Guide to Vanilla Russia

This is a simple guide to playing Catherine the Great of Russia on Civilization V. I am not a proffessional by any means, and some information may not be the best, but this has all worked for me.
If you find any incorrect information, typos, or anything else you'd like to nitpick me on, contact me and I'll fix it as soon as I can.

About Russia

Russia is a very unique Civilization. It directly effects your gain of Strategic Resources. We will discuss how this effect works to your advantage, and how to best utilize this effect later.

Before we get into how to play (and win) as Russia, we should take a quick look at what Russia does. I will reference this information throughout the guide, so you may want to memorize these or be ready to come back to re-read from time to time!

Siberian Riches

• Strategic Resources provide +1 Production.
  
• Horse, Iron and Uranium Resources provide double quantity

Krepost

• +15 XP for all units
  
• Culture and Gold Costs for acquiring new tiles reduced by 25% in this City

The Krepost is a very important part of Russia's early-game strategy, and they are worth building later in the game as well.

Cossack

• Can Move After Attacking
  
• 33% bonus against wounded enemy units

Turn Zero

There is a ton to do on Turn Zero, and a lot of key decisions to make. There are some specific things you need think about as Russia, and some things you should be considering as any civilization.

Considerations
Before we even get started on turn 0, we saw the game setup. We know how many people are in the game, whether they are AIs or humans, and (possibly) what civilizations they are.

If we are playing against AIs, we can assume that they won't bee-line to any specific tech early game, but they tend to aim for whatever benefits their civilization. You could go for pottery and then writing in this case, and then go for the Great Library soon. However, if we are talking about more than ten AIs, this is probably NOT a viable option.

If we are playing against humans, everyone knows what they are bee-lining for on Turn Zero, just like you. This is an even playing field with intellectual people. You won't be getting any of those early-game wonders unless they truly benefit Russia.

Scouting
We started the game. Look around. First, select your warrior and move him across any tile that has no obstructions if possible. If there is a hill next to that tile, make that the use of your second movement. Now you know (a little) about your home.

As the game continues, try to make the most of your moves, discovering as much land as possible each turn. How to do this is very dependent on the map's features, so I won't list that out here.

City Placement
Now, select your settler. If you are on a hill (preferably a coast, but if you are inland it isn't going to happen) then you might be okay. If you see a luxury resource on a hill, go stand on it. If there are no hills within your walking radius, go stand on a luxury resource.

List of benefits for your city, most to least important:

• Being on a hill
  
• Being connected to a river
  
• Having a fresh water source (If you are connected to a river, that will do)
  
• Being within working distance (3 tiles out) of as many luxury resources as possible.

It is nice to be within 2 tiles of a mountain for Machu Pichu, or directly next to one for an Observatory, but you'll be fine without that for your Capitol.

You need to have your city founded by the end of Turn 1. (That's two turns to found it, don't let the 1 confuse you)

Ancient Era

We've made it through turn 0, and looked around a bit. We now have some more decisions to make. As you should be able to tell by now, Civilization V is all about decisions. A good leader who makes strong decisions will win, others will be... "taken care of".

Starting Technology
Now it's time to decide on our technology. There are a lot of ways you can go with this, really, but there are 3 main paths we should consider:

• Pottery
  
• Strategic Resources
  
• Luxury Resources

No matter what civilization you play, Pottery is definitely a good start. It's a viable option, and I recommend it as a starting technology in smaller games (6 or less civilizations). It will unlock useful branches. If you are near a luxury resource that requires Calendar (So you can build a plantation) then it's a really good idea to go ahead and get Pottery and then Calendar. It also unlocks Writing, and if you think you can beat everyone else to it, you could try and produce the Great Library.

Russia produces double horses, and horses are a valuable trading tool early-game. Many military units can be made with them as well, but Russia should yield enough to trade. The money gained can be used in many ways, which we'll speak about later.

