Impossible to beat Germany as USSR

[Sparkicy]

This was not my first time playing. I knew how to play the game fairly well. Before the invasion I had maximum amount of forts and anti aircraft guns along the Soviet/German (once polish) border, 152 divisions all ready to attack. Pregame I had civilian mode on and I even strengthened the Soviet Union pregame in custom settings. Tons of aircraft ready to bomb and fight. I had almost all my national focuses completed. And my research was all for aircraft experience (basically everything I could research in time to get my army in the best shape). Even had France, UK and the allies on my side with non aggression pacts. Yet got invaded. Lost horrifically, Moscow and Stalingrad falls within a year. This is my 15th time trying. It seems impossible to repel the German attack. What do I do?

[drewbstar]

Post some screen caps, please.

What are your 152 divisions comprised of? You want 20/40 Width Infantry and Tanks.

Don't build forts and static AA. They're not worth it when you compare the amount of civilian factories they require to what you need for your military factories. (i.e. It's a better use of your time to build civilian factories then military factories.)

What year are you fighting in?

What is the exact nature of your air force? How many fighters/bombers do you have?

What military doctrines are you using? (Don't use MA for land. There are better options last I checked.)

What is your infrastructure? Your divisions are worthless if they can't get supplies. The entire front is a slog and can be easy to overtax your supply lines with mass amounts of troops + armor.

What is your purge status? If Germany declares war on you, you get a Great Patriotic War bonus which negates most of the purge issues.

Who do you have as your government? Who did you purge?

Are your divisions fully trained?

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Galactic Origins]

I always destroy germany as russia

let them wear themselves out against your 6 regiment stacks... the key is to force medium tank divisions thru the line along the Baltic coast. Last game as ussr I took Berlin without a fight.... Warsaw, however, is always tough to take.

[RedStar]

It's pretty easy. I just rolled over Germany by 1943 last night.

You don't need forts or AA. 152 divisions is a pathetically small amount for the Soviet Union in 1941. You can/should have 300 well equipped divisions on that front line that the Axis forces can slaughter themselves against.

Then you just drive to Berlin.

It sounds like your focuses are all wrong: having forts and tonnes of aircraft is NOT your priority. That's taking IC away from making guns and factories.

[Player55545]

Originally posted by RedStar:

It's pretty easy. I just rolled over Germany by 1943 last night.

You don't need forts or AA. 152 divisions is a pathetically small amount for the Soviet Union in 1941. You can/should have 300 well equipped divisions on that front line that the Axis forces can slaughter themselves against.

Then you just drive to Berlin.

It sounds like your focuses are all wrong: having forts and tonnes of aircraft is NOT your priority. That's taking IC away from making guns and factories.

what do you mean, 300 divisions is like 3 Million, I instead go for 600 divisions (20 width) around 6 million manpower in field all the time as USSR. USSR is meant to be played with quantity not quality. 600 divisions means Combined Axis on the frontline are outnumbered and you can easily push them provided that you have equipment stockpiles in reserve. The War starts in 1941 when germany invades USSR and ends in 1943 with fall of Italy, yes germany surrenders before Italy but the Allies are mostly useless so soviet union has to invade Italy.

[Player55545]

Real Life Soviet Union had 2.5 million men on the frontlines in 1941, 5.3 million in 1942, 6.7 million in 1943, 6.5 million in 1944 and 6.3 million in 1945. You should maintain a 6 million army to win the war.

[Crazed Possum]

Originally posted by folkmanis:

This was not my first time playing. I knew how to play the game fairly well. Before the invasion I had maximum amount of forts and anti aircraft guns along the Soviet/German (once polish) border, 152 divisions all ready to attack. Pregame I had civilian mode on and I even strengthened the Soviet Union pregame in custom settings. Tons of aircraft ready to bomb and fight. I had almost all my national focuses completed. And my research was all for aircraft experience (basically everything I could research in time to get my army in the best shape). Even had France, UK and the allies on my side with non aggression pacts. Yet got invaded. Lost horrifically, Moscow and Stalingrad falls within a year. This is my 15th time trying. It seems impossible to repel the German attack. What do I do?

this is what i do.

