Defence of the USSR

[wevilc]

Just finished (by resignation) my 2nd PBEM game against my son. I faced the same problem in both. He was able to take both Stalingrad & the Caucasus in 42. The loss of the latter is a disaster as it hobbles my economy & significantly boosts his.

I am therefore forced to come grovelling to the forum seeking advice on general principles & specific ideas & set ups that might delay or halt his deadly southern advance. Please help an aged parent in his hour of need!

[Umeu]

All you can do most likely is delay the fall of Stalingrad. And also maybe all you can delay is the fall of the Caucasus too.

Make sure you build engineers early. Either on turn 1 (that means selling fighter technology and also disaband 1 fighter) and then save up 175 mpp for infantry weapons, or you can do it the other way around. As soon as your engineer units are ready, you start putting up defenses in key positions. I like to follow the Don river between Rostov-Stalingrad-Voronezh. But some people like other positons, you can see many different strategies in the AARs. But in general, you should try to buy time by defending deeper in land.

Put corps in the first line, and then armies and tanks in the second line so that they can either counter attack or when the germans attack them, they are hopefully somewhat weakened by the corps.

Make sure you research at least lvl 2 AA technology, and put your AA guns in key positions. Also upgrade your other units with AA tech to help against german air superiority, it's more cost effective than going fighters.

Make sure you send Zhukov to the south asap, and put him in charge of key units. Also need at least 1 more other general. Hopefully you can make one, but otherwise, send the one from Leningrad or Moscow, depending on where the Germans attack least.

Keep Russian allegiance as high as possible, this means don't invade Finland usually, unless it's your strategy to gamble for the Allied mission to Finland.

During summer turns, try to repair units, then replace units that were lost in supply and can be bought back at a discount and faster training time. In autumn and winter, instead buy as many new units as possible, preferably units that take a long time first (so generally heavy tanks and tanks, then mech infantry).

[wevilc]

Great, thanks Umeu. The 2nd engineer unit is a great tip, as is going for anti-air. Tom’s planes have been a real pain. I don’t understand though how disbanding a fighter confers any benefit. Maybe there’s some mechanic I don’t know about.

[wevilc]

I now see I get MPPs on disbanding. Got it. Disband in order to be able to afford the extra engineer ASAP.

[nnason]

There are several important aspects of SC WiE that any defender must learn and practice:
1. Economy of force. Your opponent can't be everywhere (until late game) so screen where he is not.
2. Keep your units in supply. They defend better and return quicker and cheaper.
3. Utilize your HQS. Put better HQs where he is attacking and attach the most important units to those HQS. Losing HQs early and mid-game is very bad. I invest in LOGISTICS early on to make HQs more powerful and cheaper to move.
4. Employ hedgehog defenses. Defend all key rail junctions. His attacking units will damage the city which prevents their use for 1 or more turns as a rail hub.
5. Try to get UK and USA involved as early as possible to draw Axis units away.
5. Do not despair. If you defend well the damage to his units will make him weaker for your counter attacks. You can win with losing any one or sometimes two of the three major cities as the rest of the Allies are going to put the hammer down.

Hope this helps.

PS. I always play mirror games so the despair of being on the losing side in the early game is countered by the fun of being on the opposite winning side.

[petedalby]

I now see I get MPPs on disbanding. Got it. Disband in order to be able to afford the extra engineer ASAP.

Russia starts with 125 MPP. If you refund the 'Advanced Fighters' research chit (the little yellow down arrow) you will receive 75 MPP for a total of 200 MPP which enables you to buy an Engineer on T1. Should arrive in Feb 1940.

No need to disband a Fighter as well.

[Chernobyl]

All you can do most likely is delay the fall of Stalingrad. And also maybe all you can delay is the fall of the Caucasus too.

Make sure you build engineers early. Either on turn 1 (that means selling fighter technology and also disaband 1 fighter) and then save up 175 mpp for infantry weapons, or you can do it the other way around. As soon as your engineer units are ready, you start putting up defenses in key positions. I like to follow the Don river between Rostov-Stalingrad-Voronezh. But some people like other positons, you can see many different strategies in the AARs. But in general, you should try to buy time by defending deeper in land.

