Best units to use for Rus?

[Bill the Butcher]

Just started using them and wasn't sure what to build in quantity. What units should I really focus on?

[erb]

Knights are pretty good for Rus, very strong in feudal. Their mounted archer in castle age is good for villager raids. Cavalry are good for rus because they get a unique upgrade that gives all cav units bonus health. Imperial age the streltsy, unique handcannon unit, is one of the best in the game. Cheapest HC cost + increased fire rate when standing still.

[Bill the Butcher]

Originally posted by erb:

Knights are pretty good for Rus, very strong in feudal. Their mounted archer in castle age is good for villager raids. Cavalry are good for rus because they get a unique upgrade that gives all cav units bonus health. Imperial age the streltsy, unique handcannon unit, is one of the best in the game. Cheapest HC cost + increased fire rate when standing still.

Ok. How about the Warrior Monk? Just a few or a lot?

[erb]

You don't need too many. 2 or 3 is more than enough, when they attack and give saint's blessing it covers most of the army.

[Judeo-communism]

The main boon to the Warrior Monks are that you can secure Relics much easier and faster with them; it's their main purpose far above their army buffs.

[erb]

Yeah, but they just started...

[NoobusMaximus]

Originally posted by Bill the Butcher:

Just started using them and wasn't sure what to build in quantity. What units should I really focus on?

There are 3 unit types in a rock-paper-scissors relation: Cavalry counters Archers counter Spears counter Cavalry. If you build any 2 of these you are covered against any combination of the others.

Considering you're playing Rus which is a Knight civ, it might be a good idea to use Knights. And considering Rus has a massive Wood gathering bonus, it's also a good idea to complement that with Archers to counter the potential Spears. Just make sure to keep Cavalary units away while you shift+focus the Spears one by one. Then your Cavalry will be able to clean up what's left.

In Imperial you will gain access to the best Handcanoneer in the game - the Streltsy. So make sure to immediately start producing it.

[Bill the Butcher]

Originally posted by NoobusMaximus:

Originally posted by Bill the Butcher:

Just started using them and wasn't sure what to build in quantity. What units should I really focus on?

There are 3 unit types in a rock-paper-scissors relation: Cavalry counters Archers counter Spears counter Cavalry. If you build any 2 of these you are covered against any combination of the others.

Considering you're playing Rus which is a Knight civ, it might be a good idea to use Knights. And considering Rus has a massive Wood gathering bonus, it's also a good idea to complement that with Archers to counter the potential Spears. Just make sure to keep Cavalary units away while you shift+focus the Spears one by one. Then your Cavalry will be able to clean up what's left.

In Imperial you will gain access to the best Handcanoneer in the game - the Streltsy. So make sure to immediately start producing it.

How are the archers and Streltsy different aside from one being gun powder? Is Stretlsy still in the "archer/ranged" category or no?

[NoobusMaximus]

Originally posted by Bill the Butcher:

Originally posted by NoobusMaximus:

There are 3 unit types in a rock-paper-scissors relation: Cavalry counters Archers counter Spears counter Cavalry. If you build any 2 of these you are covered against any combination of the others.

Considering you're playing Rus which is a Knight civ, it might be a good idea to use Knights. And considering Rus has a massive Wood gathering bonus, it's also a good idea to complement that with Archers to counter the potential Spears. Just make sure to keep Cavalary units away while you shift+focus the Spears one by one. Then your Cavalry will be able to clean up what's left.

In Imperial you will gain access to the best Handcanoneer in the game - the Streltsy. So make sure to immediately start producing it.

How are the archers and Streltsy different aside from one being gun powder? Is Stretlsy still in the "archer/ranged" category or no?

It's the difference between a bow and arrow and a gun.

[Bill the Butcher]

Originally posted by NoobusMaximus:

Originally posted by Bill the Butcher:

How are the archers and Streltsy different aside from one being gun powder? Is Stretlsy still in the "archer/ranged" category or no?

It's the difference between a bow and arrow and a gun.

Dude I know that lol. I mean stat wise.

[Judeo-communism]

Originally posted by Bill the Butcher:

Originally posted by NoobusMaximus:

It's the difference between a bow and arrow and a gun.

Dude I know that lol. I mean stat wise.

Generally speaking, archers have a higher rate of fire and longer range but less damage and no armor piercing damage. Hand Cannoneers do much higher damage, but slower rate of fire and range. The main thing to consider is cost of unit and speed to produce. Archers cost only Food and Wood, while Hand Cannoneers cost Food and Gold. Gold is much more difficult to acquire most of the time, so units that cost Gold are -usually- better than Wood units, but like Noobus said it depends on what you're fighting against. A bunch of Archers can easily clean up an equal number of Hand Cannoneers if those are the only two units on the field, simply because they attack faster and will likely have more of a mass since they're cheaper to produce and you can produce them much earlier than Hand Cannoneers. However, Hand Cannoneers shine against heavy armored units, like enemy Knights and Men-at-Arms, where Archers barely damage them at all. So, the counter to Hand Cannoneers are cheap mass produced units that mainly cost Wood like Spearmen and Archers, because you can field a lot of them and the Hand Cannonneers will overkill them for no real benefit and trade kills much less efficiently. Hand Cannoneers counter just about every other unit in the game, however, so long as they can be protected. When you want something to "just kill everything," Hand Cannoneers are your go-to. But if you let them die to some Archers or Spearmen or Light Cavalry, you'll probably lose.

[Bill the Butcher]

I'm starting to get the Russians down. They're fun to use. Who have the best knights in the game, the French?

[Judeo-communism]

Originally posted by Bill the Butcher:

I'm starting to get the Russians down. They're fun to use. Who have the best knights in the game, the French?

Rus Knights and Imperial Guards are arguably better. There's a reason French are often seen very low and poor in top competitive play, but they are solid in ladder.

You can see some excellent French play in current AoE4 here from one of the best players in the game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0L8UGip-mc

[erb]

Japanese mounted samurai are also very good, their deflective armor negates an attack (which can nullify an opposing knights charge attack) and receive +15% damage from their bannerman aura.

Byzantine cataphract knights have the best stats, but are very very expensive to build a mass of.

French knights are most effective in castle age imo. You can age up with Royal Institute and research their imperial hp upgrade (230hp to 310hp). Plus, if you build stables around a keep you reduce their cost by 20%. That can be very effective.

[Bill the Butcher]

What are the best ways to use Rus' hunting cabins? I read this: "Mills are replaced by Hunting Cabins, which can train Scouts, see into Stealth Forests, and generate Gold based on the number of surrounding trees."

So they generate gold on their own or just with hunting animals? And they generate more with the more trees around them?