• Plenty of talk about Austria turn 1, but what about Russia turn 1?  Likely the only thing that Austria did is either reinforce its original territories or take Romania…

    Russia I think can get the majority of its armies into two rather large forces in Poland and the Ukraine.  This causes a large problem for Germany and Austria early.  I have thought about attacking Mesopotamia turn 1… what do you guys think?


  • russian strategies would be suite important…
    if the CP had a chance.

    but i think most people will just assault the ottoman cruisers, take mesopotomia and consolidate on the ukraine, possible activatr romania with an infantry


  • Well the CPs may have a chance with the new strategic movement rule by Larry Harris.  Just thought I’d see what other people do with Russia- they can be a tough country to play if the CPs are gunning for them.


  • Massing on Poland R1 would be a gift for the CP
    Germany attacks G1 then AH joins in AH2, Russia has less reinforcements then do Germany and AH and must retreat, now Germany does not have to commit as many rounds of troops towards moscow


  • Agreed.  I’ve noticed the earlier Russia loses a stack, the faster they fall.

    @Uncrustable:

    Massing on Poland R1 would be a gift for the CP
    Germany attacks G1 then AH joins in AH2, Russia has less reinforcements then do Germany and AH and must retreat, now Germany does not have to commit as many rounds of troops towards moscow


  • Yeah if Russia try’s to stack Poland or Romania round 1 I think they are just feeding the CP machine, They can’t lose a big chunk of their army early on IMO, or they will fall. We generally see Russia mass 40+ units in Ukraine on turn 1, and activate Romania if the Austrians didn’t attack it. Then its a cat & mouse game to see if the CP can get you to attack them, and counter you with the other. Bulk up and try to delay them so the UK can send in some units to help keep you from a Revolution (if your playing with those rules).


  • Buy two fighters on R1, then artillery with the rest. Russia with Air Superiority is threat to be reckoned with. I would avoid massing in Poland, it’s just to risky. Attack Mesopotamia, just do it, and attack the cruisers as well, you have nothing else to lose. After than, just play a game of cat and mouse, But if the Centrals provide you with a chance to hit one of their stacks, take it. My first game about 57 Russia units went on a rampage R3, the Austrian player was grouped up in the south but had sent most reinforcments to Italy, so I took the chance. My two fighters killed his one, and then the entire Austrian army of 30 units was outright killed in one round while I only lost 12. The German counter attacked with 35 units but was likewise killed in one round of combat after his plane met a similar fate. Then I killed the Otto/Bulgarian force R4 and marched into Budapest for the lols.

    Basically Turtle until the moment to bring overwhelming force to play presents itself.


  • @Uncrustable:

    Massing on Poland R1 would be a gift for the CP
    Germany attacks G1 then AH joins in AH2, Russia has less reinforcements then do Germany and AH and must retreat, now Germany does not have to commit as many rounds of troops towards moscow

    Well, it depends on what Austria does.  If they attack Venice, Serbia, and Romania in force than there aren’t many Austrian troops in Galatia to hit Poland- and Germany cannot hit Poland easily if Russia stacks it- the CPs lose more infantry than Russia would in that scenario.

    Now, if Austria moves to stack Galatia in preparation for a move into Poland, then yea, Russia shouldn’t stack Poland.


  • @DarthShizNit:

    Buy two fighters on R1, then artillery with the rest. Russia with Air Superiority is threat to be reckoned with. I would avoid massing in Poland, it’s just to risky. Attack Mesopotamia, just do it, and attack the cruisers as well, you have nothing else to lose. After than, just play a game of cat and mouse, But if the Centrals provide you with a chance to hit one of their stacks, take it. My first game about 57 Russia units went on a rampage R3, the Austrian player was grouped up in the south but had sent most reinforcments to Italy, so I took the chance. My two fighters killed his one, and then the entire Austrian army of 30 units was outright killed in one round while I only lost 12. The German counter attacked with 35 units but was likewise killed in one round of combat after his plane met a similar fate. Then I killed the Otto/Bulgarian force R4 and marched into Budapest for the lols.

    Basically Turtle until the moment to bring overwhelming force to play presents itself.

    ^^ This.


  • @DarthShizNit:

    Buy two fighters on R1, then artillery with the rest. Russia with Air Superiority is threat to be reckoned with. I would avoid massing in Poland, it’s just to risky. Attack Mesopotamia, just do it, and attack the cruisers as well, you have nothing else to lose. After than, just play a game of cat and mouse, But if the Centrals provide you with a chance to hit one of their stacks, take it. My first game about 57 Russia units went on a rampage R3, the Austrian player was grouped up in the south but had sent most reinforcments to Italy, so I took the chance. My two fighters killed his one, and then the entire Austrian army of 30 units was outright killed in one round while I only lost 12. The German counter attacked with 35 units but was likewise killed in one round of combat after his plane met a similar fate. Then I killed the Otto/Bulgarian force R4 and marched into Budapest for the lols.

    Basically Turtle until the moment to bring overwhelming force to play presents itself.

    Wow, was the CP player’s drink a lot stronger than he or she was used to?!?!


  • Love when people tell about some great start they use vs bonehead opponents


  • @BJCard:

    Plenty of talk about Austria turn 1, but what about Russia turn 1?  Likely the only thing that Austria did is either reinforce its original territories or take Romania…Â

    Russia I think can get the majority of its armies into two rather large forces in Poland and the Ukraine.  This causes a large problem for Germany and Austria early.  I have thought about attacking Mesopotamia turn 1… what do you guys think?

