If I were to ask you what nation in Seas of Thunder had the most challenging setup in the game, you might be hard pressed to come up with the correct answer (unless you read the title, then have a cookie). Yes, it’s Russia. In fact, the only nation even close to having as unforgiving a start is Italy, who must only decide which ships start in the Mediterranean and which start outside those waters. For the Communists, that would be child’s play. The Soviet Union must fight four separate battles that for the most part cannot be reinforced. Failure in any of these arenas can be crushing to the Allies.

The four theaters that the Russians find themselves embroiled in are the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. Each one has its own bases, its own rules, its unique opponents, and its own challenges. Each fight will require different assets and even different mindsets based on the scenario being fought. No matter which scenario is tried, the most important decision the Russians will face all game is what ships start in what theater? Because after the shooting starts, where they start is probably where they will end.

The Russians have the following forces available to them at the start of turn 8 when they enter the war:

• 3 Battleships
• 7 Cruisers with minelaying capability
• 1 Light Cruiser
• 1 Heavy Cruiser
• 5 Short Range Destroyers
• 15 Ocean-Capable Subs
• 10 Coastal Subs
• 1 Minelayer
• 4 Minesweepers

The Baltic Sea

In the Baltic, the only Russian base is Leningrad with a ship capacity of 9. Deploying the heavy cruiser or the ocean-capable subs here is a waste. Any ships here are locked into an area consisting of just two sea-zones without making a suicide run into the North Sea past the German minefields. Let’s assume you aren’t actively trying to lose the game that way and acknowledge that those two sea zones are all you can or will reach in the game. The biggest problem is that your 9 ships can be jumped and decimated by a huge German fleet anytime you venture forth. What ships do you choose to deploy there before the war begins? My choice is coastal subs and minesweepers. The subs can only be countered by the small number of German ASW destroyers or else using their powerful air assets to hunt the small craft. Every destroyer you can sink is a future free pass for the subs. The idea is not to actually contest the waters with this fleet but to force the Axis to funnel ships into the fight. Every German ship fighting here is not fighting in other more important places.

The placement is the same in the campaign game but the need to come out and fight each turn is tricky. Over the 17 turns Russia is in the game, even that fleet won’t survive until the end without staying home and not sailing on many if not most of the turns.

The Black Sea

This fight is all on you. There are 4 sea zones to contest but in the mid-war, one of those zones is 3 sea zones away from your base. Your first thought will be to use 2-speed ships here and, as long as you control Sevastopol, that is a valid option. If you control Sevastopol, your minelaying cruisers and the remainder of your coastal subs will serve you well. If it is a scenario where you only control Batum, you must include the 3-range cruisers and not just the 2-range. The problem for you is that the enemy is generally only the Romanian fleet, but it is possible to face Italian or German submarines in the area. Unless you think your opponent will be making that play in the area, just assume they won’t. In general, whatever you put in the area can out-muscle the Romanians, but too much muscle feels like an absolute waste. The equalizer might be German or Italian air flying out of Bulgaria, Romania or captured Soviet bases.

The Arctic Ocean

In the great white north, you can probably expect some assistance from the British based in England or Reykjavik. The only connected waters are with the Pacific however so what is based in Archangel, Murmansk and Dikson are pretty much on their own defending some choice points that the Axis would love to sink their teeth into. Too few defenders will invite the wolves to come and feast on you. Too many defenders assure that other theaters will be denuded of forces.  Some players like to use the long-range Russian ships here, and while Soviet subs in the Atlantic or even the Petropavlovsk searching out her sister ships for a little payback has its pleasures. Do not be tempted here. Base the remainder of your short range (2-Value) ships here. Patrol just the soviet Arctic Sea Zones and don’t try to be too bold in the Atlantic. The payoff isn’t worth potential losses. My recommendation is that every ship with a range of 2, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines not assigned to the Baltic or Black Seas be deployed here. Protect the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, and the Laptov Sea and deny the Axis those nine victory points they can gain in the area.

Pacific Ocean

That leaves the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. In Seas of Thunder there is a quirky little rule about Japanese and Soviet interaction. Simply stated, they cannot fight unless some very controllable instances occur, or the Russian player declares war on the Japanese. The simplest way that the Soviets can start fighting the Japanese is to declare war when the first Japanese-Soviet shared zone is resolved on a given turn. A “yes” from the Soviet player will spark the Japanese/Soviet front and all bets are off for the remainder of the game. My personal advice, having seen both sides of that coin is to imitate Stalin and stay non-belligerents until the very end of the war, jumping on the bandwagon only when you have allies already swarming Japan from all sides. The only other “incidental” way to fight the Japanese is to get caught up in a swirling battle that involves Japanese, Soviet, another Axis side and another Allied side. If this combination occurs, Japanese and Soviet ships will be involved in the battle and could end up firing on each other. But at the end of the combat, the peace is re-established.

The most important job of the Soviet Pacific fleet is to patrol the Soviet scoring zones (East Siberian Sea, Chuchki Sea, Gulf of Anadyr, and the sea of Okhotsk. Just about any ships left over from other theaters can manage this task. Yes, the occasional Italian or German raider or long-range sub will find its way into their patrol area and fight a quick skirmish. But typically if you don’t antagonize the Japanese behemoth it won’t bite back. And on that note, I’ll advocate for just that, poking the Japanese just a smidge. You still have those long-range subs and the Petropavlovsk to assign. Here is where you can become a thorn in the side of the Japanese. This is how you might annoy them into a mistake.

Deploy these ships into the most valuable Japanese waters you can manage, preferably in force. If it can be arranged. Try to target Italian and German convoys as well. The Japanese player cannot afford to ignore you as this may well be the perfect moment for you to “turn” on them and declare war. The Japanese will always have to counter your forces just in case. German and Italian ships in the area either have to move in defense of their convoys or leave them to your mercy. Any German or Italian ship defending their own ships are not searching for your convoys. Even if they do try and defend their convoys, Soviet subs can be a nasty surprise for them.

The Soviets do have some tense head-to-head theaters, but the Pacific isn’t one of them. Out there, outmatched by the rising sun, lurking in the shadows and implied threats are the key to the game.

Playing the Russians at first seems so simple it cannot be challenging at all. The first time you make the mistake of misplacing ships, witnessing the disaster as it cascades from front to front can be sobering. In fact playing the Soviets in a multi-player game can be the most fun and challenging of all.

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