Russia Details (M2TW Faction)

This is a Faction Details article or section. Information herein is based on players individual experiences and may not be independently verifiable. In the event of a disagreement please discuss on the talk page.

Religion

The Russians are one of just 2 Orthodox Christian factions in the game. To the south of you is the other, the Byzantine Empire. To the south west, there are the Catholic Polish and the Hungarians. Located to the south over the Black sea, and the Caucasus Mountains are the Islamic Turks. Because of the fact you aren't Catholic, you have no direct relation to the pope, and are therefore under no pressure to participate in Crusades and to please the Papal States. You also, of course, will not be involved in Jihads.

Military

Infantry

The Russians have weak early infantry units, meaning regular militia/peasant units. However in the high period they already have fairly good units such as the Dismounted Boyar-Sons and Druzhina. In addition, they get decent spearmen and their most useful infantry unit - the Dismounted Dvor. Those elite units can double as both great archers and a decent hand-to-hand unit. In the late period they can get the Berdiche axemen who are a good shock unit for breaching enemy lines. As nearly all Russians use axes they are useful against the armour of the dismounted European knights.

Cavalry

Cavalry is the mainstay of the Russian army. The Russians specialize in horse archers (Kazaks, Cossack Cavalry) and have excellent dual use cavalry (Boyar Sons, Dvor). In particular, the Boyar Sons can pepper the enemy with javelins and then surprise them with a full charge. The Dvor fill the heavy horse archer role and are capable in hand to hand combat as well. Though most Russian cavalry don't use lances (except the late period bodyguard) their Druzhina and the excellent Tsar's guard can challenge any equivalent western knight. In hand to hand combat the Russian cavalry usually use axes, giving them an armour-piercing bonus over most other horsemen.

Ranged

The Russians start with fairly weak peasant archers. As they progress they can build crossbow militia in the cities and the dual use Dismounted Dvor unit in castles. Most of Russia's cavalry is also ranged (read above). The Russians really shine with their Cossack Musketeers, whose long range is particularly useful against the Mongol horse archers. They can also get the fearsome Basilisk cannon, and put guns on their late period fleets.

A note on fashion- If you have good armouries it can be pretty amazing to see the Russian spear, crossbow and generals bodyguard units radically change their appearance on the battle map.

Economy

Many of the lands you will acquire early on in your Russian campaign will have little resources. Meaning that in the beginning of the game your treasury is almost empty every turn. In order to sustain a good economy, capture as many cities on the Baltic Sea as soon as possible and build ports for naval trade. You then need to build roads in every settlement and hire a lot of merchants because there is a lot of fur, wood and amber resources lying around the Russian plains. After gaining a few rebel territories, you will need to try to capture southern provinces such as Kiev and Caffa, for Black sea trade. This will be important for trade with richer Mediterranean factions.

Campaign Strategy

The Russian kingdom is small and isolated and at the start of the grand campaign is centered solely on the capital city of Novgorod. The initial target for the Russian kingdom should be expansion through the occupation of nearby rebel settlements such as Smolensk and Helsinki. Once this is achieved, sights can then be turned to Eastern Europe. The Poles and Hungarians to the Southwest are the main rivals to expansion and need to be watched carefully - the vast open plains of the Russian kingdom can be very tempting to an ambitious rival.

Early on the Russian army is made up of spear and archer militia supplemented by woodsmen and Kazaks. The early Russian infantry units are relatively poor compared to those available to other factions but it is the mix of strong missile and melee cavalry units, such as the Cossack cavalry, that will enable a Russian general to gain superiority on the battlefield.

Expansion

Despite Russia's slow economy and weak early game army, there are many rebel provinces to expand upon. The starting town is surrounded by 4 rebel settlements. This is important because, if you get there early enough in the game there shouldn't be a garrison in the villages. (Smolensk,Moscow Riga and Helsinki). Vilnius can be tough as it has a large garrison, so it may be wise to wait for the Poles to weaken it. Once you get your 6 most critical provinces (Riga, Helsinki,Vilnius,Moscow Smolensk and obviously Novgorod) under control, you can start the big expansion. There are more rebels to the east, to the south is Kiev and access to the black sea, or you can take on Poland and/or Hungary in the west. There is also the possibility of landing in Scandinavia and getting to the Danes and Holy Roman Empire from the North.

Different Strategy

Recruit as much units than you can for ca. five turns, then sell all buildings in your capital. Recruit mercenary troops and, very important, mercenary ships. Then set sail to Scotland, landing near the rebel castle of Inverness. Capture it and you can give your former capital to another power in exchange for gold or an alliance. So, with your mobile forces you can easily capture all of England Scotland and Ireland. No more danger through the Mongols/Timurids a much better econimical position and lots of catholic factions to conquer.