The Russian Experience

[Cebwethe]

Hi

Long time lurker, first time poster. Usually have no problems smashing through playing France, HRE or such powerhouses, but am really struggling with Russia (VH/VH of course). From the outset I have very little cash, weak forces, and while I am experiencing great success with my horsebowmen against the constant invasions, the problem is that- they are constant.

No sooner do I manage to defeat yet another Polish senseless and unprovoked zerg, then another full army pops up out of nowhere near my least defended city. I do not have time to replenish my harried and ragged troops, nor the funds to raise a second army.

I have tried various approaches- firstly i rushed the neighbouring provinces and struck up alliances with my neighbours, but they quickly sense how vulnerable I am and cancel them without notice (and worse- it shows MY reputation as being terrible and untrustworthy??? How's that work???). Then I tried fortress Russia, but the punishing blockades and attacks from 3 fronts wore me down swiftly.

Is there a trick to Russia? I know how to handle the units, and can readily take down armies thrice my size with minimal casualties using hit and run tactics, but I cannot seem to work around the lack of resources coupled with the incredibly overaggressive AI of my psychotic neighbours.

I am at my wit's end, and if I see another Polish flag I may cry...

[Ichon]

Vanilla MTW2 I assume?

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=404152

[shikaka]

1. Forget your early infantry
2. Spam khazak horse archers (and take general's bodyguard and boyar sons for shock cavalry)
And laugh when you see an infantry army coming

Also, regualry check mercenary pools: slav spears are better then your militia, cuman horse archer is great, alan light cavalry is brilliant.

Expansion: inmediately send an army to Kiev and take it (you can take the provinces east of Kiev when it is sheltered from invasion). Send your second army to the baltic coast (Vilnius!).
The baltic trade and the Kiev-Caffa(-constantinopole with trade agreement) trade will generate enough cash.


Late game there is an excellent unit selection: dismounted dvors (my favourite archer hibrid), dvors (heavy horse archer), cossacks (fast horse archer) and cossack musketeers (I think top3 musketeer, maybe top2)

[IluvBukake]

Something like this? Yeah, Russia can be difficult at first. I use a smaller army to take Riga then Vilnius, the bigger one for Smolensk and Kiev. You can take Helsinki with a General and a couple of units of archers and spear militia at the same time. Once I’ve taken Vilnius, I’ll build up and wait for the Poles then take Thorn. Hopefully the Hungarians will leave you alone. If you take too many cities, your neighbours will attack. Another reason I wait is that the Poles, Germans and Danes usually come to blows against each other and I use that time to develop

I find the key is to try and hold back once I’ve taken Thorn and Halych and get dismounted Dvor and even Cossacks and Mounted Dvor which will take care of the North. The Hungarians and Danes will attack sooner or later: I can take Bran with woodsmen, spearmen and archers then have access to great units for the South.

With the early units, I don’t get Boyar Son, I think they are too expensive and take a lot of casualties. I also use my Generals a lot. An early army for me consists of spearmen, archers and Kazaks + a General. If I’m fighting the Poles, I’ll throw the Kazaks behind my archers and wait for the Polish Nobles to come to me. Hardly sporting, but otherwise the Poles are too strong. I find the Hungarians tougher to beat, but once their main stack is accounted for they usually only have a few units in Bran. Once their Nobles are dispatched, Kazaks can tear their dismounted knights apart.

Russia’s mid-era army is fantastic, if your lucky the Mongols will spawn near the Turks – I’ve taken the Mongols on once for the challenge, it costs a lot of money, and sets the economy back too far because building came to a stop to support the stacks I’m throwing against them.

In the campaign I’m playing now I just need to take Jerusalem. The problem is the Timarids have it. Fortunately they are at war with the Mongols. Can’t seem to figure out why the Russians want Jerusalem as a victory condition anyhow.

[Ishan]

Read this(Guide).

[Silverheart]

When I played the Russians, I used small, fast armies for homeland defense.
It was simply 2 Druzhina and 4 Kazaks - cheap, fast, effective and very capable.
On the vast russians steppes, they proved very effective at making their way to troublespots quickly. As my empire grew I recruited more and more of these "Cav Corps".
I used them mainly as anti-rebel squads (which is why they gained so much experience), but they were quite good for defending against invasion forces too (weakening them and then either finishing them off, or retreating to attack again some other day). Against big enemy armies they were only supposed to weaken, to make it easier for settlement garrisons to finish off the rest.

[beckyolt]

I usually turtle as Russia. Also, to get a strong army, when i'm with an good economy, i send a boat to Italy throught the Black Sea, or to Denmark throught the Baltic. There, i get good west european mercenaries.

Russian calvary rocks. Thats why you don't have to worry about your retarded infantry early on. Russia has lots of plains. So spam calvary and kill enemies before they siege your cities - otherwise your knights will be easly pwned in sieges.

[Cebwethe]

Well, after carefully considering all the advice in this thread, I set about making another attempt.

