Avoid being involved in a 1vs1 battle with grenadiers, especially that they may be reinforced with a heavy machine gun. The most important thing right now is to spread the German forces and have them surrounded everywhere. At this stage of the game, the Victory Points are not that important. Send them in large numbers to seize the terrain, including behind enemy lines. Enlist 2-3 units of conscripts and one more unit of engineers, and one of the conscripts again.
Right after you begin, start seizing the nearby terrain with your engineers. That is when you should use your numbers to attack the spread German units. In a direct battle, though, they are weaker than the Germans and, that is why, their tactics should be based mainly on seizing territories as quickly as possible and spreading the enemy forces. If you have already finished the campaign mode, owing to your knowledge of the available units, it is best to try playing as the Red Army throughout the first skirmishes with the live opponent.
