The Russian Complete Guide
By Arcane Ranger


Table of Contents
- Russian Overview
- Units
- Cards
- Decks
- Strategies

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Russian Overview

- Cheaper but weaker units (25% Cost Decrease, 20% HP and Attack Decrease)
- Faster training settlers in batches of 3
- Barracks that is a hybrid barracks/outpost
- Versatile and unique cards
- Three unique units for you to utilize

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Units



Villager Stats
HP: 150
Speed: 4
Train Time: 50-55 (Not sure)
Population: 1
LOS: 14
Armor: Hand 20%
Cost: 90f

Your economy will be based off of these simple workers. What's unique about them though, is that they train in batches of 3 and are slightly cheaper. Also, they train faster than normal villagers. Avoid fighting with villagers at all costs, due to the fact that they have a very low attack. They are available in discovery.



Explorer Stats
HP: 400
Speed: 4.5
Train Time: N/A
Population: 0
LOS: 18
Armor: Ranged 10%
Cost: 100g (To revive)
Ranged Attack: 12 (Villager x 0.25, Guardian x 3.0) - ROF 3
Hand Attack: 6 (Villager x 0.25, Guardian x 3.0) - ROF 1.5
Siege: 15

Explorers are incredibly useful and are needed for early exploration. They have a very large LOS, which can be used to your advantage. Also, they can see stealth units. The explorer is classified as Infantry and Ranged Infantry, and is available in discovery.



Musketeer Stats
HP: 120
Speed: 4
Train Time: 30
Population: 1
LOS: 16
Armor: Hand 20%
Cost: 56.25f, 18.75g
Ranged Attack: 18.4 - ROF 3
Hand Attack: 13 (Heavy Cavalry x 3.0, Light Infantry x2.25) - ROF 1.5
Siege: 16

Musketeers are a standard type of unit that can be trained from the blockhouse. They train in batches of 5, and are classified as Infantry and Heavy Infantry. They are good at countering cavalry, although they will die quickly. However, they are very cheap. They can be obtained in colonial, and can be upgraded to veteran, guard, and imperial.



Strelet Stats
HP: 72
Speed: 4.5
Train Time: 30
Population: 1
LOS: 16
Armor: Ranged 30%
Cost: 37.5f, 10w
Ranged Attack: 8 (Heavy Infantry x 2.0, Light Cavalry x 2.0, xpEagle Knight x 2.0, Heavy Cavalry x 0.75, xpCoyote Man x 0.75) - ROF 3
Hand Attack: 4 (Heavy Infantry x 2.0, Light Cavalry x 2.0, xpEagle Knight x 2.0, xpCoyote Man x 0.75, Heavy Cavalry x 0.75)
Siege: 7.2

Strelets are the weakest unit in the game. However, that can also be an advantage. They're very cheap, and can be trained very fast, and also in batches of 10 at the blockhouse. Avoid engaging with heavy cavalry with these guys at any cost, as they will do minimum damage to heavy cavalry. Strelets are classified as Ranged Infantry and Infantry. Use these guys against heavy infantry and light cavalry. Strelets can be trained in colonial, and can be upgraded to veteran, guard, and imperial.



Halberdier Stats
HP: 160
Speed: 4
Train Time: 33
Population: 1
LOS: 12
Armor: Hand 10%
Cost: 37.5f, 52.5g
Ranged Attack: N/A
Hand Attack: 20 (Heavy Cavalry x 2.0, Light Infantry x 1.5) - ROF 1.5
Siege: 28.8

Halberdiers are units that are very good at siege and against cavalry, but not much else. I advise not using these guys because the 20% decrease in health can be very damaging. Halberdiers also train in batches of 4, so it is not as efficient. They are classified as Hand Infantry, Heavy Infantry, and Infantry. Halberdiers are available in fortress age, and can be upgraded to guard and imperial. Halberdiers can be trained from the blockhouse.