1. i don't not go into poland at all after the treaty.
2. i form a line along the east side of a river stretching north and south in RUSSIA.
3. along that line a place forts and wait for the Germans to come to me.
4. invest in airplanes
5. i dont go down the mass assault doctrine anymore the one the germans use is way better when it comes to getting huge organization bonuses.You don't have to use so many infantry in your tank divisions to keet your organization up so you can use more tanks if you want to.
6. start out with 20 width and as you battle take your 20 width template and save it (keep original) and take the new one and make 40 width.
7. only change a few of your armies division to 40 width as long as you have the equipment to do so.
8. Make a ton of infantry equipment
9. i also build anti-aircraft batteries on my side of the river.
10. when the tiem is right i attack.

FYI: i do invade Findland and thus eventually i have to kick germany or italy out of Norway and take that too. I keep about 5 divisions each guarding the main southern ports in findland and norway from navl invasions. I slao make submarines in Leningrad for just convoy raiding germany's invasion transports. also have airplanes in the southern part of findland and norway to cover the sea areas.

i send 6 units of 5 tanks and 1 mountain to Spain to kick ass and i usually win. Somrtimes i send units to China also but not these units but others.

[Player55545]

Originally posted by Crazed Possum:

Originally posted by folkmanis:

This was not my first time playing. I knew how to play the game fairly well. Before the invasion I had maximum amount of forts and anti aircraft guns along the Soviet/German (once polish) border, 152 divisions all ready to attack. Pregame I had civilian mode on and I even strengthened the Soviet Union pregame in custom settings. Tons of aircraft ready to bomb and fight. I had almost all my national focuses completed. And my research was all for aircraft experience (basically everything I could research in time to get my army in the best shape). Even had France, UK and the allies on my side with non aggression pacts. Yet got invaded. Lost horrifically, Moscow and Stalingrad falls within a year. This is my 15th time trying. It seems impossible to repel the German attack. What do I do?

this is what i do.

1. i don't not go into poland at all after the treaty.
2. i form a line along the east side of a river stretching north and south in RUSSIA.
3. along that line a place forts and wait for the Germans to come to me.
4. invest in airplanes
5. i dont go down the mass assault doctrine anymore the one the germans use is way better when it comes to getting huge organization bonuses.You don't have to use so many infantry in your tank divisions to keet your organization up so you can use more tanks if you want to.
6. start out with 20 width and as you battle take your 20 width template and save it (keep original) and take the new one and make 40 width.
7. only change a few of your armies division to 40 width as long as you have the equipment to do so.
8. Make a ton of infantry equipment
9. i also build anti-aircraft batteries on my side of the river.
10. when the tiem is right i attack.

FYI: i do invade Findland and thus eventually i have to kick germany or italy out of Norway and take that too. I keep about 5 divisions each guarding the main southern ports in findland and norway from navl invasions. I slao make submarines in Leningrad for just convoy raiding germany's invasion transports. also have airplanes in the southern part of findland and norway to cover the sea areas.

i send 6 units of 5 tanks and 1 mountain to Spain to kick ass and i usually win. Somrtimes i send units to China also but not these units but others.

Mass Assault, Deep Battle spam atleast 6 million men on the frontlines and you will win as soviet union that's how soviet union won ww2 in real life. The only thing he needs to produce is Infantry Equipment, Support Equipment, Artillery and some Motorized and Medium tanks and Fighters.

[RedStar]

Originally posted by 21st-Panzer-Divsion:

Originally posted by RedStar:

It's pretty easy. I just rolled over Germany by 1943 last night.

You don't need forts or AA. 152 divisions is a pathetically small amount for the Soviet Union in 1941. You can/should have 300 well equipped divisions on that front line that the Axis forces can slaughter themselves against.

Then you just drive to Berlin.

