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Russia is a large, transcontinental nation located in both Europe 
and Asia 
.
At the start of the game, Russia is often chosen by players due to several reasons: it is renowned for being the most resource-rich country, which establishes an industrialized economy; it is considered as one of the most powerful nations in Europe, possessing significant military capabilities; the nation does not require extensive player experience to be unlocked; and it boasts the distinction of being the largest country on Earth, encompassing vast territories.
With proper management and strategy, Russia has the potential to dominate the world stage. However, if not handled well, Russia can crumble due to the very high releasables count and be conquered by formidable rivals such as 
Germany or 
China.
Background[]
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Russia (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə]), or the Russian Federation (RF), is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, covering over 17,125,191 square kilometres (6,612,073 sq mi), and encompassing one-eighth of Earth's inhabitable landmass. Russia extends across eleven time zones and borders sixteen sovereign nations, the most of any country in the world. It is the ninth-most populous country and the most populous country in Europe, with a population of 145.5 million. The country's capital and largest city is Moscow, the largest city entirely within Europe. Saint Petersburg is Russia's cultural centre and second-largest city. Other major urban areas include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan.
|
The East Slavs emerged as a recognisable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. The medieval state of Kievan Rus' arose in the 9th century. In 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, and among its principalities, the Grand Duchy of Moscow rose and grew to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to evolve into the Russian Empire, the third-largest empire in history. The monarchy was abolished following the Russian Revolution in 1917, and the Russian SFSR became the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following a civil war, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other republics, as its largest and the principal constituent. The country underwent a period of rapid industrialisation at the expense of millions of lives. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II and emerged as a superpower and rival to the United States during the Cold War. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite and the launching of the first human into space. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the newly independent Russian SFSR renamed itself the Russian Federation. In the aftermath of the constitutional crisis of 1993, a new constitution was adopted, and Russia has since been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Since his election in 2000, Vladimir Putin has dominated Russia's political system and Russia has experienced democratic backsliding, shifting into an authoritarian state. It ranks low in international measurements of freedom of the press and civil liberties and has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy is the world's eleventh-largest by nominal GDP and the sixth-largest by PPP. It is a recognised nuclear-weapons state, possessing the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, with the fourth-highest military expenditure. Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the world's largest, and it is among the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G20, the SCO, BRICS, the APEC, the OSCE and the WTO, as well as the leading member of the CIS, the CSTO, and the EAEU, Russia is also home of 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. |
Base Statistics[]
Economy[]
Russia's economy starts with a total of $3,242,065 generated from taxes, and an additional $187,937 from natural resources, resulting in a combined income of $3,430,002. However, due to its initial home guards, it raises its military upkeep by $900,000, which reduces its starting balance to $2,530,002.
Resources[]
Russia is famously known for being the wealthiest resource-rich nation, as it retains all available natural resource in the game, holding massive quantities of crucial materials, such as 
Tungsten, 
Titanium, 
Oil, and more. Since Russia reserves diverse deposits of raw materials, it is one of the few nations that can heavily focus on mineral extraction than utilizing international trading to retrieve foreign assets.
 Aluminum
|
+5.66 |
|---|---|
 Chromium
|
+2 |
 Copper
|
+14.05 |
 Diamond
|
+5.75 |
 Gold
|
+11.3 |
 Iron
|
+27.94 |
 Oil
|
+20.78 |
 Phosphate
|
+4.42 |
 Titanium
|
+2.23 |
 Tungsten
|
+14.52 |
 Uranium
|
+1.22 |
Military[]
Russia stands out as one of the few countries in the game that starts with a conscription law different from the typical Volunteer law, as it begins with Limited, enabling it to maintain one of the largest manpower pools in the world, starting with a maximum manpower capacity of 4,019,992, with a growth of 12,371 per 5 days.
Russia begins with a home guard comprised of 450,000 infantry. The home guards are stationed in the cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.
| Disarmed [1% RP] |
|
|---|---|
| Volunteer [2% RP] |
|
| Limited [5% RP] |
|
| Extensive [10% RP] |
|
| Required [25% RP] |
Geography[]
Russia is known to have the largest landmass in the world, spanning various forms of biomes and terrain across its territory.