If you have two or more of a luxury resource, you should probably get the appropriate tech for it pretty early. Having duplicates will allow you to trade them to other civilizations. You can either trade them off for money, or for other luxury resources. I would usually recommend getting a new luxury resource, unless no one has any, or for some reason you are in a situation and REALLY need those coins.

Foreign Relations
Generally, it's a good idea for Russia to stay out of war during the Ancient Era. They don't have any special units in the era, and wars tend to slow down your economy, which you need to focus on.
Do your best to trade with your neighbors. If you are playing with AIs, offer them "Open Borders" in exchange for 50 gold when they find your land (They won't take it until they discover your land). This will make them less likely to declare on you as you will have a positive history with them. It also gives you 50 gold, and who cares if they send a few exploration units through your land?
If you have extra luxury resources, sell them or try to get a luxury resource you don't have from another civilization.
Once you have secured some horses, you should be safe to sell them. You won't really need them for quite some time, and Russia receives double, so that's double the money. The AI doesn't realize that it can't actually use the horses in the ancient era, so they will give you gold for them.

City States
There is no reason for Russia to attack City States. Don't do it. The same is true for most civilizations, it gives you a bad reputation with every AI, and they are EXTREMELY difficult to capture due to all of their defensive buffs. It isn't worth the time, especially not in the Ancient Era.

Once you get 500 gold, you should probably use that to ally a city state. I recommend a Maritime city state, as it will provide your cities with food, which is very helpful. You should also consider what luxury (and later in the game strategic) resources the city state will give you once allied. If your empire is unhappy, choose an ally that will give you a new luxury resource. Otherwise, you should probably go with a nearby Maritime city state, preferably with a higher population, if none of them provide a new luxury resource.

Do not promise to protect city states. It does very little for your relation to them, and if you don't aid them in wars (Sometimes you can't!) , your influence will go down substantially.

Classical Era

The Classical Era is fairly short, but a lot of new aspects of the game are introduced in this tiny section of gameplay. Merely deciding to leave the classical era has it's advantages and disadvantages.

Technology
The Classical Era introduces Research Agreements, once you've researched Philosophy. Note that research agreement cost is determined by the more advanced player's era, so moving up an before the other civilizations will increase cost, and the AI may ask you for a small amount of gold to sign a resource agreement, to weigh out the difference.

Generally, you want to enter the Classical Era with either Philosophy, or Iron Working. Philosophy unlocks Research Agreements (As spoken about above). Iron working will reveal Iron on the map, and allow you to build mines on the iron deposits.

Other technologies are left to preference, and if your match has 4 or fewer players, you might as well go ahead and advance to the Medieval Era after these two-- you can fill back in later.

Foreign Relations
Once you have Iron, you can begin to trade that off, along with your horses, for gold. You may want to keep a little of each for unit building, but the majority can probably be traded off.

After researching Philosophy, immediately begin signing research agreements with as many civilizations as possible. This not only improves your science after 25 turns, but improves your relation with the other civilization, which may prevent a war in the future. Note that this will take a chunk out of your gold vault, so make sure you've stocked up prior to unlocking the policy.

City States
Your gold amount could be very high or low depending on which resources you got, and what the other civilizations wanted. Because of this, you may want to consider working on the "quests" given by some city states.
Move your extra military units into allied city-states land if there are barbarians near. Kill the barbarians, but avoid destroying the encampment unless they request it.
If a city state requests a luxury resource, try to trade with another civilization to obtain it, or if it is within your borders already, get a worker to improve it.

Medieval Era

The Classical Era is generally quick, so you should be arriving in the Medieval Era fairly quickly. There are many ways to work the Medieval Era, and each Civilization needs to (quickly) acquire specific techs early on.

Technology
Nine times out of ten, you are going to want to enter the Medieval Era with Civil Service. This will provide extra food from farms connected to Fresh Water, which should quickly increase the population of your cities (Resulting in more everything)

After getting Civil Service, you should probably work on getting Engineering. This will allow you to build the Aqueduct, which makes 25% of food from a citizen being born carry over to the next. This is useful with a quickly growing population, as you can make it grow even faster and more efficiently.

