Beginner Tips for Russia(n Republic)

[Hybrode]

So I'm a noob for this game. I want to play as Russia for my first game. I ALSO want to turn it into a republic. Anybody have any tips on how to do so?

I also would like some tips on Early-Game army comp for Russians. Tips There?

[Insaniac]

Don't use republics. They're ♥♥♥♥, and you lose most of your unique units. As far as campaign goes, honestly it plays the same way as most other European nations just that it has worse 70 range units. If you have the DLC pack I'd encourage you to try building your Winter Palace in Moscow with due haste as it'll give you a slight leg up by allowing you to recruit the Semenowski Life Guard regiment, the Garde A Cheval (arguably the best cavalry in the game in terms of combat strength), and two units of Cossack Hetman Cavalry (which is just better than average light cavalry). Finally, I'd suggest building one Military Governors Barracks building in maybe Komi so that you can recruit Siberian Hunters. Siberian Hunters are basically early game light infantry and considering most factions don't have any light infantry early on, they're worth having.

[Tuidjy]

One thing I gave noticed playing Russia is that melee is where you want to be.

Russian line infantry is terrible at trading shots, especially on very hard, which is the difficulty at which I play. On the other hand, firing all muskets once, and charging works extremely well, especially if your cannons have chewed up the enemy before that.

Another things that people may miss about Russia is their Gorodskie Streltzi (no clue of the spelling, стрельцы in Russian) Those guy are melee only, but dirt cheap, have a garrison bonus, and have a brutal charge. Keep a regiment behind your cannons, and charge forward any time anyone gets close enough to threaten the gunners.

To top it off, Russia has amazing cavalry, even early on. The basic Cossack cavalry is very versatile. They have fast horses that tire slowly, they have muskets which while inaccurate can unnerve an enemy about to be charged, and they are better than most light cavalry in combat. They will devastate melee only units which are common in the Ottoman lands, Near East and even India, and they will do just fine at rolling enemy lines if they volley and charge in the back of the enemy infantry that is already dealing with your better than average melee units.

Russian cannons are common as dirt, no different from anyone else's. But because of Russia's skill at melee and diverse units that can keep the enemy away from the cannons, I end up with rank 6-7 12 pounders in the late game, as well rank 3-4 25 pounders.

And finally, Russian ships are bland as hell. But you will be at war with England at some point, so if you are good at naval combat, by the end of the game, 90% of your fleet will be British built. In my last Russia game I actually left England around just so that I would have a nice source for ships. In you end up in war with France rather than England, it can work the same way, although I usually end up sharing Europe with Poland and France, while ruling the rest of the world more or less single-handedly.

As for republics... I do not see the point. I did A-OK with absolute monarchy, because your kings are solid (Peter the Great is more than solid) A constitutional monarchy works even better, if you want to bother with two revolutions, but I only do it if I get a crappy monarch after Peter I. Even with full industrial buildings in 1790, and no culture/religious buildings whatsoever in the whole world, I have no unrest whatsoever that cannot be dealt by Streltzi garrisons, and even those are needed only in a couple of provinces. By the way, a full Strltzi garrison is not all that expensive, and it will stop a full late stack assault on a walled city, no problem. 2400 men is a lot, when you fight in melee, on and off the wall.

[operating1]

Good post Tuidjy...!

[operating1]

Read the below thread to get an idea on how to go CM:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/10500/discussions/0/1291817208508539775/