Terrain[]
Terrain of Russia
The majority of Russia is flat plains with a few exceptions. The Mountainous landscapes start at the Arctic coast of western Russia and extend south until the 
Kazakhstan border; mountainous regions can also be located in the territories that border northern 
Mongolia. To its southwest, the Caucasus Mountains position mountainous terrain throughout Russia, between the Black and Caspian Sea. In the eastern areas, the it is primarily composed of Hilly lands.
Biome[]
Russia has no distinct biome yearly, however, it is known for being affected by Mild Winter throughout most of their territory during the beginning of November. As deeper months of winter approach (December through January), Russia's terrain slowly transitions to Severe Winter, mostly consisting in the eastern and western regions; meanwhile Mild Winter continues to persist in the southern areas.
In Northern Russia, primarily the areas that are located near the Arctic Sea, is completely encompassed by the recurring Arctic biome.
Borders[]
Russia shares a international land border with a total of 14 nations. The following countries which border Russia are:
Azerbaijan- Belarus
- China
- Estonia
- Finland
- Georgia
- Kazakhstan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Mongolia
- North Korea
- Norway
- Poland
- Ukraine
Cities[]
Russia has a total amount of 481 cities, 11 of them surpassing the one million population capacity. With all of cities' population combined, it sums Russia's total population to 80,589,358 inhabitants. Russia's largest and capital city is Moscow, with a base population of 10,452,000 people. Its second largest city is St. Petersburg, with a base population of 4,533,000. Finally, its third largest city, Novosibirsk, is located in southern 
Siberia and has a population of 1,389,000 people.
Politics[]
Russia begins with the Non-Aligned ideology during the start of the game.
Formables[]
![Territory of the Soviet Union]()
Territory of the Soviet Union![Territory of the Russian Empire]()
Territory of the Russian Empire
Russia has 2 formables. These formables are:
- Soviet Union
- Russian Empire includes all the nations within the Soviet Union and also requires the addition of Finland as a country.
Releasables[]
Russia has a total of 34 Releasables, the most of any country. All except 
Kaliningrad were added in the 03/29/2023 update. It has the following releasables:
Russia with all releasables released.
- Astrakhan
- Avaria
- Balkaria
- Bashkortostan
- Buryatia
- Chechnya
- Chuvashia
- Circassia
- Don
- Erzya
- Far Eastern Republic
- Ingria
- Ingushetia
- Kaliningrad
- Kalmykia
- Karachay
- Karelia
- Komi
- Kuban
- Kumykia
- Lezgistan
- Mari El
- Moksha
- Ossetia
- Pomorje
- Saint Petersburg
- Siberia
- Tatarstan
- Terek
- Tuva
- Udmurtia
- Ural Republic
- Yakutia
- Yugra
Threats[]
- China is a global superpower, shares an international border with Russia, and requires many Russian cities to form the Qing Dynasty. China may not also target the needed cities, but also may invade Russia as a whole to project influence and seize valuable resources that the country generates. Otherwise, they may also invade Kazakhstan and other "stan" countries for resources, hindering with your forming of the Soviet Union or Russian Empire.
- Germany is a significant threat to Russia as they typically expand towards the Russian heartland. If managed poorly, it can be conquered quickly by Germany.
- A skilled Ukraine could exhaust your military through entrenchment, calling allied nations in order to assist, or launching multiple counteroffensives, which they will often motorize through the heartland then eventually capture Moscow.
- Any other major European power such as France, Poland, United Kingdom or Italy can also pose major threats to you.
- Iran is prone to aggressive tendencies, particularly invading countries in Central Asia to achieve its formables. Due to its aggression, it can introduce obstacles and setbacks to the unification of Russian formables. Additionally, Iran's harsh geography, notoriously known for its Mountainous and Arid landscapes, can extend the time required for the nation to form. However, negotiations or deals could potentially resolve these issues, although peaceful resolutions are not guaranteed, and one must be prepared for a protracted war with Iran.
- Turkey may take the Caucasus before you can. If your invade Turkey then Turkey's population is enough for them to hold you back long enough to gather allies, additionally Turkey may form a fleet in the black sea which can attack your troops and stop naval invasion. It best to try to negotiate for the Caucasus if Turkey takes them if possible.
- Sweden is not generally considered a notable threat, however, if allowed to form the Swedish Empire, they can capitalize on their modifier's 20% ground attack to build up and invade Russia in a quick blitz.
