)

Hey, if you shifted your forces to a different territory, I could do something different too!

Perhaps 6 inf, makes it too inviting??

I’m generally not to worried about the “PE type” play. Germany sells out for a quick kill, that I don’t think is going to happen.

Naw, it isn’t Germany selling out. It’s Germany seeing that the Russians left themselves open for an early Ukraine play, and the Germans running in to try it. Really, if I were the Germans, I’d prefer to go Tank dash in response to something like a Norway-West Russia-Ukraine attack, with the Russians overextending themselves. But any time the Russians allow the Germans to hit in force with infantry fodder, the Russians risk losing a lot of units.

And again, I think we are getting into more “advanced” tactics. I’m not sure if beginners are bringing over 4 J ftrs on J2.

I think it is an unessarily high risk for Ger for potentially little gain. Should you lose 1-2 ftrs in that Cauc battle you just lost the game. I’ll take my chances with the R1 open and my combined Allied defense. Sure every now an then I’ll lose, but that can happen even if you have the perfect opening with no losses. I’ll play the Wrus R1 opening until I start losing with it.

Although you bring up some good points, I have to say that I remain unconvinced that soloing West Russia is the right move. I will admit that on consideration, that I think that a pure tank dash isn’t right, but I still think that both long game and tank dash variants will be viable, and I think that Russia losing its fighters on G1 will be very difficult for Russia to compensate for.

As for an “unnecessarily high risk”, though, Tank Dash is all about fast attacks, high stakes, and the Axis taking heavy hits to inflict hits on return to Russia. The position’s supposed to be: Germany controls more of Europe, so retains a 40ish income, Japan builds industrial complexes in Manchuria and French Indochina, ignores Pearl Harbor, and both sides push like mad on Moscow.

newpaintbrush

@DarthMaximus:

I guess one of my main things is, I don’t see why Germany can’t do the same thing if Russia attacked both Wrus and Belo.

. . .

Tank dash is tank dash. Russia’s opening almost doesn’t matter if the German player is just going to be using risky attacks for the sake of a dash to Mos.

1. That’s probably because my West Russia/Belorussia attack looks VASTLY different to yours. I stick 4-5 infantry and AA gun in Caucasus, that’s it. Everything else is in West Russia.

2. Yeeeesss, sort of. Tank dash is best used in response to an overextended Russia. I think that splitting your forces between Caucasus and West Russia, while leaving Belorussia and Ukraine alone, lets Germany concentrate its force on one of those territories, and make the Russians pay. But it’s not REALLY like you’re horribly overextended, like a Norway/Ukraine/West Russia attack result. Anyways, there’s a very deliberate strategy behind tank dashing, which I shall probably address when I take up the subject of Germany. But that’s still some time off.

DarthMaximus

Certainly valid points NPB.

@newpaintbrush:

1. That’s probably because my West Russia/Belorussia attack looks VASTLY different to yours. I stick 4-5 infantry and AA gun in Caucasus, that’s it. Everything else is in West Russia.

You could also do that with just the Wrus attack.
In Belo you are essentially trading 3 inf for 3 inf (give or take one here or there). You trade 6 def points for 3 off points, or do you let Germany trade the def pts for off points on G1.

Of course every move has a counter, but as of right now (I started out doing Wrus and Belo and then switched to attack both Ukr and Wrus) I like the Wrus only b/c it allows me to do some other things with UK and US and I think with larger stacks in Wrus and Cauc (should Ger not attack on G1) you can really shut down Germany’s expansion.

Yes the tank dash could be a concern, but I think it is an acceptable risk for Russia given the nature of the German attacks on G1 that must be successful.

I agree, tank dash is good if Russia over extended but I have found the Wrus stack to be the opposite of that.

I have done the strafe of Ukr on R1 before to weaken those G numbers but it sort of comes out the same way if you just stack Wrus. Just a preference depending on the player I guess.

newpaintbrush

@DarthMaximus:

Certainly valid points NPB.

@newpaintbrush:

1. That’s probably because my West Russia/Belorussia attack looks VASTLY different to yours. I stick 4-5 infantry and AA gun in Caucasus, that’s it. Everything else is in West Russia.

You could also do that with just the Wrus attack.
In Belo you are essentially trading 3 inf for 3 inf (give or take one here or there). You trade 6 def points for 3 off points, or do you let Germany trade the def pts for off points on G1.

