Let's continue our examination of proven Soviet play techniques with a look at the VVS-the Soviet Air Force.

Whenever an Axis air unit is aborted, bomb its airbase the next turn (a hit will put it in the remnants box); this tactic is a must if the aborted plane is a first-class fighter (especially a FW 190). Remember that most of these raids will cause your losses to be placed in the EET box, so watch which of your own planes you place at risk: less-valuable fighters, like the I-16s and LaGG-3s, are good candidates for this work if the airbase is heavily defended.

The DB-3Bs are also very useful for bombing aborted air units, as their range of 39 (First to Fight rating) allows them to strike airbases deep in the German rear that may not have fighter cover. However, you only get 7 of these units to work with, so use them carefully.

You can be a little more bold with the IL-4s, since they have a steady replacement rate.

The Yer-2s should be used with care because they are the only NB units available for most of the game.

The remaining long-range bomber, the Pe-8, is most useful as a transporL/strategic bomber.

The VVS has only two type "D" units; use them for critical bombing missions, or for naval-patrol missions (which should be used more for blockade purposes rather than with the goal of sinking the Kriegsmarine-the German shipping replacement capacity is simply too great).

A maximum of 9 transports and 1 bomber/transport is available for the first half of the game (the TB-3s are type "T" units in First to Fight). Their best use is to fly night resupply missions to surrounded garrisons; since the German has no night fighters during this time period, they cannot be stopped. Unless the stakes are really high, fly this mission only at regular range so the transports can return to a safe base for their "crash-landing" check. (Make sure this base is safe: lots of AA and fighters. The Luftwaffe would dearly like to catch these planes on the ground and remove this Soviet capability).

Airborne drops are rarely a good idea for the Soviets, at least during the first part of the game. The long-flight disruption modifier means the transport would have to be based at the front line to take off with the airborne unit, and it would be highly vulnerable to Luftwaffe airbase raids. Drops would probably only work if the planes were flying out of a major airbase complex like Moscow or Leningrad, and the target hex was very nearby and not defended (how many times would this situation occur, being planned one turn in advance?).

To isolate a section of the enemy front during an operation, the Luftwaffe will usually fly harassment instead of rail-bombing missions against the rail net. The results are guaranteed, and the lack of Soviet mobile AA and short patrol ranges for Soviet fighters means the German mission force will usually get through (flying multiple missions into the face of weak fighter cover will give the Luftwaffe commander the option to stand and fight against poor-quality fighters or to abandon missions that are intercepted by effective fighters, and still get the job done). This technique is also encouraged by the fact that the Soviet repair ability is normally capable of restoring broken rail lines in a very short time.

The VVS, by contrast, should usually resort to bombing enemy rail lines. The German flak units are mobile and powerful, able to reach and drive off many harassment missions. Harassment just gives them a free shot at your bombers.

Later in the war, bombing missions coordinated with partisan attacks can effectively disrupt a section of the German rail net for a short period. The lesser German repair ability means that it will be relatively more difficult to keep the lines open than it is for the Soviets.

Massive harassment missions can screen a section of the front in an emergency, to slow German movement into/through the area, but such missions should be carefully. considered: the numerous Luftwaffe flak units can have a field day "hunting" your planes from the ground, nullifying the mission and inflicting great damage to the Soviet bombers. Keep an eye out for the enemy flak units in the area before deciding on this tactic, and if it must be used in a desperate situation, be careful with the type of planes you choose for the mission: "B" types do have extra protection on the AA table, but you do not have many of these valuable units to risk (only three dozen in the first year-and-a-half of the war).

The earliest Soviet Guards conversions should be used to upgrade your fighter force, first the three Mig-3s and then the Yak-7Bs. If you are playing with the latest (unofficial) flex-DAS rules, you might consider converting a Pe-2FT to enhance your support capability.

As a general rule, the VVS should not try to take on the Luftwaffe during the first year of the game. It's not the loss of the inferior planes that matters so much as the loss of invaluable Group Allowance (GA) capacity. It is much better to scrap the obsolete planes (or even let them get overrun/bombed at airbases) and build up GA instead of getting your pilots shot down in air combat, thus losing GA.

This does not mean that the VVS shouldn't fly, only that the time/place of the missions should be carefully considered. A good rule of thumb is to "be where the Luftwaffe ain't". Early on, the VVS generally can't stop escorted Luftwaffe missions and has a very difficult time getting its own bombers through German fighter opposition.

To assure air superiority the Luftwaffe generally has to mass its fighters in only one or two sectors of the front. Since you cannot stop the Luftwaffe anyway, defend these sectors with AA and concentrate your own planes in the other sectors. Otherwise, if you match the German fighter mass with your own, the long-range German bombers will range freely over the entire front from central bases and will have the flexibility to intervene with ground support in virtually all critical battles.

By basing your own fighters away from the German fighters, you can force the enemy bombers to fly unescorted into the teeth of your fighter defenses, a prospect not many Luftwaffe commanders will find appealing (and if the enemy escorts with Me-110s or with other fighters at long-range, then you can at least take on these enemy fighters at something akin to even odds).

Your fighters need not remain idle in the secondary theaters. Planes with bombing factors can attack rail lines, while the others should raid undefended/lightly defended enemy airbases. This will either prevent the Luftwaffe from staging into the area, or tie down valuable German construction units in repair.

As your own strength builds over the months, with a GA around 135 and better-quality fighters and Guards air units becoming available, you should be able by May or July 1942 to match the main Luftwaffe effort and still cover the rest of the front. Then is the time to earnestly begin a campaign of attrition to wear the Luftwaffe down.

When fighting the Luftwaffe, the new Balkan Front rules greatly reduce the viability of concentrating on wearing down the German fighter force first. Since the first adverse result (even a Return) ends air combat, it does little good to stack several Russian fighters against one German.

On the other hand, ignoring the fighter screen and trying to concentrate on quickly wearing down the German bomber force is not a great idea, either, since two enemy planes each get a shot at one of yours (and if the escort scores, you don't get to shoot at all.).

The best approach seems to be a balanced one, generally matching the escorts one-for-one and attacking the bombers with whatever force is left. Depending on your luck, you should gradually be able to exhaust the Luftwaffe, which will be especially hard-pressed after the massive July 1943 GA withdrawal.

The key word for the VVS commander, as for all Soviet commanders, is: Patience.

Do not wreck your own air force by committing it too early in a contest for general air superiority with the Luftwaffe. Even though the German player has the over-all initiative during the first half of the game, you can choose when and where you will fight in the air. By enlarging and upgrading your air force over time, taking advantage of local opportunities and aggressively conducting operations in areas away from the main Luftwaffe fighter force, you can somewhat restrict Luftwaffe operations, strike a nard blow here and there, exasperate the German command, and hasten the time when the VVS can successfully begin to challenge the Luftwaffe for supremacy of the Soviet skies.

More East Front

Chapter 1: Advice for Soviet Players
Chapter 2: The Defense of Odessa
Chapter 3: The VVS
Chapter 4: The Transcaucasus Military District
Chapter 5: The Soviet "Other Forces"
Chapter 6: The Soviet Border Armies