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Basics - Russia
By Ryan
Hello, this is a quick video guide of what to expect if you are to pick Russia as your Civilization.
   
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Created by
Ryan
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Category: Characters, Classes, Gameplay Basics, Multiplayer, Walkthroughs
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
6 May, 2013 @ 10:10pm
9 Jul, 2013 @ 2:40pm
13,469 Unique Visitors
57 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Video of how to play Russia. 
Victory Conditions 
Social Policies 
Factoids 
Other Basic Guides 
Cont. 
Cont. 
Cont. 
Brave New World Basic Guides 
Comments
Video of how to play Russia.
This will tell you what to expect out of the special units, what to expect out of the playstyle, and what victory conditions to expect to dominate with.

Victory Conditions
Hello, if you really didn't want to watch the video I'll give a quick rundown of what you probably should be thinking if you are randomly paired up with the Russians or are just new to Civilization and think they would be fun to play.


Victory Conditions

  • Domination
    For Russia, it's really a mixed bag. This mixed bag tends to be the reason why most people coin the Russians as a difficult Civ to play. There isn't really a shining Victory condition which degrades their popularity. Domination would probably contend to be one of the better Victory condition specifically due to the Cossack at the later stages of the game. Russia's personality trait helps in the smallest amounts for a Domination Victory and is why it's listed as number one on my list. Unfortunately, if you don't cash in the Pre/Post-Industrial Era there is little incentive try to win Domination. Recommended.

  • Scientific
    Russia in the real world is large. Russia in Civilization can be large if played correctly. Civilizations in Civ if large in land, small in cities, and large in population can usually be an equation for lots of science and culture. Scientific victory is a very possible outcome for the Russians. Unfortunately, Russia doesn't have much of a real bonus towards Scientific progression at any time. Recommended.

  • Cultural
    These three that I've mentioned are really on par with one another, Domination, Scientific, and Cultural. All three really don't have a priority over one another considering the lack of a strong personality trait or unit(s) to help boost one over another. The Krepost which replaces the Barracks would help in obtaining new tiles of land and helping out your military. If you have a few cities and build these quickly your borders should expand rapidly allowing you to place cities near strategic/luxury resources to help with happiness and obtain the double quantity personality trait. Recommended.

  • Diplomatic
    Honesty there isn't much of a reason to strive for a Diplomatic Victory. There isn't a thing that helps out in terms of this. If you go for this it's probably only because the world hates one another and somehow you've managed for them to hate you a little less than the other. Even if you go for Patronage Social Policy to snag some City-State votes it will still be a struggle if you have opponents that have Diplomatic advantages over you. Not recommended.
Social Policies
Won't get into as depth as the Victory Conditions only because Social Policies can usually go anyway for any Civ and still win. Will only note those that are very important to each Civ.
  • Liberty
    Russia honestly does not have a shining Social Policy as some do. Liberty is generally the best one to go for as almost any Civilization. This one is especially important for Russia so that you can obtain a Settler and Worker for free while completing other things in your cities. Your best bet for Russia is to stay somewhat small in city numbers and allow the Krepost to make up for the loss of cities via border expansion. Recommended.
The rest are really up to you on how you're playstyle will be for policies, Tradition for hunkering down with few cities - Honor for cutting down enemies early on - Liberty for expanding like a mad-man but again, that goes for any Civ, not just the Russians.
Factoids
  • Russia was the first country which came out in open space. The satellite was launched on October 4, 1957. Comrade Yuri Gagarin the first man who conquered space in the April 12, 1961.

  • During the reign of Peter the Great, any Russian nobleman who wore a beard had to pay a special beard tax.

  • It is an administrative offense to drive around in a dirty car in Russia.

  • The Russian tundra is melting for the first time since the Ice Age.

  • Moscow has the world's most used subway system, with the largest ridership of any metro system – about 3.2 billion passengers per year.

  • Moscow, the capital of Russia, was 860 years old in 2007.
15 Comments
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Commissar Yarrick 6 Apr, 2017 @ 10:55pm 
I won a domination victory with great war infantry in the end of the atomic era.
Ryan  [author] 7 Jun, 2016 @ 10:28am 
Yep, that is true! I get that specific definition from time to time on these guides.
kubbs 7 Jun, 2016 @ 9:48am 
Factoid: a brief or trivial item of news or information. Or
an assumption or speculation that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact.
Ryan  [author] 19 Mar, 2016 @ 10:55am 
Thanks for checking it out, I appreciate it!
bigted30 19 Mar, 2016 @ 4:28am 
Wow these guides are great! Good work man.
Ryan  [author] 25 Jul, 2013 @ 2:51am 
No problem! I'm glad you enjoyed the guide!
Sheckely 25 Jul, 2013 @ 1:53am 
Awsome It really helped me!
Hi, i'm Aaron 4 Jul, 2013 @ 1:57pm 
alright you beat my own words, Ryan.
Well played, sir, well played...
Ryan  [author] 4 Jul, 2013 @ 1:34pm 
@cheleken

Yup, thats generally the basis if you play 7th level of difficuly and under. Even further up - you'll just want to wait till the most powerful empire goes off and attacks someone else and then attack them with a force enough to take the Capital and they'll be heavily weakened.

@ Draruz

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

@ je ne parle pas anglaise

Sure, that's every Civilization though in those words. It's just a matter of survival until you get your personality bonus.
Hi, i'm Aaron 4 Jul, 2013 @ 12:15pm 
I dont find Russia that hard to play all i do is focus on my econmy and then world domination.