Slitherine

I was a bit concerned the Axis would get too far ahead with respect to the Russians now that the Soviets can't use focus until the order for mobilization is given.

To test this I ran a quick sim where I prioritized maxing out labs for ARM and AIR and then spot-checked in Aug. 41 and May 42 (i.e. for 41 and 42 barbarossas).

Here are my results:

AUGUST 1941

Germany
INF: 2/2/1
ARM: 2/1/3
AIR: 2/2/1

USSR
INF: 1/1/0 (no upgrades)
ARM: 1/1/2
AIR: 0/0/1 (no upgrades)


MAY 1942

Germany
INF: 3/3/1
ARM: 3/2/4
AIR: 3/2/4

USSR
INF: 2/1/0
ARM: 1/2/3
AIR: 1/1/2

This seems to show the Axis have too much of a tech advantage as things now stand. I only ran one sim, but I'd be surprised if others don't get similar results.

Well, the lack of focus doesn't mean you research slower overall. It just means you research all 3 areas equally. So it means we will see less of min/maxing regarding techs.

I rarely used a lot of focus for USA and USSR before they entered the war and I didn't suffer because of that. Remember that USSR can ignore naval tech and with effort in general you should get industry tech 3 and that means 13 labs. You can then get 4 labs in e. g. air to catch up.

Both countries start with slightly better techs than Germany and Germany will need some time to catch up. Then Germany will get ahead, but the difference shouldn't be too much. Russia will suffer big losses when attacking, but they can concentrate on killing a few Germans a turn and eventually the German stone wall will crack.

If the Allied had achieved parity with Germany in e. g. 1943 then Germany would crumble really fast. The main reason they hold till 1945 is that they have the tech advantage.