Red Front Strategy I
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Author: Captain Nemo
Strategic Comment: Field Marshal Klesh
Date Submitted: 3/12/00

This essay would not have been possible without the advice and assistance from Captain Nemo, the author of the scenario. I have used his teachings and postings at Apolyton.net as the basis for this essay, however, the bulk of this is my own thoughts on the game. -Field Marshal Klesh

*The General rule to wining RedFront is to inflict 3 to 4 times more damage than you take. Never trade 1 for 1, always 3 or four, then you'll win.* -Cpt. Nemo

1. Don't mass-pillage the roads, because you'll need them to get back to Germany when the roles reverse. Just remove a few segments around Moscow, Stalingrad and Leningrad to protect the cities. There is no way to stop the Germans at the start; just take the abuse and let the anger fester.

2. Withdraw everything of value from Western Europe. Especially A.A. batteries, tanks and motorized infantry. Also, pillage any industry squares with disposable infantry before the Germans can blitz them.(They will be in German hands for the majority of the scenario). Included in the wave to the east are Refugees. Set the doomed Western cities to produce Refugees as fast as possible. I've had as many as 45 active. You'll see their usefulness later.

3. Build barracks in all cities that will produce units. Only veteran units are useful in this scenario.

4. Build massive numbers of veteran A.A. batteries in Leningrad, Stalingrad, Moscow, Kalanin, Tula, Rostov, Veronezh, Serafimovich, and Sevastopol. Move all available NKVD units to those same cities along with veteran motorized infantry and T34's…When the Germans attack, you'll want them to suffer massive losses, but only wound your units so they may be repaired by the barracks before the next turn. This requires at lest 20-30 tough veteran units per city. It is better to have 30 units in one city and none in another than to have 15 in each. To get enough A.A. units to fill these cities you'll need to rush-build them, so sell everything you can from your doomed Western cities from the beginning of the game. End each turn by going through EVERY Western city selling Refineries, Railroad Terminals, Steelmills, Powerplants, Banks, Hydroplants, and Universities.

5. At all costs you must not let the Germans into the Caucus Mountains region. The Oil and subsequent Trade there are crucial to both your economy and your scientific development. The fortifications around Sevastopol may seem impenetrable, but if Perekop falls, the German war machine will go into high gear invading the Crimea. When the "Karl's" appear, take them out at all costs. Wait until they get right up close, and let 'em have it. There can be nasty consequences if they are allowed to siege your cities. Sevastopol ought to have many A.A. batteries, because I've found that the Luftwaffe will attack from Romania over the Black Sea. Do not underestimate the value of the Naval Infantry, but they are defenseless against the Luftwaffe. You should concentrate on A.A. batteries for Sevastopol, and Perekop, and ship Naval infantry units up from Batumi, along with A.A.'s from Tbilsi to Kerch. Move the Cossak Cavaly scattered in the Caucuses into Kerch as well and use that city as "The Alamo" if both Perekop and Sevastopol fall. With this city as a chokepoint, you can launch air strikes on the German's over the Sea of Azov from Rostov and Stalingrad.

6. Add Katyusha Rockets to major cities that can afford to build them to kill wounded German attackers after eack strike. Their movement points allow for multiple strikes against those Germans stacked on the outskirts of your cities. A Poorman's version would be the Machine Gunners, they'll work as well for mowing down the stacked intruders. Also, any T-34 Guard units are excellent for city protection. Airlifting in defenders is invaluable here.

7. The only way to stop the Germans, and turn the tide of the war, is to develop the industry of the Ural Mountains region. Move all Refugees and Labor Brigades to the East, and put them to work converting plains squares to industry ASAP. Also utilize all resource squares found in the Ural Mountains. Zatloust is an excellent example of a city waiting to produce massive amounts of weapons via natural resources. Once it has grown, place citizens on the super-production squares and road them up as well with Labor Brigades. Kirov is an excellent example of a city waiting to have industry built all around on it's plains squares. Typical improvement order for the Ural Mountain Industrialization Program(UMIP): Granary, Kollectiv Farm, Steelmill, Ammunition plant, Airport, Barracks, Units.