    Looks good to me and worked well. The large force in Poland can give the CP fits.


  • @Uncrustable:

    Massing on Poland R1 would be a gift for the CP
    Germany attacks G1 then AH joins in AH2, Russia has less reinforcements then do Germany and AH and must retreat, now Germany does not have to commit as many rounds of troops towards moscow


  • Uncrustable what is your Austrian start?  The one’s I’ve seen concentrated on Italy and Romania, with little to move into Poland.

    If Russia has 20 Infantry, 8 Artillery in Poland- it is too much for 12 Infantry, 6 Artillery, 1 Fighter to attack… unless it is ok with Russia getting 14 hits and Germany getting 9 hits on average.

    Russia can also have 12 Infantry, 5 Artillery in Ukraine, likely too much for the Austrians to handle unless Austria went full force against Russia.

    Of course as Russia you can retreat out of Poland turn 2 to the Ukraine if necessary.

    If Austria is sending the bulk of its forces towards you then a Russian stack of the Ukraine is warranted.

    All I’m saying is unless the CPs are going crazy against Russia, why not make a few defensive stands along the way where you can inflict more damage on defense than the CPs can on offense?


  • I believe the basic line of thought is, the sooner Russia loses units, the sooner they are eliminated from the game.  Making a stand in Poland causes Russia to begin losing units turn 1, not to mention Germany has a pretty short supply line there.  Russia will lose its units on the defensive anyway, but if you can delay it until turn 3, 4, 5… the longer they will be around.


  • @Uncrustable:

    Love when people tell about some great start they use vs bonehead opponents

    Well arn’t you just a peach. The base strategy worked great, I then just illustrated how it got out of control for the CP player (that and the mini dice really love me)


  • @Texas:

    I believe the basic line of thought is, the sooner Russia loses units, the sooner they are eliminated from the game.  Making a stand in Poland causes Russia to begin losing units turn 1, not to mention Germany has a pretty short supply line there.  Russia will lose its units on the defensive anyway, but if you can delay it until turn 3, 4, 5… the longer they will be around.

    I get that, but I think any time the Russians can trade units with the CPs (when they have an advantage) is good.  Under no circumstances would I have Russia make a stand unless this is the case.

    I don’t advocate fighting a lot of battles, but if you can delay the CPs from taking your territories, you will have more IPCs.  Even if the dice go bad, you can still have a ton of units in Moscow when you are in full retreat.


  • Well AH stacks south of poland (cant think of tt name off top of head), if russia stacks poland then Germany attacks then AH attacks too and it is not a good thing for the allies unless they get crazy good dice.

    on R2 they will have no choice but to retreat (or be annihilated by german and AH reinforcements) and now Germany and AH do not have to send as many units towards moscow to take it

    i have played 5 games and the ONE CP victory came when just this scenario happened, the dice actually split went pretty well for russia on poland but then russia fell way too fast and Germany got too big too fast AND starting sending new units towards towards France 2 rounds sooner than they probably otherwise would have (a huge deal in this game)
    Germany then sent its remaining moscow force to iraq and help the autobots take india and the CP were victorious

    as russia you must build INFANTRY with maybe a fighter here and there and you MUST NOT lose a stack before moscow battle, if you retreat and build up a critical mass of infantry on moscow you force Germany and/or AH to commit ALOT of troops and you buy France and Italy ALOT of time, and if germany makes the mistake of not sending enough reinforcements, then you buy artillery and fighters and using your huge infantry stack you go win the game


  • @DarthShizNit:

    Buy two fighters on R1, then artillery with the rest. Russia with Air Superiority is threat to be reckoned with. I would avoid massing in Poland, it’s just to risky. Attack Mesopotamia, just do it, and attack the cruisers as well, you have nothing else to lose. After than, just play a game of cat and mouse, But if the Centrals provide you with a chance to hit one of their stacks, take it. My first game about 57 Russia units went on a rampage R3, the Austrian player was grouped up in the south but had sent most reinforcments to Italy, so I took the chance. My two fighters killed his one, and then the entire Austrian army of 30 units was outright killed in one round while I only lost 12. The German counter attacked with 35 units but was likewise killed in one round of combat after his plane met a similar fate. Then I killed the Otto/Bulgarian force R4 and marched into Budapest for the lols.

    Basically Turtle until the moment to bring overwhelming force to play presents itself.

    Why didn’t Germany just head towards a virtually undefended Moscow at that point?


  • @Texas:

    @DarthShizNit:

    Buy two fighters on R1, then artillery with the rest. Russia with Air Superiority is threat to be reckoned with. I would avoid massing in Poland, it’s just to risky. Attack Mesopotamia, just do it, and attack the cruisers as well, you have nothing else to lose. After than, just play a game of cat and mouse, But if the Centrals provide you with a chance to hit one of their stacks, take it. My first game about 57 Russia units went on a rampage R3, the Austrian player was grouped up in the south but had sent most reinforcments to Italy, so I took the chance. My two fighters killed his one, and then the entire Austrian army of 30 units was outright killed in one round while I only lost 12. The German counter attacked with 35 units but was likewise killed in one round of combat after his plane met a similar fate. Then I killed the Otto/Bulgarian force R4 and marched into Budapest for the lols.

    Basically Turtle until the moment to bring overwhelming force to play presents itself.

    Why didn’t Germany just head towards a virtually undefended Moscow at that point?

    They did lol, he had 30ish units spread around Moscow trying to set off the Revolution but the British saved the day with a last minute landing. Between that and the fact that AH got rofl stomped in Italy, they surrendered O4

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