USSR 1938

Talk about straddling the middle! First, I spoke with the Axis leaders, then the Allied, and both make appealing cases for joining their sides. However, both come with their difficulties. Joining the Axis is only possible if they allow me to take Rumania and Finland, and I doubt the Germans want me to have a monopoly on the oil in Europe, plus I don’t fully trust them. On the other hand, I can’t help the Allies against Germany until I’m attacked by Germany, and going to war with Japan will be risky if they get their hands on the southern colonies to increase their rating. At least the Germans have agreed to not supply the Finns when I attack, though I’m still going to use an overwhelming force in case they break the agreement, which wouldn’t surprise me. I am pleased with my foreign minister, we see eye-to-eye on many foreign policy decisions, and he has some helpful input as well. It also seems that Germany may be supplying Finland against our agreement, so we could use that to persuade them to give us Romania.

USSR 1939

I didn’t do much this year, I spent most of my time positioning forces, however we did manage to take P2, and we should be in position to take Finland soon. The Axis Powers appear to be doing better, so perhaps we’ll join them. We have also reached an agreement with the Swedes to transfer 15 of their 17 surplus iron ore to us in exchange for one coal and one oil to improve both of our ratings. I am still having talks with both the Axis and the Allies, the Axis can offer me a greater chance of victory at the moment, but the Allies can offer me resources and are less likely to stab me in the back. But right now, my foreign minister and I are listening to our national anthem as we watch mayhem unfold. This is going to be interesting either way.

USSR 1940

This year wasn’t executed very well on my part. It started off well, with us coming to an agreement with the Germans that I would take Romania for my victory conditions and give them the oil, as well as join the Axis. That went off without a hitch, unfortunately I was unable to join the Axis, and my turn ran out before I could move to take Finland, which will be a job for 1941. Knowing that joining the Allies would be inevitable, I decided it would be better to join them now rather than wait for a German attack, which would throw a wrench in the Axis plans. (I also think Ribbentrop is secretly the one running Germany). Hopefully I’ll still be able to take Finland.

USSR 1941

Victory hinges on one thing: America joining the war. They cannot do this until they’re attacked, which means we have to provoke the Japanese into attacking them. I have been scheming with my allies to make this happen. We have several options: send American troops into crucial zones like F1 and Burma on ‘training exercises’ or ‘courtesy visits’ and have them fight if the zone is attacked by the Axis. If the Axis refuse, that’s great because we still have those zones and don’t even need to defend them unless the Axis want the US in the war. Another thing we can do is move the US Pacific Fleet into the Western Pacific, right next to Japan, put troops in the Philippines, and play chicken with the Japanese. The Germans will inevitably take Rumania and will likely support Finland when I attack. I plan to still go for Finland, but I may move my troops out of Rumania to fight another day. I should also be able to hit Manchukuo and hopefully divert the Japanese from Burma with my Siberian troops. Hopefully that goes well. Update: Well, we got Finland and the Baltics, though we lost Rumania, but managed to pull the rug out from under the Japanese by taking most of their iron and some of their coal in Manchukuo and Korea, in addition to severely weakening their army. I am happy, as although we lost Rumania, we took light casualties in Finland, and will be able to repel whatever forces the Germans can spare to attack us with.

USSR 1942

This year greatly improved our chances of victory. The Soviet Union did little more than tie down German troops in the east and reinforce the British in Iran, but we helped with the strategy. The British Prime Minister is a great ally to have, and together we have led our alliance to attaining a great position for the next round. The Japanese also made the unwise choice of attacking the US. Now, I can understand that it might be one of their victory conditions, but they could have taken what they needed in 1945 against a very weak US, but instead the US is now gearing up for war to help us, and is already sending us resources. My opinion is that we should secure the Middle East and reinforce France in 1943, then push the Germans out of Belgium in 1944 while I move my forces to Belarus to attack P2. Meanwhile, the British and Americans should build up forces in Australia to hit the Dutch East Indies and weaken the Axis’ rubber supply before invading the mainland via the DEI’s connection with Thailand.

USSR 1943

This year was good, I held my positions and received more resources from the Americans. My western troops have more than doubled in rating since the beginning of the game, and I am confident that they can fight off the German troops currently on my border. Meanwhile, I am assisting my Alliance in planning other maneuvers. We have all agreed that taking back the rubber in Burma or the Dutch East Indies is of the highest priority, with making a move against Germany with the troops in F1 coming in second. I wasn’t pleased to lose East Prussia after briefly conquering it, but the territory is of little use or value for the moment. The securing of Africa by conquering Egypt took a lot of stress off me as well, as I was worried about the Italians taking the Suez Canal. I just hope my Siberian troops can hold off the Japanese in the Far East.

USSR 1944

This was the most boring and anticlimactic year so far. The US retook Hawaii and the WAllies took Belgium at a great cost, but other than that we are simply waiting for the Americans to build up a big enough army for us to take down the Germans. The Germans will not be invading the Soviet Union it would appear, but I’m not moving my troops back. Hopefully in 1945 I will be able to launch offensives with my troops in China in coordination with the armies in Iran. The goal is to retake Burma and give our troops better ratings. This is a fairly short entry because there was really nothing to journal about, hopefully 1945 will be more interesting.

USSR 1945

As a result of having an army meant to take over France and the Soviet Union without the Siberian troops, the Germans pushed into the Soviet Union and destroyed our armies while the Siberians were holding the Japanese at bay. As a result of Allied failure in the Pacific, if I had withdrawn those troops I would have lost there too. Overall, compared to Period 3’s map, I feel great about my situation, the Soviet Union is still intact and Germany’s army was shattered taking Central. I was also close to retaking Finland and Norway before the Italians and map glitches killed all of my time. World War 2 Simulation