How to stop Germany as USSR?

[BootyJoe]

How on earth can I stop - not to talk about going on the offensive - Germany as USSR? On Normal difficulty they simply walk over me. It is April 1942 and Germany is running amok with 9 Panzer units - 4 of them armies. They one or two shot anything I throw in their way. I noticed that the negative efficency penalty is still effective at -25 in April 1942 - that is just ridicoulus. Said penalty is -45 in winter 1941 making any historical counteroffensive impossible. The -25 in fact continues way into 1943! I enjoyed playing the Axis but playing USSR is just frustrating. Some serious balancing needs to be done patchwise.

[AZKGungHo]

I've tried several strategies and haven't found anything that even comes close to working. IMHO they are either going to have to de-power the Germans or give the Russians more units that are more powerful - some built in fortresses would help as well.

[doomtrader]

ORIGINAL: BootyJoe

How on earth can I stop - not to talk about going on the offensive - Germany as USSR? On Normal difficulty they simply walk over me. It is April 1942 and Germany is running amok with 9 Panzer units - 4 of them armies. They one or two shot anything I throw in their way. I noticed that the negative efficency penalty is still effective at -25 in April 1942 - that is just ridicoulus. Said penalty is -45 in winter 1941 making any historical counteroffensive impossible. The -25 in fact continues way into 1943! I enjoyed playing the Axis but playing USSR is just frustrating. Some serious balancing needs to be done patchwise.

If I remember correctly the Germans were kicking Soviet asses till middle of 1943. The only thing that stopped the Germans to reach Ural were the masses of Soviet Infantry sent division after division.

[BootyJoe]

ORIGINAL: AZ Gung Ho

I've tried several strategies and haven't found anything that even comes close to working. IMHO they are either going to have to de-power the Germans or give the Russians more units that are more powerful - some built in fortresses would help as well.

Oh at least I am not just a bad player then - good news. I have been playing wargames since the 1980s (first game AH's Afrika Korps). IMHO a first step would be to get rid of that hefty "surprise" penalty for the USSR listed as "Event" under efficiency mods. Perhaps I can mod that myself? A second step would be to give the Germans a hefty first winter penalty. These two measures can be argued for on basis of historical accuracy as well as play balance. I totally agree on the forts issue - several Russian cities should have some forts (Leningrad and Moscow are two examples). Also it would be nice if your were able to purchase forts.

[doomtrader]

The winter penalty is already implemented within the game.

Those cities were not really too well fortified.
Most of the fortifications where ad hoc dirt shelters. Every unit when stands in one place gets an entrenched bonus.

[doomtrader]

And BTW, all those things can be modded of course.

[BootyJoe]

ORIGINAL: doomtrader
If I remember correctly the Germans were kicking Soviet asses till middle of 1943. The only thing that stopped the Germans to reach Ural were the masses of Soviet Infantry sent division after division.

True but the problem is that that is not reflected in the game. I have spammed inf but that is hardly slowing the Germans down, much less stopping them. On this scale there is not all that much territory you can afford to loose. It must be possible for the Soviets to construct a line that holds. I can't see how that can be done right now. I am surprised how much I like this little gem of a game - it gets to you! Perhaps I should get Time of Fury as well.

[BootyJoe]

ORIGINAL: doomtrader

And BTW, all those things can be modded of course.

How? Are there any instructions for such modding?

[BootyJoe]

ORIGINAL: doomtrader

The winter penalty is already implemented within the game.

It is? Oh I never noticed. How? As an eff modifier listed as events? How much is the penalty? When does it kick in? When does it end?

ORIGINAL: doomtrader
Those cities were not really too well fortified.

The Germans sieged Leningrad for three years failing to occupy it. The way in game to represent the challenge of taking Leningrad would be to give the city some forts I think.

[doomtrader]

ORIGINAL: BootyJoe

ORIGINAL: doomtrader

And BTW, all those things can be modded of course.

How? Are there any instructions for such modding?

Time of Fury's modding subforum is the best place to lurk for the infos:
tt.asp?forumid=1025

[doomtrader]

It is? Oh I never noticed. How? As an eff modifier listed as events? How much is the penalty? When does it kick in? When does it end?

There is a winter modifier implemented in the game, and it affects all units acting in the winter weather.
So it's starts accordingly to the weather.

[ricodc]

ive tried as allies and russians even russian ai keeps losing. Have tried altering the diff, but dosent seem to make any diffrence to game play.

[AZKGungHo]

Doomtrader,

I was not aware of the built in weather effects and digging in, that's fine but doesn't solve the problem. I have play the 1941 scenario four times, I have played quickly and have made mistakes as the German, and EVERY TIME by the end of 1941 the Germans have held Leningrad, Moscow, Vorenzh (or however you spell it), and Rostov.

Clearly there is a balance problem here that needs to be addressed one way or another. Perhaps giving the Russians a lot more units would help, but they are going to have to be much more powerful than most of the forces the Russians currently have it they are going to be able to even slow down what I call the "Super Panzers."

That's another problem with the game, when in late '44 and '45 the Germans are still capable of building several Panzer units with the strength in the 40's, somethings not quite right here!

Love the game and hope it help make it better!

[doomtrader]

AZ Gung Ho, did you tried to play on different difficulty levels?
Check this thread:
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 05&t=37097

[SteveD64]

I just started my first ever game as Germany (Quick game, all the default settings, 1939 scenario) and the USSR has laid waste to the Wehrmacht. Granted, my AI allies are worthless so I'm essentially playing alone and I've made some bad mistakes but the USSR is unstoppable in my game.

It bears repeating that I'm a complete newb here.

Also, in October 1941 all of my German units' combat strength went down quite a bit. Is this a winter effect?

[lancecorpD]

I can't believe the Germans are losing. Everything I've read and the few times I've tried USSR has no chance. Be sure to build your Panzers to level 3 armies and crush everything. Don't bother with air forces, they are not crucial. Still a great game. Working on a method for Soviets to survive.

[SteveD64]

Believe it! [:)]

Here were my mistakes:

1. I committed too many units to crush Yugoslavia and Greece and had to postpone Barbarossa till July '41.
2. Even then I was still moving units into position while the offensive took place (I didn't have the full strength of the German Army arrayed against the USSR)
3. There were no Russian units on the border so I moved into the Soviet Union over confident and without knowledge of their positions (I kept one fighter unit in France to "simulate" the Battle of Britain)
4. Soviet AI counterattacked and dropped a parachute corps into an undefended Warsaw which cutoff the rail line.
5. I built a Panzer Armee, strength of 30, which went down to 18 in October and was hit by several different Tank Armies and was lost.
6. Soviets attacked into AI controlled Romania and well the AI lost the border war.

In other words, I blame the Romanians. [;)]

[SteveD64]

Still getting used to the game. The rules etc.

[papajack]

Play with very hard difficulty (-50%pp). the German will struggle against USSR

[panzers]

I am playing as the Germans in the 1939 scenario.
What I have seen is that after about three turns in Barbarossa the Soviets show up with about 15 divisions and 8 tanks all in one turn. I don't have the strength to beat that. I have only 5 panzer armies and 7 mechs as well as the starting infantry. I am obviously doing something wrong because I can't compete with that.
I am playing the Germans on very easy and the Russians as normal.
What am I doing wrong that everyone seems to be having a relatively easy time with the Germans?
As a side note, my Panzers are all at level 3.