JJColorado Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi, I'm involved in my first PBEM game of SC2 and am still unsure what I should be doing w/ the USSR. Can anyone give some advice? Here are some possible topics: Where to set up defense lines? Should forward cities be defended w/ corps? Should the USSR keep 700-ish MPP's invested in research for things like inf wpns, production tech, industrial tech, infrastructure, intel, air tech? What units should the USSR plan to construct before Barbarossa? Where should forts be built? If necessary assume Barbarossa from Poland/Rumania beginning in July or August 41 after standard France/LC assault. Thx JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Destroy the fascist invaders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scook Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Unlce joe asked me to give you a hand, and I appreciate his trust in me to give you this highly classified information without putting a bullet in my brain. As much as we love Germany, and we have a great agreement with them, DON'T TRUST A NAZI. If there is a chance at fireworks (and all Germans love that!) they will attack. So, for some thoughts: 1) Production is a means to end for our soldiers. I like russian infantry, so we need to equip our boys with the best IW and AT money can buy. IW is your #1 priority, and some AT is good if you can afford it. Motorization would be great, but we cannot afford vast sums of rubles on extravagnce, our boys can walk (for now). MPP in quantity is grand, so IT tech should be sought also. Production tech is wonderous at helping keep an early flow going, but it is secondary to IW and IT. 2) Our nation's defense: Every city is a chance to be a hero city, a chance to slow the Hun invader. Corps make great cannon fodder, er, units to guard said cities. Never give the Axis anything free, as they always want more. Bad terrain is also very useful. Infatry hiding in the forests, and behind rivers is the best bet, swamps are ok, but the enemy air can strike us better there. I like defending around Leningrad, Moscow, and south of the Dnepr river bend early. You may not have enough troops to do this all, so you will have to decide where to fight. The Valdai Hills make a great obstacle to the enemy if we defend them. 3) Forts: I like fortification around Moscow and Voronezh, with Stalingrad following those two areas. If you are expecting Axis aggerssion from Iraq and Persia, some fortification in the Caucasus can help there too. 4) Unit builds: I am a firm believer in hordes of Ruskies, so I start with corps, and then armies when we can afford to build them. If you can slip an HQ or a tank in there, great, but not at the expense of a corps. Aircraft are a luxury for a while, but they can help later when we want to go on the offensive.If we can have some armies coming in July-September when the war starts, that helps so much to get to that 1st Winter. 5) Initial invation: The game favors offensive action over defensive. With that said, I resist the temptation the initial summer and do not attack the invader. Oh, sure, you can take the occasional pot shot and help Germany lose a corps here and there, but don't make Germany's job easier that 1st summer but weakening your strength, make him do all the work and kill you. Try to have him kill you while in good supply too. Then you can have a nice, steady stream of replacements come back to the board at 60% cost (this is where production tech really comes in handy). 6) Lend Lease: You didn't ask this, but if Germany is serious about taking down the mighty USSR, you will need every MPP you can muster. It hurts on the western side of things, but that 1st year, Russia will need everything she can get. Good luck, and play around with it. You will start to get a good feel for what to do when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJColorado Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 Thanks for the advice. More is welcome if anyone else has thoughts. Also you mentioned lend lease from the W Allies. Isn't this just automatic? Is there a way to send extra? I guess I have not found this possibility yet, so if you can point me to a rulebook page or tell me how to do it that would be great. Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanos Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 You wouldn't be asking advice becuase you are playing against me in the pbem game are you? 'cause if you are... Well i recommend a full assualt against all incoming enemy and what ever you do make sure not to entrench any of your units because... well they will get tired and they look funny in trenches, take it from a man who has had to dig a few trenches in his life... they suck to build. If this is not for the game against me then I would have to follow along the lines of Scook except in the case of not building tanks. I like to get 4 tanks on the way and then build corps during the time of the first invasion so that they all arrive at about the same time as the transfer. Then I try and force the batle to happen near stalingrad so that nazi suppy is low and morale is down after the winter of no warmth or food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scook Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Lend Lease from major powers (USA to Britain, Britain to USSR) can be set from 0-20 or 30%. Go to maps, then go to the convoy map, and click on the USA or Britain and you can set the level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaMonkey Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Now mind you JJC, I have never got very deep into the Russian campaign from either side, but there are a few