It sounds like your focuses are all wrong: having forts and tonnes of aircraft is NOT your priority. That's taking IC away from making guns and factories.

what do you mean, 300 divisions is like 3 Million, I instead go for 600 divisions (20 width) around 6 million manpower in field all the time as USSR. USSR is meant to be played with quantity not quality. 600 divisions means Combined Axis on the frontline are outnumbered and you can easily push them provided that you have equipment stockpiles in reserve. The War starts in 1941 when germany invades USSR and ends in 1943 with fall of Italy, yes germany surrenders before Italy but the Allies are mostly useless so soviet union has to invade Italy.

How you are fielding 6 million men, fully equipped in 1941 (and why you feel you need 600 divisions in 1941) is beyond me. 300 is more than enough to destroy axis forces. That IS quantity. Most of the axis forces are trash outside of Germany. 300 infantry divisions backed up by some medium armour will decimate the axis.

Your second post even states the Soviets had 2.5 million on the front in 1941.

I'm also not sure what you mean about Italy. The allies love invading Italy. Eastern Europe and Germany should be your immediate focus as the Soviets (Italy is pathetic anyway).

[Player55545]

Originally posted by RedStar:

Originally posted by 21st-Panzer-Divsion:

what do you mean, 300 divisions is like 3 Million, I instead go for 600 divisions (20 width) around 6 million manpower in field all the time as USSR. USSR is meant to be played with quantity not quality. 600 divisions means Combined Axis on the frontline are outnumbered and you can easily push them provided that you have equipment stockpiles in reserve. The War starts in 1941 when germany invades USSR and ends in 1943 with fall of Italy, yes germany surrenders before Italy but the Allies are mostly useless so soviet union has to invade Italy.

How you are fielding 6 million men, fully equipped in 1941 (and why you feel you need 600 divisions in 1941) is beyond me. 300 is more than enough to destroy axis forces. That IS quantity. Most of the axis forces are trash outside of Germany. 300 infantry divisions backed up by some medium armour will decimate the axis.

Your second post even states the Soviets had 2.5 million on the front in 1941.

I'm also not sure what you mean about Italy. The allies love invading Italy. Eastern Europe and Germany should be your immediate focus as the Soviets (Italy is pathetic anyway).

Allies in my game are stupid and lose western africa to Axis and they NEVER INVADE FRANCE OR ITALY. It's possible to field a 6 million big army as soviets with mass assault doctrine, infact you can field 10 million late war with good infrastructure and logistics company and beat axis by pure numbers. 300 divisions which are 20 width means you have same number of troops as combined axis which results in a stalemate, since the axis are outproducing you IT IS HARD TO PUSH unless you cheat or use space marines. You need more than 300 divisions (20 width) as USSR to push the axis. Of course fully equipped, when you field 6 million men in 1941 the axis don't attack because you outnumber them and you can keep on stockpiling equipment and launch offensives whenever you want, use tank divisions to encircle the germans and when germans have less than 2 million on the frontline then you can draw a battleplan to berlin and sit and watch the germans get destroyed by your large army. Only Hungary and Romanian AI can stop you late war because they spam too many divisions and the terrain has some mountains and rivers, poland is easy to push and you will reach berlin before you reach budapest. Allies in my game only invade when germans are pushed back to eastern germany.

[Player55545]

Since the Allied AI is so incompetent, Soviet Union has to invade Italy after finishing off the germans. Vanilla german AI is just so powerful 300 divisions are not going to beat them, germany has 500 factories by 1941 and outproduces USA itself. USSR meanwhile gets only 300 factories by 1941 and USA 400 factories by 1941. Germany will control the air for the first 2 years so soviets should focus on producing fighter planes only and then produce CAS in 1943, 1944. I have tried this with 40 widths and I still require 250 divisions (40 width) to simply stop the powerful combined Axis in 1941 and they still outproduce the USSR or 500 (20 width). I have tried to build lots of forts at the border but germany always pushes me back and the forts become useless, if I build too many forts then I don't have a powerful industry.

[Player55545]

Originally posted by RedStar:

Originally posted by 21st-Panzer-Divsion:

what do you mean, 300 divisions is like 3 Million, I instead go for 600 divisions (20 width) around 6 million manpower in field all the time as USSR. USSR is meant to be played with quantity not quality. 600 divisions means Combined Axis on the frontline are outnumbered and you can easily push them provided that you have equipment stockpiles in reserve. The War starts in 1941 when germany invades USSR and ends in 1943 with fall of Italy, yes germany surrenders before Italy but the Allies are mostly useless so soviet union has to invade Italy.

