Corvus
Posts: 43
Joined: 10/18/2004 Status: offline
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Before this thread I'd never had a look at the Soviet forces to see what they had - I don't play Japanese and given how long before they become active for use for the Allies there wasn't a point looking at them. The Soviet forces at start are large and stronger than any Allied forces anywhere else. I'd enjoy having them activated early. One thing I did notice is a complete lack of any naval vessels for the Soviets. Is that an oversight by the designers or did the Soviet not even have a cargo ship at Vladivostok? I had a look at the Soviet forces at game start and again two months into the game (which is where my current game is up to) to see if there were any differences at about the time any attack would have been ready to commence according to the views on this thread. No additional ground forces arrived over this time, and increases in assault values were minor (from around 290-300 atstart for the infantry divisions to around 300-310). The air forces though did see increases. The fighter groups started at 1/2 strength and the bomber groups at 2/3 strength. Two months later the bombers had reached full strength, including some upgrading to Pe-2s. The groups equipped with newer model planes (Yaks, MiGs and LaGGs) also increased in numbers, but the older model equipped groups didn't see an increase in number and weren't due to be upgrade for many months. Vladivostok-Imam area (south). In this region are 9 infantry divisions (@ 300A), 1 cavalry division (@130A), 3 infantry brigades (@130A), 1 motorised brigade (@100A), 5 artillery regiments and 2 tank brigades (@70A). In addition there are also a number of HQ, ENG and CD units scattered around. There were also 8 groups of fighters stationed here, 3 being equipped with modern fighters, totalling almost 300 fighters (around 100 being modern fighters). Two months later it had reached 9 groups with over 350 fighters (150 being modern fighters). Khabarovsk-Blagoveshchensk area (east) 4 infantry divsisions (@300A), 4 artillery regiments, 1 armour brigade (@70A) & 1 motorised brigade (@100A) were stationed here. They had support from 3 fighter groups (around 100 planes), of which 2/3rds were modern fighters, and 4 groups of bombers (144 planes). Two months later it was almost 140 fighters (100 being modern fightters), and almost 200 bombers (half of which were new Pe-2 bombers). Borzya-Rukhlovo area (north) 3 infantry divisions (@300A), 1 mountain division (@300A) & 3 artillery regiments were stationed here. They had support from 2 groups of fighters (72 planes) and 2 groups of bombers (72 planes). Two months later fighter strength had marginally increased (to 76 fighters), and bombers strength and increased to almost 100 planes. All up that is a fairly tough nut to crack - 16 infantry divsions, 1 cavalry division, 1 mountain division, 13 artillery regiments, 3 armoured brigades, 2 motorised brigades & 3 infantry briagdes + ENG, HQ, AA and CD. At start they also have around 470 fighters (180 modern planes) and over 200 bombers. Two months later it had reached over 570 fighters (250 being modern planes) and almost 290 bombers (almost 100 being Pe-2s). I can't see how taking on all that equipment wouldn't result in substantial losses even if the victory was quick.
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