What are the soviet subs usefull for?

@the-duke

You just load em up onto your Soviet Black Sea Navy. The one with the Battleship.

Russian tanks are great if Germany decides to swing down towards the Middle East instead of a straight march to Moscow. They are not going prevent the stackwalk any better than artillery except perhaps if the calculations show that the extra firepower will slow down a critical step like Rostov or Belarus. Hence it could be good to build the tanks on turns 3 or 4, depending on the German DoW. No need for them on Round 1.

@andrewaagamer I definitely agree, I was horrible at playing the Axis but it just took a few games and some new strays to see the unbalance. And I too don’t like nerfing strat bombers because it seems to unbalance it more.

@Marty-R It depends on the situation:

Scenario 1:
A carrier with planes (same power) is the attacker: In this case the carrier and the planes move independently, so the planes are already in the air while the carrier moves. So the carrier does not actually carry cargo when it is hit. However the planes can’t land on a damaged carrier and need to spend their remaining movement points to (hopefully) land.

Scenario 2:
A carrier with planes (friendly power=“guest aircraft”) is part of the attacking force: In this case it is only the carrier that moves, as the friendly planes are cargo. In case the carrier is hit only once the planes are stuck on the carrier until it gets repaired, as they can’t launch from a damaged carrier when it is their turn.

Scenario 3:
A carrier with planes (either same power or friendly power) is the defender: When the carrier is attacked the planes are considered to be defending in the air. So the carrier does not actually carry cargo when it is hit. So when the carrier is hit, the planes need to search for an alternative landing place within the range of 1 space. (This is @koala 's above scenario.)

By the rules planes are only considered being cargo when they are on a friendly power’s attacking carrier (“guest aircraft” - scenario 2). And cargo simply sinks with the carrier, there is no extra move.

@-Savage-:

This would not be realistic. By the start of the game, the Soviets had recently concluded a disastrous war with Finland already. They “won” the war but suffered hugely. The territory called “Vyborg” on the map represents the territory the Soviets won from Finland in that war. The Soviets knew at the start of this game that it’s military was a disaster due to Stalin’s purges, and would NOT risk another war, especially to provoke the Germans.

But the game starts with 'Vyborg" in Russia’s hands…so this was their prize for already fighting the Finnish…and the entire world knows about their humiliating status of their armed forces.

Ya my bad too. Nov. 39 - March 40 war.  40 OOB starts in spring of 40. Too bad.

Hey Wild Bill we must play a lot of 39 games !!! :-D

@Caesar:

I want the opinions of the players who say they always send them west. Why do you think it’s a good idea to leave all your east open for Japan, I get it that you’re trading around 10 ICP worth of territories for 18 infantry and 2 AA guns but you are giving Japan a better position with the possibility of capturing you and/or entering China and UK from the West.

The reason I usually retreat them is because I need them to prop up China (or Moscow).  I’ll decide around Round 3 whether I’m retreating these units to Russia (if Germany is targeting Moscow on G8) or help out China.  It’s common for the Chinese army to be forced to retreat towards Moscow.  Sometimes combining with the retreating Siberian troops is the only way to keep China alive.  Note that if Japan breaks the Mongolia pact, these Russian units could march through Mongolia into China.

This dynamic is very different in the balanced mod where Russia can’t intervene in China.

canada québec

A transport can load units while in any friendly sea zone along its route, including the sea zone it started in. If a transport loads
land units during the Combat Move phase, it must offload those units to attack a hostile territory as part of an amphibious
assault during the Conduct Combat phase, or it must retreat during the sea combat step of the amphibious assault sequence
while attempting to do so. A transport that is part of an amphibious assault must end its movement in a friendly sea zone (or
one that could become friendly as result of sea combat) from which it can conduct the assault. However, a transport is not
allowed to offload land units for an amphibious assault in a sea zone containing 1 or more ignored enemy submarines unless at
least 1 warship belonging to the attacking power is also present in the sea zone at the end of the Combat Move phase.

Page 16, AA Pacific 1940 Rulebook

Battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and transports move, attack, and defend in sea zones. They
can’t move into territories. For the sake of these rules, the following are surface warships: battleships, carriers, cruisers, and
destroyers. Transports are not warships. Submarines are warships, but they are not surface warships.

Page 31, AA Pacific 1940 Rulebook

This might help clarify.