Very good analysis for the Russian Revolution Rule. One comment I would make is that the "Bear Bites Back" strategy only works if your opponent fails to see that the best course of action in that case is to go in full force into Moscow and corner that army with the strong German and Austrian armies. If Moscow is controlled on that turn by the CP, the best the Russians can do is flee to the north, but if you went in with all your might, you have struck a counterbalance to that strategy. This is especially true if you play the game with no forms of fast movement, since the CP units committed to Russia are by that point out of the game and you don't lose much by bottling up the Russian army in the north. One very important aspect I learned about playing Russia in this game is that you should never put yourself on the defensive. Your movement options are limited, it's easy to get boxed in, so you have to slam into at least one of your opponents to break the possibility of a pincer movement or a one-two punch. That will usually take the wind out of the CP's sails much faster than waiting for them to pile up. Being aggressive as Russia is not intuitive in this game, but it works. Side question : your map looks like a mat. Would you be so kind to tell me how did you get it made ? Great video !
Re: the bear bites back: I would caution against the "only works if" - I've had this happen exactly as written in multiple games and it appears that this is just as fatal to the CP. The Russian army at that point is defending Karelia and Finland from falling into CP hands. Whatever troops the CP leaves behind to garrison Moscow will be out of the fight for the rest of the game. Both of these outcomes are awful for the CP. They need every IPC and troop they can get to redeploy to the west. Additionally, If/when the British decide to come up from the south, the army in Moscow will be stuck between two armies. This is what I've seen anyway. Re: playing offensive - generally, I agree except in the above case. I currently have a game on the axisandallies(dot)org website that is shaking out this way. I am positioning the Russian army for a defense of Finland/Karelia (after making an attack and destroying a piece of the CP army). Re: the map - thanks and yeah its a neoprene map (mouse pad material). A company in Hong Kong makes them. Here is their website shop.x-raypad(dot)com. If you decide to place an order from them, ask for Jiuson Zhou. He knows about Axis and Allies maps. They are not cheap but very high quality and excellent customer service. Glad you're enjoying the videos!
@@thegoodcaptain1217 Thank for the reply and analysis, they are very fun to read ! I'll definitely have to try it at some point and see how this goes. Thank you for the map tip as well !
Hey that's me in game #2 (if I remember the game right). I think that was like the second game we did (right before you started routinely stomping me, anyway).
I was looking at the board for a few seconds as the rules of the revolution flashed through my brain, then I was like OMG he can just retreat from Moscow
Right? Imagine playing this out over the board against a seasoned opponent. I literally "face-palmed" myself as the CP - and then never, ever made that mistake again....
so far I've only played one game of 1914 and it was against my dad, I played the entente. i had built up a massive navy and ruled to ocean but that didn't help the situation on land so i lost. it was only my second time playing an axis and allies game tho. @@thegoodcaptain1217
Very interesting explanation. But regarding the Situation at around 6:40, are there Times, in with you capture Sevastopol to or should it usually remain a impassable zone?
Good question. The Entente would very much like to see Sevastopol turn CP. This means that UK units from India have access to the Russian front if the revolution happens or not. If I'm playing as the CP, 9/10 times I leave it to the Russians. It becomes "dead income" if Russia falls conventionally (no revolution). If the armistice is offered, the southern flank is sealed off permanently from the British - a very good outcome for the CP.
Thanks a lot for doing this video. You've pointed out a couple of things that I still wasn't aware of. I had a few questions after watching: 1. When you move all of your forces out of a contested zone, does that zone immediately switches owners? In TripleA, this zone remains contested until it's the turn of the power that has units remaining in the territory, in which case the territory switches sides if this power leaves an infantry unit in the territory at the end of the Movement Phase. Is TripleA wrong here then? 2. If that's true, is it also true that in our ongoing game, I could have retreated my Russian forces to contested Tatarstan? Would that have been beneficial for me? Anyway, I find the Russians now even trickier to play. Lots of weird strategies could be viable, like stacking up in Livonia instead of Moscow, scattering your army in a specific way, etc. It could be fun to test out which strategy mathematically works best i.e. which strategies take away as many units of the CP as possible. Just sitting in Moscow and letting the CP Bear-Hug you already takes away a lot of the CP units, but can it be even more?
The TripleA for 1914 has multiple issues, all of which can be fixed with the edit command fortunately. It's vital for individual players to know the rules in this case. Regarding contested territories, from the rule book page 15: "If you move all of your units out of a contested territory and leave only units from the other side there, the other side will immediately claim the territory". And yes, you could have moved the Russian army to Tatarstan in our game. There was something like a 2% chance of that outcome and when it occurred, I was horrified. Moving the Russian army to Tartstan would have ended the game for me. I would have conceded. I had geared my entire strategy on Tatarstan being captured and not having to fight any more Russians. The disruption would have been catastrophic. I consider this game a "win" for you already bc of that but think its okay to play it as we are for fun. My intent was to explain all this at the end of the game and tell you "good game - you actually won with Russia". The bear hug is not a 100% guarantee. Its more like an 80-85% guarantee with all the tasks the CP have to accomplish. Otherwise, you are completely correct. There are a number of variations of how to play Russia. This video is meant to establish the fundamentals only. I am still trying out new stuff as Russia when I'm the Entente...