Early results were good- I used the starting army to advance westward, conquering Riga and then sweeping into Vilnius unopposed, then finally Kiev and Caffa, seeing only small scouting Polish forces. A diplomat secured trade with Denmark, and an Alliance with the Byzantines, plus trade with the Turk.

Poland then began its usual chest-thumping rhetoric, demanding my immediate surrender, and launched a series of unprovoked attacks on the rightful Rus holdings in Kiev. My doughty little infantry repelled assault after assault, inflicting multiple humiliating defeats on the Pole (usually achieved through abandoning the walls, and turtling in the town square, general surrounded by spearmen. The Polish general ALWAYS charges into the fray with reckless abandon, and is quickly mown down, demoralizing the rest of his troops and scattering them- cheap, yes, possible AI exploit, but effective).

Such were their victories that I considered an audacious infantry offensive, and pushed across the river into the Hungarian Empire, taking two lightly defended castles and ceding them to my Byzantine allies, who were extremely grateful. They then withdrew to Kiev, and the Polish forces kept a respectful distance from these unlikeliest of heroes.

The Polish grew desperate, and threw their lot in with the Danes, who landed with a mighty force at Riga. I hastily sent Kazaks garrisoned in Vilnius and Novgorod to assist with the again-unprovoked war, assuring my people I would not let this affront go unanswered. I prayed to God that my undefended cities/castles would last a couple of turns.

The Danes saw my advancing armies, and quickly sued for peace. Knowing them to be an untrustworthy bunch, I left a significant garrison in Riga, but re opened trade with my character-lacking scandinavian neighbours.

A small Kazak force raised in Smolensk pushed vigorously eastward, Moscow and then Bulgar falling swiftly, and then made its way south, where the Turk met them with impassioned aggression. A battle of cultures and faiths erupted.

And this is my current state- I have pushed lightly back on the Poles and created a buffer of Byzantine puppet states, as the Poles seem reluctant to take on the might of Constantinople. Milan and the HRE both offered me alliances unrequested, and the Danes seem content for now with their holdings.

I did have one very curious situation however- an Egyptian diplomat arrived at Vilnius in about turn 50, and bribed it out from under me! I quickly recaptured it with my Kazak hordes, but I was very surprised at their audacity!

[Silverheart]

Looks like you´re doing good so far.
I would have simply kept the castles to myself, and fortified them with strong garrisons (if the Poles or Hungarians were to try and take them, they would just be weakened from the attempt, making them more tempting targets for other nations), but I can see the cleverness in making the Byzantines a shield - just make sure you stick on their good side now.
The Danes have a strange liking for the Baltic regions, so they will most likely try to attack you again as soon as they experience any form of pressure (external or economical). If you have the forces to (and diplomats ready at Arhus) I think you should provoke this sooner rather than later - hide the army and merge most of the city garrison in with it, and when they attack you can just rush forth and wipe the coast clear.
With the current circumstances, I would only drive the Turks down to the Zagros mountains/ alternatively capture Yerevan and then let them be - for now...

I almost laughed at the Egyptian thing. I (and not you either, I suppose) would never imagine that the Egyptians would do something like that!
Did you take it back from the Egyptians (declaring war and everything) or did the city rebel?

[Cebwethe]

I considered keeping them, but was aware of the dangers of overexpansion, and my economy is a little too fragile to support adequate defenses. The Byzantines may eventually turn on me, but they have their hands full with a hyper aggressive Venetian-Sicilian Alliance, and I figured it was worth the risk.

When they bribed it, it promptly rebelled the next turn, so I only had rebels to deal with, but it was still quite possibly the most unusual thing I have seen in some time in game.

[[Tar]Naru33]

I considered keeping them, but was aware of the dangers of overexpansion, and my economy is a little too fragile to support adequate defenses. The Byzantines may eventually turn on me, but they have their hands full with a hyper aggressive Venetian-Sicilian Alliance, and I figured it was worth the risk.

When they bribed it, it promptly rebelled the next turn, so I only had rebels to deal with, but it was still quite possibly the most unusual thing I have seen in some time in game.

Unusual!? That is the first time I ever heard of any settlement being successfully bribed! That is like extremely rare in my case. Even when I am floating about 700K in my coffers I can't get settlements to be bribed successfully, even with the best of my diplomats! units and agents no problem, but settlements!?

I wonder how much they payed.... Probably wasn't worth the pay they did even if it didn't rebel!

[Cebwethe]

Good question! I have lost generals and armies to bribes before, first time for a city; i do however have some success bribing rebel settlements, not the other nations however.

[Cormag]

Cebwethe, any chance you could post your empire? Just so we can see EXACTLY how well you are doing? Because, by the sounds of it, it seems your doing amazing! I need to know if this strategy really works, to see if I should implement this strategy into my gameplay.

[Silverheart]

All this babbling is making me want to start a Russian campaign right now!

[Cebwethe]

I will post a fresh one this coming weekend, have got a new idea.