Ideas to help USSR Survive

[ThunderLizard11]

Interested in how experienced players counter common Axis strategy of driving to take three capitals knocking Soviets out often by late '43/early '44 before Allies can do much in Western Europe.

[Bavre]

I'm not exactly an experienced player (2 games as Allies ), but what helped me greatly in those was to get a few token western fighters with only range upgrades to Russia for passive scouting.

[Zeckke]

help¡

buy all tanks and invest on level two , (dont forget to buy the fourth heavy tank, then axis will stop, put together...

in one of my games i earn 3700 mpps russians since poland sept 1940..as soviets on june 6 1941 (dont move any)

what do you think,, buy all tanks units or invest techs?

[Zeckke]

so invest on research or buy units tanks¡ 3700¡ mpss

Germans still on peace¡

[ThunderLizard11]

help¡

buy all tanks and invest on level two , (dont forget to buy the fourth heavy tank, then axis will stop, put together...

in one of my games i earn 3700 mpps russians since poland sept 1940..as soviets on june 6 1941 (dont move any)

what do you think,, buy all tanks units or invest techs?

Thread is more for ideas against seasons PBEM players not AI.

[El_Condoro]

When I play the Allies, my Russian goal is to delay the Germans until the Russian Winter sets in. The Russians are not going to do much (any?) damage to the Axis forces as they advance in 1941 but they can delay them. Invest in Infantry Tactics, Industry from the beginning as usual and don't worry too much about your tanks getting 2 strikes until 1942. Buy Corps and put them in every city along the Axis route; use your Engineers around Leningrad because that is the likely first target of the Germans; don't bother with air until 42-43. Bring all the corps and armies forward - not too far as they will get encircled and destroyed but close enough to be a delay. Once the Russian industry gets going in 42 and after, you can decide where to put your focus and begin the push back. In my experience, not before 1943 - you won't have enough units to spare.

I am not a good player, so take this with a grain of salt! The main issue I have against better players is how to delay them without them getting massive experience along the way and rolling over me come 42.

[Edit]: I thought this was the WiE forum, so I'm not sure if it applies to WaW.

[firsteds]

This thread is asking for ideas, so here is a very long list of things I have tried, or seen opponents try (not always successful, but these are the useful ones):

1. Delaying tactics (forts, blocking units, sacrificial units) hoping for bad winter and eventual Soviet industrial build up. Most popular tactic, but a good player may still break through with Panzers and air power and sometimes paratroops.

2. Deep defence (pull back all main units to defend Leningrad, Moscow and Caucasus, sometimes even Kubyeshev). Again hope for bad winter and long term fight back.

3. Maximising armour. Lots of tanks and tank research as USSR Heavy Tanks con be pretty effective and there are lots of them. Means some sacrifices elsewhere.

4. Maximising defensive units (artillery, AA, lots of forts, anti-tank plus research on all those). Popular tactic and can sometimes work well. Don't buy aircraft or extra tanks or research those (yet). Just max on defensive units and upgrade AA everywhere (units, forts, towns).

5. Maximising income. This one is tricky. requires industrial research everywhere (UK, India, USA, USSR) and then protecting the convoys, Murmansk, Baku and Vlad. So lots of US / UK ASW and long range air cover. If successful USSR has so much money that replacing and upgrading units is quick and Axis attack becomes a grind. Buy shock armies for quick turnaround.

6. Boosting USSR national morale. A vital addition to any strategy. Key ones are protecting the Murmansk convoy (it has its own NM value), landing some troops in Italy, even if they die sorry. Landing and keeping three units in France (often v difficult against a good player). Attacking Berlin (get 3 units in Germany - paras or landing near Hamburg). All of these help keep Russian NM above the key penalty levels.

7. Knocking out Finland. Option 1: diplo (expensive). Option 2: winter war to weaken Finland plus a strong strike in early days of Barb. Has an impact on Axis morale and secures the flank. Also helps with Murmansk and protecting the convoy.

8. Knocking out Italy. This has a strong NM hit, distracts German troops and sometimes leaves holes and supply gaps in the Russian front at a key moment (when the Italian troops and HQs disappear).

9. Hitting Axis supply. Not a common tactic but some players invest heavily in US air power and strike Axis supply lines into Russia (from places like Sweden and Persia). Very effective but it must cost the Allies a fortune in units, upgrades etc.

10. Slowing down Japan. This is a bit of an odd one, but USSR troops get a short bad NM hit every time Japan conquers new territory in the Pacific. This coincides with the most vulnerable period for Russia so if you can slow / limit Japanese success in places like DEI, Thailand etc. you will see benefits in Russia.

[ThunderLizard11]

This thread is asking for ideas, so here is a very long list of things I have tried, or seen opponents try (not always successful, but these are the useful ones):

1. Delaying tactics (forts, blocking units, sacrificial units) hoping for bad winter and eventual Soviet industrial build up. Most popular tactic, but a good player may still break through with Panzers and air power and sometimes paratroops.

2. Deep defence (pull back all main units to defend Leningrad, Moscow and Caucasus, sometimes even Kubyeshev). Again hope for bad winter and long term fight back.

3. Maximising armour. Lots of tanks and tank research as USSR Heavy Tanks con be pretty effective and there are lots of them. Means some sacrifices elsewhere.

4. Maximising defensive units (artillery, AA, lots of forts, anti-tank plus research on all those). Popular tactic and can sometimes work well. Don't buy aircraft or extra tanks or research those (yet). Just max on defensive units and upgrade AA everywhere (units, forts, towns).

