What I’m hearing is
- The German attack develops too quickly for Russia to stop it
- KGF (attack Germany with 100% USA or close to it) simply does not work
Both very true. While we can argue about the timeline, the truth is that whether you attack on G1, G2 or I1-I2, Russia cannot withstand a concerted attack. This is especially true if Japan attacks the Soviet Far East on J1, and for several reasons, I feel like a Japan attack on at least the 3 Russian territories not affected by the Mongolian Rule is a pretty strong move every game as well…(esp in G42 on J1, or at the very least, before America enters the war)
That makes Russia a good place to put some balancing units or bid units, but that’s not the consensus on how to correct a core problem of Russians OOB setup being too anemic to do…well really anything.
I realize that some people suggest a precise Russian counterattack (say, before the Axis is at Moscow’s door), but every time I have tried a Russian attack on the battle line, I usually killed 1 juicy German Army and there were 3-4 more waiting right behind it. This meant that the game ended a turn faster than otherwise and I can say that attacking in force on R1-R3 costs you the only striking force you can muster in that timeframe.
A better plan probably builds a massive arty, inflexible arty stack that makes a citadel of Moscow on R5; then the Germans can’t put the strikeforce next to your capital because you’ll have 1 shot at killing his now combined Corps.
About the KGF part; the Allies have a really hard road here. America cannot effectively attack the Atlantic Wall. Norway is the prize, and as long as the Germans have a fleet, they will retake it. Spain sounds ok but it causes serious problems with securing the other neutrals. You pretty much cannot retake Paris at all, because it is too easy to retake and gives the Axis another stack of $$$, and so the Allies have to actively avoid taking it. Taking any one other territory requires a massive UK/US coordination, which they get one shot at and the Axis can usually kill it all with infantry backed by planes.
The only way to break Germany is by taking Denmark, and constantly threatening West Germany. At some point, you can strat bomb him, threaten crush his fleet and then the whole thing unravels because he has to turn away his buying away from Russia and stand against the Western Allies. You need 5-7 American bombers to pull this off in my experience, then you fly around crushing his stacks and fleets. Its more effective in G42 than G40, because in G40, Germany grows to threshold income (60+) before America can send a single bomber over. By leapfrogging, the UK can protect the US and vice versa.
Unfortunately, because of Axis Strat bombers, you literally have to defend 3-4 (91, 110, 112, 113) sea squares with invasion fleets in them and they usually find a way to pick one off, weakening the KGF concept even further.