How to defend as Russia?

@witt

I agree with Witt. Hem the Soviet Navy in. It’s what the Germans did in real life.Even if you didn’t destroy it it can’t do anything (unless they bought some transports to attack Berlin, but then they wouldn’t want to get out)

If the game had no political restrictions you might need to judge whether the Soviet player will attack you if you didn’t let them through.

Take Persia UK1
Factory UK2
Anzac Fighters to Java Z1
Buy/Stack defense for Z because the road home is about to get cut
If any planes survive Taranto, keep them flexible so they can fly to or near india within 1 turn
Try not to let China die buy time
Rebuild a small fleet in the Red sea it can also go both ways
Bide your time

Japan can’t blindly rush India without watching its back–it takes really skillful play to manage more than 1 factory and defend SZ 6. If 2 Japan CV go south, the US can overwhelm Japan. If Japan starts the war too early, or ramps too many factories, it cannot build against the USA

Most players won’t reinforce China with USSR if it looks like Germany is going to drive into USSR.

I normally maintain peace with the west and go after USSR & China. There’s a possibility of a UK2 DOW with that. I think USSR’s best response is to hold in Buryatia. Those troops aren’t getting back to Moscow in time anyway. I’ve never seen USSR helping out China but maybe it would make sense if there’s no UK2 DOW? The Soviet air force could defend against strategic bombing G3 and also defend Yunnan J3. Never thought about that before.

Thanks

Does it help if the Japanese march everything straight across China?  They could be at Tsinghai/Kansu J4 with air units nearby to kill off the Siberians on J5.

It would certainly help except I believe Japan has a big enough task holding off the 5 countries.  I like taking China down to almost nothing before US gets involved, then take DEI’s, then try to withstand a full Pacific buy from the US.  In the meantime, Germany should be able to make its way through Russia and its all up to the oil fields after that.

It really depends on which method you prefer.
A G1 attack can catch the Russians a little off guard and take advantage of their defenses still being relatively thin. The downfall is that Germany’s offense will also be a little thin and be more prone to Russian counter-attacks.
A G3 or G4 attack allows Germany the maximum build up time before Russia can declare war and can make for a much stronger punch into Russia’s borders all along the line. I often wait until G4 because you can hit Russia on 4 fronts (Romania > Bessarabia, Hungary > E Poland, Poland > Baltic States, Finland > Karelia) and have a very strong front line after the battles - harder for Russia to counter attack. The downfall of this is that Russia also gets 3 turns of build-up so they will have more stuff for you to fight. Generally, Germany will still have more than Russia, but if the dice don’t favor you, your front lines could get really ate up by the time you reach Moscow.
A lot depends on what USA does when they get into the war. If they go 80%-100% Europe, your Russian offensive could peter out fast because you have to fend off an American invasion or try to bail out Italy. On the other hand, Japan should be doing very well in the Pacific and you may get an overall Axis win that way.
If USA goes mostly Pacific, then you should be very successful in Russia. The UK will be busy trying to fight Italy and your U-Boats while you pour tanks into Russia and steadily grind them back. However, If Japan plays poorly, it’s possible the USA could wrap things up in the Pacific early enough to still come over and cause trouble for you in Europe before you can take Moscow. Then it’s the dreaded TWO FRONT WAR for Germany.

no, russia,  is not at war in europe.  They can only attack if they are at war with germ or italy.