Playing Russia
Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:00 pm
Blah. Russia is much harder in the release version of COG than it was in the betas - you don't get much say over what (if anything) Sweden or Britain do, and Austria can get knocked out very quickly. I am currently working on the idea of defending Styria from France - but may try a few other options... Anyway, in my latest few attempts as Russia I have had to learn some new tricks, and thought I would post about them, and see if anyone else has any to contribute, now you all have the game too!
2 of the 4 Russian armies at the start have very low initiative values (well, zero), meaning they have difficulty moving on the strategic map - they need 'green' routes to get three areas, and even then you need to be lucky. Using 'forced march' on the strategic map really helps with getting these armies to where you want them.
Russia desperately needs some corps so it can have the high initiative commanders controlling more men - but doesn't start with any level 5 barracks: so step 1 is build some barracks, and step 2 is get some corps. And lets trade for all the textiles we possibly can. Russia can have really good trade routes with lots of people - most of whom will happily take horses, wine or iron, all of which Russia can produce in abundance. This will take a few years to bear fruit, but lets get it started.
Russia starts with some territory that others want which isn't on its own political goals list -the following territories are among the worst Russia owns, so why not get rid of them? Trade Cherson to Turkey for Moldavia and/or Bessarabia; Vilna to Prussia for Krakow or Breslau (this last can massively shorten your supply chain into Austria, so perhaps do it first?). Sevastapol is desired by lots of nations - so it will certainly be taken from us if we ever surrender to anyone - and it is actually a very poor producer, so... I have found that Britain sees it as an upgrade from Malta (which it probably is), but Malta is worth a glory a month for Russia...
Snow in the Russian winter turns its usual bad forage zones into dreadful: there is a reason the AI likes to send the Russian army towards Italy, the south of France and Spain. Forage values change dramatically as snow starts/ends in different provinces, meaning you can't just park an army and forget it until you need it again. Think carefully about how to survive!
2 of the 4 Russian armies at the start have very low initiative values (well, zero), meaning they have difficulty moving on the strategic map - they need 'green' routes to get three areas, and even then you need to be lucky. Using 'forced march' on the strategic map really helps with getting these armies to where you want them.
Russia desperately needs some corps so it can have the high initiative commanders controlling more men - but doesn't start with any level 5 barracks: so step 1 is build some barracks, and step 2 is get some corps. And lets trade for all the textiles we possibly can. Russia can have really good trade routes with lots of people - most of whom will happily take horses, wine or iron, all of which Russia can produce in abundance. This will take a few years to bear fruit, but lets get it started.
Russia starts with some territory that others want which isn't on its own political goals list -the following territories are among the worst Russia owns, so why not get rid of them? Trade Cherson to Turkey for Moldavia and/or Bessarabia; Vilna to Prussia for Krakow or Breslau (this last can massively shorten your supply chain into Austria, so perhaps do it first?). Sevastapol is desired by lots of nations - so it will certainly be taken from us if we ever surrender to anyone - and it is actually a very poor producer, so... I have found that Britain sees it as an upgrade from Malta (which it probably is), but Malta is worth a glory a month for Russia...
Snow in the Russian winter turns its usual bad forage zones into dreadful: there is a reason the AI likes to send the Russian army towards Italy, the south of France and Spain. Forage values change dramatically as snow starts/ends in different provinces, meaning you can't just park an army and forget it until you need it again. Think carefully about how to survive!