Russian AAR
So my first few games as Russia were weird in the extreme. Being at negative stability and political power seemed unavoidable but I noticed a few decisions and focus options that helped. The Kazakh rebellion was easy to defeat my first time through, but I timed out in a couple later runs so I found you have to micro to guarantee success.
Finally I thought I had it down, but accidentally started the war with Germany via focus before I expected and it didn't go well. So this time I avoided that focus to better prepare but by staying out of the war Germany has conquered France, Great Britain, and Ireland. I suspect I will never reach the strength level to actually win now. It seems the best policy will be to start the war early when you have allies and Germany has a two front war. But I'm going to play this through, keep perfecting my armies, and see how the eventual war with Germany goes.
What I'm finding bedeviling that I hadn't noticed or didn't encounter before is that my party popularity is at 0%. I don't see any hooks to bring that up besides a few scattered random events that can move it just a few % points. I'm National Populist which I think is the democratic path although the politics are still confusing. Why am I not being voted out of office? It's August 1942. When is the next election?
I'm looking forward to any comments or recommendations you may have. Thanks!