@@thegoodcaptain1217 Wow, that's some crazy stuff, and thanks for explaining! I have been playing that wrong the entire time then. I often withdrew my entire army, thinking the zone would stay contested and the opposing army couldn't move forward. It's so tricky that this game is so similar to other A&A games, yet it has so many subtleties that are different, which could make you win/lose the game if you are aware of all of them! Now, I will read the entire rulebook from left to right and backward - no more little rules will escape me then! I would've let you take the territory anyway, in case I knew of that opportunity. Losing because of a 2% chance is a bit harsh in my eyes, and it would've been more fun if you won that battle and we could continue the game. The CP are very hard-pressed in this game. Every single important battle has to work out. One battle with some cold dice, and it's over. I am interested in your final video about balance; what your views on the balance are, and how you recommend fixing them.
How viable/important would you say securing Sevastopol as the CP is, to allow CP armies that were in Ukraine/southern Russia to march against India / help Turkey? By securing I mean making sure you hold it before/as Russia is about to surrender.
I discuss this territory briefly at the end of the Ottoman video but I will say here that as the CP, I prefer to leave it under Russian control. The reason for this is that due to the British presence, its far, far easier for them to recapture this and add it to their IPC after Russia falls. They can't do this if Seva remains Russian. It also incentivizes them to stay moving west to east and drive towards Constantinople. As the CP, I prefer to leave a moderate army in Ukraine and leave Seva Russian. This is not a hard rule as sometimes desperation or army size has me take the CP into Seva and camp there but this is rare and usually only against inexperienced opponents.
At around 11:40 the Russians retreat to kerelia. How can this happen when all of those zones were contested? I thought units couldn’t move in contested zones.
Movement between contested zones is legal in this case. From page 15 of the rulebook, "Land units that begin the turn in contested territories can only be moved to territories that are controlled by your power, or to territories that are also contested and already contain units belonging to your power."
Great series! I'm looking forward to the next parts!
Very good analysis for the Russian Revolution Rule.
One comment I would make is that the "Bear Bites Back" strategy only works if your opponent fails to see that the best course of action in that case is to go in full force into Moscow and corner that army with the strong German and Austrian armies. If Moscow is controlled on that turn by the CP, the best the Russians can do is flee to the north, but if you went in with all your might, you have struck a counterbalance to that strategy. This is especially true if you play the game with no forms of fast movement, since the CP units committed to Russia are by that point out of the game and you don't lose much by bottling up the Russian army in the north.
One very important aspect I learned about playing Russia in this game is that you should never put yourself on the defensive. Your movement options are limited, it's easy to get boxed in, so you have to slam into at least one of your opponents to break the possibility of a pincer movement or a one-two punch. That will usually take the wind out of the CP's sails much faster than waiting for them to pile up. Being aggressive as Russia is not intuitive in this game, but it works.
Side question : your map looks like a mat. Would you be so kind to tell me how did you get it made ?
Great video !
Re: the bear bites back: I would caution against the "only works if" - I've had this happen exactly as written in multiple games and it appears that this is just as fatal to the CP. The Russian army at that point is defending Karelia and Finland from falling into CP hands. Whatever troops the CP leaves behind to garrison Moscow will be out of the fight for the rest of the game. Both of these outcomes are awful for the CP. They need every IPC and troop they can get to redeploy to the west. Additionally, If/when the British decide to come up from the south, the army in Moscow will be stuck between two armies. This is what I've seen anyway.
Re: playing offensive - generally, I agree except in the above case. I currently have a game on the axisandallies(dot)org website that is shaking out this way. I am positioning the Russian army for a defense of Finland/Karelia (after making an attack and destroying a piece of the CP army).
Re: the map - thanks and yeah its a neoprene map (mouse pad material). A company in Hong Kong makes them. Here is their website shop.x-raypad(dot)com. If you decide to place an order from them, ask for Jiuson Zhou. He knows about Axis and Allies maps. They are not cheap but very high quality and excellent customer service. Glad you're enjoying the videos!
@@thegoodcaptain1217 Thank for the reply and analysis, they are very fun to read !
I'll definitely have to try it at some point and see how this goes.
Thank you for the map tip as well !
Anytime. I really like questions like this. So thanks for asking! It’s a good point you raise and a good question.
Hey that's me in game #2 (if I remember the game right). I think that was like the second game we did (right before you started routinely stomping me, anyway).
Yep. This game, more than any other, advanced my understanding of the Revolution rule. It was a brutal but well learned lesson.
