Russia: Aggressive or Defensive turns 1-4 (w/ Bid of +/- 24 IP for Axis)

Like Krieg wrote.

But tanks get lonely too.

I don’t understand how Moscow can fall on G4, much less both London and Moscow.  Russia must play aggressively, building a mix of infantry, artillery, and tanks.  If Germany sends straight tanks, the Western Allies can drop the hammer much faster.

you need to 1) stay defensive for 3 rounds, then go offensive

@MrMalachiCrunch:

Dan, did the Russian build of a bomber on R1 cause you not to attack Sz2 in G1 for some reason?  If so, was the reason because it could hit Norway and perhaps the german fighter would be lost as you used those troops against Kar in G1 there would have been no defense for the surviving bomber?

No, it wasn’t the bomber build that stopped the attack on z2. For other readers, here’s the situation. R1 build is 4 inf, bomber. Russia takes West Russia with 7 inf, art, tank and takes Ukraine with art, 3 tanks. For the precise move: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=19028.0
In short, I wanted a Karelia stack on G1. Germany couldn’t afford to defend Norway if I did this. I would be more afraid of surviving German planes on Norway being attacked by the UK’s potential inf, tank, 2 fighters, and bomber. Realistically, if the German planes are naked, the Allies don’t need to commit so much. Also, the German destroyer to z3 could force the UK to peal off a plane from the ground attack. Any time a Russian plane dogfights an Axis plane on fairly even odds is a good day for the Axis. I’d invite that bomber versus fighter battle.

@DougR:

Another difference: the lower cost of bombers combined with the defenseless transports. If Allies go KFG then Japan should buy 1 bomber each turn and send it to Europe in two turns (using conquered Egypt or Trans-Jordan). A large japanese airforce in Europe can make it really hard for the Allies, because Japan plays between UK and US and can take advantage of any openings left after the UK fleet has moved.

You know, I had to laugh at this.  I had posted the subject of limits on cooperation b/w the Western Allies and Russia.  Being the history nerd that I am, it never would have occurred to me to send Japanese bombers to Germany (and now that I know, I still couldn’t get myself to do it)!

Historically it might make no sense for this to happen (although there were examples of German/Italian subs/surface raiders operating on the Pacific and Indian oceans) but the game isn’t meant to be a faithful representation of WW2 (if so the starting production levels would be grossly unbalanced towards the Alllies).

You may choose to play it so and create your own house rules to approximate it as close to reality as possible but with out of the box rules there’s nothing to stop you or your opponents to do so.

@c64:

So how about buying 1 AC and 2 Destroyers on UK1 ? You could place the AC and one DD in SZ8, which are joined by the american Cruiser on US1. The other British destroyer could be used to block the 2 subs from the Baltic Sea.
This way you sacrifice one DD but on Germany’s second turn it would come down to
1 sub, 2 ftr, 2 Bmb  vs   1 AC + 2 ftr, 1 DD, 1 Cruiser

Maybe Germany might rethink attacking that fleet.  ( success is about 50%)

I’ve been thinking it over and I realize that an AC and two destroyers is by far the best buy on UK1, especially if Germany has destroyed all your European navy, which a smart German player will have done. Now if the dice turned out well for Germany, they will have 2 ftrs in W.Eu., and 2 ftrs and a bomber in Norway (assuming that the bomber was used to take out the battleship in Z2 on G1, and is only eligible to land in Norway). But they will probably only have 2 subs, assuming the battleship hit on defense and took one out. If the Baltic subs moved to Z6 or Z7 (or maybe even 1 in each) they threaten all four SZs into which UK can build. Building into Z6 and Z7 are out of the question in such a situation, because you are open to an attack by 2 subs 4 ftrs 1 bomber and (if it is still alive) 1 destroyer. So Z2 and Z8 are your options; 2 ftrs can still reach you in either of these zones, but 2 is better than 4. Building into Z8 is probably the best, because the US cruiser can move to this zone before Germany gets to go again, and the Russian sub will link up on R2 assuming it submerged during the Z2 battle on G1.