Typically AI Germany eventually loses, but it often pushes SOV further than it did historically. I think the balance is a bit too much on the side of the Allies currently, ideally I would want them to focus more on Japan and slow down their deployments in Europe overall but it feels really hard to improve. Sometimes you can see Allies start pushing far beyond Berlin, well into the Soviet border. Sometimes all their transports get shot down and they fail to take a single beach. Both extremes feel really bad to play but not sure I can make them much rarer than they are without resorting to basically spawning units.
The control I can get over AI invasions is really weak, unless I basically dismantle all non-transport navies at which point invasions are somewhat predictable but obviously that really sucks - AI navy is too easy to get through anyway. By the end of the way you will see hundreds of TP casualties, often with hundreds of divisions dead on the bottom of the sea. Funnily enough HOI4 "solves" this by making invasions impossible to stop but requiring a temporary naval supremacy in the area instead, so essentially they go the "dismantle navy" route. I think in an ideal world HOI2 AI uses transport templates with way better backup than 2 obsolete DDs, and uses 1-TP fleets way less often.
I think there is multitude of problems with GER vs SOV
1. GER got few boni to their infantry and tech before and during war by events - compared to SOV div which are literally nerfed by their doctrine
2. SOV lacks... MANPOWER. You can stack 30-40 div per tile with HQs, and should be enough (~400-500 divisions at the start of barbarossa) but until winter war there is chance, that your longly build up assembly line of infantry units just get out of manpower and then - goes without bonus
3. Just worse techteam. Comparing German teams with SOV, german ones are 2-3 levels better AND have better suited specialisations
4. AI have some unique boni to IC development, so when you play SOV, you have around 300 IC before Great Purge hits, which is essentialy end of industrial buildup, While AI easily gets 400 (and germans are the same case, whatever you playing).
5. SOV have malice to their industrial output ~20% before state commity event, but until that, you have to loose 3% of national prov - which means some crucial breakthroug and problem with stopping german behemoth.
6. Air raid event need to be redrawn. Also, it's easier to divide air units in one division stacks - because it destroys whole armies, not divisions
BTW, the same with French loss of ships in 1940, which shouldn't happen if you STILL FIGHTING THEM (also, french infantry is even worse in attack from soviet ones, but if you're quick during war with Poland, it's easy to secure rhein line and wait until 1941 when allying evennts starts)
There is plenty to do IMHO, especially if we focus on not adding 420 free infantry for SOV from thin air
While as a player who knows events, I can focus on quick flip sides on balkan states and play around encirclements and paratroop closings, even then SOV are hard playthrough, just from weak units
Glad you enjoyed it! I worked with a friend on the Operation Pike event chain and everything surrounding it, it was a lot of fun. I think the alternative military operations are my favourite part of the mod.
I admit I struggle with Soviets a lot myself, too. On both ends of that war actually, it feels really hard for me to go up against SOV as GER especially towards harder difficulties, and playing as SOV against strong GER is a nightmare for me too. The event can be played around a bit, insofar iirc the relation of your airforce to Germany influences how much you lose.
If someone's interested, I hope to put out an update sometime this year still fwiw. Wasted a lot of time trying to get Communist China better just to end up without nothing to show for it, but I made a few random improvements over time
Before I post the update here I was hoping to make an event chain around the London Gun and play a series of CHI, ITA games to add some improvements around those countries.
CHC and CHI lacks gameplay after fading sun, especially if done before 1939 (also, Weak techteams compared to IC you can make before 1941). Maybe easy route to join main factions, leaving CHI with choice between Axis and Allies?