- Kazakhstan is generally not considered a notable threat in the early game, as it often faces multiple challenges from neighboring nations like Russia and China. However, if Kazakhstan is not occupied by other players, it is able to exploit the time by rapidly develop and grow without interference, which can lead to significant danger to Russia in the later stages of the game.
- Any nation trying to take the city 'Gay' for troll faction names.
Border Controversy[]
|
Since Russia has occupied Crimea since 2014, many players have suggested that the releasable of Alternatively, some players have suggested that Russia should start with |
Strategies[]
Russia is in one of the strongest positions in the game, only improved on since the Biomes Update, which added Severe Winter and Arctic biomes all over Russia. It was eventually reworked on March 29th, 2023, adding rugged terrain to Russia, such as Mountainous and Hilly topography. With the geography, it provides the capability to repel and exhaust enemies with the use of entrenchment.
Industrialization[]
Consumer Goods Upkeeping[]
Getting started with your nation's industrialization is key. As Russia, we need to keep up 141.1 Consumer Goods, which we've rounded up to 160 Consumer Goods. To do this, we'll need:
- 1 Electronics Factory
- 1 Steel Manufactory
- 2 Motor Parts Factories
- 1 Fertilizer Factory
- 4 Consumer Goods Factories
At the start, you'll experience no resource shortages due to your natural resource production, so you can fully upkeep these factories naturally.
Aircraft Manufactory Construction[]
Building an air force? You'll need an aircraft manufactory. As Russia, we will need:
At the start, you won't have shortages for this, but you may as well get some surplus, so be sure to import:
- 1 Chromium (for surplus)
With these steps done, your basic industrialization setup should be good to go.
Notes/Tips
- Take smaller countries first as they will build your economy faster when you seize their treasury.
- Becoming communist/socialist is a good way to take full advantage of Russia's manpower and resources.
- Always base your economy off resource income in the early and mid game, they will be what gives Russia the most revenue thanks to their large abundance of resources.
Forming the Soviet Union/Russian Empire[]
Forming the 
Soviet Union or 
Russian Empire is a rather straight forward and easy task, however, is prone to it's issues and challenges as you try to form. Some countries you need, most notably 
Ukraine might be players and stall your attempts at forming or stop you entirely in your tracks or other countries like 
Iran and China might take what you need to form.
You need to BE FAST when forming, you wanna aim for at least early 2021 to finish forming as you cannot waste any time unless you want anyone else to steal your conquests. To start off, justify on Ukraine and Kazakhstan first of all. Ukraine cause we don't want it to rise as a threat later on and Kazakhstan cause China usually takes it early on for it's abundant resources and to form the 
Qing Dynasty. You wanna set your military spending to max, sell your electronics/consumers for extra income and send home guards to the borders of Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Invasion of Ukraine[]
The invasion of Ukraine is easy and straight forward if they're AI. If they're AI, all you need to do is lure their home guards to a specific city and auto capture using your starting infantry to later peace them. This strategy becomes obsolete however if they're a player.
If Ukraine is a player[]
If Ukraine is a player, you wanna make sure to rush them as soon as possible using your European home guards. Once you declare war, aim for their square cities first to prevent them from spamming tanks and open up multiple fronts across the entire border to strain the armies of Ukraine across a large front. If they are fortifying Kiev, surround it and shell it with artillery to weaken their troops and then go in for the kill on their garrison in Kiev.
However, you should expect further resistance by Ukraine as they infantry spam or make a couple of tanks to defeat your armies. This is easy to deal with, just continue reinforcing the front in Ukraine and overwhelm them further with troops outnumbering them. After this, Ukraine should be eliminated entirely and you can force peace the nation.
Invasion of Kazakhstan[]
When invading Kazakhstan, send your home guards to the border of Kazakhstan and declare war on them. Immediately go for their capital of Nur-Sultan and wait for the home guard to walk over to you and get eliminated, you can then easily take the rest of the country from Nur-Sultan's central location, securing Kazakhstan's most vital resources and getting a good barrier against China if they decide to invade Kazakhstan as well.
Invading the rest of the nations[]
Invading the rest of everything you need is very straight forward and easy. Most of these nations are AI and mostly never players, so all you need to do is lure their home guards and then auto capture the rest. You can then later on form the Soviet Union or Russian Empire.