Make sure you research at least lvl 2 AA technology, and put your AA guns in key positions. Also upgrade your other units with AA tech to help against german air superiority, it's more cost effective than going fighters.

I think I have seen USSRs lose a lot because they took too long to get to level 2 AA. It is probably worth investing 3 chits in that tech. As a tweak, I would like to see more USSR players paying 20 MPP to upgrade key cities forts and resources to level 2 AA when they are soon to come under air bombardment for +1 air defense.

As far as location of where to build your forts, I agree that Leningrad and Moscow are sideshows. I wouldn't build forts there on principle that Axis advancing in those directions in 1941-42 is already a mistake. The real measure of progress is how fast the Germans advance in the South. In my opinion I think the Axis wants to take Rostov in 1941 and the Soviets want to prevent that. Then in 1942 the Axis want to take Voronezh, Stalingrad, and Baku at a minimum. Then in 1943 Axis will have enough of an advantage to defeat USSR.

I would like to see someone try to build forts on the Caucasus mountains but I've never seen this strategy. Everyone seems to either build their forts on the Dnieper (probably too far forward) or the Don (can possibly work but seems risky to me) or elsewhere. I don't really think the Volga is a great place to build forts because it's just too many hexes and spaces are too wide open. I think mountains are great hexes to build forts on in general, because you get +1 ground defense and +1 air defense, while for example if you build on forests or hills I don't believe you get as much return on investment. Also I think forts are generally better placed in natural corners/edges rather than a long line in the middle, because you can't outflank them, so you can build 2-sided forts and have confidence.

I'm not entirely sure this is the best place to build your early forts, but I feel like if you can deprive the Axis of Grozny and Baku, they don't really have enough MPP or forces to win the full game, even if they take Voronezh and Stalingrad in 1942. Whereas if you don't build any forts and the Axis take Baku, I don't really think any number of forts around Moscow or Kuybyshev are gonna work.

[Umeu]

I now see I get MPPs on disbanding. Got it. Disband in order to be able to afford the extra engineer ASAP.

Russia starts with 125 MPP. If you refund the 'Advanced Fighters' research chit (the little yellow down arrow) you will receive 75 MPP for a total of 200 MPP which enables you to buy an Engineer on T1. Should arrive in Feb 1940.

No need to disband a Fighter as well.

True, for t1 you don’t need to disband it. But disbanding it does mean you get the next thing 1 turn faster, especially since fighter tech get reduced to 150 mpp, which imo is essentially a nerf of Russia not a buff. I usually go infantry weapons first, and then engineers as my second mpp purchase. But I mentioned engineers first and infantry weapons second because that’s what Bavre opted for in our game.

Pro tip: if you decide to disband the fighter, move it to a hex with 12 supply and put it under general command. You’ll receive more resources.

[Umeu]

All you can do most likely is delay the fall of Stalingrad. And also maybe all you can delay is the fall of the Caucasus too.

Make sure you build engineers early. Either on turn 1 (that means selling fighter technology and also disaband 1 fighter) and then save up 175 mpp for infantry weapons, or you can do it the other way around. As soon as your engineer units are ready, you start putting up defenses in key positions. I like to follow the Don river between Rostov-Stalingrad-Voronezh. But some people like other positons, you can see many different strategies in the AARs. But in general, you should try to buy time by defending deeper in land.

Make sure you research at least lvl 2 AA technology, and put your AA guns in key positions. Also upgrade your other units with AA tech to help against german air superiority, it's more cost effective than going fighters.

I think I have seen USSRs lose a lot because they took too long to get to level 2 AA. It is probably worth investing 3 chits in that tech. As a tweak, I would like to see more USSR players paying 20 MPP to upgrade key cities forts and resources to level 2 AA when they are soon to come under air bombardment for +1 air defense.

