Russian Winter

[arado234]

In the game im palying against MJY we both attacked Russia in Early 1940.Neither one of us had the Russian winter effect.Is it only in 1941 and if so ,why?

[The K Man]

Would it be because 1941 is the year of the real bad winter (larger than normal blizzards.) Don't know if the winter in 40 was as bad...

[arado234]

The winter was quite harsh in 1941 but imho if you know approx.when the Russian winter is going to hit then you can usually atleast move all your planes out of Russia to miss the effect.If there was noway of knowing then it would be a little more realistic?

[Bill101]

But if you move your planes out of Russia to avoid it, that will cost you too, so I think it evens out.

I've always understood it to be a one-off to represent German unpreparedness for the winter. Besides, having it happen again could be quite dangerous, as in 1943 and 1944 the Soviets could really make use of such an event to wreak havoc.

[arado234]

The Russian winter only would happen once but you just wouldnt know when.

As far as costing mpps to move your planes out of Russia.If youve got L.R.air you can usually fly them out in late Nov.before your forced to operate them out.Even operating them out saves on their experience .If you have a unit at 2 stars and you take a real bad hit you will loose all experience(I know its not much) when you replace the losses.

[MJY]

Hey all,

As far as the Soviet Winter Strikes is concerned, isn't the real issue (from an historical perspective) the surprise/unpreparedness factor (e.g., the Germans not producing and distributing winter clothing or winter-proofing their vehicles and the like)? To me, that would only occur in the FIRST winter of fighting in Russia -- be that 1941 or earlier or later (for that matter).

The way things are now, you would think that having spent the winter of 1940 fighting in Russia -- even if relatively mild by comparison -- the Axis would know to prepare for the subsequent ones to at least some degree (e.g., even a harsh second winter would be less of a factor than the surprise impact of the first winter).

In any event, I have played games where I tried odd strategies (e.g., attacking in the West and Med) and leaving Russia until after the 1941 winter and in SCII or WAW (if I recall) you still get the Soviet Winter effect on a delayed basis (e.g., in 1942). (Please correct me if I am in error on this point.) That would seem to reinforce the idea that it is the initial/surprise that is the main issue -- not the particular harshness of the 1941 winter.

In any event, shouldn't the severity of the Soviet Winter be a random factor? Maybe 1943 could be the worst year? Or whatever.

Now there might be play balance issues involved in making things random, although if there is a high probability (albeit not a certainty) that the Soviet Winter sill strike in 1941 I will still plan accordingly as the Axis.