Iranian Invasion of your required lands[]
If Iran decides to invade anything that you require to form, you need to start amassing an army to invade Iran. You could also try negotiating for the territories, but most of the time, the negotiations will go nowhere and only end up in wasted time.
To pacify Iran and invade your required territories, you need to build a fleet of destroyers in the Caspian Sea as well as a modest airforce to control the skies and lake next to Tehran. After this, make a sizeable stack of infantry which are Mountain Specialized and send them towards Tehran. You should also launch attacks onto Central Asia and the Caucasus to distract Iran with different fronts while you seize the moment to snipe Tehran and capture the rest of their cities. After this, you should be able to form.
Sweden trying to form the Swedish Empire[]
Another threat that is not always taken serious by players is 
Sweden. They will take over 
Finland, 
Estonia and 
Latvia to form the 
Swedish Empire. As Russia, you cannot allow Sweden to form under any circumstances, considering that the Swedish Empire receives a 20% ground attack bonus which can easily decimate your armies if you don't prepare properly. Therefore, you must act quickly before Sweden even gets the chance to form.
Sweden forming the Swedish Empire, all you need to do is make a destroyer in the Baltic Sea and pressure Sweden on multiple fronts, similar to the strategy against Ukraine. Attempt to snipe Stockholm by crossing through 
Åland or by invading through Southern Sweden to open a massive front that Sweden will be unable to contain. These two options can also be done at the same time.
Chinese Invasion[]
One of your biggest threats is China, they need certain territories from you to form Qing Dynasty, however, most of the time, China players will annex all of Russia due to it's abundant resources and the strength and leverage China would get in the world stage. You must be suspicious of China players at all times, check the border every now and then to see if they're arming against you and most importantly, you should never trust a China player regardless of what they tell you.
Chinese Invasion in 2021 or later[]
If China doesn't invade you immediately at the start of the game, you have time to form and prepare against the looming invasion. What you should do first is take everything you need to form and industrialize, your main source of income will be from factory spamming as each factory gives you 250k income if you place it on a city with 300k population or more. You should also prioritize aerial supremacy and a large airforce as they will help you in softening up Chinese offensives into Russia.
To repel a Chinese invasion into the heart of your nation, always take Kazakhstan to establish a shield between China and your European lands, where a majority of your population lies. After this, fortify the entirety of your border with China, considering how the entire border is prime for defending cause of the mountainous terrain covering all of it, which is also covered by the Mild & Severe Winter biomes during the months of November-February. Exploit the rough terrain as much as possible, NEVER RETREAT TO THE URALS IF YOU DON'T LOSE THE TERRAIN ALONG THE SIBERIAN BORDER. You need to make sure that this defensive line along the Chinese border never breaks, or else it will be game over for you and you will be forced to withdraw into less favourable terrain for you to defend in. Use a combination of infantry, artillery, fortifications and attackers to repel every offensive China tries to do to try and break your defensive line. The more you defend, the more time you have to build up for an eventual offensive against China into their own territories.
Be sure to also establish total air superiority via building an airport in Irkutsk and taking Ulaanbaatar (if China owns Mongolia) and deleting the airport on it to make sure China has no airport near the front for a while, enabling you to reign over the skies without any major troubles.
To further make sure China cannot break through your defensive line, get political leaders like General of the Army and Fortifications Expert for their ground defense bonuses. Get the Static Lines doctrine to enhance your defensive capabilities. You should also hire a military leader with either the Defensive or Unyielding traits, as they further increase your defensive capabilities and force China to commit more forces to try and break through in vain. If you for whatever reason ever need to, activate a military operation that boosts defense like Elastic Defense, Guerilla Warfare or Maginot Theory.
Do this until the Chinese player either leaves or is so exhausted after multiple failed attempts at breaking through and you have the sufficient economy to start an offensive. You can either attempt a naval invasion onto the costal cities of China or go through Mongolia or 
Manchuria to eventually reach Beijing and take their capital.
Allies will also be crucial for your defensive war against China. Try to ally democratic superpowers nearby China like 
India and 
Japan who are willing to help you in your cause, either through direct intervention or via funding you with money and manpower. The additions of allies to your war effort will make the process much easier and make it so you can defeat China earlier than you would without allies.
Chinese Invasion in 2019[]
If China decides to rush you and invade immediately at the start of the game in 2019, then you have no time to waste at all. You need to quickly make troops in your Siberian terrain as only a mere delay tactic cause you will be forced to retreat to the Ural Mountains as your main line of defense instead.