Grenadier Stats
HP: 200
Speed: 4
Train Time: 42
Population: 2
LOS: 15
Armor: Ranged 50%
Cost: 120f, 60g
Ranged Attack: 16, Area Radius 3 (Heavy Cavalry x 0.5, Light Infantry x 0.5) - ROF 3
Hand Attack: 8 - ROF 1.5
Siege: 54

Grenadiers are extremely powerful against any type of unit in ranged attack with their 50% resistance. However, like strelets, don't let them get into hand attack, it will minimize their attack greatly. Also, grenadiers are very good at siege, and are the russian royal guard unit. Although grenadiers are very costly, it is wise to have some in your army in the upper ages, because they will be able to soak up a lot of damage. Grenadiers are classified as Infantry, Heavy Infantry, and Siege Trooper. They can be upgraded to veteran, pavlov (royal guard), and imperial. Grenadiers are available from the artillery foundry in colonial.



Cossack Stats
HP: 225
Speed: 6.8
Train Time: 35
Population: 1
LOS: 15
Armor: Ranged 30%
Cost: 75f/75g
Ranged Attack: N/A
Hand Attack: 26 - ROF 1.5
Siege: 15

Cossacks are the main heavy cavalry unit for the russians. Although their attack isn't the greatest, they can soak up a good amount of damage, and are very good at holding off other cavalry so they can't get to the strelets. Cossacks are classified as Cavalry, Hand Cavalry, and Heavy Cavalry. Cossacks can be upgraded to veteran, guard, and imperial, and are available in colonial. They can be trained from the stable.



Cavalry Archer Stats
HP: 265
Speed: 6.8
Train Time: 36
Population: 2
LOS: 14
Armor: Hand 30%
Cost: 100f, 60g
Ranged Attack: 13 (Villager x 0.5, Heavy Cavalry x 3.0, Artillery x 2.0, CoyoteMan x 1.75) - ROF 1.5
Hand Attack: 6.5 (Heavy Cavalry x 4.5, Artillery x 2.0, Coyote Man x 3.5) - ROF 1.5
Siege: 8

Cavalry Archers are a great against Heavy Cavalry and Artillery. This will be very useful for you in the later ages. However, Cavalry Archers have a very bad siege, and it is very hard to micro with them (hit-and-run). Cavalry Archers can be trained from the stable in fortress. They can be upgraded to Tartar (guard) and imperial. Also, cavalry archers are classified as Archer, Light Cavalry, and Ranged Cavalry.



Oprichnik Stats
HP: 250
Speed: 6.8
Train Time: 40
Population: 2
LOS: 15
Armor: Ranged 20%
Ranged Attack: N/A
Hand Attack: 20 (Villager x 3.0, Artillery x 2.0, Siege Trooper x 2.0) - ROF 1.5
Siege: 75

Oprichniks are a raiding unit that is good for raiding, and raiding only. However, you can sometimes use them in battle to take down artillery, but that is not advised, because it is a waste of their potential. Oprichniks are very good at taking down both buildings and villagers too, they are the god of villager killing. They can be trained at the stable in fortress, and can be upgraded to guard and imperial. Oprichniks are classified as Hand Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry, Siege Trooper, and Cavalry.

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Unique and Commonly Used Cards

Boyars

A special card that increases attack and hp of oprichniks, cossacks, and strelets by 15%. Available in colonial. Very useful for strelet+cossack rush combo. You need a lvl 25 HC to get this card, and it can only be shipped once.

Sevastopol

This card allows you to build defenses (forts, walls, blockhouses, and town centers) 65% (I think) faster. However, in TWC, it's 80%. Very useful in FFs and for getting a quick defense up, so it's always good to have it in your deck. It can be sent once, and you need a lvl 40 HC to get it. You can send it in colonial.

TEAM Cold Water Port

A very useful card if you're playing with a team in a water-based map (Caribbean, Hispaniola). I recommend you make a deck for those types of maps, because this card is absolutely useless on maps like Great Plains. It reduces the cost of military ships by 15% (both wood and gold). It can be sent in colonial, and you need a lvl 10 HC to get it.

Distributivisim

A discovery card that grants you a 1.25 wood trickle. Used usually as your first card in TAD. 1.25 wood trickle is equivalent to 2.5 villagers on wood. Highly valuable. You need a lvl 25 HC to get this card. This card can only be shipped once.

Ransack

Gives a 50% bonus in siege to every infantry unit. Available in fortress, and is useful for giving your army more of a boost to take down buildings faster. Used every once in a while, but is useful to have in your deck. This card can only be sent once, and you need a lvl 25 HC to get it.

