@wittmann:
I believe Russia is so easily crushed in 1940, because it has no useful (and historical ) NOs.
A 5 NO for being at war is a great start. Never considered it; good work.
I think YG split the 125/no Allies in Russia into two and that would work for me too. Russia needs 10-15 while at war, to counter Germany’s 10-15.
Overall, I have to agree with you that this is the stupidest NO.
Exactly! So here you’d always have 5 ipcs once at war. And you’d have another 5 ipcs that is fairly simple to achieve, provided you keep your territories clear of W. Allied units. That gives you a baseline of 10 additional ipcs each round to the Soviet Union.
How you want to approach sz 125 and Archangel is less significant. You could make them 5 each or 5 together. Whatever seems best.
This is better than a pre-placement bid for Allies, because it does not break any opening round combats. The immediate impact is less pronounced, but once the DoW occurs it provides Allies with a significant leg up in the most critical region of the board, the center!
It is simple to implement because it involves the same components as the OOB national objective. But increases their relative value for cost of achievement.
Consider that the 5 ipc at war alone, after a few rounds will add up to the value of a standard bid.
The rational here could be things like airlifts, loans, overland supplies via south Asia etc. But once Russia is at war, they are considered to be at +5 ipcs in aid baseline for the duration of the game.
By separating the no W. Allies on Soviet land aspect from the Arch/sz125 aspect, you create a seperate incentive for each. So if you can’t secure sz 125 or Arch without western units at least there is still a trade off and a chance at 5 ipcs. Likewise if you can’t secure the northern route, but can at least keep western units out of Russian territories, you still have a shot on +5. This would give Russia a decent chance of collecting 10 ipcs in NOs each round, once they are at war.
I prefer this method to any bid dynamic I’ve seen, since bidding effects opening combat and breaks opening strategy from the OOB situation.
@Herr:
I think there’s room for some additional supply-based NO’s for the USSR:
- Persian Corridor: 5 IPC if Russia is at war and the Allies control both Persia and Northwest Persia.
- Vladivostok Route: 5 IPC if Russia is at war, Amur is Russian, and the Allies control either the Western US or British Columbia - maybe combined with several sea zones not beign hostile.
The first one is easily achieved by the Allies, and the second one may give Japan an incentive to take Amur, which they wouldn’t normally do.
This is a cool idea as well, and probably superior to the 3 ipc NOs for Axis territory siezed, or the 10 for Berlin. Those are some of the routes I was thinking of, when suggesting that the West would surely have still found a way into Russia, even if the north was locked down. Since after all, part of the strategy was to help finance the war effort in Russia and bloody the Germans by proxy, while preparing for the Atlantic crossing. I think it just makes more sense. And Russia has the most need.
This is far better handled through a simple NO change=Money, rather than by adding or removing units at the outset= preplacement bid. Don’t you think?