Just played a Russian (me) vs. Greyhound07 (Aztecs).
So I took India w/warrior in 3100. Got my 100 gold in 3000 BC along w/HBR in 3000 so I held off building HA until 2900 BC but I got it vet in 2800 BC. Kept on hammers just like Headless Russian strategy said (btw, this is a good strategic guide that focuses more on thought-patterns rather than details which is great I think).
I decided to build 2 warriors in Delhi & move them out to choke scout. Sure enough, found an Aztec warrior. I choked him out & he moved on. My vet HA was on a hill NE about 3-4 squares. I move my warrior NW after he ends his turn. I see his HA west of my warrior. There is friendly hut NW of my HA on the hill. I decide I'll use it as bait for his HA by running my warrior to the NE on a hill which is 2 away from the friendly. This should draw in his HA while his warrior was attacking another barb. At least that was the plan to avoid any button races.
The Greeks were to the north & the 7C was east of them so my settler was moving east to settle to build a galley & go get it. The map wasn't great so it took 3-4 turns to get to a city spot w/any food. Sorry, I like a little food to help expansion.
Well, the plan didn't quite work out. The barb gave him a caravan so it took the village so the element of suprise was gone. Anyhow I decide to take his caravan since I can move only 1 to the hill & still counter his horses while he'll have to move 2 as he did attack my warrior as I had hoped. BTW, this drew him away from Delhi. But I was still on all hammers. I soon saw he brought a second HA to Delhi. Great! So I brought 1 warrior back to Delhi (it had been on a tree to choke & protect the tree) & built another one so I had 2 warriors in Delhi & he had 1 warrior & 1 HA by Delhi.
So next turn I was on my HA that took the caravan & was under threat by his HA. I move to the hill. He only moves 1 square as he can't reach me. He attacks Delhi. I rush a horse out of Delhi & my cap & put them 2 away between the 2 cities on a hill. Knowing I will lose Delhi next turn, I move the warrior on the tree by the hill to provide a buffer & end his movement allowing my non-vet to attack from the hill (once I rush 3rd horse from my cap). There is no other path to my cap so it's going to force the issue.
The next turn, he comes after my HA on the hill. I move, he moves, I move again, he misses me & now I'm on a hill, & he's on desert. I'm vet, he's non-vet & there's a river between us. I have the clear advantage if I can win the button race next turn. He takes Delhi w/his second HA & goes after my warrior. He wins but I rush my 3rd horse from my cap, make the army & kill his HA, 9 vs. 6. Yes!
The next turn I win the button race & attack his HA 9 vs. 3 & win. Ok, now I feel safe & the game is coming to me. I decide I'll try to press him but I'm not going to be crazy as a 2 HA advantage, I don't want to lose. I just want to clear the area & get $$ & force him to build archer armies. The rest will take care of itself. I ADAR & see he's got some unit 3 squares from my vet HA. I'm worried he's got a 3rd HA so I move only 1 square to the hill & wait for him to end his turn/move. I see it's a warrior so I'm like ok, go kill him. I move next turn & kill 3 warriors & get infiltration. Nice! I'm going to press him now. I move my HA by Delhi to the SW since it's still cloudy & this is where the 2nd HA appeared from while the north HA moves west. I see both were connected & he's got a city to SW on a hill. I decide I can afford to lose my non-vet HA & just go for broke (you'd be proud of me Duke/Tyshine!
. I attack, 6 vs. 5 & win against his archer. Sweet! I bring down the Inf. HA. It's now 2 squares diagonal NW of the same city. I did lose 1/2 my HA so I'll need to heal one but can attack w/the other. Next turn I attack w/Infil. HA & win 12 vs. 5 but also lose 1/2 army but I heal my other HA so I'm just going to ping-pong his 100 gold city till I take it. I already have 3 cities & am going to rush a galley on this turn but he quits. I think it was somewhere around 1500-2000 BC range.
A very satisfying win as the Russians against an Aztec player which could have easily gone the other way.
I must say that Headless's strategy which I boned up on last night was quite helpful. One thing about playing Russia is that it forces you to get better. You'll have some tough losses but it forces you to make every turn count & to be very in-tune with the "flow" of the game: when to be aggressive, when to expand, when to tech, when to be on gold, where to rush units, etc.... I know it sounds wierd but I've built 2 HA on multiple occasions w/Russia to create a safe perimeter (almost always the first order of business w/Russia) but also use warriors/archers as needed. I've had some games where I actually built loyalty archer armies & it was effective to stop English knight advance & then counter w/catapults. I've built granaries sometimes too w/4+ granary spots. I've really done a lot of different things but have been succesful usually. I find that feeling out your opponent is very important. Those first 10 turns, you've got to identify the type of player you're playing & adapt accordingly. If they get HBR in the first 10 turns, they are likely a hyper-aggressive type (especially if they are a rusher civ & start attacking AI civs) so you can simply get your 100 gold, your HA & start setting up scouts to prepare since they will likely come hard after you since people tend to think Russia is weak (which it is btw). If you can get your 100 gold & prepare in time, you've got a shot. Many players aren't hyper-aggressive in which case, you can do just fine as Russia can settle/grow anywhere & expand pretty flexibly or not if you prefer to do a fewer city strategy (8-10). I enjoy rushing granaries once in a while which is fun. If you can get a 3+ granary site rushed by 1700 BC, you'll have 9-10 pop in that city by 0. Not necessary but it's fun!
Now there are games where it's just pointless. Like the time I moved my settlers, settled next to a barb, kept losing 2/3 warrior & the stupid barb popped a flag every 2 turns. I was found by enemy in 3100 BC with nothing to show for myself. Just total garbage. However, I can say it's only maybe 5-10% of the games fortunately.
While it's hard work to play Russia, I can feel myself getting better which is nice.
best regards,
Pedal2Metal
Originally Posted by Zefelius
I think I learned that lesson from you when your Mongols beat my UK knights. I didn't have much cash or much land, and eventually exhausted myself against your cheaper cats. In the end, if I remember correctly, you still lost in that player FFA match against an Egyptian guy who had a ridiculous handicap. You vowed not to allow that to happen again!
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