As far as location of where to build your forts, I agree that Leningrad and Moscow are sideshows. I wouldn't build forts there on principle that Axis advancing in those directions in 1941-42 is already a mistake. The real measure of progress is how fast the Germans advance in the South. In my opinion I think the Axis wants to take Rostov in 1941 and the Soviets want to prevent that. Then in 1942 the Axis want to take Voronezh, Stalingrad, and Baku at a minimum. Then in 1943 Axis will have enough of an advantage to defeat USSR.

I would like to see someone try to build forts on the Caucasus mountains but I've never seen this strategy. Everyone seems to either build their forts on the Dnieper (probably too far forward) or the Don (can possibly work but seems risky to me) or elsewhere. I don't really think the Volga is a great place to build forts because it's just too many hexes and spaces are too wide open. I think mountains are great hexes to build forts on in general, because you get +1 ground defense and +1 air defense, while for example if you build on forests or hills I don't believe you get as much return on investment. Also I think forts are generally better placed in natural corners/edges rather than a long line in the middle, because you can't outflank them, so you can build 2-sided forts and have confidence.

I'm not entirely sure this is the best place to build your early forts, but I feel like if you can deprive the Axis of Grozny and Baku, they don't really have enough MPP or forces to win the full game, even if they take Voronezh and Stalingrad in 1942. Whereas if you don't build any forts and the Axis take Baku, I don't really think any number of forts around Moscow or Kuybyshev are gonna work.

You can read my AAR vs Taifun. I did almost everything you said. 3 chits into AA, and upgraded all my units. And still I got shredded by luftwaffe

I also built forts in the Caucasus and around Perm in the Urals. The forts in the Caucasus delayed the fall of Baku by a year, but I couldn’t prevent it. The forts in the Urals did hold strong.

But imo, there’s no need to build your first line of forts so far backwards. You can build a first line, and while the Germans are busy breaking that, you move your engineers back and build second lines in the mountains.

I do agree with mountain (also swamp hexes, forests, or hills are ok) being the best hexes to build on, though if I am building a line, I would still start with the weaker hexes first in order to maintain line integrity since the mountains are harder to break anyway.

I love the don line, but yes, I do mostly build the forts in the corner near Rostov, and to shorten the river in front of Stalingrad. Hamburgermeat also has a strong defense with forts in front of Rostov instead of behind it like I do, and forts in front of Smolensk as well, which can work very well too. Though I prefer to ensure Leningrads survival instead, and build fortresses closer to Moscow. But both can work.

[wevilc]

I now see I get MPPs on disbanding. Got it. Disband in order to be able to afford the extra engineer ASAP.

Russia starts with 125 MPP. If you refund the 'Advanced Fighters' research chit (the little yellow down arrow) you will receive 75 MPP for a total of 200 MPP which enables you to buy an Engineer on T1. Should arrive in Feb 1940.

No need to disband a Fighter as well.

But I like to get infantry weapons going 1st. I’ve gone further than Umeu suggested & disbanded the cavalry as well. I’ll probably discover later why that’s a bad idea.

[wevilc]

There are several important aspects of SC WiE that any defender must learn and practice:
1. Economy of force. Your opponent can't be everywhere (until late game) so screen where he is not.
2. Keep your units in supply. They defend better and return quicker and cheaper.
3. Utilize your HQS. Put better HQs where he is attacking and attach the most important units to those HQS. Losing HQs early and mid-game is very bad. I invest in LOGISTICS early on to make HQs more powerful and cheaper to move.
4. Employ hedgehog defenses. Defend all key rail junctions. His attacking units will damage the city which prevents their use for 1 or more turns as a rail hub.
5. Try to get UK and USA involved as early as possible to draw Axis units away.
5. Do not despair. If you defend well the damage to his units will make him weaker for your counter attacks. You can win with losing any one or sometimes two of the three major cities as the rest of the Allies are going to put the hammer down.

Hope this helps.

PS. I always play mirror games so the despair of being on the losing side in the early game is countered by the fun of being on the opposite winning side.

Thank you nnason. Helpful tips there.