8. Let the workers build in the Urals until a city has at least 4 or 5 industry squares, then join a few to grow the city to size 8. Move the rest on to the next city and continue the process. Build up 15-20 cities in the Urals to produce 60+ shields, with at least half (10) in the 80-100 shield range. You must be able to produce at the very least 15 veteran tank/rocket units per turn from the Urals. This is the only way to overcome the German onslaught: "Victory by Sheer Numbers."

9. Use any partisan units from the Pryapt Marshes to either ambush single units (which they are quite good at), or to pillage industry squares around German cities behind enemy lines. The latter must be done relatively quickly, as the Luftwaffe doesn't take kindly to partisan activity. But despite the danger, the relative availability of partisans and the value of industry squares makes these suicide missions very worth while.

10. In the winter of 1941-42 counter-attack on the Western front only to inflict maximum damage, not to re-capture cities. With the exception of keeping the supply road open to Leningrad, attack and kill, but withdraw to a city so as to avoid loosing the unit. You may feel as though you are wasting valuable time just stockpiling arms, but once an ample force has been amassed you'll be surprised at the speed of you're advance into German held territory.

11. Continue to build veteran A.A.'s , NKVD's and T34's in the cities forming the main line of defense. Build Airports in theses cities once they are properly defended, so as to be able to quickly move units from the Urals into battle when the offensive begins. They have a long way to travel by road, so being able to airlift 10+ strong units immediately into the battlezone is crucial.

12. In the summer of '42 you should have large numbers of T34/85's and Katyusha's stockpiled in your cities. The key is to attack with massive force. Try to loose very few units, which may mean withdrawing after one attack to allow a fresh unit to strike. Cities are best attacked with Katyusha's first, then planes(Il-2-Schturmovich's are a personal favorite), T34 Guards, regular T-34/85's, then Red Guard Infantry. It's better to attack 4-5 cities in a turn and capture them, than to attack 8-10 and only wound the German units which would then be repaired. I attack with two large army groups rather than the three that the Germans came with back in '41. Leningrad supports a task force, but it is only large enough to make it's way to Riga. My main Army Group North attacks from Moscow and clears the countryside of The Soviet Union on it's way to Minsk. Army Group South fights from Stalingrad, and moves along parallel to A.G.N. until it reaches Odessa. I regroup my forces in these two cities, and prepare to invade Germany proper. The goals of Army Group North are the Fall of Berlin, and the capture of all Coastal/Northern/Mainland Germany. Army Group South's goals are to Attack Germany's allies in the South: Ploiesti and it's Fuel Plant, Bucharest with it's Alliance Wonder, Vienna with it's Anchluss Wonder, and other major cities like Belgrade, Sofia, Budapest all the way up to Southern Germany. So these two Army Groups both make similar moves into Germany. They each strike inward(West), then turn right(North); A.G.N. stopping at the shoreline, A.G.S. stopping when it encounters territory captured by A.G.N.

13. Immediately "destroy" all Concentration Camps by selling them as you would any other "improvement". If left unchecked by accident after the capture of a German city, these examples of Man's inhumanity toward Man will cost you 50 gold per turn in maintenance costs! Be sure to search carefully at the end of each turn.

14. Wonders: Build the "Electrification" Wonder and sell off your powerplants, as it provides one in every city for free. Build "Civillian Donations" and "Labor Front" to help your economy along. The "Naval Convoy System" Wonder is a must in order to legally get supplies and armored infantry to the USSR. Airlifting from the UK is not allowed. "Kirov Tank Works", despite the name, is best built in Sverdlovsk, because of it's lack of plains squares for industry. I manage to build 3 industry squares, and the Tank Works, for a grand total of 111 shields per turn with 4 support shields. On several occasions, I have been able to hold the city of Kiev, and it's "Ukrainian Wheat Fields" Wonder. This wonder is a must have for growing your Eastern cities, and keeping people fed during those long winter months. Destroy the Pontoon Bridge, or strike deep into the German "Hedgehogs" at Stalingrad to develop the "Zukov's Tactics" Wonder. This will allow you to round out those last military advances allowing you to build your best weapons. Establishing trade routes to Baku, Gorki and Maikop has more effect than these all wonders in terms of science and cash-flow for rush-building. Airports are tempting here, but alas, they are against the rules.

The Ending Screenshots:

From top left to bottom left:
Chokepoint Kerch, Kirov's Industrialization, Fall of Berlin Under Army Group North