Helpful (I hope) advice concering "The Russian Campaign"

[KarisFraMauro]

Lately I've been noticing some enthusiasm for people trying Parreigo's "The Russian Campaign" 1 vs 1 map. This is good! It's a great map and deserves more love, I highly recommend checking it out if only to see exactly how large a scale it's possible to get away with in Order of Battle.

That said...

While familiarity confers a bit of an advantage on any map, with this one in particular things can be very rough indeed for first timers. So what to do? I humbly take it upon myself to offer a few thoughts for anyone interested. After all, the more level the playing field the more enjoyable for everyone. Let us therefore commence.

The German Side

Make no mistake, playing as Germany is a blast to begin with. Despite having fewer units in a purely numerical sense, such is the quality, strength and positioning that they have a very substantial advantage. And herein lies the trap, because as the game progresses Russia begins to get more and more requisition points per turn. To say nothing of more frequent reinforcements, and larger numbers of them. In other words it's very easy to get overconfident and squander resources which you'll desperately need in the endgame.

One specific thing I'll single out is strategic bombers. They're so useful at suppressing enemy units trying to flee and establish new lines of defence the temptation is to let them take an occasional hit now and then. However the cost of repairing them quickly becomes exorbitant and down the road you'll find yourself wishing you'd just kept them safe. Now don't get me wrong, they're too useful to keep in a hanger. Just exercise caution. Don't let them get too far beyond the front line and especially make sure your target isn't protected by anti-aircraft. Russia will always have an abundance of units for you to go after, so why not maximise the risk to reward ratio? That's all it boils down to really.

Now lets talk about your navy. In the early to mid game they're great value, especially in the Northern theatre where if used properly they can shell your first of three objectives. Leningrad. As I'm hoping this will be read by people unfamiliar with the map, one word. MINES. Both waterways in the North and South are extensively mined. Consider yourself warned. As there are no ports (a change from initial versions of The Russian Campaign where a certain someone spammed gunboats...) these are the only ships you'll be getting and good luck effecting repairs. But that's why you have dispensible ships. Send the gunboats ahead to scout and where needed smash a course through the mines. The important thing is to protect your destroyers and battleship because those ranged attacks can be savage. I like using them to whittle down anti-aircraft from a safe distance before sending in ground fighters and tactical bombers to finish them off but I'm sure you'll find uses. Another word of warning however, there are two shore guns to watch out for. One Southeast of Leningrad and another based in Crimea. The Crimean one isn't that great a concern since Russia may not invest in protection with AA, but even if they do you have that rail artillery to help out. More importantly your Southern navy can't get in range of any primary objective so while useful I wouldn't characterize it as essential.

So we've touched on air and sea. That leaves land. As always you want to not go wasting that advantage you start with, so try keeping an even front. That leaves fewer openings for Russia to counterattack, and the loss of even a single unit can gradually escalate. Always more expensive to replace than repair after all, and you're going to be wanting every single requisition point for upgrades. Speaking of which, I recommend delaying upgrades as long as you feel you can get away with it. Nothing more frustrating than spending 100 rps taking your tank to 15 defence only to discover if you'd waited a couple more turns you could spend 110 taking it to 16. Basically ask yourself if it's something you really need, and if the answer is no then don't. The game incentivises you to rush because certain secondary objectives off time-limited rewards. However you should expect anti-tank to be waiting to ambush your armoured units in every forest and town. Slow and steady wins the race. Those rewards are nice if you can get them safely, but otherwise don't go bumbling into a trap.

Long story short? Play as if you're the underdog because even if you don't start one, you likely will be by the time you're at the gates of Moscow.

