USSR

[dhucul2011]

I think the USSR is a little too strong in 1941-1942.

Its late 1942 and I see that they are three to four units deep on several fronts.

(Although I am on Expert with bonus experince +1)

Maybe have the Soviet Mobilization bonus kick in late 1942 or early 1943?

[sPzAbt653]

I am taking my first try as the Allies against the Axis computer. It struck me as possibly odd that in May 1941 when the Axis attacked Russia that the supply levels were so high for the Soviets. Their supply and communication infrastructures were horrible at that historical time. I could understand if the player had the option to increase infrastructure effectiveness instead of building units prior to war, but as the Allied player I did no such thing, as far as I know. The high Soviet supply levels makes it very easy to reinforce units.

I will add that in my first two games as the Axis against the Allied computer that I was a little frustrated over Soviet units holding out in cities/towns [Pinsk for 2 years, until I finally brought up additional forces]. A corps cut off and surrounded shouldn't require 3 or 4 corps and 2-3 turns to destroy. Watching the computer play the Axis for the first time, I notice that he concentrates force on occupied towns and cities right away, so maybe this is the tactic to be used.

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: dhucul

I think the USSR is a little too strong in 1941-1942.

Its late 1942 and I see that they are three to four units deep on several fronts.

(Although I am on Expert with bonus experince +1)

Maybe have the Soviet Mobilization bonus kick in late 1942 or early 1943?

Hi David

The difficulty level will be making a difference here to their income and therefore the amount of units you're facing.

So I don't think it'll be the same at other settings where the AI might struggle to field sufficient units to stop your advance.

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

I am taking my first try as the Allies against the Axis computer. It struck me as possibly odd that in May 1941 when the Axis attacked Russia that the supply levels were so high for the Soviets. Their supply and communication infrastructures were horrible at that historical time. I could understand if the player had the option to increase infrastructure effectiveness instead of building units prior to war, but as the Allied player I did no such thing, as far as I know. The high Soviet supply levels makes it very easy to reinforce units.

I will add that in my first two games as the Axis against the Allied computer that I was a little frustrated over Soviet units holding out in cities/towns [Pinsk for 2 years, until I finally brought up additional forces]. A corps cut off and surrounded shouldn't require 3 or 4 corps and 2-3 turns to destroy. Watching the computer play the Axis for the first time, I notice that he concentrates force on occupied towns and cities right away, so maybe this is the tactic to be used.

Having different supply levels for the USSR as opposed to everyone else would be hard to do. Not impossible, but it might not be intuitive and would upset their movement abilities, as we'd have to increase their Action Points to make up for the lower supply.

While that could work in the marshes and forests in the depths of the USSR, when the Red Army advances west that could feel wrong.

Lowering their supply would also inhibit their reinforcement capabilities, yet as we know they were able to keep pumping men into the fight in huge numbers.

What we've done instead is to make their Corps and Armies of lower quality than everyone else's, so they are easy targets for their Axis equivalents. Only with upgrades can they reach parity, and only then if they are upgraded to one level higher than their opponents.

Given that only 1 chit at a time can be invested in Infantry Weapons, the hope is that until the mid/late war the USSR will be fighting at a disadvantage, but once they are on more even terms the tide can turn.

I hope that makes sense?

Bill

[BillRunacre]

I forgot to comment about Pinsk. Places like that are poor supply areas for units attacking them, as well as for the defenders.

I'd be inclined to just let some isolated towns remain in Soviet hands, or to bring up decent forces to finish them off if their destruction is important. Heavy Bombers and Heavy Artillery can be very useful in reducing the defender's supply.

[sPzAbt653]

Well, my thinking is that the Soviet Resource values are too high. I don't know if it is possible, but maybe those resource values can be lowered for Barbarossa ?

[BillRunacre]

Do you mean just in the initial stages of the war, and not later on?

[John B.]

I have done the soviets twice playing the computer at beginner level and the Germans have done a good job of it each time. Of course, that may be my own poor game play [:)] but in the present game, for example, the Germans just took Leningrade in mid-42 and pushed near Moscow and took Rostov and Voroneszh. The tide is swinging and the Axis is starting to lose whole units, but certainly for 1941-1942 the Russians did not seem too strong.

[sPzAbt653]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre
Do you mean just in the initial stages of the war, and not later on?

Yes, just for the beginning. For the first two or three turns.

... certainly for 1941-1942 the Russians did not seem too strong.

Ok then, maybe I am wrong. I think some other players have had the opposite view, though.

[Jaimainsoyyo]

I disagree , I ´ve played 4 full campaigns with axis expert level ( no exp) and URSS is very easy to defeat ( my record is axis decisive victory in december 1942 v1.08).It was harder for me to take all UK than taking Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. Some advices for the axis; invest in Diplomacy (Spain and Turkey), don´t risk the italian navy, send an Italian HQ and 2 more units to Greece before october 40.

[sPzAbt653]

Well, that's encouraging. How have you handled the Soviets that occupy towns and stay in supply, thus being able to reinforce and hold out for a few turns ?

[Jaimainsoyyo]

You need airpower (2 o 3 bombers) 1 artillery and 2 o 3 good units ( one army, one corps and one armor are enough) , with this I haven´t had any problem conquering any soviet city in one single turn. For that reason I have modded the game increasing Soviet corps and armies characteristics ( even with that it wasn´t difficult to defeat them) . There are many cities in USSR you can ignore most of them while you are advancing towards the 3 objectives, screening your advance and only taking what is necessary, imho is very easy against the AI (I´ll try to made some AI scripts to fix that but by now I´m focusing in detecting some weird actions made by the AI and I have to recognize that there are very scarce) . First use the artillery, this reduces the entrenchment a lot , second use the air unit ,medium bombers first then the others, if a defender unit remains after that, finish it off with the army and the corps ( usually the armor won´t be necessary at all) .

About supply I haven´t had any problem with that in the road to Moscow or to Leningrad , only I have had to overextend my supply lines in the southern USSR. BTW you need to build all German HQs from the begining of summer 41.

[TheBattlefield]

I agree. If at the latest in spring '42 Leningrad and Moscow was conquered, Russia is almost finished and many units become free for other duties. But against a human player all that looks quite different. I find it a little more demanding to first attack the British Isles after the capitulation of France. The Britons defend themselves rather viciously and the USA come into game little earlier. Russia becomes more demanding under these circumstances...