do you think alot of russian infantry and artillery would be a good idea. they both defend at two and when you want to attack they artillery lets you infantry have some attack power so you could let them defend and then counterattack with some hope of success. there also pretty cheap to.
For Russia I always buy Ifantry until I’ve counterattacked the Germans then I buy Artillery and the occasional tanks.
As the Russians i usualy buy all tanks and a artillary the first few turns. The amount of infintry you start out with is more than enough, you dont need more. But tanks can be kept safe in moscow and still counter attack the Germans if they beat your whole combined army in belarussia. The key to winning is mobility, which tanks have.
russian tanks are important, but i don’t think you should be buying a lot of them, without enough infantry, it’s hard to defend moscow and pressure the germans. Also you can get artillary and counter attack the germans in bellorussia which is worth considering. I would match germany. If germany get’s 10 artillary round 1, then 6 russian ones are good usually. the idea is, if there are less german units (lots of german artillary) then it will be easier to destroy the germans in belorussia. If the germans build infantry, you will be less likely to have a good counter attack, so maybe then build infantry and try to hold moscow or make the german send all he’s got there just to take it drawing forces from the defence of berlin.
I like to get 2 stacks of about 15 inf and 5 art that move around between leningrad, belorussia, and ukraine ssr to destroy the germans.
I just buy inf once i get those because overwhelming numbers always seems to win
There seems to be wisdom in each poster’s answer.
Certainly mat is correct that it can be very comforting – and debilitating to your Axis foe – to boast a pair of large inf & rtl stacks to shift around for defense & counterattack… and absolutely Inxduk is on target about monitoring the Axis purchases and determining how to undermine them with the best combination of Soviet inf rtl & arm units… and I also like the determination of Aquarius_1715 to stay mobile: the deployment of your forces is often as vital as your dicerolling!.. meanwhile, Drumstix likes to “keep it simple” with inf until he sees a weakness in the Axis line – and then be prepared to charge through and make Germany’s day miserable with an attack led by armor and rtl…
Guess what: I like FTRs. SOV can barely afford them, but as one poster points out, you start off with a considerable supply of inf – so why not spice things up with some jazzy air power!
ftrs - a bad idea for Russia to EVER purchase (sorry ZZZ). The fact is by the 3rd round or so they are playing with an extra 5-6 ftrs. That money can much better be spent on INFANTRY.
There, i said it.
I like artillery, and would not have a problem spending the extra bucks for an extra 1-3, but really, Russia does not attack much. They just fall back and force Germany to put more effort into the East.
Basically Russia is the paper tiger. She distracts Germany long enough for the US and UK to land forces in Europe.
Certainly the first 2-3 times the allies land, they will get beaten back monstrously. But with some support from an increasing number of destroyers and constant landing of increasing troops, Germany has not won enough territory to hold off for long - especially if its forces have been bogged down attacking swams of infantry.
Certainly - as Russia buy some artillary - if only to look for and hit that opening - especially if there are some unguarded tanks. Any tanks that Russia purchases, however, will decrease the number of inf it can buy and therefore defend with.
((cystic crypt: I’m not EVEN going to ask how you feel about Soviet buying naval units!!))
Well, getting back to the original question here, YES I think it would be smart to pepper your purchases of infantry with some artillery. If you don’t buy at least a few artillery, then you will blunt your own sword (ouch) by limiting the power of your counterattacking infantry.
If SOV buys nothing but infantry & artillery over the first 5 turns let’s say, that will put something like 30 unis onto the board. Used carefully, these can bog down the Axis. The grand outline that cystic crypt describes seems accurate – but there are times when Russia can act more aggressively, and there are times when UK & US air force will not supply as much for the Great Patriotic War effort. Sometimes the moves of the Axis player create different challenges for the Allies, and opportunities for the Soviet to attack.
Also, sometimes the dicerolls run a certain way, creating new vulnerabilities on the Axis fronts.
I also think that the key to winning is keeping the Germans off Guard by attacking and being aggresive with them. Falling back and buying infantry does make you stronger, but for how long. Attacking the Germans could be the last thing he expects and may make him think about redoing his whole strategy. Russia dosent always have to counter attack, they can be the first to attack, and with devestaiting results I might add.
I fel that the SOV army needs some form of teeth. I have played as SOV nearly twenty times, and you need a counter attacking force. If you can’t fight back when the time comes, your are useless. Buy mostly inf, and with what money you have left over you should use to buy artilery. DO NOT buy tanks under any circumstances! Wait, if Allied victory is assured, and your defense is strong enough, go on the offensive and buy tanks. It’s not that dificult, but playing dangerously with SOV requires a slick player, how slick are you?
