Some SU questions

[Mountainduke]

Playing TFH latest.
level normal.

I enjoy doing the OOB of the Soviets prepping for 'my dear grey friends from the west' to come.
But as in rl happened also have to keep an eye in the Far East for the Japs and in the south for Turkey (and Persia).
Is it likely for the Japs to attack or will the be a chance for a 'non aggression pact' with them? and is it needed to keep armies in the south?

An other question is Finland, what would be the pro's to conquer or puppet them as it would only widen my western front I think.

A few other questions are:
- Is it wise to build ahead IC's in the east?
- If it would come to bitter peace, is it still worth/ fun to play the SU?

Any other hints/tips for the SU are welcome too.

[Opanashc]

Japan may or may not attack - it depends on their perception of your strength in the Far East. Stripping the border bare will invite the samurais to cross the border. There is no non-agression pact between Japan and SU via event/decision.
Conquering Finland will actually shorten your front, since no Axis troops will then come at you from Scandinavia except them. Norway has a level 1 infra province block in the north, so German troops will not march up the peninsula to attack Murmansk.
Build IC east of the Urals - it is guaranteed to be spared from conquest, even if Bitter Peace is forced upon you.
It is advisable to keep some troops in the South - in case Persia turns Axis. Turkey is scripted to be neutral though.

[wesleytj]

I am with you. Many people see the re-org of the soviet OOB as a major hassle and obstacle for playing them, while I enjoy it. I build tons of Art and AA brigades and attach them to existing inf brigades. Then organize them all into divisions of 2inf+aa+art, then every 5 of those into a corps, and every 5 corps into an army, and then by front as I need them. Build MTN units to guard the Caucasus in Persia. I use some MTN in the far east too where appropriate. You can build a few more if you want to go to Romania too, I like to have 1 corps ready over there when I finally start to unleash my big counterattack against the axis.

Build some interceptors, and even more fighters. You'll need to at least be roughly even with the Germans in the air. I don't bother much with bombers beyond what you start with, I figure if I keep the Germans from bombing me and then win on the ground, that's good enough. Not building bombers lets me focus on getting more ground units which is where I get the real results anyway.

You have the time and resources, so I build IC from the outset, I do 2 runs of 15 as soon as I get all my starting upgrades done. I cancel my 1936 start naval builds from the queue as well. I don't care at all about the navy, and I move all of what I do have to the Black Sea to help guard Sevastopol.

I conquer Finland, and then garrison it. I guard the ports with Militia. You'd probably be just fine puppeting too, whatever floats your boat. But it does allow you to not defend the Murmansk area like you'd otherwise have to.

I don't contest a lot of area, I LET the Germans get to the Dvina/Dniepr river lines. I build Lvl10 forts in the gap between the rivers (the Smolensk area). I also build forts in Kiev and Riga and use those as lynchpins of the defensive line. By the time the war starts, you want to have the goal of having at least a full corps of infantry in EVERY province along that river line and the space between. Then you want (Medium) armored corps behind the lines to plug holes. Build and expand the airbases behind that river line, and build lvl10 radars there as well. (I build them in Leningrad and Vladivostok too.) The Germans get to that river line, but they never get past it. They will attack incessantly until they run low on manpower, then you attack them back. As you build more and more of those, you can start making some pretty nasty counter attacks. I like to bust holes with heavy armored corps. I start building those as soon as I have the 1941 HARM techs. They consist of 2 divisions of 1HARM, 1Mot/Mec, 1SPART, 1SPAA, 1AC, then 3 divisions of 1Mec, 1TD, 1LARM, 1SPART, 1AC. Since they attack across rivers a lot, you could justify the ENG instead, if you prefer. A corps of that will pretty much pound anything you put them up against - using one at the top and bottom of a pincer will encircle lots of bad guys if you plan well.

I don't use diplomacy points for anything except training. I sell spare resources for money that I use for supplies so I don't have to build as many of my own. I use espionage for stealing tech on the US, French and Brits, I use it to raise threat and counter-espionage the Germans and Japanese. The rest of my leadership goes to tech and officers. You MUST keep your officers at 140%. I try to do the math and keep them at 150% just so it's never close. Turn off all your tech and go 100% officers if you ever drop below by accident.

That's all I can think of. I can't answer your bitter peace question, I've never lost Moscow.

[Mountainduke]

Thanks for the replies, again learned some things here.
I will go for Finland, keep a keen eye on officers ratio and have the far east borders guarded too.

Just not sure if I am able to meet up all the troop builds as most manage to get, since I am trying to get a more quality army instead of quantity.(not sure if it the right thing to do for the red army but want to try it)
Neglecting the Navy and put all focus on land doctrines for org and morale of my INF/AT/ART which most of my army is build of.
Also focussing on INT and CAS doctrines and trying to build a lots of them.
Last but not least my focus on Arm & SPart tech and doctrines and try to build as much as possible now before I get DOW'd.

Not sure yet about my lines of defence yet, either just the Dvina/Dniepr river lines or also a 'hold up and delay line' at the new borders to come in Poland.