Editing Axis & Allies (section)

==Soviet Union==
It is advised that you randomly distribute the armies among players rather than having players choose. This is because there will be nonstop arguments over who ends up playing Russia, or else the unfortunate player with last pick will end up getting stuck with Russia like that scrawny loser in gym class who'd always get picked last (i.e. probably you if you read this site) and if there was an odd number of total players both teams would try to coax the other teams into taking him. This is because playing Russia in Axis & Allies is not a game. It is a chore. A necessary sacrifice. The sweat of the laborer's brow that must be given up for the greater good of one's comrades and the communal whole. Somebody has to be the poor sod who says "I buy five infantry" turn after turn as he watches everybody else have a good time. The height of the Russia player's excitement is when he rolls lucky enough on those attack dice that he can afford a tank too.

While the most boring faction to play, it is also the most crucial. The entire metagame basically revolves around either protecting Russia (for the Allies) or crushing it (for the Axis). The Russia player has surprisingly little to say in this however, since all he can do is spam infantry and <s>pray for the best</s> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM*''' Religious sentiment is a symptom of political unreliability, comrade.}} [[This Guy|The player who willingly chooses Russia]] will be honored by other players for his noble sacrifice that allowed the rest of them to choose factions that are actually fun to play. 

If the Axis somehow lets the Soviets mass-produce tanks at the rate other Allied countries can (anywhere between 2 to 5 a turn), they're doing it wrong. If the Soviets manage to deploy battleships and not lose the game next turn, the Axis war effort is lost as Stalin declares to abstain from alcohol and Hitler shoots himself in the head three years early.

As far as strategy goes, your main objectives should be to hold Karelia and Caucasus while not letting the Germans surround you, because if they get Archangel, you’re screwed.