things that make common sense by examining the preliminaries. Get IW3, maybe AT1 at least. Supply seems to be the key, so defend in the interior with commitment to the cities. Try to get AA tech on the cities cause you know Germany will have an HB or two. Use your engineers to fortify some basic positions to funnel the Axis attack to a certain area where you will set up a mobile defense and counter-attacking forces. That seems to be in the south. Speaking of the south, watch your backdoor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Originally posted by SeaMonkey: Speaking of the south, watch your backdoor. You dirty Donkey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Koponen Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Keep away from the border except for units protecting cities. You will lose them quickly but it is worth it to slow the enemy down. Let supply problems slow the axis. Use terrain (including fortifications) to your advantage. Defend locations such as Leningrad with corps because it is cheaper to reinforce corps than armies. If the choice is to reinforce units or buy new ones, reinforce your units...you can buy new ones later. Counterattack only when you can inflict far more damage than you take or can eliminate an enemy unit (preferably when those are out of supply). Avoid letting any of your units get out of supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Good advice for USSR is use the weather and use whatever weapons breakthrough you should hit. If IW is it, use it, if Heavy Tanks is it, use it. Whichever you should hit. It's not a bad idea to research other techs if you can. Production and industrial tech if possible, though do not exhaust yourself trying to get a breakthrough. Focus in my opinion on waiting, backing up, let Winter come and let the German supply problems give you the upper hand. All your terrain in the MotherLand is good for defense, and then counterattacks, let the germans break their backs on your Terrain. Hide behind your Rivers, on your Mountains, in your Marshes, Forests and cities. Use them all to your advantage. In SC1 you didn't a straight linear defense in SC2 you don't... the Tiles allow you to defend with more of a haphazard looking front, just make certian not to let vital units go out of supply below 5 and lose them altogether. Make certian to make the enemy do that! The Double whammy Scorched Earth policy of the Soviets and Germans makes progress slow at times. Except near other supply sources. The frontline cities have a rear guard then a big patch of nothing...and lots of defense use that patch right after your frontline cities fall, if you can't hold, fall back to a last ditch effort. Give up your mines in the South they give you a bonus in the Urals for those anyways... Go after Experienced German Units, try to attrit and bleed them when they're way out in front.. So they do not become too powerful... If you're just a weak little girl, you better have a D-Day comming with Norway-Sweden-France in the Western Allied Pocket or game over by 43 or 44.. P.S. Finland gives the USSR Morale bonuses, good to take along with a '42 Summer offensive... Just as all minors give morale bonuses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyazinth von Strachwitz Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Where to set up defense lines? Usually it doesn`t make sense to set up defense lines where the germans can crush it easily... close the the border. Playing the russians it makes sense to consider the purchase of a second pioneer unit and build fortifications.. not necessarily around Minsk and Kiev, but around Smolensk, Moscow, Rostov, Voronezh, Stalingrad, the cities east of moscow and not to forget sverdlovsk.. with german supply and readiness being very high on the start, they eat almost everything.. but the longer the campaign goes, the lower morale and readiness get... as well as the supply lines get longer. Once I got my ass kicked in Byelorussia during the beginning of the campaign, defended Moscow well but not good enough... so my opponent thought I`m bled white... but I put every unit I was able to buy back into well prepared defense lines around sverdlovsk... and I created one defense line from Maikop to Stalingrad which was fully equipped with 3/3/2 infantry, HQs and tanks in the second line... as he approached my defense lines with corps and auxiliary troops, he didn`t really understand what wiped him out completely... I took Rostov, Voronezh and the two cities west of Sverdlovsk within a few weeks. My opponent had redirected vast parts to the western front to make a sealion (he thought I have nothing left in Russia), and now he had to operate them back... and just a few turns later I did my D-Day... To sum it up; build you defense lines there where they help you most.. that is where the german supply lines are stretched anyway. Minsk and Kiev are difficult to keep (if not impossible), but after taking these two cities the german troops need a break... if they don`t take that break and go for smolensk, fortifications will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scook Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 I applaud the amount of Soviet paranoia in thread, rock on Stalin, rock on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Ranger Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 "Lend Lease from major powers (USA to Britain, Britain to USSR) can be set from 0-20 or 30%. Go to maps, then go to the convoy map, and click on the USA or Britain and you can set the level. " Holy crap batman.. I didnt know this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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