Is there anything preventing the USSR declaring war before they reach wartime income? I would have assumed they would require the full 46 IPP income, but their player aid does not seem to have this restriction.
USSR does not need to reach wartime income. The « declarations of war » section of the National Reference Sheet indicates when it can do so.
Rule 5.5 (v.3) specifies that only « in some cases » does the nation need to reach wartime income first, such as Great Britain for example.
@noneshallpass The only restriction they have is that they have to wait until July 1939.
I guess that makes sense. I suppose I was just confused because the USSR has no reason not to declare war ASAP to just completely negate the Surprise attack rule (Assuming the M-R pact isnt signed).
I want to point something out. One of the differences between the Version 2 Reference Sheets and Version 3 Reference Sheets is that the nations that don’t require to be at a certain level to declare war don’t have a Wartime Income. If you look closer at the sheets you’ll notice that the column lists “Total Value of Land Zones” rather than “Wartime Income” that you see on the Allied Reference Sheets.
In other words, Germany, Japan, Italy, and USSR don’t have a Wartime Income. The Axis Powers are unrestricted in when they can DOW and the USSR simply has to wait until a certain date. They do have a Wartime Bonus Income but that isn’t the same thing. Those are the bonuses listed on the sheet that they can collect if they achieve specific goals while at war with another Major Power.
I hope that helps you to determine quickly if the nation you’re playing can declare war or not.
@generalhandgrenade but can USSR negate the German supprise attack by attacking first? V2
@elcosmicvikingo Yes they can. When you consider they have up to 5 IPP of Wartime bonus income it can become more attractive to the Russian player to declare war after they get past the 30 IPP income level. Rather than wait until the Germans attack with their powerful surprise strike and probably wipe out extra units with less attrition, for sure consider attacking earlier before the Germans are ready to do maximum damage to you. If you save a few bucks you will still get to build your ground units 1 IPP cheaper the next round.
@generalhandgrenade Just out of curiosity, why do you specify 30 IPP income level for the USSR? Is that just a number you’ve internally decided is worth it for the USSR to declare war first (i.e. since they won’t be able to automatically jump up to their full income by being the aggressors)? Just curious on your thought process. I’ve always hummed and hawed at what is an “acceptable” time for them to do this!
@chris_henry You have to determine what’s right for the game you’re playing. How is Germany doing? What’s gong on in China? How much money do you have saved? How aggressive is the German player historically?
I try like hell to make sure I declare war first because I believe it’s a huge advantage to both sides. If your sleeping bear rolls have been really bad and Germany is stacked up on the border already then you’re in a tough situation. If he’s pre-occupied with the Western Front or something else then you may have some extra time. The key is to strike first no matter what though.
@generalhandgrenade Oh yeah, agree on all fronts there for sure! That’s what makes it so interesting for the USSR! I was just curious if 30 IPP was your “special number” for you personally for it being worth it for you, in-game circumstances notwithstanding of course!
I think that’s one of the more fun parts of the game for me, is a little bit of cat and mouse between the Germans and USSR on this very issue. The USSR most definitely should attack/declare war before the Germans can use their ability, but it’s almost a who will blink first situation! Do the Germans wait that one extra turn to try and get more units in position and hope the Soviets don’t attack? Do the Soviets strike earlier than they’d really want to out of fear the Germans might attack first the next turn? It’s a great aspect!
@insanehoshi as stated the only restriction is July ‘39 for USSR to make a DOW. The thing is that their income does not automatically jump to full income unless they have been declared war against or they have rolled high enough dice in sleeping bear income rolls and/or peacetime income increases. Russia doesn’t want to fight a large war without most of its income available to purchase units!
