The Russian WAR, or White Army’s Revenge

Yes, this is a strategy for Russia, developed from the precursors of Lord_Sami’s strategy for a more desirable and planned outcome. But I’m sure you’re asking…

What is the White Army? Well, the White Army was the Red Army’s opposition in Russia’s Civil War. The White Army lost the war and… something happened. Anyways, the importance is that the Russian Cossacks were a part of this “White Army”. As you probably have just guessed, this is a very unexpected Russian Strategy, but still just as viable as the rest. It is the Cossack Start.

What is Cavalry? is probably what most of the Russian players reading this are asking. Not many people base an army off of Cossacks right at the start of Colonial. But why not? Not realizing this as an option really cuts down on Russian options, which is my goal to expand. If you have read the mathematics of my other strategy, the Musket Cossack Rush, you know that Cossacks are quite potent cavalry, and can be abused. So, on to the cards.

Necessary Cards
Distribivutism
5 Cossacks
4 Cossacks
13 Strelets
700 Food
700 Gold
Boyars

Recommended Cards
2 Falconets
Strelet Combat
Refridgeration
1000 Wood
Land Grab
Factories
Forts & National Redoubt
Infantry Training Cards
Schooners

The Build Order

Discovery Age
You know, the usual, 14 villager age-up (can be 17 against some civilizations depending on personal preference), first card Distribivutism, age with the 400 Wood politician. If you are unsure of exactly what to do early game, take a look at MrMilo’s Early Game Guide. You can see him perform some of the tricks that will make you age up faster by maximizing your villagers efficiency. As for treasures, look for all of them, really. I’m one of those people who will get any treasures that I find, providing they are not like a 1 Wolf or 2 Sheep treasure. All treasures are helpful though. Make sure to scout a place for your FB too, just remember not to make it too forward, as you won’t be starting with a blockhouse this time around.

Transition
Well, what do you want to have by the time you age up? For this strategy you want a batch of villagers queued up, 300 Wood, and a start to an even income of Food and Gold. Why villagers? Obvious. Why 300 Wood? Not so obvious. 300 + 400 = 700 Wood. That’s a lot of wood. Now it’s obvious we want a stable as soon as we age up. That’s 200. We will also want 3 houses, another 300. 200 left over. 200 plus Distribivutism’s unpredictability gives us 250 by the time the crates are gathered. This will be used to build a blockhouse, which will we get to later. So, what I like to do, is stick a large amount of villagers on wood just upon clicking Age-Up, maybe 9. Have them gather until you hit about 250, which should be about halfway until the Age-Up is complete, maybe less depending on starting wood crates. Distribivutism should make up the difference. While your villagers are walking to/from the wood, have a villager build a house. Now, you should only need 200 Wood upon Age-Up. Try to get as close to this number as possible. It may take a bit of practice, as I usually don’t realize the exact rate of Distribivutism’s Wood generation. Now you’ll also want that villager batch. Keep the other 5 villagers on food. Surprisingly, you should reach the two totals at around the same time. Afterwards, switch about 7/8 villagers to Gold, and the rest to food. Try to keep a little more Food than Gold. Send 3 villagers forward to build the stable, and keep those 3 villagers as Gold/Food villagers until the Age-Up.

Colonial Age
Make a stable and send 5 Cossacks ASAP. Gather your wood. Make 2 houses and a blockhouse. Make the blockhouse a little behind your stable in hope that your opponent won’t scout it. Once your stable is completed, queue as many Cossacks as possible. It may be a little difficult to get 5 out, or maybe it’s just my terrible eco-macro. 4 will do fine. Once you get these out and together with your shipped Cossacks, begin raiding and harassing. If you see any small, unprotected groups of RI, don’t be skittish, take them out. Just watch out for minute men. Once your third shipment comes in, you should have a general idea of what you need. Your third shipment should be either 4 Cossacks or 700 Food. If you feel the extra Cossacks aren’t really necessary, go for the food for villagers. Villagers will be very hard to manage if you decide not to opt for 700 Food, so choose wisely. Regardless, keep the stable pumping Cossacks. Once you get out your second batch of Cossacks out, you can take some villagers off of Gold and put them onto Food. Now once that fourth shipment everything comes together. You have Cossacks in the high teens, an opponent with a startled eco and a HI heavy army, a shipment, about 100 Wood, about 20 spare population, and a couple hundred Food. Here comes the shank. Your opponent is hopefully suspecting more Cossacks, as anyone would be. But now, queue up a batch of Strelets and send 13 Strelets. So now, after exhausting all of your military shipments, you shove your true strategy in his face. Walk right into his base like a raid, but with the Strelets a bit behind. He should move any HI he has forward and once they reach range of your Strelets, you slaughter them. Simple as that. Now, hopefully, you will have most of your Cossacks and Strelets left. His military is practically reset. So you go in for the kill. Spam more Strelets or Cossacks into his base, and that’s GG.

When should I use this strategy?
Well, I find this strategy effective against Infantry Starts, most booms, and those “adaptable” strategies. Its effectiveness against FFs is yet to be determined. This strategy is NOT effective against other Cav Starts that involve unit shipments, like an 8 Hussar Start, because of Cossack TrainTime:Effectiveness Ratio, and Pike Rushes, since they have too much siege and counter your Cossacks. Otherwise, this strategy is pretty reliable.

Recorded Games
Russian Cossack Start - Lord_Sami v. Buenissimo. Effectivity? Eh. Does it show the BO in action? I would hope so, I haven't watched it yet...

Now, if you have a question, comments, or praise, throw it upon me!

[This message has been edited by O_man0 (edited 11-29-2009 @ 03:11 PM).]