5. Maximising income. This one is tricky. requires industrial research everywhere (UK, India, USA, USSR) and then protecting the convoys, Murmansk, Baku and Vlad. So lots of US / UK ASW and long range air cover. If successful USSR has so much money that replacing and upgrading units is quick and Axis attack becomes a grind. Buy shock armies for quick turnaround.

6. Boosting USSR national morale. A vital addition to any strategy. Key ones are protecting the Murmansk convoy (it has its own NM value), landing some troops in Italy, even if they die sorry. Landing and keeping three units in France (often v difficult against a good player). Attacking Berlin (get 3 units in Germany - paras or landing near Hamburg). All of these help keep Russian NM above the key penalty level

7. Knocking out Finland. Option 1: diplo (expensive). Option 2: winter war to weaken Finland plus a strong strike in early days of Barb. Has an impact on Axis morale and secures the flank. Also helps with Murmansk and protecting the convoy.

8. Knocking out Italy. This has a strong NM hit, distracts German troops and sometimes leaves holes and supply gaps in the Russian front at a key moment (when the Italian troops and HQs disappear).

9. Hitting Axis supply. Not a common tactic but some players invest heavily in US air power and strike Axis supply lines into Russia (from places like Sweden and Persia). Very effective but it must cost the Allies a fortune in units, upgrades etc.

10. Slowing down Japan. This is a bit of an odd one, but USSR troops get a short bad NM hit every time Japan conquers new territory in the Pacific. This coincides with the most vulnerable period for Russia so if you can slow / limit Japanese success in places like DEI, Thailand etc. you will see benefits in Russia.

Great tips. What level anti-tank do you invest in and what level industry?

[Bavre]

Firstreds point nr 3 works especially well with the passive scouting from the spy fighters I mentioned above. Even a modest mechanised group can deliver painful stings to the Wehrmacht when aided by the level of tactical awareness that having 4-5 vision range gives.

[Zeckke]

help¡

buy all tanks and invest on level two , (dont forget to buy the fourth heavy tank, then axis will stop, put together...

in one of my games i earn 3700 mpps russians since poland sept 1940..as soviets on june 6 1941 (dont move any)

what do you think,, buy all tanks units or invest techs?

Thread is more for ideas against seasons PBEM players not AI.

incredule you are if you think that human-human the AI dont work. think on it, baby,, hasta la vista¡ que gran tipo el bjohson,, volvera cuando la URSS invada...

[ThunderLizard11]

Firstreds point nr 3 works especially well with the passive scouting from the spy fighters I mentioned above. Even a modest mechanised group can deliver painful stings to the Wehrmacht when aided by the level of tactical awareness that having 4-5 vision range gives.

What spy fighters?

[EarlyDoors]

I'm not exactly an experienced player (2 games as Allies ), but what helped me greatly in those was to get a few token western fighters with only range upgrades to Russia for passive scouting.

I’m not sure I follow this. UK / US fighters in Russia will have max supply of 3. Won’t they just get chewed up by the luftwaffe ?
Can they even be operated there?

[Bavre]

No guys, passive scouting, not overflights. Fighters are the only unit that gets good vision range on land (2+range tech for a max of 7). A unit's vision range is applied at its starting hex and after its first move (for planes only if there's flying weather on those hexes). A spy fighter is a fighter with nothing but range upgrades and in grounded mode. It does not matter what strength or supply he has, as this does not affect vision range and he never fights. Keep him at a save distance behind the front line, move him forward to get his vision range applied and a sort of x-ray of the enemy position and then move him back to safety with the rest of his action points.

This WiE thread
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 1&t=380295
discusses the topic (among others) and has a demo picture in the last post of page 1.

Getting some of those to Russia is a bit of a hassle however. You can't operate further than Persia/China and have to fly the rest of the way. They also can't upgrade in Russia, so you have to fly back for it. But believe me, it's still well worth it for not playing blindfolded!

@ EarlyDoors:
I used this in our match. Remember those Italian fighters zipping around the frontline for no apparent reason?
A lot of the moves I pulled off there were only possible because of the immense tactical awareness their vision range gave me. Did it never strike you as odd that all those daring breakthroughs, pincers and encirclements magically only happened in places where no nasty red army surprises were waiting further back? Or that my spearheads could unerringly home in on your HQs, even if they were 4+ hexes behind the frontline?

[EarlyDoors]

Ah nice
I saw them but assumed they were unit switching artillery into place to fire in the same turn

[firsteds]

This thread is asking for ideas, so here is a very long list of things I have tried, or seen opponents try (not always successful, but these are the useful ones):

...

4. Maximising defensive units (artillery, AA, lots of forts, anti-tank plus research on all those). Popular tactic and can sometimes work well. Don't buy aircraft or extra tanks or research those (yet). Just max on defensive units and upgrade AA everywhere (units, forts, towns).

...

Great tips. What level anti-tank do you invest in and what level industry?

I aim for industry level 3 by 1942. With anti-tank you can almost never afford the research early in the war, but they are still useful even at level 1. If a human opponent spots a couple of anti-tank units they won't just charge ahead with panzers and they have to think a bit more about attacks. They are v cheap to replace. At level 2 they will do a little damage. At level 3 they will even survive for a bit against infantry.

[Zeckke]

me rio a lo borish ..no teneis ni idea..juagr juagr...

soviets only need one thing...invest

[EnglishBob256]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is building HQs. If you don't build any you'll only have three after the first turn of Barbarosa which isn't enough to cover the front. I feel you need at least 5 to cover the main Russian front, and it's a good idea to have another one in case you lose one, or need to mount operations in Finland or Persia.