Attacking the Soviets

[rader]

Just curious, and it's probably really stupid, but I was wondering if anyone had ever attacked the Soviet Union with the Japanese, maybe right after the SRA was secured in 1942? It seems like if the game comes to 1945, they are going to kill you, so might be good to get the jump on them... on the other hand, this would probably just open up another front against you and you will get overwhelmed.

But, it would be interesting to read about!

[Q-Ball]

You should search the AARs. Many people have done just that. If you can take them out, it does free up that 8000 AV you otherwise have to park in Manchuria. You also get some nice Oil and Resources oh so close to the Home Islands.

The Soviet Army starts with a really bad setup; easy to chop-up and cut off. That isn't to say beating them is easy, you just get that initial advantage.

It's risky to try against a human opponent; failure to wipe them out is very bad, and at any rate it would consume alot of airpower. But try it against AI, I bet you'll do fine.

[rader]

Which AARs in particular? I tried a search on the forum and nothing came up. On that note, how should one best search these forums?

[2ndACR]

Forum search is pretty hit and miss.........Russia can be a real bear (pun intended). Most house rules require 1-2 weeks notice before the attack begins, but also requires you to activate the Russians first so the Russian player can shift his forces around to better positions.
 
But be forwarned.........the Russian air force can be pretty nasty versus the Japanese Army air force. Plus the Russian troops are/can be a match for the Japanese Army.
 
You going stock or versus human.......playing a mod?

[rader]

Stock, no house rules or mods on that (except that they can't redeploy so it can be a surprise attack). But I'm not actually doing it or even really considering it. I'm just curious about it. Is it better to get the jump on them in 1942-1943 or wait for them to kill you in 1945?

Even if I wanted to consider it, my opponent is keeping me far too busy. Just wanted to read an AAR about it if there are any in a human vs. human game (especially stock). Know of any?

[2ndACR]

For stock, you would need to go all the way back to the very beginning of the AAR section. Been years since I been that far back. It is even titled as an attack on Russia IIRC.
 
If you are going to hit Russia, you need to go after them ASAP before they dig in too much. In stock, they might not be able to re-deploy, but they can dig. Once they hit fort 9, it will get very messy very quick.
 
I am going off memory, because I have not played stock since the first mod came out......

[niceguy2005]

I seem to recall that RUPD (not his full name but if you sort the AARs by poster you'll find it) did invade the USSR in a PBEM and did quite well.  Again, his AAR is quite complete so you should have an idea what you're facing.

My personal opinion is that it is a silly waste of resources.  By 1945 any competent allied player will be kicing japan all over the map, so who cares is if the USSR piles on.  Resources are better spent delaying the US who has orders of magnitude more force to bring to bear.

[Ambassador]

Anyway, there's a very interesting base in stock, on an island that is not connected to the rest of Siberia, which produces tons of oil and is practically undefended.  I'm currently playing the Allies, that's why I noticed, but it's really a big boon... if only I could ship that oil to Vladivostock and keep the soviet industry running.[:(]
 
Looking from the Allied side of the hill, I guess it would not be that hard (especially against AI or if no preparations are possible for the Allied player) to completely cut the end of the railway line.  A lot of high-value units (armor, combat engineers, higher-XP units) can be pulled from China and all concentrated against the Red Army, which starts off-position (Vladivostock is so badly defended that I'd ponder the interest of an amphibious assault... if there weren't those big guns), and in the case of some divisions right in the middle of the wilderness.
And Japan is near, which is a way to use the home defence air units, if they haven't been transferred yet.
Were I to play PBEM, I'd really insist on a two-week notice & activation rule.

[Ken Estes]

In stock vs. AI, I attacked USSR 6/7/44 after completing occ of China and India, 10/13/44 completed occ of USSR and destr of last USSR LCU. However, the Rus corps and aircraft reinf for the Soviet historical declaration of war in 1945 appeared in the designated cities, overwhelming the garrisons I had left and required a new campaign to quell:
[font=arial]2 USSR Corps appear 6/1/45 at Borzya; [/font]
[font=arial]USSR Corps at Tamsong 6/3/45 Choybalsam 6/9/45; Ugla, Iman, Blago & Tamsung on 6/20/45; I lost Khabarovsk on 6/30/45 and it was touch and go to rush reinf from China garrisons to restore order.
[/font]