Strelet Combat

Gives strelets a 20% bonus in both attack and hp. Available in fortress. Useful for giving your army an extra boost, but is only commonly used. Still, good to have in your deck. You need a lvl 10 HC to get this card, and it can only be shipped once.

TEAM Dueling School

Cuts off 25% of the train time for all infantry. This includes grenadiers. Very useful in team games, although in 1v1, it is usually better to send the regular version of this card. Still, very good to have in your deck. This card can be sent in colonial, and you need a lvl 25 HC to get it.

Strelet Horde

Each blockhouse you have will do a one time muster of 5 strelets. Also, strelets get a 10% HP bonus. Useful if you need the extra push of strelets to overcome your opponent, although it's not the best card. Have it in some of your decks. It can be sent in industrial, and you need a lvl 25 HC to get it.

Suvorov Reforms

This card turns all your strelets into musketeers. It can be very useful to trick the enemy and also save you resources, but it can only be sent once. Also, you can send it once you reach fortress, and you need a lvl 40 HC to get it. You should put it in some of your decks in case you get to the latter ages.

TEAM Barracks HP Increased

This cards increases the HP of Barracks, Blockhouses, Nobles' Huts, War Huts, and War Academies for your team by 50% (for blockhouses, war huts, and noble huts) and 100% (for barracks and war academies). It is very useful for a team turtle, but not for a rush. You should only have it in your deck if you're doing a turtle, or possibly a Sevastopol FF. It can be send in colonial, and you automatically get it when you start a deck. You can send it once.

TEAM Cavalry Line of Sight

This card increases the LOS of all cavalry for your team by 4, and it also increases their HP by 10%. It is very useful for scouting, and with certain allies (such as french with curiassers), but it is not very useful when you're by yourself. It can be send in discovery, and you get it when you start a deck. It can only be send once. However, you should only send it when the time seems right, even if it's a discovery card.

TEAM Coastal Defenses

This card increases all buildings' attack against ships by x1. It is only good on maps such as the Caribbean, where sea battle is common. You should have a separate deck for such water-related cards. You can ship this card only once, and you can send it in discovery. It can be gotten when you have a lvl 10 HC.

Cavalry Combat

This card increases all cavalry's attack and HP by 15%. It can be sent in fortress, and you need a lvl 10 HC to get it. Cavalry Combat can only be send once. This card is useful to buff up your cossacks and cavalry archers for battle. If you send this card, cavalry archers will be very powerful and deadly against what they counter (due to the fact that they are Tartar).

National Redoubt

Musketeers can now build forts. Fort limit increased by 1. Can be sent in Industrial. Very useful for fort hopping and gaining massive map control. Forts are also very powerful defensive structures. You need a lvl 40 HC to get this card. This card can only be shipped once.

Blockhouse Cannon

Allows you to train falconets and mortars at your blockhouse. Can be sent in fortress, and isn't very useful, because it doesn't save that many resources (you can just build an artillery foundry). You need a lvl 10 HC to get this card. This card can only be shipped once.

700 Food

What it sends is pretty self-explanatory. Very useful card that is almost always sent as a second card in colonial. This card is very useful for getting better military and villager production. It can be sent in colonial, and you need a lvl 10 HC to get it. It can only be shipped once.

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Decks

The Russian Rush Deck


The Russian Rush Deck #2


The Russian FF Deck


The Russian Treaty Deck


A Level 40+ HC is recommended to get the best results for each deck. Remember, this is just a basic guideline to how you should structure your decks.

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The RUssian Mostly Musketeer Rush
This type of Russian rush utilizes musketeers other than strelets which gives you a better siege, and counters any cavalry the opponent might make. Add in strelets and cossacks, and you have a deadly combo.

Deck
Discovery – Distributivisim, Land Grab, Economic Theory
Colonial - 700f, 700w, 5 Cossacks, Boyars, Fencing School, Reformist Tsar, Advanced Arsenal
Fortress - 1000w, 2 falconets, Royal Mint, Refrigeration
Industrial - Factory, Industrial Revolution

Recommended Cards
Discovery - Team Scout Cavalry
Colonial - 600f, 600w, 700g, Team Dueling School, 13 Strelets
Fortress - 6 Oprinicks, Strelet Combat, Cavalry Combat, 11 Musketeers, Ransack, 1000f, 1000g (For Mercantilism)
Industrial – National Redoubt, Castramentation.

