Russia

“I shall be an autocrat: that is my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that is His.” – Catherine the Great

Russia is a civilisation shaped by vastness itself – an empire stretching across eleven time zones, from the Baltic to the Pacific. Forged in the crucible of Mongol domination and tempered by centuries of harsh climate and foreign invasion, Russia learned to survive through expansion, absorbing territory and peoples into an ever-growing state. Under Catherine the Great, Russia became a major European power and a force of cultural and scientific achievement.

Civilisation Bonus

Mother Russia – Settlers cost 25% less production to build. This bonus directly accelerates Russia’s expansion across the map. Cheaper Settlers mean Russia can claim territory faster than any rival, planting cities to secure key resources and strategic positions before others can reach them. Combined with Catherine’s expansionist personality, this bonus transforms Russia into a civilisation that dominates through sheer territorial control.

Unique Unit

Cossack (replaces Horseman)

The Cossack trades combat stats for superior speed and a lower production cost. With 4 movement points, Cossacks are among the fastest units available at their technology level, making them excellent scouts, raiders, and pursuit cavalry. Their lower cost allows Russia to produce them in greater numbers, compensating for their reduced attack and defence. Use Cossacks to patrol your vast borders, harass enemy improvements, and chase down retreating forces.

Strategy

Russia’s game plan is simple: expand relentlessly. Your 25% Settler discount is most powerful in the early game when every turn of production matters. Produce Settlers as quickly as possible and plant cities to claim territory, key resources, and strategic chokepoints. While other civilisations are still building their second city, Russia should be founding its third. This territorial advantage compounds over the entire game, as more cities mean more production, more research, and more military capacity.

The Cossack supports this expansionist strategy perfectly. Their 4 movement points make them ideal for exploring the map ahead of your Settlers, identifying the best city locations, and providing escort against barbarians and hostile scouts. Once your cities are established, Cossacks serve as a rapid-response border patrol, able to cover the vast distances between your far-flung settlements faster than any standard cavalry. Their lower cost means you can afford to maintain a large defensive screen without crippling your economy.

Russia’s challenge is defending its sprawling territory. A wide empire presents a large border to potential aggressors, and you cannot be strong everywhere at once. Use Cossack mobility to concentrate forces quickly at threatened points, and invest in defensive structures in your border cities. In the late game, Russia’s sheer size becomes its greatest asset – your production base across many cities allows you to outproduce smaller empires, grinding down aggressors through attrition and strategic depth, much as Russia has done throughout real history.

Historical Background

The origins of the Russian state trace back to the medieval principality of Kievan Rus, founded by Varangian (Viking) traders and warriors in the 9th century. The Mongol invasion of 1237–1240 devastated the Russian lands and imposed two centuries of tributary rule, profoundly shaping Russian political culture and its emphasis on centralised authority. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually emerged as the leading Russian state, overthrowing Mongol suzerainty in 1480 and beginning the process of territorial expansion that would eventually create the world’s largest country.

Catherine the Great (1762–1796) presided over a golden age of Russian expansion and modernisation. Under her rule, Russia annexed Crimea, partitioned Poland, and pushed its borders to the shores of the Black Sea. Catherine was also a patron of the Enlightenment, corresponding with Voltaire and Diderot, founding the Hermitage Museum, and reforming Russian law and education. Her reign established Russia as an indispensable player in European great-power politics.

Russia’s vast geography has been both its greatest asset and its most persistent challenge. The sheer size of the country has defeated multiple invaders – Napoleon in 1812 and Hitler in 1941 both found that Russia’s strategic depth could swallow entire armies. But that same vastness has made governance, infrastructure, and economic development perpetual struggles. The Cossacks, semi-autonomous warrior communities of the southern steppes, played a crucial role in Russia’s expansion into Siberia and Central Asia, serving as the empire’s frontier cavalry and settlers in some of the most remote regions on Earth.

City Names

Moscow, St Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Smolensk, Vladivostok, Murmansk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Tula, Samara, Pskov, Arkhangelsk