Not at all. You’ll agree that it’s likely that I’ll capture Belorussia with at least 1 infantry? Then what I’m doing is trading 3 Russian infantry for 3 German infantry and the chance to kill 1 more German infantry on the next turn, plus I’ll get 2 IPC from the territory. As for trading 6 def points for 3 off points, that’s not accurate. By the time Germany gears up for the attack, those 3 German infantry aren’t there for attack. The German infantry are there to soak up casualties and protect the tanks and fighters behind them. If I kill 3 German infantry now, I kill 3 German tanks that much sooner if/when the Germans make a major attack.

Of course every move has a counter, but as of right now (I started out doing Wrus and Belo and then switched to attack both Ukr and Wrus) I like the Wrus only b/c it allows me to do some other things with UK and US and I think with larger stacks in Wrus and Cauc (should Ger not attack on G1) you can really shut down Germany’s expansion.

Oh, I think I understand why you choose the W. Rus only attack. My thought, though, is that splitting Russian forces gives Germany the option to attack one of the stacks, and that NOT attacking Germany gives Germany more options on its turn, as well as Russia less IPCs on its turn. I also do not see that the W. Rus only move shuts down German expansion at all. The Belorussia/West Russia attack I use is extremely safe, limits Germany’s options for expansion as it leaves Germany no good place to attack, and is more economically advantageous to Russia with more IPCs in the bank, and expected gain on the unit trades for R1 and G1.

Yes the tank dash could be a concern, but I think it is an acceptable risk for Russia given the nature of the German attacks on G1 that must be successful.

Yeees, maybe. Let me be absolutely clear. I think that your proposed move is definitely disadvantageous in that you don’t attack Germany when you can. I think it is POSSIBLY disadvantageous in that you split the Russian stack between two territories that are both in German range. Tank dash is simply not viable in some games; I wouldn’t try it as a counter to my own Belorussia/West Russia attack. However, I think that Tank Dash COULD be viable against your plan. Also, my cat can beat up your cat.

I agree, tank dash is good if Russia over extended but I have found the Wrus stack to be the opposite of that.

I have done the strafe of Ukr on R1 before to weaken those G numbers but it sort of comes out the same way if you just stack Wrus. Just a preference depending on the player I guess.

I think strafing Ukraine is bad anyways. Very dicey, and if you’re just strafing, the Germans keep their fighter. Might as well hit Belorussia and wipe out 3 infantry and gain IPCs from the territory, I think. Or take Ukraine, even though that’s a bit dicey too.

DarthMaximus

I’m usually not concerned with IPC’s (2 here, 2 there), I’m more of a position player. I’ll obviously take the IPC’s when given, but I won’t necessarily play the IPC game b/c they can be made up in a variety of ways such as a SBR here or there or an extra inf killed, etc.
But time and position cannot be made up.
Unit and IPC trades are good and all, but not if you sacrifice position.
I’m not saying you would, but it does happen.

(as Russia) I want Germany to have more options on G1.
IMO they can’t do everything well.
It is the same thing with Japan. You can overload them with targets on J1, and while they may be able to take them all out, they have to take some risks or choose battles where they may have very little margin for error.

In your Belo/Wrus opening, you’re right Germany may not be able to attack as much, but they may be able to move heavy to Ukr. This would depend on your buy, losses in combat, non-com, and placement, but the door could be opened for strong move to Ukr. And a similar type of aggressivive Germany play that you use against a Wrus opening can be employed against a Belo/Wrus opening. It would not be a “tank dash”, but it employs the same tactic of using the tran and BB in Sz 16 instead of Sz 15.

newpaintbrush

Combat move: 3 infantry and 1 fighter from Karelia, and 1 fighter from Russia to Belorussia. All remaining units that can attack West Russia do so.

Noncombat move: Move the Russian sub to join the UK battleship and transport off the northwestern coast of the United Kingdom, move 2 infantry from Kazakh to Caucasus, 2 infantry from Novosibirsk to Russia, 2 infantry from Yakut to Novosibirsk, 2 infantry from Soviet Far East to Yakut, 2 infantry from Burytia to Yakut, fly 2 fighters to Russia.

Placement: 4 infantry in Russia, 4 infantry in Caucasus.

– cut and pasted from my new article for Russia

I don’t think there is a German counter. Not because I think I’m really clever as Russia. Because I thought for a long time about how to counter this move with Germany, and I couldn’t come up with anything good.

The counter is a German Eastern stack, along with evacuating Norway, taking Karelia, and re-taking Belo. Germany ends up even in Europe, has all 6 FIGs still alive, and an extra ARM and ART over a WR/Ukr open.

It invites a German “lurch” offensive against Russia, as well as a 3 prong offensive on Russia that potentially includes German units from Persia by the mid game

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