A yes good call innohub! That opener is probably worth discussing as well, even if its a bit dicey. Two if by sea, or maybe just 1? ;)
Yak Attack
choppy seas in the baltic! Haha
In case anyone is curious the gambit move he’s referring to is an air strike by the Russian fighter from Karelia against the German Cruiser and transport in sz5.
It’s fairly high risk but the potential payoff is one less German cruiser that the British have to deal with and one less transport = 2 less ground that Germany can unload into Karelia or Baltic states in the first round. If successful this basically eliminates any potential that Germany might buy a carrier or destroyer to try and save the Baltic fleet for another round (it’s debatable whether Germany should be trying to buy ships here anyway, but this move will definitely shut it down.) It also gives Germany a somewhat more challenging attack in sz7 since they only have the subs and air to bring against the British battleship. This could result in G bringing the bomber into the sea zone 7 battle rather than flying it somewhere else.
Now the trick for Russia is this, if they bring both fighters into the attack and both survive, then the Moscow fighter must land in Karelia. If one dies then of course it’s the fighter with less range, but either way it’s probably a loss of 10 Russian TUV to destroy 19 German TUV and shut down their Baltic fleet ambitions. It is possible to run this attack with just a single fighter, but then it’s not quite 50/50 shot, because you need to hit and you need the Germans to miss, otherwise you don’t get to kill the transport. You might just find yourself in that situation bringing both fighters too, if you miss in the first round of combat, and G hits, then things could get pretty ugly. Trading 10 ipcs to kill 19 is pretty reasonable, but losing 20 and the whole Russian airforce is a different story. So I would say consider this strategy carefully and understand that you’re making a gamble. It’s basically like spinning the roulette wheel, and you’re betting the farm on Red! If it comes up Black you’re bummin’ haha. Losing that Yak might make you yack, but don’t let it get the better of you. Just a game after all, it’s not like you just lost World War 2 or anything :-D
But we know when we’re gambling, so adopt the right mindset for it, and let those dice roll. Keep in mind that Karelia is still impossible to defend against the German advance, though if you have to land a fighter there anyway, it might be worth providing some fodder cover just to make the Germans pay a bit more for it. Its still possible for G to hit sz7 even without the Cruiser, so you’ll want to keep that in mind too on non com. Definitely don’t forget to send the Russian sub.
From a purchasing perspective I’d consider a tank buy, and perhaps expanding the airforce again in the second round, since you’ll be down a fighter.
Whether to bring the Moscow fighter into the attack to ice things is up to you, but if you do bring it just know that it must land in Karelia. As with the other W. Russia openings you can decide whether to bring all the infantry from Caucasus into W. Russia or leave a few behind, which way to send the Kazakh and eastern infantry. It’s also worth remembering, that you don’t necessarily need all 4 tanks in W. Russia. If you decide to just bring 3 tanks to W. Russia, you might try using the Archangel tank against Japan, since it has a decent amount of range on an interesting path. Or you can do the same with one of the tanks from Caucasus in a different direction. To run an effective W. Russia attack you want at least 2 tanks in it though, and as much infantry and artillery and air as you can afford, given the requirements of your strat. That said, some strategy tweaks involve sending a fighter or tank somewhere else to try and set up some broader game plan for the other Allies.