USSR & China

[wevilc]

I’ve played a couple of near-full games with these two & thought I’d share some thoughts & see if there any comments.

China

Probably one of the duller GPs to play as digging in & surviving seems to be all that is possible. My approach in my 2nd game worked better. Don’t max out research but keep enough in hand to reinforce. Probably an idea to get some artillery earlier than I did. Ant-air batteries are cheap & useful. Tanks a waste of money.

USSR

Way more interesting & challenging & IMO the decisive theatre. Whoever wins there should win the game. A fair bit depends on when the axis invades. I’ve had April (bad news) & August (much better) so far. Aside from trying not to lose too much at the frontier, I’ve done well by defending Smolensk & Rostov. Kiev doesn’t seem defensible. The engineer unit is useful for fortifying in front of Leningrad & Moscow. In ‘42 I gradually assemble an army at Voronezh & descend on the left flank of the forces facing Stalingrad at an opportune moment. A much smaller force in the Caucasus is sufficient to close the pocket. Then press through Ukraine & roll up the front from the south. Finland is a mutual stand-off.

Tactically, I need more artillery & bombers. I have only just grasped their roll in reducing entrenchment. Again, anti-air units work well.

Thoughts, ideas & your favourite finesses welcome!

[Edprem]

I mostly agree with your assessment... but if you play a competent Axis player, you will likely not hold Voronezh. That or you will lose a strategic city elsewhere.

[wevilc]

Edprem, is the eastern front a forced win for the axis with best play on both sides?

[Umeu]

I would say no. If both sides play at a very high level, I think it is balanced, and neither side should be able to destroy the other definitively.

In this AAR you can see why I think that
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 0&t=407756

Though it’s hard to have perfect play. There were definitely factors that could have changed things, especially Finland makes a big difference.

[wevilc]

Well, that’s as it should be Umeu, I guess.