How can i defeat the Soviet Union

[Ojf]

Hey guys i am having trouble defeating the Soviet Union, probably the most shameful thing about it is that i outnumber them and my troops have experience stars form fighting in france, but my troops cannot get reorganised in time and they just bring a few fresh division and push me back. I am playing HOIDD. I think i am the worst stratergist in the world since i cannot even beat a program. I am playing HOIDD 1.3 i will try and upload the auto save if anyone wants it to look at and see what the situation is. Could my supllies being used up to 0 frequently be a cause of the problem?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

here is the save http://files.filefront.com/autosaveeug/;13028989;/

[John I Tzimisces]

That could be a very big problem. Without supplies not all of your troops (since I am assuming you're producing some supplies) will, well, be supplied, and that is a painful penalty to both movement and their ability to attack and defend.

I guess I would make sure you're not in winter...and use tanks or motorized/mechanized infantry to spearhead a hole through their lines to try and encircle soviet troops. I've never really played as germany before but I think this is what generally works...

[Ojf]

Ok, what kinda stuff is supplies and rare materials and what are they used for? Also what is metal and energy used for? Im guessing that oil is used for troop movement and stuff of the like? Thanks i didnt get a manual

[Tankfriend]

The first thing that I can absolutely advise you to look up is the Hearts of Iron Wiki page: http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi2wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Almost all of your questions will be answered there most of the time.

Now, rare materials (think of rubber, rare metals etc.), metal, energy, oil and the like are being consumed by your industry - the more industry you have the more ressources you need to maintain it.
If you are running short on even a single ressource your production capacity (IC) will be reduced until the ressource demand is met again.
-> That's obviously a very bad thing because you'll want your industry running at full capacity to produce as much needed things as possible.

Oil is also being used by any unit in need of fuel like tanks, motorized/mechanized infantry, ships, planes etc. If you have an insufficient supply of oil, your units are moving and fighting with reduced strength.
-> Again, a thing you don't want to happen.

Supplies can be produced by allocating IC to it via the corresponding slider in your production menu. Make sure that you always produce at least as much supplies as your units need (simply hold the mouse over the slider or the ressource symbol in the upper bar to get a statistic about usage and production) but preferably produce more to build up a stockpile in case you need it.
-> Obviously, lacking supplies (food, ammunition etc.) severely reduce the ability of your units to fight and reorganize after combat. That's also one of the reasons that makes encirclements (cutting the supply line) so dangerous.

Manpower represents the amount of combat-ready personel available to your military and it is used whenever a unit of any kind gets trained or reinforced.

Consumer Goods can be produced via the corresponding slider in the production menu but they don't actually appear in the game itself. They are sold to your population to make them happy and get you some money flowing in which is mainly used for research and trading. Make sure that you're always producing enough to at least meet the demands of your population. Otherwhise you'll build up dissent which negatively impacts many different aspects of your nation.

A general tip: If you can't get the needed ressources by yourself, try to conclude some trade treaties with other nations to ship in the needed ressources.
It's better to reach a certain autarky in the long run though.

[Ojf]

Thanks for the that, also does have a detachment make much of a difference in a battle, could it be the fact that I wasn't any contribute to my failure to break through?

Also I attacked a faction that had its independence guaranteed by another, how come the nation didn't declare war on me when I attacked?

[Tankfriend]

Look at this page of the HoI Wiki for any type of ground unit and brigade.
http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi2wiki/i...ions_1.0_-_1.3

Generally speaking, brigades can be one of the most important deciding factors in combat because a) they're adding a lot of combat potential to the unit they're attached to and b) some brigades can give other useful bonusses like reducing penalties for advancing across a river (-> engineers).

Although brigades are normally less efficient in terms of production costs vs. raw fighting power compared to full units, they do make your units far more effective in combat which results in less casualties, less disorganisation but more damage dealt to the enemy. They're especially a good thing to have if you're lacking in manpower because brigades are a lot cheaper in that respect - at least most of the time.

There are some basic rules that you should check when sending your units into combat:

- Make sure that your units are supplied, reinforced and fully organized (i.e. at full combat strength). Also make sure that you are fielding more and/or higher-tech units than your enemy. It's a no-brainer that's pretty much self-evident but it's the most important aspect nonetheless.

- If possible, assign commanding officers to every of your corps that will be involved in combat. They're giving bonuses depending on their character traits which can make a difference (careful about who you send to which corps; a "tank commander" obviously is wasted on a corps of infantry).

- Check the weather conditions and rarely try to advance in winter, especially into Russia. Only do this with an overwhelming force. The reason behind this is that the winter conditions seriously reduce your fighting efficiency. On the other hand, encircling units in winter is all the more dangerous.

- Check the fortification level of the province you want to attack. The more heavily fortified, the more you will need support brigades (e.g. artillery), air power or naval bombardment to balance out the enemy's defense bonus.

- Try to attack provinces from more than one direction. That gives a useful bonus for the attacker.

- Also try to encircle enemy positions first by conquering any adjacent provinces. That way, they're getting out of supply (unless they are being supplied by the air force which the AI rarely if ever does) and their combat strength is severely reduced. If you can attack and beat an encircled force, they cannot retreat and are destroyed completely which obviously is far more preferable than having to fight against the same force over and over again.



Concerning the Guarantee of Independence: That's politics - so never fully rely on it.
It can very well be that the guaranteeing country(ies) decided that they don't want to face you in a war (yet) or they are in a war already and cannot afford to get another enemy. Just because there is a guarantee doesn't mean that war with the guaranteeing nation is inevitable.