Discovery Age
-All 5 Settlers to crates, start clicking the settler button like crazy
-Treasure hunt with your explorer, prioritizing Food and Wood treasures
-Queue up batch of settlers
-3 Settlers on hunts, 1 vill building house, 1 vill on rest of crates
-Set Town Center gather point to food
-Send Distributivism
-Age with 14 Settlers, and the QuarterMaster (400 wood)

Transition Discovery-Colonial
-Two settlers to a forward location to build blockhouse, preferably near huntables
-Split settlers so that it’s 9f/5w (2 wood crates) or 7-8f/6-7w (1 wood crate)
-Continue gathering resources, and then build a house

Colonial Age
-Queue up batch of settlers
-Queue up batch of Strelets
-Send 5 Cossacks
-Make home city gather point your blockhouse
-Re-organized eco should be 10f/1w/3g (approximately)
-Send 10 Strelets+5 Cossacks to raid and only RAID Killing unguarded Light Infantry is also acceptable
-Keep raiding until you have around 10-20 Musketeers (or what you find suitable enough for the final push)
-Second card in colonial should be 700f or 13 Strelets if your 5 cossacks+10 strelets have been severely damaged or killed.
-You should be harassing and raiding until you have sufficient musketeers to effectively take out any military and also effectively siege buildings
-If your rush has been defeated, go to Fortress, you generally want to age with 5 Cossacks or 17 Strelets politician, or you can stay in colonial and continue battering him with more waves of Musketeers and some Strelets

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The Strelet+Cossack Rush
This type of rush is the most commonly used rush. You can raid with cossacks in the lulls of fighting, and your massive amounts of strelets can easily intimidate the enemy. You also have a semi-boom by keeping constant villager production.

Deck
Discovery: Distributivism, Land Grab, Economic Theory
Colonial: 700f, 700w, 5 cossacks, Boyars, Advanced Arsenal, Fencing School, Sevastopol, Fencing School, Team Dueling School, Riding School, Reformist Tsar
Fortress: Strelet Combat, Ransack, Cavalry Combat, 6 Oprichniks, 2 Falconets, 1 Fort, Royal Mint, Refrigiration
Industrial: Industrial Revolution, Factory Wagon, Castrametation, National Redoubt

Discovery
-Gather all food crates first
-Once you que your first batch of villagers, send 2 settlers to hunts
-Leave extra wood/coin crates, gather them later
-Set TC gather point to food
-Send 1 settler to make a house, then send him to food
-Ship in distributivism
-Age with 17 settler, and the Quartermaster (400w)

Transition Discovery-Colonial
-Set 6-8 settlers onto wood
-Send 2 settlers to a forward position to build a blockhouse
-Queue up a batch of settlers once you have sufficient food
-Build blockhouse ASAP at the forward position (usually near hunts)
-Build a house with 1 settler from wood
-Try to get 375f/100w before hitting colonial
-You should have a settler split of 11f/4w/2 Blockhouse Builders (or around that)

Colonial
-Immediately queue 10 strelets
-Immediately send 5 cossacks
-Set HC gather point to the blockhouse
-Send 2 villagers from wood to collect the crates
-Once you have 200w, build a stable
-Queue up as many cossacks as possible once the stable is up
-Build a house once you get another 100w
-Your settler split should now be 14f/2w/4g
-Start raiding with the cossacks
-Send in 700f to help you increase production of both strelets and settlers
-Send in 700w to make more houses, increase strelet production, or make a blockhouse/artillery foundry
-Attack when you feel right (scout his base), you should have around 30 strelets and 15 cossacks (or you can go for a quicker attack)
-Remember to always have a couple cossacks at home to defend your strelets
-Your next card should probably be boyars
-From there, improvise as necessary, and keep raiding him if he doesn't attack you

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The Russian 3 Blockhouse FF (The R3BFF) (I know, not the best name)

The Russian FF is very versatile and powerful. It is a very good counter to cavalry based civilizations, and is very hard to beat, due to the 3 blockhouses and TC fire. Russians also have very powerful age 3 units and cards, such as Suvorov Reforms and Oprichniks. This will also let you get one of the most powerful booms in the game, 9 villagers every 55 seconds.