Foreign Relations
During the Medieval Era, horses will begin to loose value with the AI, so you will be relying more on trading off iron, or perhaps selling the extra luxury resources from newly acquired lands, or even the ones which your newly acquired city-state allies provide you duplicates of. (NOTE: You can't trade resources given to you by city states)

I don't recommend a war in the Medieval Era, but if your economy is strong enough you could quickly muster an army to take out a civilization that is becoming a problem for you.

City States
Throughout the Medieval Era you should be slowly acquiring city state allies. Try to ally with all of the Maritime City States, this will boost your Empire's food substantially. After this, try to get as many Luxury Resources and Strategic Resources (That are useful to you) first.

If an enemy tries to move their units through an allied City-State's territory, the City-State will attack the units. This will aid you in defense. City states also attack occasionally, which helps keep the opponent's forces away from the front line with you, allowing for more swift capturing of cities when war dawns.

Reniassance Era

The Renaissance is an important era for Russia. If you want to secure a Domination Victory, you will need to take out several Civilizations in the Renaissance with your Cossack units.
Technology
You will want to enter the Renaissance era with Gunpowder. Try to get to the Cossacks soon, but even having Musketmen should be enough to overwhelm most Medieval armies and take a city or two.
There are a lot of ways to go in the Renaissance, and after you have the Cossacks, there's not too much you really need to get to make Russia an amazing civilization. Each play will likely be different, try to get to units that agree with your play style, and if you think you can skip past a unit and get to a better one before going to battle, then do it.

Industrial Era

Modern Era

Future Era

Credits

• Zachzachk1999 - Author
  
• Kakohikaru - Proofreader

[PixelConglamorate]

I usually take a different tack with city states and pledge to protect any city state near me. This is because there are lots of random quests and barbarian outpost destructions that happen quickly and the lessened influence decay granted by the pledges make it possible for me to have enough time to make use of the influence boosts. In early game, even a few turns of extra culture or food can be useful. One guide I read also pointed out that it can effectively slow down warmonger's economies by making it much harder to take tribute, and suggested protecting ALL city states. I don't go that far. It's cool to see all the different strats for dealing with city states though, you all have good reasons for it.

Other than that I like this guide and agree. Using the UA to make extra money off of horses is a clever sidestep, it's easy to forget that strategic resources can make a lot of money if handled right, and Russia seems perfect for that. An extra early-game income stream is no joke!

[John Helldiver]

Just get the Gary Oak mod. Solved all my problems.

[ZetaCrit]

@Novbirovsk Thanks for the feedback! As for the uses of the doubles, it depends on how the game goes. Usually it's enough to trade for gold, and later in the game buying units is a huge time-saver.

I've stopped working on this guide but I may remake it as a general guide, rather than civ-specific, as a lot of the better points I made were general.

[Buoy Hammond]

the first tips are really good in genral

[Vi]

Hey I got a group on skype(we dont facecam) and we play civ and other games such as gmod csgo and ark others too if you wna join the group add me on steam and I will invite you.

[Novbirovsk]

OP, thanks for the tips. I don't read many guides, it was more just to see what other people do, but I picked up a few things, specifically, open borders for cash early on for diplomatic credit. I play on higher difficulties and can say that I will be taking some of these tips into consideration. Ignore Figure.05, he is a clear troll and probably doesn't even play the harder difficulties if he is reading general gameplay guides anyway. You clearly know this, but +1ing it for you.

Some later game tips would have been cool, i.e, best uses for the double strategic resources with oil, alu, &c.

[cinnamontoastcrap]

>implying that people play vanilla

[Half a century]

Russia don't get cossacks in the Renaissance era, but at the beginning of the Industrial (Military Science) ...

[adaikuaipao]

War is an eternal topic.

[shouston35up]

Fig, perhaps if you could spare some time you can provide an example of a proper road map