Garg’s points hold a lot of water when playing as Russia. You want to pick your battles, not your opponent. The easiest way of doing that is, as Garg said - creating a threat through Mobility where no advancing stack is safe.
Generally as Russia you want to take advantage of the threat Armor from the rear and Aircraft from AB’s. I think that is why there is a push for a Bomber for Russia, because a purchase of a second Bomber plus the aircraft Russia starts with (2 Ftr, 1 Tac IIRC) equates to 2 Ftr, 1 Tac, 2 Bombers and if you add some Inf as fodder Germany you all of a sudden have the ability to strike just about anywhere with 2 die at 3, 3 die at 4 and Germany has to slow its advance or risk losing fodder and exposing Armor far from reinforcement.
Remember, a fair trade with Moscow and Germany is going to be equal amounts of Infantry due to as Garg alludes to, projection of threat. Germany is rarely willing to expose Armor w/out infantry/Mech supporting it. Trading 8 Inf for 8 German Inf and exposing Armor forces Germany to delay or retreat until reinforcements arrive - far from the front line. All the while, Moscow is putting another 8 Inf on the board in either Moscow or spread around on its Minors and retreating its Aircraft far from the frontline.
Well said Spendoo
That brings up a good point, Personally, my primary target as the Russians on the eastern front, is German Infantry. I find that if the Germans don’t have any, they don’t win. And they get forced into trading artillery or better for my infantry when I choose so.
They also don’t gain from the artillery advantage.
Good observation.
Sometimes I find it fun to strafe for a round and kill some German infantry, then retreat without actually taking the territory. For instance in your second picture you might take Bryansk, Tambov and Samara to kill the tanks, plus Vologda to prevent him retaking Samara. But what about Smolensk? Suppose you attack it with 6 infantry attacking @1 versus the 3 Germans defending @2. Odds are you each lose 1 infantry, which might not be so good, EXCEPT if your plan is to actually HOLD Bryansk. If you put him in a position where he has to attack it without sufficient infantry cannon fodder he may end up losing tanks. A half dozen infantry and an AA gun might be enough to deter him attacking it with just those 2 tanks from Archangel with 2 infantry rather than 3 (and no planes because he’s scared of that AA gun). Give him crummy options. Personally I find the strafing stuff makes Russia a lot of fun. It can be gambley though
Strafing is a VERY important tactic aswell. Especially when you are in position, that you can build into your strafing force.
This is even more effective in naval engagements.
The general strategy of “1 inf blocking, retreating stack behind it threatening counterattack” is the basic building block of Russia’s defense against Germany.
The thing to keep in mind about 1940 Global is how ridiculously large the distance is from Germany to Russia. The closer Germany gets to Russia, the more dangerous the Russian counterattack becomes simply because Germany can’t replace lost units with any relative speed, even if they’re using transports to ferry troops to Leningrad.
Any chance to strike back with good enough odds to strip Germany of their infantry cover means by the time they get to Moscow they risk naked tanks and fighters against a large force of defending infantry. Having enough artillery within your counterattack forces will be key.
Just moving your forces back toward Moscow every turn and waiting for defeat will almost always get your capital sacked.
Well, it depends honestly… on how many turns you want russia to survive, obviously exchanging units and making bank serves you in the long run.
I don’t like leaving 1 infs in spots… italy nutcrackers and there is nothing you can do anyway. As long as Bryansk can counter attack a german stack you are good… if you fall back to moscow, put what you need on moscow and some stuff in the back of moscow to counter in many spots.
but yeah russia is full of suck… they don’t get enough air to do skirmishes effectively.
This is a little off topic, but when trying to relieve Russia as the USA or UK, I find that I am often able to land a few troops on Africa, Europe or Finland within a few rounds, which Germany then turns around and squashes, sinking the small navy also with all its German planes. Is that worth it to annoy Germany, or do you generally wait until you have enough units to take and hold what you attack? (which may take too long to save Russia)
I think every little attack is a diversion of German resources, so worth doing. If you do not land places, you allow Germany a free run at Russia.
North Africa has to be done. The most annoying place For the Allies to land if you are Germany, is Norway. Sometimes you cannot take it back as and it can spell the beginning of the end for Germany.
every little attack is a diversion of German resources
Truer words may never have been spoken.
There is a problem though Der Keutnstler if all your fleets keep getting wiped.
Well if I wait until I have built enough carriers and BBs etc that will withstand an air attack near Europe, then it can be too late for Russia or Japan gets ignored and too strong.
I prefer landing early and often. Even the presence of 2 Armor/Inf a turn into Morocco create headache for Italian NO’s.
Conversely, landing them in Gib helps protect the valuable seaport for 3-space moves forcing the Axis to address the potential 1-2 punch of Allied amphib landings into must-reinforce locales such as Denmark and Norway.
Gibraltar can be a funny seasaw affair, but if Italy is kept going West, cannot get the oil.
Allies must keep up the pressure, wherever and whenever.
@Der:
For example, do you leave one infantry in each bordering territory like this to foil blitzing, or is there something better to do? Do you just do this all the way back to Moscow?
do not leave your infantry for blockers
germany will take those territories with overwhelming forces. ussr will lose the infantry and have a 1 in 3 chance at taking an infantry from germany.
it is even better for ussr if germany blitzes. if they blitz through the territory deeper into ussr territory you can then kill their tanks in the counter attacks. if they blitz the territory and move back to leave the newly captured territory empty you can take it back easily on your turn. a good german player will not do this as they are going to keep pushing their stacks towards moscow.
@Der:
And in a case like this, is it better to come out and attack the surrounding territories with minimal forces to get them away from Moscow, or just hunker down and buy more infantry?
if you know have enough forces to hold moscow for a few rounds then attack away.
if you are preparing for the capitulation of moscow then use those 4 ussr planes to kill german units. you can trade 1ussr inf for 1ger tank, which will help for the eventual battle of moscow.