Deck
Discovery: Distributivisim, Economic Theory, Land Grab
Colonial: 700g, Sevastopol, Dueling School, 5 cossacks, Reformist Tsar
Fortress: 1000f, 1000w, 17 strelets, 2 falconets, 9 Manucharian Archers, Suvorov Reforms, Refrigeration, Royal Mint
Industrial: National Redoubt, Industrial Revolution, 1 Factory Wagon

Recommended Cards
Discovery: Exotic Hardwoods
Colonial: 700w, TEAM Dueling School, Riding School, Boyars, Advanced Arsenal
Fortress: 1000g, 11 Musketeers, Cavalry Combat, Strelet Combat, Ransack
Industrial: Castrametation

Discovery
-All 5 Settlers to crates, start clicking the settler button like crazy
-Treasure hunt with your explorer, prioritizing Food, Wood, and Gold treasures
-Queue up batch of settlers
-3 Settlers on hunts, 1 vill building house, 1 vill on rest of crates
-Set Town Center gather point to food
-HERD! This is very important! Get at least another herd besides for your first one at your base
-Send Distributivism
-Age with 17 Settlers, and the QuarterMaster (400 wood)

Transition Discovery-Colonial
-Send 4-5 villagers to gold, 9 villagers to wood, and keep the rest on food
-Once you collect 250 wood, build a blockhouse in a defensive position (if you're not a good herder, put this near your herds)
-Once you have another 200w, build another two houses (not sure about this part)
-Once you have collected the 450-550 wood (depending on starting crates) shift all your wood gatherers to food (remember to have an excess 100 wood before hitting colonial)
-You should now have a settler split of 13f/4g or 17f (if you're done gathering the 300 gold)

Colonial
-You should hit colonial at around 5:00 or so
-Send 3 settlers from food to collect the crates
-Shift all your settlers from gold to food
-Queue up two batches of settlers
-Ship in 700g
-Once you have 250 wood, send two settlers collecting the crate to build another blockhouse in a defensive position
-Once the settler has finished collecting crates, build a third blockhouse in a defensive position
-Once the two settlers are done building your second blockhouse, send them to help build the third blockhouse
-The rush should hit around now (if he's rushing) and will probably retreat due to your blockhouses+tc fire
-You should be clicking the age up button at around 6:40-7:15 (depending on rush)
-Age with the 17 strelet politician (unless your opponent is going mostly cavalry, then age with 5 cossacks)

Transition Colonial-Fortress
-You should've gotten a card around now, you can either save it if he isn't attacking, or send 5 cossacks or 13 strelets
-Your villagers should either be garrisoned or off getting resources, you should have a split between food and wood to get some strelets for defense
-If he's not attacking, your villagers should be gathering a combination of all three resources (for well rounded army) or mainly gold (for manchurians)
-Also if he's not attacking, build a church and ship in the Reformist Tsar
-If you shipped in the Reformist Tsar, switch most of your villagers to wood
-Remember to garrison 10 villagers max if he's attacking
-If he's attacking, remember to make some strelets every so often

Fortress
-You now have a choice of cards to send depending on the situation: 2 Falconets, 6 oprichniks, 11 musketeers, 17 strelets, 9 Manchurian archers, or resource crates
-Send cards as necessary, I personally like going with 9 Manchurian archers or 2 falconets
-Start cranking out villagers, and distribute as necessary
-Villager split should be around 17f/5w/6g
-Upgrade units to veteran as necessary (usually strelets first)
-Start pushing back with veteran units, attack, raid, siege with falconets a bit
-Remember to make/send oprichniks, they're incredibly useful for raiding and taking down lone houses
-Remember that you'll have a large and powerful army in a short time, use that to overcome the enemy. Don't let him have any breathing room, strike hard and strike fast with you're more powerful and massed units

A couple notes on this strategy. My fortress age is very vague, please help me improve it. I'm still experimenting which is best to send and what army to have, I usually improvise. Also, the Reformist Tsar tech for upgrading units to veteran, I'm still experimenting with that too.

Recorded Games

The RUMM Rush

Coming up next: Russian FF
Russian Semi-FF (maybe)
Decks

[This message has been edited by Arcane Ranger (edited 11-26-2008 @ 09:37 AM).]