Winning as Germany on 1.06c

[Lord Raffles]

I've played numerous times as Germany, and the only way I seem to win is if I do an early war in 37, with a well sized army armed with the techs I've started with (waiting for the Spanish Civil War allowed me to get some helpfull technologies). I managed to get the bitter peace by late 39, with america entering the war mid-way through the invasion of Russia. But I'm in a strong position, with all of Europe fortified, especially the soft underbelly.

I've never been able to win very successfully if I start the war in 39. Everything goes well, but when I enter the Invasion of Russia I find that if I concentrate on building a sizable army, I neglect technology somewhat and the Russians catch up with a huge army behind it. Do I need to entirley level with Russia on a technological level, or would a well equiped Army of good quality be able to overrun them?

 

[unmerged(33762)]

Beating the Russians is a challenge, especially if the Japanese join you and you thus have to conquer Vladivostok as well as the major cities in the west of Russia (Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad). To get past their initial defenses, I usually pocket the bulk of their army in the swamps. You'll need quite a few 12stacks tanks/mech and enough infantry to keep the rest of the front advancing or at least calm in the meantime. I love tanks, so I spent '41 on invading England and building tanks, then invaded Russia mid-42 with 48 PzIV / Panther, 48 mech and like 120 Infantry. The Russian divisions of that time are doctrinewise tough and almost a match for your infantry heads-on, but those tanks just drive through them like through butter, making pockets an easy thing to do.
After that, keep pocketing their forces wherever you can, as Russia can easily replenish existing divisions with the manpower it has at the start. No need to hurry, it took me two summers to take all the major cities in the west, and even then, I always took the time to pocket those cities first, a) because enemy reinforcements are the last thing you'll want in street combat and b) because of the encirclement and multi-directional attack penalties for the enemy.
As you drive deeper into Russia, paratroopers are the key to keeping up the pace. Those mountain and thundra provinces are evil, I'm telling you --- it's impossible to conquer them without paras, especially the later, if they are defended. (Un?)fortunately, the AI is really stupid at defending against paras and leaves them unoccupied at times, trusting that your forces will need at least a month to make it into the province. As the provinces get larger towards the center, you will need long-range transport planes to keep the paras effective.
Mountain infantry can help with the mountain provinces though. If you like air support, you will need the range of improved/advanced tac bombers once you close in on the larger provinves in the center. Obviously, you should also pay close attention to the weather forecast.
With any luck, you can conquer Russia totally and annex it within 2-4 years (bitter peace sucks anyway ). Watch out for the Russians invading japanese-held China though, you'll have to retake those VP as well.
Well then...good luck.

 

[kucing]

Also make sure you do not mess up with the tech. Forget about navy, submarine, naval doctrine, rocket and nuke techs. Just research the useful ones. Research heavily before war. Don't worry too much about tech when the war breaks, I usually only put 50-200 IC for research during war.

Make sure you have better airforce and panzer compared to Soviet. When the war breaks rush them as fast as possible with panzers (helped by air) to cut them up into pockets.

I always declare on 1939. However instead of turning to Soviet after France falls, I invade England first. This way, you can focus much more troops to the Eastern front.

 

[Pro_Consul]

One big key for tackling the Sovs is to NOT ally with Japan. Other than that, the most important points have already been covered, namely encircle troops with your tanks/mechs as often as possible and use mountain troops and/or paras when you reach the Urals.

 

[Lord Raffles]

My god - by concentrating on good tanks the game has become increasingly easy! Time for a harder level now... thanks everyone.

 

[unmerged(3221)]

I play standard 1.06c on very hard. I have 30 Pz when Barbarossa starts (six each MG, IL20, AL30, BM40, and IM50). They all have eng bde expect for the two starting ones. I used motor inf (24) with eng bde and zero mech inf. I build just plain vanilla inf. I have just basic fighters, tac, escorts, and air transports. Along with 2 to 4 para and around 6 to 9 mountain divisions without any brigades

With this force mix and continuous inf/pz/land doctrines, I start war in Sep 1939 and conquer Western Europe. I do not do Sealion. I then attack the SU and either Bitter Peace or annex it. Lately with massive inf builds I have the five BP provinces by Dec 1941 after a Dow in mid May 1941.

You do not need the latest and greatest tanks or mech inf to beat the SU. You do need a good strategy and good tactics.