The Soviet Side

As this is intended to be a realistic map, things get off to a very rough start indeed for the USSR. Yes they have a ton of units but upon closer examination you'll notice many of them are understrength and weak conscripts. Moreover the fighting starts in the West while a large number of your units are located far from the front in the East. In a sense the USSR has it simpler though. Retreat. Excepting the Leningrad front, where you can put Finland on the defensive rather quickly thanks to air superiority, you're going to want to outrun as best you can the advancing forces. There are actually two reasons for this. Firstly the more you fall back the more units you'll be able to preserve for your eventual counterattack. Secondly though as Germany pursues you their own forces will get spread out. Not all their infantry can keep pace with tanks, and if you play your cards right this can create opportunities. But overall you want to set up your defensive lines as far back as possible. In Leningrad I like that swampy area, and there's a river to make offensives even more painful. For Moscow the forest to the west is ideal for having your anti-tank dig in. Have infantry set up in the first forested hexes with the anti-tank backing them and anti-air behind that. You have some artillery as well so they'll come in handy. You can create a kind of line between your foxholes and bunkers. Because Germany has such a long distance to travel, by the time they reach there you ought to be well and truly fortified. Trying to establish defensive lines too far West and they won't have time to establish themselves, as well as being beyond easy reach of your reinforcements.

While overall you want to be falling back as far and as fast as possible, understanding your slower units like the understrength heavy armour is doomed, there are a couple areas where you can effectively delay the onslaught. Simply buying time can justify the sacrifice of a few units, especially those you weren't going to be able to save anyway. The forested area just East of Poland is one. A single anti-tank unit in the right position can prove very useful, and because advancing units will have to cross a river even conscripts can make a stand. You won't have a ton of requisition points available for the first year or two but thankfully anti-aircraft are cheap. A similar chokepoint is Kiev. As before the natural barrier of a river is key. For my money however the real trap is Crimea. You can spam two conscripts a turn from the two cities, which means by the time the German forces arrive you'll have quite the mob waiting for them. Set up so that your fortress can target any units attacking your conscripts. Keep your navy positioned in the South under protection of anti-air, you'll start with a couple units in the region. There's only a narrow land corridor for the enemy to advance through so if you know what you're doing you'll put them in a rough position. Do they dedicate resources needed elsewhere to destroying your foothold? Or do they rush past and risk an attack on their rear lines?

Finally there's an important trick with Russia. It costs less to make a conscript, then upgrade it to regular infantry, than it does to just buy regular infantry outright. In this way you can gradually build up a force to be reckoned with. Patience is key here as it's cheaper to upgrade from a conscript to 1942 infantry than conscript, to 1941 infantry, and then to 1942 infantry.

For Soviet air power you'll mostly just want to be on the defensive for the first few years. Because Leningrad is a rare bright spot in the early campaign I like trying to send as many aircraft to that theatre as possible. At a minimum it'll help protect the highly vulnerable navy. And there are an abundance of airfields in secure locations to take advantage of. Ideally you can lay the groundwork to eventually start bombing the German navy.

Oh yes I almost forgot, be sure to blow bridges! Have as many of your units cross first of course. You'd be surprised how many can escape this way.

In a nutshell the USSR is all about being defensive in those first few years. The more distance Germany has to travel before encountering the main body of your forces, the better your odds. It's a good rule of thumb.

Anyway I'm sure the real veterans will notice plenty of mistakes I've made but that's fine, always room for improvement I say! Feel free to add any thoughts or suggestions of your own, as I say there's been a renewed interest in this map and the more who share their insights the better.

[canuckgamer]

Thank you for your detailed notes on The Russian Campaign multiplayer scenario. I am just getting ready to buy my first DLC so I can play this. If it is historical then the Russians should be able to conduct their own offensives after mid 1943.

Do I need a specific DLC to play this scenario? For example, if I only have the U.S. Marines DLC would I able to play The Russian Campaign or would I need to have one of the Russian front DLCs?

What does each turn represent in real time? One week, two weeks, one month?

[KarisFraMauro]

If I understand how it works correctly (no promises!) purchasing any dlc will grant access to all multiplayer scenarios. As for how long each turn is in The Russian Campaign, I believe it's between a week and a month. Let's say two weeks?

Recently I've been looking for people to play Fall of the III Reich since it's even larger than The Russian Campaign. For the same reason not many folks have the time to do it though, heh... Let me know if you're interested, or anyone for that matter.

[nero156]

very good post.
VERY GOOD SCENARIO!!!!!