While you delay the Chinese invasion by your troops in Siberia, you have a large time window to industrialize and build factories to establish a sufficient base for your economy and to further enhance your war capabilities with an airforce cause it takes a while to traverse the vast Siberian territories. Build up at the Ural Mountains while you wait for China's troops to arrive, build fortifications on large cities and concentrate your army on it. Get the Static Lines doctrine and political leaders like Fortification Expert and General of the Army for defensive buffs to your ground units aswell as a military leader with either the Defensive or Unyielding traits to further enhance your defensive capabilities.
European Invasion[]
An invasion of Russia from the Great Powers of Europe or whoever comes out on top in Europe will be common place and you should always be wary of it. Always observe the situation in Europe just incase someone tries to plan an invasion of you and are moving troops to your borders. You should form first as always, but after this you need to start building up your defenses in your European territories. A European invasion will be harder to defend against than a Chinese one due to the flat terrain stretching across almost the entirety of your European lands, disabling the option to exploit the rough terrains to your advantage to uphold a steady defense. Fronts are almost always dynamic and will change in a war on the plains of your European territories, so you must always be cautious and wary of whatever you do.
You should pursue a defense in depth strategy at all times and to achieve this, build fortifications on your border cities, everything about an invasion from Europe will come down to your ability to delay and stall the enemy offensives one after another each time to ensure they can never advance too far to take down a large chunk of your population and economy. Make about 30k infantry on these fortifications or more if you want to, but these are only meant to be troops to delay the advance of the enemy so you have time to prepare for a counter offensive with troops in the backline. Also fortify large population centers west of Moscow with multiple units of infantry and artillery in order to stall the enemy further. To further stall the enemy, activate the Guerilla Warfare operation which will give you a 165% ground defensive bonus and 150% city resistance at the exchange of -80% ground attack.
Make sure to get the political leaders General of the Army and Fortifications Expert aswell as a military leader with preferably the Defensive trait, as Unyielding's full effect mostly comes when exploiting mountains and biomes, which European Russia unfortunately does not possess a lot of. Make sure to also build up a formiddable and powerful airforce, outnumbering that of your foe. If you can control the skies and establish air superiority across the entire front, you can harass your enemy with bomber raids and attackers all the while using your fighters to take down the enemy airforce.
Airforce will be the key to winning a war on the European plains as you need to whittle down enemy forces as much as possible before actual confrontation is made, this is what an airforce excels in doing as it can harass enemy soldiers on the advance and make your enemies take a hit to their economies or industries.
In order to prepare for a counteroffensive against your enemies, amass millions of troops behind the frontline and train them all. You could preferably get a military leader with the Aggressive trait for the purpose of excelling in your counteroffensive, but it's not needed. When you go on the counteroffensive, concentrate your air power on the enemy forces trying to maintain their own defensive lines or retreating out of your lands as you use your troops to steamroll across, liberating your occupied territories and marching into the heart of Europe itself where you could possibly seize the moment to take their capital and force the collapse of their nation.
If you're in the late game and nothing works with both of you stuck in a stalemate, either bombers or nukes will be the deciding factor of the war. Nukes should only be used as a last resort if nothing else works and you should not rush it. Economy, Infantry and Aerial research take higher priority than nuclear weapons. You could also add any of your allies to the war to help you by opening up a new front or by further contributing to your front to break the deadlock. Otherwise, if you're invading in the mid game, you should continue keeping up the pressure on your enemy by harassing them with bombers, launching numerous counteroffensives and whittling their forces down with attackers.Trivia[]
- There is a city called "Gay" near the Kazakhstan-Russia border[2]. Due to the city also existing in-game, this fact has been heavily memed and joked around by the Rise of Nations community.
- Russia is currently the nation that holds the record for most releasables, with a grand total of 34. With the exception of Kaliningrad, which was added on 11/08/2022, the rest of Russian releasables were implemented on the 03/29/2023 update, which broke Italy's record that previously held 14 releasables.
References[]
- ↑ The Suggestions Council is a specialized team in organizing and working with future game update projects. They have the exclusive ability to consider or reject game and formable suggestions posted in the Official Discord and also work on formables and releasables through private consultations.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay,_Orenburg_Oblast
