Hey, Mr. Mat – I played a test game wif dis strategy of yours.
It seems you leave yourself open to major pressures from the Atlantic, since you don’t reinvest in subs or air power during the first three turns.
However, Germany won – and convincingly!!
Nevertheless, it is still worth considering these points:::::
As you spend zero on air units, your airforce will almost certainly be degraded. Ironically, you are giving the Soviets just enough breathing room so that they can build up their airforce. How? By retreating in turn 2, you are giving Soviet more time and more land to use in defense! Thus he feels less pressed to spend all-out on infantry. And the additional fighters he can buy will make his counterattacks more flexible and potent.
If I am Soviet, I will in turn 1 build Karelia infantry up to about 8 units – and I will move the antiaircraft gun from Archangel into Karelia. This has a good chance to take down at least one of the likely 3 or 4 fighters you send against me.
As Soviet, I see you are swelling up all forces into Germany as a mighty stack. Why then would I be pulled into Poland, stretching out my forces so that you can take them, one bite at a time? I smell the trap too easily. But do I have any alternative? Well, since you are evacuating your forward positions, I may spend a couple of infantry to occupy them, thanks! But only just the minimum. This takes a bit of pressure off my IPC count, too.
My success at stalling out your Karelian advance – or even retaking Karelia in turn 2 – means that I don’t really have much to worry about on the flanks. You, the German, will have spent all your forces in the north by the start of turn 3. Meanwhile in the south, you have withdrawn or stayed silent, keeping the pressure soft on Ukraine.
The sum: when, in turn 3, you unleash the mighty ground stack into Poland, I don’t lose much material. Instead, I continue to build toward the Belorussian defense – where the fight will not come until turn 5. Even if you succeed, and smash into Moscow by turn 6, the UK & US have near-total command of the sea, which permits them to test your Fortress Europe defenses starting as early as turn 4, and Germany itself by turn 5.
In the test game I played, Germany was indeed able to muster sufficient ground and air units to hold Germany and retake BEL-NETH. In fact, looked like the Germans could hold off indefinitely. Don’t know if better administration and a bit luckier dicing could have turned the tide for US/UK.
On the Russian front, at any rate, your strategy seems to have real power.