I was looking at the board for a few seconds as the rules of the revolution flashed through my brain, then I was like OMG he can just retreat from Moscow
Right? Imagine playing this out over the board against a seasoned opponent. I literally "face-palmed" myself as the CP - and then never, ever made that mistake again....
so far I've only played one game of 1914 and it was against my dad, I played the entente. i had built up a massive navy and ruled to ocean but that didn't help the situation on land so i lost. it was only my second time playing an axis and allies game tho.
@@thegoodcaptain1217
Very interesting explanation. But regarding the Situation at around 6:40, are there Times, in with you capture Sevastopol to or should it usually remain a impassable zone?
Good question. The Entente would very much like to see Sevastopol turn CP. This means that UK units from India have access to the Russian front if the revolution happens or not. If I'm playing as the CP, 9/10 times I leave it to the Russians. It becomes "dead income" if Russia falls conventionally (no revolution). If the armistice is offered, the southern flank is sealed off permanently from the British - a very good outcome for the CP.
Thanks a lot for doing this video. You've pointed out a couple of things that I still wasn't aware of. I had a few questions after watching:
1. When you move all of your forces out of a contested zone, does that zone immediately switches owners? In TripleA, this zone remains contested until it's the turn of the power that has units remaining in the territory, in which case the territory switches sides if this power leaves an infantry unit in the territory at the end of the Movement Phase. Is TripleA wrong here then?
2. If that's true, is it also true that in our ongoing game, I could have retreated my Russian forces to contested Tatarstan? Would that have been beneficial for me?
Anyway, I find the Russians now even trickier to play. Lots of weird strategies could be viable, like stacking up in Livonia instead of Moscow, scattering your army in a specific way, etc. It could be fun to test out which strategy mathematically works best i.e. which strategies take away as many units of the CP as possible.
Just sitting in Moscow and letting the CP Bear-Hug you already takes away a lot of the CP units, but can it be even more?
The TripleA for 1914 has multiple issues, all of which can be fixed with the edit command fortunately. It's vital for individual players to know the rules in this case. Regarding contested territories, from the rule book page 15: "If you move all of your units out of a contested territory and leave only units from the other side there, the other side will immediately claim the territory". And yes, you could have moved the Russian army to Tatarstan in our game. There was something like a 2% chance of that outcome and when it occurred, I was horrified. Moving the Russian army to Tartstan would have ended the game for me. I would have conceded. I had geared my entire strategy on Tatarstan being captured and not having to fight any more Russians. The disruption would have been catastrophic. I consider this game a "win" for you already bc of that but think its okay to play it as we are for fun. My intent was to explain all this at the end of the game and tell you "good game - you actually won with Russia". The bear hug is not a 100% guarantee. Its more like an 80-85% guarantee with all the tasks the CP have to accomplish. Otherwise, you are completely correct. There are a number of variations of how to play Russia. This video is meant to establish the fundamentals only. I am still trying out new stuff as Russia when I'm the Entente...
@@thegoodcaptain1217 Wow, that's some crazy stuff, and thanks for explaining! I have been playing that wrong the entire time then. I often withdrew my entire army, thinking the zone would stay contested and the opposing army couldn't move forward.
It's so tricky that this game is so similar to other A&A games, yet it has so many subtleties that are different, which could make you win/lose the game if you are aware of all of them! Now, I will read the entire rulebook from left to right and backward - no more little rules will escape me then!
I would've let you take the territory anyway, in case I knew of that opportunity. Losing because of a 2% chance is a bit harsh in my eyes, and it would've been more fun if you won that battle and we could continue the game.
The CP are very hard-pressed in this game. Every single important battle has to work out. One battle with some cold dice, and it's over. I am interested in your final video about balance; what your views on the balance are, and how you recommend fixing them.
@@victoryfirst06 Yeah, the rules are similar yet different. I guess we've been preparing for the next war (probably a first in world history).
How viable/important would you say securing Sevastopol as the CP is, to allow CP armies that were in Ukraine/southern Russia to march against India / help Turkey? By securing I mean making sure you hold it before/as Russia is about to surrender.
I discuss this territory briefly at the end of the Ottoman video but I will say here that as the CP, I prefer to leave it under Russian control. The reason for this is that due to the British presence, its far, far easier for them to recapture this and add it to their IPC after Russia falls. They can't do this if Seva remains Russian. It also incentivizes them to stay moving west to east and drive towards Constantinople. As the CP, I prefer to leave a moderate army in Ukraine and leave Seva Russian. This is not a hard rule as sometimes desperation or army size has me take the CP into Seva and camp there but this is rare and usually only against inexperienced opponents.
At around 11:40 the Russians retreat to kerelia. How can this happen when all of those zones were contested? I thought units couldn’t move in contested zones.
Movement between contested zones is legal in this case. From page 15 of the rulebook, "Land units that begin the turn in contested territories can only be moved to territories that are controlled by your power, or to territories that are also contested and already contain units belonging to your power."
Why oh why wouldn’t you want to suicide into one of the enemy?
??? As who and against what?