How you are fielding 6 million men, fully equipped in 1941 (and why you feel you need 600 divisions in 1941) is beyond me. 300 is more than enough to destroy axis forces. That IS quantity. Most of the axis forces are trash outside of Germany. 300 infantry divisions backed up by some medium armour will decimate the axis.

Your second post even states the Soviets had 2.5 million on the front in 1941.

I'm also not sure what you mean about Italy. The allies love invading Italy. Eastern Europe and Germany should be your immediate focus as the Soviets (Italy is pathetic anyway).

2.5 million on the front against 3 million axis during june 1941. These numbers are actual number of troops on the frontline not some reserves. Soviets had 4.8 million men in total deployed all over the large country with only 2.5 million on the border with germany/other axis in june 1941 against 3 million combined axis. It's not like soviet union can send all their men into the frontline there were a million men ready to defend against japan in Siberia they would not be called back until battle of moscow when it was clear japan was not going to attack. Average HOI4 player sends his entire army into a single frontline while in real life nations have to protect the entire border which is why out of 4.8 million total men deployed only 2.5 million were on the frontline against Axis in june 1941.

[Tomatemon]

Originally posted by folkmanis:

This was not my first time playing. I knew how to play the game fairly well. Before the invasion I had maximum amount of forts and anti aircraft guns along the Soviet/German (once polish) border, 152 divisions all ready to attack. Pregame I had civilian mode on and I even strengthened the Soviet Union pregame in custom settings. Tons of aircraft ready to bomb and fight. I had almost all my national focuses completed. And my research was all for aircraft experience (basically everything I could research in time to get my army in the best shape). Even had France, UK and the allies on my side with non aggression pacts. Yet got invaded. Lost horrifically, Moscow and Stalingrad falls within a year. This is my 15th time trying. It seems impossible to repel the German attack. What do I do?

The AI does NOT know the potential of tanks, so you might want to make a army around tanks instead of people.

If you do both people and tanks then you just take up supply for no reason.

[mk11]

What I do is build lots of 20width Infantry don't build forts but do include support AA in the infantry and SPAA in the armour divisions. Make sure I have about 1/4 of the infantry deployed behind the lines so they can move to reinforce the provinces the germans attack.

After the Germans are disorganized from their attacks counter-attack with armour and use motorised to follow through on the breakthrough. Use initial pushes in the open terrain initially, East Prussia, Poland and Southern Rumania are good spots. Pull the tanks back after a bit and redeploy for the next counter-attack somewhere else. Create mini-pockets where possible.

[Tomatemon]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2037365067

This is by far the best set up for the soviets created by yours truly, mp any ways.

So your gonna have 5 armies of 20 widths with 1 arty, 1 aa and rest infantry logistics recon engineers, to slow down the germans till you get to the 2nd army. These divisions are just a regular frontline using shift and press on a border frontline.

2nd army/field general is the same template and holds these areas as they are all the important cities and forests/marsh
Key things the second line holds is the front of the stalin river on the top, most marshes and it also uses some rivers

Everone knows the stalin river so when most of the german units reach your 2nd field generals lines you can retreat you first field general to the stalin line

Note when they do reach the 2nd field general, you can start preparations for retreat.

You take 1 army from the first field general and put it into the second, and use those troops as death father by placing them inside the middle marshes and you retreat with the first field general to the stalin line while your 2nd general becomes death father.

The second field general is on a fall back line

When the war starts you should have 4 heavys, 2 in kiev and 2 in that northern main city that slips my mind.

Hope this helps :D

[Croaker]

Strange. I had a defensive line of lvl 4-6 bunkers on river/swamps/mountain with as many troops or more than the german and they simply didnt launched a big offensive because it would have been suicide. Giving me time to build a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of factories and conquer Japan and most of China. Then I just did a naval invasion capped around 6 of their provinces and they are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ right now.

Just make sure you are building your bunkers in the right type of terrain and they shouldn't be able to pass.