Stonewall Ruskie

[Semper_Milites87]

I just started playing A&A 1942 with my father-in-law and my little bro-in-law and I love it.  Unfortunately my father-in-law came up with a russian strategy that I haven’t seen been used here on the forums and I haven’t yet found a way to get around it.  He was playing the Allied powers while I played the Germans and my bro-in-law played Japan.  On R1 he pulled in all of his INF and ARM that were around Russia except for the Caucasus, left his units in Karelia alone, and then bought only ARMs and an INF and placed them in Russia as well.  He moved his sub into SZ3 and that’s it.  Oh and he also pulled in all of his INF from S.F.E., Yakut, and E.N.O. giving him 8 INF to block any JP advance into Russia.

And I know what everyone is thinking that an amphib assault into S.F.E. will give JP some extra points, but my little bro didn’t quite see it and I kept my mouth shut so he can learn to see the whole pic.  Instead he used the Tranny to shuffle units unto the mainland from Japan.

Anyone have any suggestions or advice against this “Stonewall Ruskie?”

[Hobbes]

What German territories did he attack? Where did he land the fighters?

Moving the sub to SZ3 means that Germany has even better odds of sinking the UK Navy on SZ2 (you should do it even if the Russian sub isn’t there)

He can move 6 inf to Buryatia but if Japan leaves 2 INF plus 2 ftrs on Manchuria then it is a suicidal attack by the Russians there. And if J buys 2-3 transports on J1, but on R2 those 8 inf (6 from Bur, 2 from Yak) will have to pull back to Yakut unless he wants them destroyed.

[Semper_Milites87]

This is basically how my father-in-law went through his R1.  He purchased 4 ARM and one INF.  Next he made no combat moves.  Then on his non-combat turn, he moved all of his forces into Russia except for the forces in the Caucasus because of its importance, and he left the 3 INF and 1 FTR in Karelia.  He moved his sub into the SZ where the UK battleship is stationed (My bad, I must have typed the wrong SZ).  He also moved all INF from S.F.E., Yakut, and E.N.O. into Buryatia giving him a force of 8 INF to protect against JP’s 2 INF and 1 FTR in Manchuria.  Lastly he put his 4 purchased ARM and 1 INF in Russia.

[Hobbes]

@Semper_Milites87:

This is basically how my father-in-law went through his R1.  He purchased 4 ARM and one INF.  Next he made no combat moves.  Then on his non-combat turn, he moved all of his forces into Russia except for the forces in the Caucasus because of its importance, and he left the 3 INF and 1 FTR in Karelia.  He moved his sub into the SZ where the UK battleship is stationed (My bad, I must have typed the wrong SZ).  He also moved all INF from S.F.E., Yakut, and E.N.O. into Buryatia giving him a force of 8 INF to protect against JP’s 2 INF and 1 FTR in Manchuria.  Lastly he put his 4 purchased ARM and 1 INF in Russia.

No combat moves??? In that case G could just take Caucasus, Karelia and Archangel, plus sinking the fleet on SZ2. Your stepdad could counterattack Caucasus, Archangel and West Russia but G would be making a lot more money than Russia and G could keep trading those territories back and forward. Russia would quickly be starved and killed.

As for Buryatia, your stepfather could only have moved 6 INF there on Russia’s 1st turn. Evenki does not have a connection with Buryatia.

[SilverAngelSurfer]

@Semper_Milites87:

This is basically how my father-in-law went through his R1.  He purchased 4 ARM and one INF.  Next he made no combat moves.  Then on his non-combat turn, he moved all of his forces into Russia except for the forces in the Caucasus because of its importance, and he left the 3 INF and 1 FTR in Karelia.  He moved his sub into the SZ where the UK battleship is stationed (My bad, I must have typed the wrong SZ).  He also moved all INF from S.F.E., Yakut, and E.N.O. into Buryatia giving him a force of 8 INF to protect against JP’s 2 INF and 1 FTR in Manchuria.  Lastly he put his 4 purchased ARM and 1 INF in Russia.

Sounds like what we did the first time we played too.  Except that the German player was experienced enough to start taking out enough of Russia with this move to put Russia in a really bad position income-wise like Hobbes is saying.  Russia needs to attack at least West Russia or else it leaves itself vulnerable to Germany and can’t recover unless Germany ignores them for whatever reason.

If you’re playing Germany when he does this, just try pushing the attack and you’ll see how the Russians start to fall.

[Semper_Milites87]

The funny thing is, my little bro tried this same trick except he attacked Norway with the forces from Karelia and took it over.  I did try this one move and it did very well 2-3 rounds into the game.  I bought 11 infantry and moved them all into Eastern Europe and I moved all the rest of my units into Eastern Europe and left only one infantry in each territory that I left behind.  Russia basically lost steam when he tried to attack Ukraine and take Karelia back.  At the same time I took over Egypt and basically steam rolled Africa in 3 rounds.  It worked pretty well.

[habs4life9]

I don’t see how you can leave the West Russia AND Ukraine stacks alive and expect to not lose Caucasus.

[Semper_Milites87]

I knew I wasn’t going to keep the Caucasus from Russia.  The reason I left one Infantry unit behind was so they can still slowly grind and bog down the enemy.  I figured that I would be losing a lot of units trying to keep the Caucasus from Russia and those units would be better suited defending from a fixed fortress point in Eastern Europe.  Russia would run out of gas by the time they even get passed the defensive units in Eastern Europe and I will be able to counter-attack four territories that Russia gained.  Germany will be able to afford to trade land with Russia and in the mean time taking over new lands in Africa.  In the long run Germany will be able to hold out until either Russia runs out of units to even defend itself in which you than launch a huge counter-attack or Japan starts to make it’s run towards Moscow.  This German strategy can only work if Egypt can be secured on the first round and the Americans either A). Do not land in Algeria.  Or B). The invading American troops and taken out on the second turn.